Wuhlheide, Berlin

Capacity: 17,000
Concert starts: 7:30pm (doors open at 5:30pm)

Address of venue: Parkbuehne Wuhlheide, An der Wuhlheide 187, 12459 Berlin-Koepenick, Germany. MAP

Website: www.wuhlheide.de

The fourth show on Roger's Dark Side Of The Moon tour took in a pleasant venue, in the midst of a park, on the outskirts of Berlin. With a strict curfew governing the finishing time of the concert (we found this out from drummer Graham Broad the next day) the first half of the show took place in strong daylight, with most of the projections unviewable and the light show neutered.

However, this seemed to spur the band into putting even more energies into their performance, and the packed amphitheatre loved every minute. Aptly enough, as the band launched into Dark Side, the almost full moon could be clearly seen hovering above the stage!

A thoroughly impressive performance, highlights came thick and fast - from Sheep (an underplayed classic, that sounded wonderful - keep it in the set, guys!), On The Run (wow - was this LOUD!), Perfect Sense 1 and 2, and even Leaving Beirut, which many were nervously awaiting. In the live setting, the song works really well - it's powerful, affecting, and in places, amusing. The accompanying film really adds to the song, and, thankfully, by the time Roger got to this song, the light was starting to dip a little.

Special mention should be made of the excellent sound throughout the show. This was crisp, clear and pretty loud, and the quad effects were perfect. The surround stacks, whilst fairly small, packed a mean punch, particularly during the likes of Sheep. As for On The Run - well, it has to be seen and heard in its new version to believe it!

A nice touch - if unintentionally amusing - was the appearance of an inflatable spaceman at one point. Why amusing? The roadie dragging it around the stage was clearly visible due to the lack of night-time in the arena...

There is growing talk of Roger lip-syncing throughout the show - from where we were, there was absolutely no sign of this. If he DOES, it can only be minor bits - the odd line that might wreck his voice if he did it each night.

The show moves now to the Arrow Rock Festival in Lichtenvoorde. If you are going to it, have a great time, and let us know how it went!

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Chris Passmore

My first time in Berlin (from Rhode Island, USA), and some great memories - the zoo, having a Bratswurst, touring the city...and oh yeah, the Roger Waters show!! I am 20 years old and this is truly a treat.

The gates opened at about 5:45, and seeing as how it was general admission, I sprinted as soon as we were let in to get front row!! The show began at about 7:45pm, only after playing exclusively Bob Dylan and Neil Young for the 2 hours until show time (Rog's fave singers?).

Roger came out and began In the Flesh, and I felt it was going to be a great night - he was so animated, excited, and truly living every moment. Wow, what a rush!!

I must say, Have a Cigar, stripped of all the studio effects, was rockin!!!!!!! Roger sang vocals and added his own touch, but man - I never realized what a great riff this song has! All the songs were amazing - Fletcher, Perfect Sense, and Leaving Beirut were the most emotional - it even seemed as though Roger was tearing up at some parts, and I felt the same. To hear Roger's intro to Beirut, and seeing the words on the screen, was truly touching.

DSOTM was at it's best! 'Nuff said! The show closed with a bang at about 10:30 and I went back to our hotel in Berlin and had my mind full of the great music played for us. Roger was absolutely enjoying himself, waving to the crowd, moving from stage left to stage right, and encouraging the crowd to sing along.

I loved Gilmour's concert front row in NYC; he hypnotized me with his voice and guitar...but Roger had us rockin' all night!!!!

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Klaus Boldt

So yesterday I was at Roger's concert in Berlin. And wow, what an evening! I went to Berlin by train and used most of the day to stroll around in the city since I am not in Berlin every day. The weather was great, and that was a pleasant surprise after the last weeks.

Around 6 p.m. I made my way to Wuhlheide. I expected to be really early, but with a large stream of other people clad in various Floyd-related shirts I reached an already large crowd at the gates. Luckily, when I turned my head I saw a much larger crowd behind me. And I managed to get a really good spot about eight rows from the stage surrounded by a lot of hardcore fans who cheered for about everything that happened on the empty stage, be it a quick appearance of Jon Carin to check on his keyboards or a huge applause for Roger's bass being tuned.

After one and a half hour later which I spent talking with other fans it finally began. They played a set list like with the shows before with slightly shifted songs - see above.

Shine On was a bit butchered with the first guitar solo missing and also without the second half, but the rest of the first half more than made up for that. He included fireworks and flame throwers at the front of the stage at the beginning of In The Flesh, new back projections (which were difficult to see in the beginning because the sun was still up) and an inflatable astronaut for Perfect Sense.

Roger seemed to have tremendous fun up there, especially with the material that he didn't play before. Have A Cigar needs a special mention here which really rocked!

Leaving Beirut included the before-mentioned black and white cartoons instead of a narration. Roger simply sang the verses.

Fittingly the moon came up during the second half of the show. By the time of the encore it was finally dark and Roger left to frantic applause.

They had no speakers in the back of the crowd that I could see [Matt's note: yes, they did!]. Sometimes Roger seemed to struggle a bit with a sore throat, but that didn't stop him, nor did it stop his fans, not did it stop the show being one of the best shows I've been to. When I saw Roger in 2002 in Hannover I sat right at the back of the arena and from my point of view I got none of the interaction between the band and the audience. This time Roger was right there in front of me, and he seemed to have a great time as well.

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Harri Porten

The concert venue was nicely located in a park in the eastern outskirts of Berlin. Concert-goers arriving via the Wuhlheide railway station had the entertaining opportunity to evade the 15 minute walk to entrance by riding a historic train through the wood.

A warm and sunny day was about end, the organizing crew was friendly and had a variety of drinks and food up for sale. Too attractive for many apparently: the flow of sausage and beer fans forcing themselves up and down the stairs and between the benches never ebbed away during the course of the show. Disapproved by others that constantly had to make way and had their sight blocked.

The audience started to cheer when first the band and then, a few, well-timed seconds later Waters entered the stage. In The Flesh served as the usual opening and sound check song. The rest of the first half of the concert was made up of a diverse mix of songs as old as Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun and as new as Leaving Beirut. The latter was played as a sound track for a comic strip shown on the screen at the back of the stage.

Unfortunately, the deep and at the same time somewhat narrow layout of the stage barred large parts of the audience from fully enjoying the projections. But clearly visible to everyone was a inflatable astronaut puppet that floated across the stage during the first part of Perfect Sense. The quadrophonic sound effects, e.g. for Sheep (personal favourite song of the concert) added to the overall good sound experience.

Despite his voice sounding rather hoarse during his announcements Waters seemed to be in good mood and performed well. In his typical fashion he occasionally walked to both ends of the stage to directly address the crowd in the respective corner. The vocals and guitar play of Dave Kilminster made him a good addition to the band. Until the guitar roadie came for rescue one could see him fighting with his sound effect setup more than once, though. Jon Carin, supported by full bearded Harry Waters, took a break from his keyboards and played some guitar parts instead.

After the break the audience witnessed a smooth and fantastic performance of The Dark Side Of The Moon (with the real moon up in the sky behind the stage) followed by some songs from The Wall with Comfortably Numb closing the concert.

All in all, the concert featured a diverting and well performed collection of music by Roger Waters. Definitely a worthwhile and memorable event for all of his fans. I had only wished for a reduced overlap with the In The Flesh and last Pink Floyd tour programs.

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Hans-Juergen Mueller

The Wuhlheide in Berlin is a fantastic location for an Open Air show: like an old amphitheatre! The weather was marvellous with a blue sky and an almost full moon wandering over the top of the stage, while Roger performed 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' - what an impression!

The first part of the show included besides the 2 parts of 'Perfect Sense' and the new song 'Leaving Beirut' only songs from Waters' Pink Floyd era. So even less solo songs than during his last tour. Why? He could play a whole evening only with his solo stuff!

The show started at 7:41 pm and the sun was still there, so that you could hardly see anything on the huge screen (exception: Leaving Beirut). But in the second part, you could see all the videos.

Roger had a few problems with his voice and he sounded sometimes really hoarse. His band was really good, with the exception of a certain Dave Kilminster. He had nothing better to do than whirling around his long hair and dramatically rising the neck of his poison-green guitar. That was ridiculous! Better would have been a bit more concentration on his guitar playing! In the end, you could see(hear), that even 2 guitar players (a questionable Dave Kilminster and a great Snowy White) couldn't bring back the magic of one David Gilmour.

Interesting though, that the fantastic Andy Fairweather Low was even more in the background as on the last tour. Anything else: Business as usual.

They played a good show, that will be remembered for the new stage design. I loved especially the following songs: 'Have A Cigar', 'The Fletcher Memorial Home', 'Perfect Sense (II)', 'Sheep', a very dynamic 'Us And Them', 'Vera' and 'Bring The Boys Back Home'. Sadly enough, the best song and mainly the highlight of every show, 'Comfortably Numb' was because of the participation of Dave Kilminster nothing special.

After 140 minutes of music the show was finally over. All in all a good show, but for some reason I still have this question of one of the fans in my ear: 'Was this a Pink Floyd coverband with Roger Waters?' There's nothing to add to this!

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Matthias Sturner

I have seen Waters both in 1999 and 2002 a couple of times and frankly speaking, I think these tours were better than his recent show in Berlin.

Ok, we now know that it was not his decision to start the show so early in the evening, but playing Set the Controls in broad sunshine is a little bit ridiculous (why not moving it to the encores?). From near the stage the daylight was not bad because you could really see well what was going on on stage, but I felt sorry for everyone sitting in the back being left without any light show. It was only beginning to get dark during the second half of Dark Side when the light show was slowly getting impressive. I liked it best during Any Colour You Like, which was featuring a great new film. However, I found the fence-like lighting structure behind the stage which partly covered the screen (at least from the front) a bit disturbing and useless.

On to the music: the selection of the songs was quite disappointing. Obviously Waters doesn't like much of what he has done after the 70's. I mean come on, 1 new song + 1 song from the 90's + 2 songs from the 80's, but all the rest was more than 26 years old! As if he didn't have other more recent stuff to offer. I didn't like at all Vera + Bring the boys back home. Dark Side was ok, but it was like being played by a cover band. Sorry, but this piece definitely needs the guitar and voice of David Gilmour to sound great. It was exactly played like the album version, no previously unheard extensions as it had been announced some weeks before the show. The only minor change was the addition of some seconds of new sound effects during On The Run. Despite the fact that I didn't like the selection of the songs, the first half of the concert was played really great. Waters was singing and performing like I have never seen him before, full of energy. He really didn't seem to care that he still has many months of touring in front of him. It was great to hear Sheep live finally.

Regarding the lip-syncing, I'm sure he doesn't do it in the first set (after all, he didn't play Every Stranger's Eyes...), during Dark Side he almost never sings anyway, so probably the lip-syncing happens during the encores. My guess is that most of the orchestration is also coming from tape and that parts of Vera and Bring the Boys Back Home are indeed lip-synced (did I mention before that I don't like these songs at all?).

The other musicians are playing tight. Jon Carin really saves Dark Side from becoming mediocre and generally seems the one holding it all together. The backing singers are really great (each one of them). David Kilminster played well. Waters made a couple of mistakes on bass, but he is backed-up on bass during the more difficult pieces by Andy Fairweather-Low and also by Ian Ritchie during Comfortably Numb! I am thinking hard, but I think I have never seen any band featuring 2 bass guitars!

All in all, the show is worth to be seen, but it is nothing like the current David Gilmour tour.

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Ed Sinclair

Having previously been to the final show of David Gilmour's 3 night residency of the Albert Hall, it suffices to say that this concert certainly had a big act to follow! Well, it didn't just match the quality of last Wednesday, it surpassed it!

Firstly, the venue. Set in a woodland area, it is a large amphitheatre with seating around the periphery as well as the opportunity to stand in the central arena. The sound and acoustics were superb, no instruments were drowned out at the expense of others and best of all, there were speakers around the outside, giving a surround sound feel when the DSOTM sound effects were being played.

The show began at 1930, the arena was well attended but by no means full, so standing in the centre, it was possible to get right up close. Roger Waters and the band appeared, Roger looked extremely cheerful and pleased to be touring again. He chose the usual show opener "In the Flesh" before moving onto a variety of Floyd and Solo songs.

I was especially pleased to hear "Have a Cigar" which sounded fantastic. With SOYCD, it seems that like David, Roger now favours his own arrangement. Gone is the guitar intro, instead, we are left with the keyboards and it jumps straight to "Syd's tune". It was extremely nice to hear some tracks from the Final Cut. They played Southampton Dock and The Fletcher Memorial Home. Roger appeared to mime part of the latter, but understandable considering the strain those high notes would place on his voice.

His solo work always sounds great live. I feel it's the only context that does it justice. Perfect Sense had the crowd chanting along in the chorus and PP Arnold sang beautifully. We heard the new song- "Leaving Beirut", which was extremely moving, made all the more so by the cartoon narrative which played on the overhead screen. On the subject of back projections, the concert started too early really to see them properly, which was a pity. The only part of the 1st half I felt didn't work was the performance of Sheep. I felt it lost its manic energy and would have preferred to have heard Dogs or Pigs in its place. Roger played the former excellently last time I saw him in 2002.

The band took a short break and came back with the highly anticipated performance of DSOTM. Jon Carin played excellent lap steel on Breathe and On The Run was brilliant as it had some crazy added screams and effects which resonated around the arena thanks to the surround sound. The album began in earnest and was a joy to listen to. Dave Kilmister is an outstanding guitarist and faithfully reproduced the Gilmour parts note for note. Gone is Andy Fairweather Low's short blast in Money. Any Colour You Like is such a great track, sadly rarely performed live, but on this occasion, as on Pulse, it was blistering.

The band left the stage after finishing Eclipse. They returned a few seconds later for the encores which were Happiest Days/Another Brick. There was a slight technical hitch with the "Stand still laddie" intro. Interestingly Vera and Bring The Boys back home were also played. Finally CN concluded the show, leaving the audience on a high.

All in all a great gig, those attending Hyde Park are in for a treat!

var sc_project=585857; var sc_partition=4; var sc_security="a69cc800"; <a xhref="http://www.statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img xsrc="http://c5.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=585857&java=0&security=a69cc800" alt="website stat" border="0"></a>