Capacity: TBC

Concert starts: 7:30pm

Address of venue: Earls Court, Warwick Road, London, SW5 9TA.  MAP

Website: http://www.eco.co.uk

Tickets for this concert went on sale on November 23rd, through the venue, Ticketmaster, Ticketrush.co.uk, LiveNation.co.uk and other normal agents.

Our thanks to Bogdan Bobocea for sending in the ticket scan, shown to the right.

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played!

The second of what Roger referred to as "homecoming" concerts wowed the packed Earls Court arena. Just as thankful and welcoming as the Friday night crowd, but a tiny bit quieter and the crowd didn't stand throughout the whole show (just a reasonable amount of it!).

Whilst he was spotted by a BD visitor on Friday afternoon rehearsing, it wasn't until Saturday night that Roger's special guest made his appearance. With his Dark Side custom kit wheeled on stage in the intermission, the normal heartbeat opener to the second half was delayed so that Roger could introduce his old friend.

One big hug later, Nick Mason was installed on his centre-stage kit. A very solid, memorable dual drumming performance from Graham and Nick, and this helped make the second night at the London venue even more memorable. 

A couple of nice touches - when Roger did the band introductions, he covered all the normal band, and then pondered: "I don't think I've missed anyone out..." to which Nick rose from his drumstool to raise his hand in a "hey - what about me?" manner!

Later, when the band came back on for the encores, Roger could be seen ordering Nick back behind his kit - to which Nick raised a figure in a mock "don't start ordering me around" gesture!

Another fine show, one that the band will surely remember as clearly as the audience.

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD's Kevan Porter

The second night at Earls Court and what a difference a day makes! Tonight's audience were as different as chalk and cheese to last night's. For the most part they remained seated (although no less vocal) with the exception of a strong contingent down at the front who stood throughout the duration. I am puzzled though by the people who seem to spend the whole evening wandering up and down the aisles. Why? Some of them were collecting beers, others were simply walking backwards and forwards for what seemed to be the sake of it. It was their fifty quid they were wasting I suppose but, personally, I find it distracting, annoying, disrespectful and unnecessary.

The sound tonight was improved over the previous night's but still not as good as Birmingham, but that didn't affect the enjoyment of the show. The show itself was the same as other nights so I won't repeat what I've already written in previous reviews...apart from an additional musician joining the ranks for the 'Dark Side' set! Moments before the beginning of the second set Roger walked on stage and introduced his old friend, Nick Mason, who played drums alongside Graham Broad for the whole of the 'Dark Side' suite and the encores. Nick clearly enjoyed himself throughout the whole of the set and into the encores. What a fitting way to end the UK gigs.

What I would like to write though after seeing four of the current shows, Hyde Park last year, a couple of the 'In the Flesh' shows, the 'Radio Kaos' show at Wembley Arena and 'The Pro's and Con's' at the NEC is this:

Regardless of all the rubbish surrounding Rogers departure from Pink Floyd and the backlash that followed and regardless of all the 'will they, won't they get back together' currently filling column inches and cyber space I think Roger has finally answered the 'Which one is Pink?' question rather admirably. On the evidence of last night's show and the previous shows, Roger, in my opinion is probably closest to what I think Pink Floyd is about.

This is my personal view, one that will be contentious I'm sure, but one that comes from being passionate about their music for the last 32 years. 'Dark Side' was the very first album I purchased at the tender and impressionable age of 13. I loved it, and all of the other 'Floyd albums I purchased with my pocket money over the following months. I remember buying Animals and The Wall on the day of release, the anticipation and excitement was huge. But then I went through the 'anguish' of the split, the disappointment of the first post Waters 'Floyd album and Waters own 'Radio Kaos' and my anger at Waters for wrecking a great band, one I dearly loved. It wasn't really until 'The Division Bell' and 'Amused to Death' that I started to get some perspective, but I still felt they would be better together than apart. Then David released 'On an Island' and went on tour; both the album and the tour I loved and understood. Here was a man completely happy with his lot and making sweetly divine music. The shows were excellent and beautifully understated. Roger had also been out with his 'In the Flesh' shows at which he played new songs, and the 'Dark Side' shows, also with a new song. Roger had clearly enjoyed these shows and had progressively improved the performances and presentations each time he went out.

Aside from Roger's new found willingness to rejoin his old band mates is there really any need? Would it work? David has made it clear that he doesn't feel the same need as Roger to make political statements in his music and I doubt David would let Roger be the boss he clearly needs to be. It appears each is happily and successfully doing his own thing and that should be enough for anyone. If it's not, then, for my money and on the strength of these last few performances, Roger is probably closest to the original, classic notion of what is, and makes, Pink Floyd.

One final thing Roger, "We're just knocked out. We heard about the sell out. You gotta get an album out. You owe it to the people".

CONCERT PICTURE - courtesy of BD contributer, Tony Coombes

 

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Natalie Lyons

Once inside Earls Court we found our seats and spent the time before Roger came on phoning some other friends who were sitting elsewhere in the venue and trying to spot them waving.  Our seats were about two thirds of the way back, on the first level, to the left of the stage.  We were pretty far back, but one of the many good things about seeing Roger is that the show is so spectacular that each person in every seat is able to appreciate it.

The songs played prior to Roger’s entrance were completely different to last year.  The things I remembered hearing last night were a lot of Tom Petty stuff, She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby (who appeared at The Wall concert in Berlin as the Teacher), Johnny B Goode, Waterloo by Abba which got a big cheer when it was switched off immediately, My Funny Valentine, We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn, and some other Rock n’ Roll songs.

The last thing played was the famous clip of Geoff Hurst scoring against Germany in the 1966 cup final, just as fans invaded the pitch.  A perfect choice, because I can’t think of another 10-second clip that can make an English crowd so instantaneously elated.

In The Flesh kicked in, and straight away we knew it was going to be a blinding show.  I noticed a lot of differences in the visuals compared to last year, and the band seemed better too.  All this time on the road has enabled them to really fine-tune the set.  It didn’t matter to me in the slightest that the setlist was unchanged, I got excited as the intro to every song was played.

At one point Roger said that it was “great to be back in London”, and it was also great for us to be able to see him in a venue that has a fair amount of Pink Floyd history.  I was sitting wondering what it would have been like to see one of The Wall concerts there.

Mother was beautiful, one of my favourite songs in the set.  Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun was much better than last year, when it was a low-point for me.  This time Ian Ritchie didn’t seem to go quite so over the top with his sax solo, although it was still a bit of a “jazz trance” moment!  Snowy played a fantastic Eastern-style solo.

The crowd had seemed a little subdued at first, but from Shine On onwards they started to pick up.  Shine On and Wish You Were Here were massive sing alongs.

The Final Cut songs were wonderful, it’s amazing how intimate it felt seeing Roger singing those songs despite being in such an enormous venue.  When Roger sang each song you could see that he meant every single word and was speaking with absolute conviction, a rare thing for performers nowadays.

Perfect Sense and Leaving Beirut also went down really well, which I was glad of as I had been concerned that people who were there just to see Dark Side of the Moon would perhaps not be aware of Roger’s solo work.  I even noticed people singing along to Leaving Beirut, which I didn’t see at Hyde Park last year.  The strong political messages of the songs also got a good response from the crowd, with people cheering a lot of the sentiments expressed by Roger.

Have a Cigar and Sheep were the other highlights of the first half for me.  Although I was expecting the pig, and I’d seen hundreds of photos of it, it still gave me a thrill to see it floating around in front of me.  “Religion Divides Us” was a piece of graffiti that I hadn’t previously noticed.

The first half shot by, we were blown away by it.   We went managed to find somewhere to have a smoke before Dark Side of the Moon.  Oddly, we didn’t see anyone else smoking joints, although my friend went the night before and said the whole venue stank of weed.

Before Speak to Me, Roger came out and introduced… NICK MASON!!!  Since I’d heard that he hadn’t been at the previous show, I wasn’t really expecting him to turn up.  However, I’d noticed that Graham Broad’s drumkit was set up to the side of the stage, so it wasn’t a complete surprise when Nick came on.  Roger looked really pleased to see him and gave him a big hug.

The performance of Dark Side of the Moon was absolutely astounding, from the first moment.  On The Run was phenomenal.  Roger has extended it, adding ambulance sirens and trains and racing cars braking and all sorts of other sounds, and the screen film is amazing.  It left us all in a daze.

As before, Carol Kenyon’s performance of Great Gig in the Sky was incredible, and she got a standing ovation.  Throughout Dark Side was also where Jon Carin and Harry Waters really started to shine.  Jon Carin has been part of the Pink Floyd and Roger Waters touring bands for so long that his voice and style fit perfectly.

I noticed something interesting on Us and Them.  The clip of Roger the Hat giving his “Short, sharp shock” speech was longer, and you heard him go on to say “they’re f***ing angry c***s”, which I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard on the album.

Any Colour You Like was another stand out tune.  I have to praise the three guitarists, they all put on a great performance throughout the whole show.  I can’t remember exactly who played which solo last year, but it seemed like there was slightly less Dave Kilminster and more Andy Fairweather-Low and Snowy White.

The laser pyramid during Brain Damage/Eclipse was ingenious, it worked really well.  Again, something that I’d seen lots of photos of but you have to be there to truly appreciate how cool it looks.

Dark Side of the Moon seemed to fly by even quicker than the first half.  At the end Roger got a massive standing ovation that went on for ages.  He came out with Nick and looked genuinely moved by the crowd response.  A lot of people remained standing throughout the entire encore and sang along to every word.

And then it was over!  A truly sublime night, I’ve never seen a better show.  Roger delivered the goods, as always, and his band were on fire.  The show was completely cohesive, and perfectly conveyed Roger’s anti-war sentiments.  I honestly don’t think that there is any act on Earth that I’d rather have seen performing last night.

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Thom Allott

Like many of the posters of the recent UK reviews, I last saw Roger's tour at Hyde Park last year.  Aside from the absence of awful atmosphere and dejected football fans who marred an otherwise brilliant night last July, Saturday's concert was ten times better than what I thought was a great show at Hyde Park, despite the setlist and personnel remaining unchanged.  From the opening film of the old radio being tuned (and the amusing way it tunes out of both 'Waterloo' and 'Dancing Queen' - thank goodness!) to the roof-blowingly enthusiastic ovation that Waters and his band received, there wasn't a single moment that the hair on the back of my neck wasn't on end.  I attended the concert with my Dad (very much a Waters fan, who rates The Pros & Cons Of Hitchiking as his favourite album of all time) and brother (who is a casual Floyd fan), both of whom I bought tickets for as Christmas presents, and both were so overwhelmed that they gave me an enormous hug to say thanks afterwards!!

While Natalie Lyons' great review has covered just how wonderful the gig was, I wanted to highlight a couple of things that just made the entire thing worthwhile.  First off was Perfect Sense- it's a pity that those who felt the need to use the solo material portion of the show as an excuse for a pissbreak missed this, as for my money, Perfect Sense Part 2 was just about the most moving part of the evening.  You could see the bombast and energy Roger put into his performance with this, whipping up the crowd (aided by the pre-recorded mass singalong and animation) and driving the point home.  Followed on from the 2001 spaceman floating through the crowd, this was visually one of the most exciting parts of the show.  The thing about Earl's Court and other super-size venues is that as much as the artist would like to emote and connect with the audience (think of Coldplay's bland nonsense), it is simply impossible to reach every attendee without hurtling some form of bombast at them.  Luckily for Roger Waters, the calibre of material like Perfect Sense means that he can combine the sensitive and the direct, and reach every member.

Likewise, one of the reasons the show was so successful lies not only with Roger, but with his superb backing band.  All of them would pretty much be able to carve out a successful solo career (particularly PP Arnold, Andy Fairweather-Low and Jon Carin) should they choose, but their dedication to Waters, and vice-versa was evident by the effort they put into their performances.  One of the highlights of this show compared with last year is that Snowy White was far more prominent with his solos than Dave Kilminster, which was a joy to watch.  While I've no truck with Dave Kilminster's playing, I do feel that he approaches the classic Gilmour solos almost by rote, or  adds a lot of unnecessary bombast to the sound, whereas Snowy White is a far more natural player, whose technique is similar to Gilmour's.  This also meant that when Kilminster was let off the leash (as on Any Colour You Like), the results were truly jaw dropping.

On a similar note, Carol Kenyon's performance on Great Gig In The Sky actually surpassed the original; I've read interviews with Roger Waters wherein he's mentioned Sam Brown's performance on the last Floyd tours, and with respect to Ms. Brown (and indeed Clare Torry), Carol Kenyon just owned the piece on Saturday.  You could almost sense the audience holding their collective breath as she swooped up and down the scale, hitting every note just perfectly, even breathing in the right places.

Nick Mason's appearance cannot go unmentioned; not being aware of it made me leap up with joy when he was announced, and it was truly special to see him back behind the kit (especially after Waters' absence from Pink Floyd's appearance on Thursday night).  As an aside, I’d love to see him play a whole show, including Waters' solo material.

Visually and sonially as well, there was much improvement over last year; the floating spaceman and pig were both superb, while the pyramid cannot be accurately represented by words- anyone who hasn't seen it needs to see it!  Similarly, the surround sound was most effective during On The Run and Time, both of which were performed perfectly (especially Nick Mason's rototom introduction).

The only minor criticisms I'd have of the show would be that Graham Broad is still a much more powerful drummer than Nick Mason, and as such, apart from the riveting intro to Time, Nick's parts were very very low in the mix, which is a shame as you could see some of the superb kit work he was playing on the video screens, and it would've been great to hear those trademark fills echo around the arena.  Likewise, the bass guitar, whoever was playing it, was lost by the time it got to the nosebleeds where we were sat.  However, this is a common complaint for arena shows (and a reason why I don't go to that many of them), and Saturday's show was still one of the best large-scale gig I've ever seen.  As I remarked to my Dad on Saturday, it must be gratifying for Waters to be able to play the same venues as a 63 year-old man that he did when he was in his 30s without a name band or compromising his ideals.  And rightly so!

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Matthias Stuerner

I had seen this tour already last year in Berlin and wanted to give Waters a second chance after that relative let-down of a concert. I couldn't quite believe the many overwhelmed reviewers who couldn't stop writing about how much better than last year this current version of the DSOTM-Tour was. So which better location to give him his second chance than historic (at least concerning all things Floyd) Earls Court?

As luck would have it I chose the second night at Earls Court which brought us half of Pink Floyd onto the stage thanks to the appearance of Nick Mason. He seemed to be very happy but also very low in the mix compared to Graham Broad, but his one solo spot - the intro of Time - was performed very well. Anyway, it was great to see him play Dark Side again!

And what concerns the many overwhelmed reviewer I have mentioned above? They are absolutely right! This year's version of the show has nothing at all to do with last year's version. The big screen is stunning and very effective. Also old gimmicks such as having a pig hovering over the audience in a confetti shower are still working surprisingly well. I won't go into details as they have been mentioned in almost every other review...

Roger Waters is certainly back in the league in which David Gilmour played last year, I'm happy to sum it up. Witnessing DSOTM being performed at Earls Court, like in May '73 and October '94, was a wonderful experience I will not forget soon. It certainly helped that I had a vantage point right next to the fence around the mixing desk. Watching all the activity going on there was interesting. There were also a number of VIPs watching the show from inside the fence, some of them looking vaguely familiar. There was also a boy of about 10 years just across the fence to my left who happily jumped around on the flight cases - I can only assume it was the youngest son of Roger Waters. This was further proved by the fact that after the intermission two blond beauties appeared and took the two seats in front of me which had strangely remained empty in the first half. One of the two I'm 99% sure was India Waters. That reseblance to her father is really quite striking. She also joked around with this boy which I think was her brother. After the show she helped him across the fence and they talked about going back stage with the rest of the entourage from inside the mixing desk area.

It made the whole experience surreal, seeing Roger Waters perform with two of his children right in front of me (and the third one perfoming on stage of course). I was very tempted to tap them on their shoulder and ask them what it's like to be the offspring of Roger Waters, but then I figured that's none of my business.

Anyway, it was a night to remember, and I'm very very glad I gave Roger Waters his second chance!

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Steve Livesley

A fantastic evening! Earls Court will always hold special for me as I was lucky enough to see The Wall performed four times, once in 1980 and three times in 1981 and to be honest I didn't think I would ever see the likes of performed again! That was until last night! I've seen Rog quite a few times as a solo performer over the years and nothing ive seen up until last night has come close to that. Obviously Roger must take full credit for an outstanding performance, from start to finish every song was delivered with high emotion and passion and the huge crowd were held in awe at the visuals and special effects. It was quite obvious to see how much these songs mean to so many people! Shine On!

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Mohamed Menza

In accordance with the previous positive reviews of this tour, there was a lot to be expected from Waters & co. But this show was far beyond expectations - it was a mind-blowing experience!

For my generation, those that were born around the time The Wall was released, attending a concert that encompassed the genius of Pink Floyd was a dream that seemed almost impossible to attain. Somehow, and rather brilliantly, Roger Waters managed to accomplish that. So no thanks would be enough really! This is what Pink Floyd was meant to sound like live!

CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Robin Sadler

I don’t know what it is about Roger he just seems to make the concert feel personal, he constantly moves around the stage giving all the fans a good chance of seeing him up close - Saturday started by seeing Snowy talking to audience members and a report or Mr Gilmour being back stage, lights dimmed and it started -  the music was more powerful more feeling - I assume because it was London?!, there was tremendous feeling in the crowd, a feeling of being united as one everyone was singing along with the usual tracks Wish you here etc, the only disappointing bit was no warning of the starting of the second half we were queing like most for the toilets when the heart beat began and we raced back to see Nick Mason on stage! Part way into Breathe, shame.

Words cannot describe how much it meant to see Roger but to also see Nick onstage was fantastic! A dream come true! I did feel sorry for people at the front as there was a massive surge down the isles to see the band which must have annoyed numerous audience members at one point small scuffles broke out and security struggled to hold people back.

The concert was more than I expected in many different ways, Roger really put 100 percent into Saturday much more than Monday [at the Manchester MEN] - I am glad I made the long journey down for the gig, my wife is still not a fan but admitted she can see why so many of us enjoy being together at such gigs, at one with other PF fans.

I am just keeping my fingers crossed this is not the last time we see either Roger or Nick perform, they really appeared to be bouncing from the immense crowd reaction to them playing.

One day, who knows, but let's face it individually or as PF they are probably one of the best performing musicians anyone will ever see.