We know that the vast majority of our readership are fully aware of what Roger's Us + Them Tour consisted of, and how it was presented. He combined selections from the Floyd's back catalogue (such as Pigs, Money and Us and Them) with songs from his recent album, Is This The Life We Really Want? as a plea for humanity, a call to action to the audiences. The film's aim was to highlight this, whilst providing a stunning and unforgettable cinematic experience. Rolling Stone notes that the film "overwhelms both in subject matter and presentation — the theater shakes with the bass in the Dolby Atmos mix — and you can see how the show affected the audiences that came to see the tour. Us + Them, which contains footage from the tour’s stop in Amsterdam last year, will screen around the world this week." Here's a taster of the film...
In their extensive interview with Roger, he expresses his relief that the film turned out so well, and was struck by the emotions and reactions from those captured on camera in the audience. "I'm glad the film turned out to have a humane and political message. I'm proud of [the audience members]. I'm proud of anybody who allows themselves to be moved by the idea that human beings acting collectively to make each other's lives more full of love is something worth fighting for."
Talking more generally about his live production, and his thoughts on touring, he discusses the importance to him of making the event a compelling experience, a piece of theatre. He also reveals that "I've been talking today with Sean [Evans] about this tour that we're going to do next summer, and I was saying, I've been thinking about a title and which songs to do. There's a song in a demo for a piece that I'm recording, and it's, "Time keeps slipping away." I think it's because we're all dying under the attack from the homicidal sociopaths who have all the money and all the power and run the media and the propaganda system and lie to us constantly and try to keep us at each other's throats so they can maintain the system."
He then expanded on the plans for next summer. "I think the plan is to do 30 or 40 gigs in North America in election year, and also a few gigs probably only in Mexico City. If we're playing in the States, I really want to go to Mexico because audiences are stunning. I love the people. It'll be Canada, the U.S.A., and maybe three gigs in Mexico City. And that's all. I can't go off around the world, and I don't really want to either. And I'm not doing any outdoor shows; I'm just doing arenas, so there's only one thing to produce. But it'll be a new show. It will be no-holds-barred. It will be even more political than Us + Them was — political and humane. We were listening to songs and looking at set lists today. We were talking about, what should we call it? I shouldn't be giving this away, but I don't give a shit because it will probably all change, but imagine the iconic helicopter that normally comes before Happiest Days and Brick 2 — that noise that we all know and love — and imagine a megaphone, somebody abused this device before, I know — but, "This is not a drill." I thought that could be a good title for the show: This Is Not a Drill. The ruling class is killing us."
Obviously as and when the dates, venues and other details are revealed, we'll let you all know. In the meantime, visit RollingStone.com for the full, fascinating interview where Roger talks touring, climate change, David Gilmour and Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets, as well as his new film, which hopefully will have a domestic release announced soon too.
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