Capacity: 21,000
Concert starts: 8:00pm

Address of venue: Manchester Arena, Victoria Station, Manchester, M3 1AR, England. MAP

Website: www.manchester-arena.com

COMMENTS

Roger's Us + Them tour heads into Europe following the successful 2017 shows in the US and Canada. At the original announcement, the following was revealed:

"We are going to take a new show on the road, the content is very secret," said Roger Waters. "It'll be a mixture of stuff from my long career, stuff from my years with Pink Floyd, some new things. Probably 75% of it will be old material and 25% will be new, but it will be all connected by a general theme. It will be a cool show, I promise you. It'll be spectacular like all my shows have been.”

The announcement notes that "Roger Waters' legendary live performances are renowned as immersive sensory experiences featuring high class, state-of-the-art audio visual production and breathtaking quad sound. This new tour promises to be no exception; following months of meticulous planning and visionary craft, US + Them will inspire crowds with its powerful delivery and take the audience on an unforgettable musical journey."

Those who have attended - or have seen pictures/video of - the US and Canadian shows, will know just how spectacular and moving this new production is, and how it is a show you really shouldn't miss! 

For the regular sale of tickets, which started on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6th at 9am BST (local time), visit Ticketmaster.co.uk - use this link to see any presales that may be happening prior to this date. Using our links also helps toward the ongoing running costs of this site, and is appreciated!

Our thanks to Gary Ashton 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 show has now arrived in Manchester, for a night at the Arena - a venue that Roger last played on the final stretch of his last tour, presenting The Wall.

A hot day in the northern city lead into a sultry night, spiced up with there being a vital game in the World Cup - England's football team hoping to triumph over Colombia to progress through to the latter stages of the competition. This all combined to help the atmosphere of the evening...

Next up, London's Hyde Park for a rare outdoor show on the Us + Them tour, before the production heads back northwards for Birmingham the day after London. First, here's a video from the show from Roger's official Facebook page…

A combination of factors gave this show at the Manchester Arena (formerly MEN/Manchester Evening News Arena, when Roger last played here, back in 2013 for The Wall, and of course subsequently the scene of a terrorist atrocity which left its mark on the city) added impact, if indeed it needed any.

With Britain currently basking in an extended hot period, and England with a good (if difficult) chance of progressing through the football World Cup (a tournament which had already claimed big scalps in the form of Germany, Portugal, Argentina and Spain, to name just four of the surprise losers) the atmosphere in the city was fairly electric - those going to see Roger had additional excitement coursing through the veins, with football fans amongst that subset disappointed to be missing England's match against Colombia. (Incorrect) rumours spread that the show start time would be delayed in favour of the game, but as it stood, the concert began around the start of the second half with England defending a slender 1-0 lead.

With the unavoidably impactful nature of Roger's show, thoughts of football quickly evaporated for the majority of the crowd. Some could be seen occasionally having a quick peek at their phones to see if there'd been any change in the score. This seemed minimal though, with the vast majority sitting , absorbing Roger's latest (and arguably best) solo tour. The only time the sporting world gave the crowd a bit of a nudge, was during Dogs when a large cheer rang out around the hall as news came through that England had won the penalty shootout at the end of the match (something we've always traditionally struggled with, to say the least). This cheer caused some confused looks on stage but these were shrugged off as the song moved to its conclusion.

As with Liverpool and Glasgow, there were a few people in the audience who were a little too "refreshed" (i.e. drunk) causing issues for those around them. Why people spend a reasonable amount of money on tickets, then get drunk even before the show starts, beats me. It can also be a major irritant and distraction to those around them. I had friends in various parts of the hall and most of them reported issues like this. Anyway...

To the concert itself - as befitting a modern arena, the sound and sight lines were both uniformly excellent. The sound aspect isn't a given; plenty of artists play venues like this and they lack talented sound engineers who are able to exploit the strengths of a venue's acoustics, and also able to get around issues to provide the best possible sonic performance. One suspects there will be more of a struggle at the next show on the tour - London's Hyde Park.

The band were all on great form in Manchester, as were the girls from Lucius, with their vocal in Great Gig always working really well for me. It's a notoriously difficult song to perform live, and I think it's a tough call to better Clare Torry (whom I saw do it live, twice, back in 1987 - even her soundcheck/rehearsal sounded great both nights in her surprise Wembley Arena appearance).

A couple of things which were new to me - a chain hung from the ceiling which Roger pretended to be secured to, hanging on with his hands/wrists secured to it, and the return of the silver ball drone (which returned for the shows in Amsterdam). It's been a long time since the silver ball appeared, for some reason. Maybe it is hard to control in some situations?

Roger's post-band introduction message to the audience was a little briefer than it has been in the recent past. Often it has geographically relevant or topical edges to it, but in Manchester, he just urged people to use the strong love in the room (and the audience reaction was EXTREMELY strong throughout the show) to effect change, with him stating his aim for everyone to enjoy basic human rights. As seems to be happening more often these days, the penultimate selection (normally Mother, or the trilogy from the end of his recent album, Is This The Life We Really Want?, sits before Comfortably Numb) was dropped due to running times/curfews.

It was my fifth show on the tour, and as one expects with Roger, things evolve from show to show, with small improvements in presentation (visually or audibly/musically) coming in as and when Roger spots them. This striving for the best experience possible for the audience member, spending in some cases a lot of hard-earned cash on travelling to the venue, and buying the ticket, is gratifying in an age where it would be far easier to get a tour set up and sorted, and an adequate, unchanged presentation night after night. You never get that with Roger...and this difference helps elevate his shows to unmissable, and unforgettable, experiences.

We'd love to know from those attending how they felt the concert went. How was the show for you, if you were one of the fortunate ones to attend? Let us know what YOU thought!

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Heather Fenton

The show was absolutely brilliant, the best set list ever accompanied by stunning special effects and a brilliant band led by Roger who gave a flawless performance. We were at the back on the corner lower tier 7th row back so our view was not obscured by people walking and everyone around us were keen, enthusiastic fans.

The atmosphere was fantastic and when Battersea Power Station grew in front of us we could not have had a better view. Even the Pig made a beeline for us!

Comfortably Numb was brilliant and the Prism looked stunning. There were no flat bits at all and the whole show just flowed and unfortunately went far too quickly. Loved that there was so much from Dark Side and lovely to hear tracks like welcome to the Machine, Dogs and Pigs plus tracks from 'Is This the Life we Really Want' blended in beautifully.

Would it be too much to hope that he might do a mini tour next year????

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Gary Ashton

I attended Roger's concert in Manchester last night and here are a few images from what was a wonderful evening.

Plenty has been said already about the show and if this is to be Roger's final phase of touring then he is treating his fans to a visual and musical evening of brilliance together with some very strong messages regarding world leaders and events.

The set list is well known by now but first half highlights for me were Time, Deja Vu and Welcome To The Machine......the second half of the show was a complete highlight although I did feel that Smell The Roses may have been better served being played in the first half of the set.

The set's finale with the lasers and huge prism is something that will linger long in the memory.

YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover Roger's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, tickets scans, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!