Post-Gazette Pavilion

Ticket scan thanks to Steve Moore

Capacity: 23,070
Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: Rt. 18 at Rt. 22, Burgettstown, PA 15021. MAP

Website: www.post-gazettepavilion.com

The assembled crowds were no doubt relieved that the threatened rains kept away, drying up in the morning. Initial forecasts were for heavy deluges throughout the concert, which put the event in jeopardy.

The tour now moves to Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday night. If you are going to it, have a great time and tell us about it!

PRESS REVIEWS

Naturally, reports of the show appear in the local press. A positive review can be read over at the website of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. More as we get them...

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, John Bennett

This will not be as eventful a story as my Gilmour RCMH story was, but here goes anyway.

THE WEATHER

First of all- weather turned out fine, a bit of rain in Pittsburgh on Sunday morning but nothing major, and by noon all was sunny. It cooled off some by the showtime but otherwise quite lucky in the weather department.

THE VENUE

I don't live anywhere near Pittsburgh, but I did have business here this weekend which made going to this show quite a nice coincedence. Pittsburgh is one of the most underrated cities in North America, in my opinion. Not to say this venue is in Pittsburgh, not indeed - in fact, it's about 27 miles from downtown. Most of these outdoor sheds are outside the cities they serve, but in this particular case I did feel like I was driving into the middle of nowhere. A nice venue though, and I'm not saying that just because they gave me a free T shirt when I came in (a venue shirt, not a Roger shirt). I had gotten my tickets within 2 minutes of the Amex presale start this summer, and was disappointed at first when I was as close as that should have gotten me- however, that disappointment faded as I was posted near one of the side speakers, getting full blast of all the effects tracks during the show. The sound, at least from where I was sitting, was quite strong and enjoyable.

THE SHOW

This was a very good show. The band obviously has it down by this point in the tour. I have been to 3 Roger tours (87 Saratoga, 99 Montreal) and this was by far my favorite of them. Although not many would agree with me, I like Dave Kilminster's playing and singing better than I did Doyle Bramhall.

I also felt Roger did a great job arranging songs to bring out his full band sound- all 3 guitarists had their moments of glory and none had to carry the show singlehandedly either.

Highlights for me included:

- the inflatable pig and confetti during Sheep, perhaps my favorite Floyd song- and it may be overlooked that Roger got in some nice rhythm licks in too.

- the bubbles during Shine On, a great version all told

- the use of backdrop films and imagery in Set The Controls

- Roger's emotional renderings (I did not notice any lipsynching) of the 2 Final Cut songs

- the radio image on the backdrop screen, especially how it became 3 dimensional during Mother

I actually enjoyed set 1 more- DSOTM was good, but having seen the other 3 Floyds do it, and Dave's versions of several songs in his solo concert this year, well, this rendering came up short of those, but it was still great to see the whole album in one piece.

All in all, very pleased and happy to have seen this concert and this tour!

P.S. Leaving Beirut- no boos here, instead more cheers. One bit of irony for me is that President Bush got a goodly share of his education not just in Texas, but in my own very liberal New England!

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Brian Segriff (who also supplied the pictures here)

The traffic was really bad going to the show. I'm sure most missed the first few numbers because of this.

When I got there, we heard the song from the beginning of the Wall movie.

The show set list was exactly the same as the other shows. My review is in no particular order.

In the Flesh was nice and had good energy, but to me the sax was a bit out of place.

Hate to say it, but the energy of the first half was just not there compared to the 99 show. This was reflected by both myself and the crowd. Mother was well recieved while Set the Controls was more well recieved by the older crowd. It seemed to be a very slow first set. I heard a lot of people comment about how the bubbles sucked, but I didnt care one way or the other. By Southampton Dock, most fans were sitting on their hands.

Shine On lacked without the first guitar solo in my opinion. Perfect Sense was great, probably one of the better selections of the first half. Leaving Beirut had a disgusting mix of cheers and boo's. I can tell you, and this is being honest, most people around me sat still without a response. As I scanned behind me most people just sat on their hands. The sound of cheers and boo's just created this disgusting sound (thats the best way I can describe it). I do believe compared to the other responses, most remained silent.

Sheep ended the first set with of course the pig with political writings.

The only time I heard the surround sound during the first set was during Set the Controls and Sheep. To sum it up it just lacked that intense feeling that the 99' show had. The lip synching was present as I heard enough bootlegs to know how he sings these songs and the changes. He pulled away early once during Have a Cigar and it was very obvious. However, most of the crowd was too wasted to know what was going on.

The second set was Dark Side of the Moon. I thought the additions to On the Run were good, I did expect more in surround. Time was okay. The highlights were Great Gig and Money in my opinion. Dave K. nailed Money with the vocals and the guitar. I'm not sure which of the background singers sang Great Gig, but it was really good.

Us and Them was a struggle. I expected more surround mixes with the delays on the vocals, but there was none. Jon did a great job, but its one of those songs that you get used to hearing just one way, and it sounds out of place hearing it different. Any Colour was great, they did a great job. And the album ended great.

For the last few numbers, a lot of people sang Vera, and Bring the Boys back home did have some nice fire in the back of the stage. There was a great response for Another Brick in the Wall. Comfortably Numb was good, not great.

Overall the show was average. The first set lacked the energy of many other shows I have seen. I thought it was odd to have a decent lighting rig and not use them to its potential. The band was very sharp. Rogers voice on the songs he sang were good as they should be, the songs that were not sounded like any bootleg I heard to date.

As far as production goes, I must say that was NOT quad sound compared to a Pink Floyd show or the 99 show. They had a stereo stack which were the mains, and on the pavillion, they had four speakers on the sides of the pavillion (left and right) and four in the center rear of the pavillion. I did not see a center speaker stack in order to complete the quad, and there were no visible speakers in the lawn. I did see cables running up there. However, if you were in the lawn, I bet you had no surround sound whatsoever.

Lighting was minimal. The pyro was okay. The LED screen looked much better than the shows from Europe. The sound was clear. However, Roger's bass lacked any punch to it, and I was right in front of the subs.

If I could do it again, I would not have paid $149, however, it was a chance to see this legend one last time. I never heard Dark Side before, so that was worth it even though it was missing some key members.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Darren

Overall a stunning show. On the way to the show we passed through the Township of Moon which had everyone in the car looking at each other - a funny moment. We got there early and could hear the band run through part of Money and WYWH before we got into the grounds.

The 1st half of the set was stunning; the light show was just awesome. Standout songs were Set the controls for the Heart of The Sun, Perfect Sense, and Leaving Beirut. No boos before or after Leaving Beirut, just huge applause and the same goes for Perfect Sense Pt1 & Pt2 where the screen shows a submarine in a stadium which fires two torpedoes which lets off an ICBM on screen with live pyro fire on stage - the crowd went mental. During the middle of Sheep the inflatable pig comes out and is let loose at the end of the song. The spotlight follows the pig for at least a mile - awesome. Snowy White does nearly all the lead guitar work on the 1st set and it's perfect.

Between the 2 sets there's a picture of the Earth on screen which gets larger and as the break draws nearer to an end, the band takes the stage as the Earth fills the screen. All around me during the break people are saying the show is awesome and can't beleive how good the sound is. We were dead centre 3/4 of the way to the back and get the full Surround sound effect that others near the front don't. There's running water like a stream playing on the surround sound during the break, just in case you couldn't "go". Nice touch!

Second half of the show, Dark Side Of the Moon flies by. You forget how short the album is. The performance is flawless apart from the Time rototom intro which has too many fills; he needs to make it more simple like the album intro.

Encores: Roger introduces the band. Everyone gets a huge response from the crowd, the largest for Dave Kilminster and Snowy white but katie Kissoon gets a standing ovation. She moved back to her spot on stage and Roger grabbed her hand and motioned her back to the front of the stage and he said "Again?" and the crowd goes nuts and she gets another standing ovation. Her performance is brilliant.

Dave Kilminster's solo's are perfect. Snowy White's performance is brilliant apart from a minor hiccup during his second solo spot in Comfortably Numb. This is a great gig and Roger knows it. His final words are "Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience - fantastic, thank you very much. You were great, thank you!" I would advise anyone who has no tickets to go and get some. Don't go thinking this is a Floyd show where the crowd and music is laid back. This is a full in your face rock concert of epic proportions. The sound was perfect, the band tight and the lightshow brilliant.

The concert ran from 8:15pm to 10:45pm with a 10 minute break. There's no lip synching at all, there's a short delay in sound and vision (milliseconds) between what happens on stage live and what's displayed on screen, although that's because light travels faster than sound. It cost me $34.00 and I would say I had the best view of the show and the sound was perfect. I can see why some people would be pissed if they bought front row tickets for $149.00 but even then some people did pay $360 and $400 for front row tickets in auction so some feel good factor there.

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Peter Muha

Being at a rock concert is like buying real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen Roger in ’99, and both the North American Roger-less Floyd shows, and I can honestly say this one stands up in equal measure to any of the rest. I had absolutely amazing seats for this show. The very first row behind the out-front pit, in the middle right next to the sound booth. Completely unobstructed in every way, visually and aurally…and that makes all the difference.

I must say the general atmosphere between this show and the ’99 gig was quite different, but I suppose the comparison is hardly fair. I caught the ’99 gig at Darien Lake in Buffalo, and it was a magical day. For one, the amphitheatre there is part of a large amusement park, and most, if not all, the crowd spent the day riding and twirling themselves into a frenzy. The day had been overcast with some light rain showers and it looked like the show might be a bit soggy. However, as if by divine intervention, the skies cleared about an hour before show time and the sun came out to dry the place beautifully. It turned out to be one of those perfect summer nights where the air is warm and inviting and the crowd was electric. Really, the energy was palpable from the start, and the band very clearly felt and responded to it. I mean even bad old Roger was grinning and strutting about for the entire set with the crowd getting more and more amped up with each additional song, exploding in a crescendo of emotion and utter joy at rock solid crowd favs like Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. This was a very special show indeed, and Roger himself commented to the crowd at the end that they could feel the crowd that evening and they’ve never played better. Amazing.

Well, having said all that, it doesn’t seem fair to compare the shows, so I won’t. No need to; this show was outstanding in it’s own right. Right from the start there were some noticeable improvements. Roger must’ve learned a thing or two from his gig with the rest of Floyd at Live8, for this line up was stripped down to essential personal too. Made for a much better and tighter overall sound. No extraneous noodlings to fill space and pull away the effects of the original songs. His set list was quite a bit different from ’99 as well, including the addition of some outstanding work from the Final Cut album and the elimination of some of his solo work, specifically material from Amused to Death. Another great move, and I cannot stress this enough, was the addition of Dave Kilminster on lead guitar and some lead vocals. Although I like Snowy White enough, he is an adequate axe man at best, and simply doesn’t have the touch to really make the solos ring like they deserve. No such problem here for Dave. For one, his solos were spot on replicas of Gilmour’s album solos, and as such, added tremendously to the enjoyment of the songs. He is clearly a very accomplished player and could’ve no doubt inserted his own flavor into the tunes (much like the very annoying Doyle Bramhall III), but instead chose to remain true to the originals. Let’s face it; when you listen to those songs, even live, and it comes to the guitar solos, everyone knows them every bit as well as the words, so why try to fake it. He killed em’, and kicked ass doing it. Major tip of the hat to Dave. Some especially stellar moments of the show to look out for: Katie Kissoon’s singing during Mother and particularly The Great Gig in the Sky. Guaranteed goose bumps. She’s got pipes till tomorrow; Perfect Sense from Amused to Death. It really gets the crowd moving; The Final Cut from the same titled album. Actually, quite a bit of material from this remarkable underrated album; The playing of The Dark Side Of The Moon from front to back. Easy to forget how short that record is, and it seems over very quick; And of course, Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. Again, Kilminster really shines during the whole Dark Side performance and Cumfy Numb not only for his spot on guitar work, but his vocal work as well.

If I have any criticisms it is Roger’s performance of his new song, Leaving Beirut. We all know that Roger is very political and likes to grind that axe a lot, but quite frankly the song sucks. The lyrics are interesting enough, but musically it goes nowhere. Also, he plays a revised, and shortened version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond that completely cuts out all the guitar bits at the top of the song. For me, it’s that 10 minute musical intro that makes the song what it is, and taking it out seemed to hurt the song. Didn’t kill it, but certainly it seemed lacking when done.

One last thing. For someone who professes to detest large stadium gigs and the disconnect between band and audience and all that, Roger certainly has no trouble hocking a ton of crap at the souvenir stand for typically outrageous prices. $35 for a tee-shirt, $350 for a Dark Side jacket, Dark Side cufflinks, etc. etc. etc. I mean c’mon…cuff links?!?! My personal favorite was the $75 dollar ‘signature’ Dark Side posters. Except of course the signature was a stamp of his original. Way to really connect with your audience there Rog.

All that aside, at the end of the day, Mr. Waters delivers where it really counts…on the stage. And on this night, he and his troupe really laid it out there and kicked some rock and roll ass. If you've not seen Roger Waters live, spend the money and go to the nearest show to you. It is worth every penny and you will not regret it. Top shelf, first rate live music. You'd be hard pressed to find a band anywhere playing as well and sounding as good as Roger Waters and company. And the fact that it's all Pink Floyd is simply the icing on the cake. Which one's Pink???....turns out it was him after all.

Shine on baby!

SHOW REVIEW

By BD contributor, Jason Ringuette

Roger Waters tour rolled into Pittsburgh on Sunday and the crowd was treated to a great concert on a beautiful night. The venue security was very laid back on the tailgating outside and the partying inside the venue which made for a very fired up crowd. The venue was great with the exception of actually getting into the parking lot & the pavillion seats not being on much of an incline.

The show itself was nothing short of greatness. This show works well in an outdoor venue setting, but not as good as in the arenas. The In The Flesh 99/00 tour actually was better in the outdoor venues than this tour. The surround sound was not used much in the 1st set, but when it was it sounded good. Again, not as good as in an arena. Lights were the same story, not as good as indoors.

Highlights this show (for me at least) were Set The Controls, Sheep, and On The Run. I was also amazed at how many people sang along with Vera.

Low points would have to be Jon's lead vocals on Us & Them. David was very missed on this one. Leaving Beirut did not work out in Pittsburgh at all. Very negative reaction from the crowd during this song. A lot of people continued to boo Roger throughout the show after Leaving Beirut whenever an anti Bush clip came up (Us & Them being one).

One positive thing about playing Leaving Beirut on this tour is everyone after the show starts talking about it and its political message. This show also seems a few minutes shorter that the 99/00 shows, but packs a bigger punch. See you all in Cleveland!