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Home arrow Reviews arrow Live8 Reunion arrow Concert review by BD's Dave Carlin
Concert review by BD's Dave Carlin Print E-mail

It seemed Waters was sincerely enjoying his re-union and you could almost sense that he'd been waiting for such an event, and excuse to re-join, to come along, without the invitation coming from Gilmour. Waters couldn't contain himself; he had to let his emotions be known to his band mates in front of a vast audience; he had to make his stance official. He was up for it.

Gilmour though, seemed reluctant - but perhaps that's Gilmour. He didn't feel the need to make any matey speech or mid-song smiles to Waters and sunk back into his 70's, not-having-to-do-the-talking, role. There seemed an element of concern in what he knew he had to do, and resignation in relinquishing the controls of his band to Waters.

It was excellent too, to be able to clearly see Wright without him being obscured by banks of keyboards or poor lighting (a fate that, ironically, affected Jon Carin). And Mason too playing solo drums with PF for the first time since probably 1977. They sounded excellent as did the complete audio.

Many of the artists on the day casually left the stage but, oh what a lump-in-the-throat moment it was as Waters eagerly beckoned to Gilmour to gather for a final bow. They all seemed genuinely pleased. Personally though, for all the Waters vs. Gilmour stuff, if Wright hadn't shown up, it would not have been the same. There've been quotes from both Waters and Gilmour, and Mason, as usual, fending off the press with such tremendous comments on the rehearsals as "....well, we know all the words.....", but little, if anything I've seen, has given us any insight into the thoughts of the most hard done by PF member, and with the greatest reason for grudge bearing against Waters.

I was also struck with the fantastically detailed picture clarity of the BBC broadcast. The close-up shots were stunning with individual nasal hairs clearly visible on some Gilmour close-ups! The BBC director too did his homework with a symbolic distant night shot of Battersea Power Station on the horizon. It was excellent too for the band to get their own back drop footage projected.

A well thought out set list too. World crowd-pleaser Another Brick In The Wall [Pt.2] deliberately not included, I guess. Breathe/Breathe [Reprise] was a surprise, yet stunning opener. Not having previously sought out the set list, I was expecting perhaps In The Flesh? for maximum show-stealing impact. An unbelievably fantastic, uninterrupted, 25 minutes of live television.

The band sounded tight and excellent, and did indeed, know all the words...

 
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