Roger Waters 'Us + Them' Tour 2017

I would have absolutely lost it if he did "Fearless" like at Desert Trip, was really hoping for that one. But yeah, that end verse of "Dogs" with the call and response between Roger and the rest of the band was the best! Shredded my voice on that one.

I also really liked how during the trippy synth part in "Dogs", the band donned their Animals masks, sat around a table on stage, and had a champagne toast. Cool nod back to the Floyd "Man and The Journey" shows of yore where they'd have a tea break in the middle of the first set.

 

Exactly, I was thinking the same thing when they did that!

 

It's been reported that he sings Time, Deja Vu, Last Refugee, Picture That, WYWH, Smell The Roses, Brain Damage/Eclipse, Vera/BTBBH and C-Numb live. Everything else is sung quietly under the dominant prerecorded vocal track. This is far from verified but sounds about right.

 

I am a Pink Floyd fan and I love what they did on Great Gig in the Sky. I thought it was a great interpretation of the original, extending and improving on the original.

 

I saw the first show of the tour in Kansas City. After catching up and reading this thread today, here are my conclusions:

1. Those who have actually seen a show on this tour really liked it, and have positive comments.

2. Some of those who have not seen a show on this tour have negative comments about it, based on their personal beliefs or opinions.

I have often noticed this about online forums. Many people post negative remarks about albums, films, TV shows, or concerts, which they have not heard, seen or attended, just based on what they "know" about them, despite their lack of actual personal contact with the item or event in question.

 

I've read reviews from people who went and were disappointed. And I respect the opinions of those who aren't going because of the redundant set list (for the fans who have seen him on every tour), those who are offput by his use of vocal assistance, and those who don't want to be beat over the head with anti-Trump imagery.

 

Sounds like folks who might think twice before clicking on this thread! (Other than the disappointed attendees, who may want to share their disappointment, what's the point of the rest of those folks you described participating in a discussion?)

 

That leaves Welcome To the Machine, Happiest Days, Brick In the Wall part 3, Dogs, & Pigs (3 Different).
But it's not like his voice was hitting the highest notes on these anyway: the girls sang the "told you what to dream" piece of the verses on Welcome, and lines like "turn to stone" and "really a cry-y-y" were sung by the ensemble where there was no pretext of Roger on the top. So if he was lip-synching his parts on those, it was certainly a clever facsimile ~ given that his vocal limitations were already accommodated by the arrangements.
Not to mention, he's a fine actor, because I was watching him pretty intently whenever he sang.

Also, "Time" is as hard or harder to sing than any of the above. I loved that he sang that, by the way.

As long as this is "far from verified," I'm going with my senses...(but I'd surely be disappointed if they were deceived).

 

Perhaps because this is a forum and people want to post their opinions?

 

Sure. And my opinion is that sometimes exercising self restraint isn't a bad idea.

 

Went to last night's Staples Center show. I know it's a cliche, but a large part of it just felt like a cover band with a cool light and special effect show. Very choreographed and little spontaneity. I know that's the way Floyd member shows are but it bored me at times.

Can someone explain the backup bassist. Is this to free Roger up to sing while the bassist handles the tough parts?. There were a number of songs where Roger played bass at the same time as the backup bassist.

 

You must have missed Gilmours last 2 tours.

 

The most eyebrow-raising part of the "double bassist" thing for me, was during "One Of These Days." No need to free him up to sing there, so it was a bit disheartening to see. Roger never had an issue playing it by himself in the 70's. Thankfully, Jon Carin's awesome lap steel solo made it more spontaneous, although a bit spot on. All those years playing with Gilmour taught him a trick or three.

 

Don't you mean "radon gun set list"?

 

The song has double bass in the studio version too, though.

 

I did. I guess I should have just said Waters. I saw Gilmour solo in the early 80s. Don't remember the show much.

 

I only wish they were "tours" ~ the USA one with Wright was, like, two or three cities? In retrospect, I should've gotten on a plane to LA. Fat Old Sun & Echoes (and Wright playing a farfisa Arnold Layne solo) would've set me for life.

Maybe those shows were looser, but the '87 Floyd tour was pretty choreographed and light on spontaneity.

The On An Island & Rattle That Lock shows didn't feature anything from Gilmour's first two solo albums, did they? Until We Sleep was a great tune.

 

Gilmour's last 2 tours were fairly loose with a fair amount of space for improv.

Nothing played from his first 2 albums. Too bad because some finevtracks can be found amongst the clunkers.

 

Well, at the Portland show, they played Brain Damage\Eclipse, then Roger announced that they were 13-14 shows into the tour and teething troubles meant that one of the effects had malfunctioned. He thought we should see it, describing it as a cool laser pyramid, with a DSOTM prism at the top - the prism bit had worked, no sign of the lasers. He asks the band to pick up again with Eclipse, whilst saying he was waiting for "the voice in his ear" to tell him if they could get the effect working.

There's a little kerfuffle on stage and he counts two bars and Eclipse restarts. At this point, one of the lasers is furiously migrating back to the ceiling, like a techno-spider hauling itself up a thread. No prism, no lasers. All of Eclipse is played and the band add a few bars including a quick sax solo where the player was somewhat lost for a a few notes. You get the sense that they are waiting for "go" from lights. Then as the tune continues, they start the vocals again, the effects come on, everybody goes "ahhh" and all is well, and the audience got three versions of Eclipse, two of which at least were highly spontaneous.

I would imaging there was a very sweaty lighting guy for those few minutes.

 

Don't feel bad. You only missed this

 

Staples show was a blast. I really like the new songs, probably because they sound like they could of been written during the Wall/Final Cut era of Floyd.

 

I've got a video of the Eclipse re-do, with the band jamming and going with it until the prism worked. Kind of a cool bonus for the Portland crowd. Roger called it a "cheap parlour trick" and like you described said that we should see it, if they could get it working. Went off without a hitch in Tacoma the night before, but it was more entertaining to see him have to scramble a bit, and get an Eclipse reprise.

 

Nah - they got it working - third time was the charm. Great pictures, by the way

 

Night off for Us+Them, but The Bootleg Theater in LA going to be the place to be tonight