Roger Waters Live in Cape Town, February 2002

Photos: Brian Currin

Review:

Firstly let me start off by saying that I have been a Pink Floyd and Roger Waters fan since the early 70s and I have ALL of their official CDs including obscure albums like 'When The Wind Blows' (a soundtrack album from 1987, half of which features Roger Waters and the Bleeding Hearts Band), 'The Body' (by Roger with Ron Geesin) and 'Works' (a US-only compilation). I also have a number of bootlegs, though I am not really a huge bootleg collector. So if you are expecting a totally unbiased and objective review -- forget it!

When I first heard about this tour in October last year, I bought my Golden Circle ticket straight away. I have never seen Pink Floyd live, though I have most of their live videos, and I reasoned that this Roger Waters gig would be the closest I would ever get to seeing Pink Floyd in the flesh, so to speak!

Before The Show: The press releases from Big Concerts before the show said that it would start at 8pm and end at 11pm with a 20 minute interval... and that's exactly how it happened, give-or-take a few minutes. I arrived at 7pm and wandered round the Bellville Velodrome saying "hi" to friends, buying the programme and obligatory T-shirt and just generally soaking up the atmosphere. I was amazed at the number of young people in the audience, especially later during the show when I heard them singing along to the lyrics. Roger (and Floyd) seem to have a very wide appeal across the ages.

8.03pm: The stadium went dark, BANG! fireworks went off, and Roger was in the spotlight, on top of a wall, shouting "Ein, Zwei, Drei" (German for one, two, three), and for the next 3 hours I was in a different world. A world of my youth, a world of anger and turmoil, a world of hope and longing and a world of music and madness... Roger Waters was in Cape Town on the first night of his World Tour 2002.

Images: The backdrop to the stage was a huge screen which was constantly filled with images, slide shows, and videos, which added greatly to the music. I was really impressed when during 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' a gradually expanding image of Syd Barrett appeared on the screen and there was immediate recognition from the audience, most of whom were born long after Syd had already left the band. (By the way, try reading like this: Shine on You crazy Diamond, just in case you didn't know who the song was about).

Another great moment was the torpedo scene during 'Perfect Sense' when Roger looks through an imaginary periscope and we see him aiming at an oilrig while 2 American voices commentate as if they are watching a "game". And that explosion... wow!

Sounds: I was in the middle of the Golden Circle and there were speakers suspended above my head on either side. I seemed to be in the perfect spot for a full surround sound experience - like a giant home theatre! Dogs barked behind me, clocks ticked all around me, things exploded in front me - it was incredible.

I love that fact that so many of the classic soundbites were used to enhance the songs and bring back the memories. The alarm clocks, the rhythmic cash register, the heartbeats, the voice-overs all brought a rush of nostalgia and added immensely to the enjoyment of the music.

On the original 'Amused To Death' album, Roger had wanted to use the voice of HAL, the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey" that goes mad and has to be disconnected. Unfortunately he was not able to, but in the show it appeared as he originally intended and we heard the mechanical (maniacal?) voice of poor HAL saying "stop, Dave... I'm afraid, Dave..."

The Music: If you have the 'In The Flesh' live CD released last year, then you have 99% of this show. Only 2 slight differences. Firstly 'Shine On' flows into 'Welcome To The Machine', then straight into 'Wish You Were Here' (including that radio tuning interlude) and then the final sections (parts 6 to 9) of 'Shine On' are played. This is the whole of the 'Wish You Were Here' album in the right order just omitting 'Have A Cigar'.

Secondly, the encore song is not ' Each Small Candle' which was new 2 years ago, but an even newer song titled 'Flickering Flame' (read the lyrics here). The mention of "African plains" during this song, brought cheers from the South African crowd.

Highlights: A highlight for me was the really long version of 'Dogs' which was originally known as 'Gotta Be Crazy' when first performed live in 1974 - it was renamed 'Dogs' for the 'Animals' album in 1977. I also really enjoyed the tripping 'Set Your Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' from 1968's 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' with a wonderful sax solo accompanied by slide show images of my favourite comic book hero, the Silver Surfer. Graham Broad's drumming on the introduction to 'Time' was outstanding. And the dual (duel, maybe?) guitar solos by Snowy White and Chester Kamen on 'Comfortably Numb' blew me away. They climbed on top of the wall and traded licks and I hoped they would never stop, but eventually they did... stunning.

The Band: Basically the same musicians as on the 'In The Flesh' CD with a few changes (see list above). Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II has been replaced by Chester Kamen (not a "mystery" guitarist as some reviewers have referred to). Susannah Melvoin (Doyle's wife) is replaced by Linda Lewis who has been around for years and sang on Bowie's 'Aladdin Sane' album amongst many others. Keyboardist Jon Carin (who also played live with Pink Floyd on their 'Pulse' tour in 1994) has been replaced by Roger's son, Harry Waters.

11:02pm: I left exhausted and elated. OK, maybe he didn't play all my favourites. Where was 'Pros and Cons Of Hitch-Hiking Part 10', for example, and why so little from 'The Final Cut' which in my opinion will always be the first Roger Waters solo album, rather than the last Roger-era Pink Floyd album. And nothing from 'Radio KAOS'... but these are small gripes. We were entertained and treated to a master composer sharing his thoughts, his paranoia, his hopes and his dreams with us - and I left knowing that my almost 30 years of being a fan has all been worth it.

Brian Currin, February 2002

ROGER WATERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

If you told me three years ago that I would have seen Roger Waters live three times I would have been "amused to death". Unbelievably, that is exactly what has happened. After traveling to Baltimore in September 1999 to see him for the first time, all I had to do this time was travel to Cape Town (which probably cost me just as much as Baltimore) and Johannesburg (where I live).

All the shows were fairly similar with just a few songs different (still too many Floyd tracks and not enough solo material). Being the first show of the tour, the Cape Town show was understandably the loosest. New guitarist Chester Kamen did most of the solo work, but if truth be told missed a few crucial notes (particulary during Dogs) but improved during the second set and ended off very strongly with the Comfortably Numb solo with Snowy. I elected to be seated at the Velodrome and was very impressed with the sound. Never before have I experienced quadrophenic sound live in SA. You could clearly hear all the sound effects and occasionally found yourself turning around to see who's dog was barking.

The second set was better once the band had warmed up and once they concentrated on Roger's solo works. Probably less stress on the band to have to sound like Floyd. Rogers voice was slightly strained and he said very little. Visuals were similar to the US show, but I particularly enjoyed seeing the rare Floyd footage during Set The Controls. The star of the show again for me was the amazing vocals of PP Arnold during Perfect Sense. For an encore Roger performed a new track called Flickering Flame. The performance was slightly rusty as would be expected from a new song that has not been performed live before. All in all a solid and professional opening to a world tour.

For the Joburg show I elected to go to the Golden Circle. Never again. I was close enough to see the performers faces but had to contend with sound coming from the monitors. These would have been fine if I did not have people singing lyrics and guitar solos louder than the band. Why do people insist on singing if they do not know the lyrics??? We also had a few people who were passing out during Shine On (the ninth song). Why would anyone pay R300 just to pass out during the first set??? As a result I did not really enjoy the first set. For the second set we moved to the back of the Golden Circle where the sound was excellent. The Dome is a notoriously bad venue for sound but as always with Roger we had quality. The band was tighter with less errors. Snowy White took over more of the solo duties and man can he play. His solos were smooth as liquid. Rogers voice was stronger and highlights were PP Arnold, Snowy White and Graham Broad's percussion solo. Same set list as Cape Town with the exception of the encore which was Each Small Candle. The backdrop to the song had the lyrics and was a very striking end to the show.

A fully packed show and absolutely loved by all. South Africans have never experienced shows of this magnitude both aurally and visually.

Two great shows - phenomenal band and professionally performed. Personally I think the band missed guitarist Doyle Bramhall and keyboardist Jon Carin which just seemed tighter, but having said that I did see them in the US after they had performed a number of shows, so I am sure that the fans who will see the show in South America and Europe will see them get better and tighter.

Rui de Sousa, 15th March 2002

Links:

For a full biography and discography, visit
the South African Pink Floyd Fansite

More info on the 2002 world tour at RogerWaters.org.