Roger Waters - Birmingham Review

Roger Waters (vocals/guitar/bass guitar) is a genuine living legend. As a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, Waters helped to mastermind some of the most-loved music to ever be written and was largely responsible for the band's lyrical and conceptual direction - especially during the band's most successful years. He left the band in 1985 as tensions between and David Gilmour reached breaking point, and embarked on a solo career that has kept him busy ever since. Waters was fairly prolific during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but then really wound down his activities only to surface every so often with a monumental world tour before going once again into hibernation. This changed last year however, when Waters released his first solo album in 25 years. Is This the Life We Really Want? proved to be a divisive album, but one that shows Waters is still as caustic and bitter as ever. Initially the album left me cold, but it has grown on me over the past year and now I quite enjoy it. He has done better throughout his career, but he has nothing left to prove and it was great to hear some new material from him after so long. Unsurprisingly a tour followed, although it seems the new material was not totally the impetus for the shows. Waters' current tour, dubbed the Us + Them tour, has seen him take in much of the world. While some new material is featured in the set, the majority of the show is made up of classics from the Pink Floyd catalogue. Waters last major tour was a few years ago, and featured him performing Pink Floyd's seminal 1979 concept album The Wall in full with a complete theatrical production. Given the magnitude of these shows, it was to be expected that his next tour would not be quite such a spectacle. That, of course, is a relative term as Waters is one of the greatest showmen of his generation, but this tour certainly allowed the music to do the talking than his previous one - which in my opinion is no bad thing. I have been a Pink Floyd fan for many years, so jumped at the chance for tickets when they went on sale last year. I had not seen Waters live before, so was really looking forward to catching him performing many of my favourite songs. I opted for the Birmingham show, as it was on a Saturday so meant that no time off from work was required. The Arena Birmingham was the venue for the night, and the place was packed out with fans who were probably not quite ready for the powerful evening they were in for.

There was no support act and, despite the tickets stating that the show would start at 8pm prompt, Waters and his band stepped onto the stage at around 8:20pm and immediately started with Breathe (In the Air) from 1973's classic album The Dark Side of the Moon. The show was split into two halves, with songs coming fairly thick and fast during the first half, with the second reserved for longer, more progressive pieces. The Dark Side of the Moon album dominated the early part of the show, with side one essentially being played in full with the older instrumental piece One of These Days replacing On the Run. One of These Days has never been a favourite of mine, but it hit hard. Waters and Gus Seyffert (guitar/bass guitar/keyboards/vocals) locked in to provide the double-tracked bass guitars of the original studio version, while the rest of the band created the psychedelic sounds around them. Time was an early highlight, with Waters delivering his first vocal of the night, and Dave Kilminster (guitar/vocals) also playing his first of a few big solos. While many of the musicians accompanying Waters on this tour are new colleagues for him, Kilminster has been with him for a while and he demonstrated why throughout with plenty of excellent guitar work. The Great Gig in the Sky allowed Jess Wolfe (vocals/percussion) and Holly Laessig (vocals/percussion) to show off with the song's trademark wordless vocals, and it brought The Dark Side of the Moon material to a close for the time being. Welcome to the Machine then filled the arena with its acoustic industrial trappings, before a trilogy of songs from Is This the Life We Really Want? were showcased. Waters' latest solo album has a much more stripped back sound than much of what was played at this concert, but the songs managed to hold their own. Of the three it was Picture That that stood out the most. The song sees Waters at his most biting, and the dry droning riffing that dominates most of the song is the perfect backing for one of his rants. The new album is known for its lack of any guitar solos, but live the song was extended somewhat with Kilminster and Jonathan Wilson (vocals/guitar) adding a couple of solos onto the end. A sing-a-long of Wish You Were Here came next, but it was a trio of songs from The Wall that really hit home and brought the first half of the show to a close. The first half of the show was fairly devoid of theatrics, save for a big screen behind the band, but Another Brick in the Wall - Part 2 saw local children take to the stage in Guantanamo Bay-style jumpsuits and hoods before tearing them off ready for the verse in the song that is sung by a children's choir. Part 3 of the song followed, and this brought the first part of the show to a close. A 20 minute interval followed, during which various political statements flashed up on the big screen.

This string of politics eventually ended with 'DOGS' on the screen. The lights went down again, and numerous large screens descended down the middle of the area to build the Battersea Power Station, as seen on the cover of 1977's Animals. This was an extremely impressive piece of set design, complete with smoking stacks and a small inflatable pig, and this dominated the next couple of songs which were, unsurprisingly, from Animals. Dogs was up first, and this was probably the song of the evening for me. It has been a favourite song of mine for a long time, so it was great to hear it live. Wilson sung the first part of the song, while Kilminster attacked the song's many guitar solos with ease. The spacey mid-section saw most of the band in pig masks sipping champagne, while Jon Carin (guitar/keyboards/lap steel/vocals) performed the lengthy keyboard solo. This led into Pigs (Three Different Ones) which was the most politically-charged song of the night, with anti-Donald Trump imagery being projected onto the various screens throughout the song, and a large remote-controlled pig was flown around the crowd. Waters' snarling vocals really brought the song to life, before Kilminster showed off with a growling talk box solo. Pigs (Three Different Ones) has never been a favourite of mine, but the way the song was presented live made it really stand out. It was one of the show's more memorable moments, that is for sure! With the Animals material over, the Battersea towers collapsed, but the screens remained in place for a couple more numbers. The rest of the set was essentially side two of The Dark Side of the Moon, but with the new solo number Smell the Roses replacing the instrumental Any Colour You Like. Money was a potent and funky as ever, with Ian Ritchie (saxophone) taking to the stage for the solo. He remained in place for Us and Them too, which filled the arena with its pastoral gentleness. Carin and Bo Koster's (keyboards) keyboards filled the venue, and the continuous drone of the saxophone made the song stand out. Smell the Roses upped the tempo a bit, and saw Waters prowling around the stage spitting out the song's lyrics in his inimitable style. Despite his age his vocals are still sounding pretty strong and when he put his instrument down and walked the stage mic in hand he still cuts a mean presence. All that was left then was for Brain Damage and Eclipse to finish things up. The latter included an excellent prism/light effect that was clearly an attempt to recreate the album cover of The Dark Side of the Moon. Rainbow coloured lights filled the arena, and Waters and his band received a standing ovation when it came to a close. A short break followed, before the band returned to be introduced by Waters. There was time for one more and there was never any doubt that it would be Comfortably Numb. Waters and Wilson shared the vocals, before Kilminster launched into the song's famous solo perfectly. He nailed it, and this led to another standing ovation as the band took their bows and left the stage to rapturous applause. The setlist was:

Speak to Me [Pink Floyd material]/When We Were Young
Breathe (In the Air) [Pink Floyd material]
One of These Days [Pink Floyd material]
Time [Pink Floyd material]
Breathe (In the Air) [Reprise]  [Pink Floyd material]
The Great Gig in the Sky [Pink Floyd material]
Welcome to the Machine [Pink Floyd material]
Déjà Vu

The Last Refugee

Picture That

Wish You Were Here [Pink Floyd material]

The Happiest Days of Our Lives [Pink Floyd material]

Another Brick in the Wall - Part 2 [Pink Floyd material]

Another Brick in the Wall - Part 3 [Pink Floyd material]

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Dogs [Pink Floyd material]

Pigs (Three Different Ones) [Pink Floyd material]

Money [Pink Floyd material]

Us and Them [Pink Floyd material]

Smell the Roses

Brain Damage [Pink Floyd material]

Eclipse [Pink Floyd material]

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Comfortably Numb [Pink Floyd material]

I had wanted to see Roger Waters live for many years, and the show surpassed all of my expectations. There was so much going on throughout the evening that it was sometimes hard to keep up, and the setlist contained a good mix of old and new, with many of my personal favourite songs included. I will never get to see Pink Floyd live, and this was a great substitute!