Show 7 Buenos Aires

Christian and I at the show:

At the start of the show it was instantly obvious that something was different. There were lights all around the stadium, especially at the sides and front, similar to how it was in Athens, Greece. They were filming the show and had to light up the audience. As I said in an earlier post, it’s so much darker in stadium venues when they turn all the lights off. It has a great effect. To be honest, the lights at the sides were a little too distracting for me.

Stadium lighting around the edge of the venue

 

The lighting changed colour from blue to white to red to orange depending on the onstage lighting. It also pulsed to the music—more so on Run Like Hell. You can see what I mean in the video further down in this post.

The show was what we have come to expect—fantastic. We were 19th row centre, and the row in front was full of vets, all of whom went to meet Roger at the intermission.

Robbie's wife Victoria was on the end of that row, and we had been chatting for the last few days about how the crowd weren't standing up at the shows. Tonight was no exception. She wasn't having any of it, though, and stood up several times. She even did a meerkat move where she stood up among the seated masses, looked left and right, then sat back down. You had to be there to appreciate how funny this was.

Victoria rocking out at the show.

 

The crowd did stand a bit more than previous nights in that they didn't automatically sit down after Comfy Numb and Run Like Hell. It was nothing like the shows in the US or Europe, though. I think the problem is that most of the seats on the floor are way too expensive for people in Buenos Aires, and the “real” fans are all in the cheaper seats up around the first and second tiers, which are all usually standing throughout the show. I can’t wait for the last night when it’s all standing on the floor. I think it’ll be a totally different show altogether, energy wise!

Roger once again missed the first few words in some of the lines on Nobody Home. I'm not sure if his mic was off or wasn't faded up, but Marcelo commented on it, too, yesterday when we were having lunch. He said he had noticed it at a few of the shows. One thing I do miss a little is the ad lib things that Roger would do in the middle of In The Flesh Pt. 2. It is all far too scripted now due to the video they use on the end of the wall. He has to stick to what he’s said and done in the film—sometimes he even forgets to say anything at all! These are only little things, and obviously only things that people who have seen several shows would notice. To the general public—they won’t know any different!

There's a great shot of Roger’s machine gun half way through In The Flesh Pt. 2. Just as he picks the gun up and before he starts shooting they show a close up of the gun on the sides of the wall. It’s only up for a second, so it took me a few shows to be able to catch the image below.

Machine gun video on the side of wall                           Big screen Roger

 

Lights during Run Like Hell

 

The second half seems to just fly by now, and before we know it, Roger’s onstage doing The Trial! One thing I have to express again is that the sound at these stadium shows really is incredible. For anyone worrying about what it will sound like outdoors, all I can say is you are going to be blown away—not only by the sound, but also by the surround sound. It works very well outdoors. Anyone that has only got a ticket for an arena show in the US is going to miss out on the surround sound. It’s just not the same at all, and I would urge anyone in a heartbeat to try to get to one for the stadium shows.

 

One thing that looks great with the filming lights around the stadium is the beginning of Is There Anybody Out There. They use the lights around the top of the stadium to shine small spotlights down on the crowd. Again, this is something you wont see if you are just doing an arena show.

 

Lights at the beginning of ITAOT

 

 

 

At intermission there was a cool looking young kid (with a red Mowhawk) called Jack,he was backstage and Graham had given him a paid of drumsticks, he was sitting a few seats along for Kami and i was using the drumsticks all night and having a fantastic time at the show! I have to say we have both seen a lot of younger kids at these shows and it seems to be a whole family outing for some people, a lot more than it is in the US or Europe and all the kids seem to be having a fantastic time.

 

Jack clapping during Run Like Hell

 

As the wall started to come down, we looked behind and could see the spotlight on the pig and the crowd starting to tear it to bits. Kami said she wanted to do this tomorrow night, and as you read earlier, she did!

After the wall fall, we made our way to the front to see the guys close up as they did a little bit of Ole, Ole Ole and then played Outside The Wall as they left the stage. Graham was having some sound problems with his mandolin, but apart from that, the performance was totally faultless--except Roger missing a couple of words in Nobody Home and one tiny timing issue with Dave K. during Comfy Numb where he missed a note. I think only people like us may have noticed those things, though.

Graham having problems

Thank you!

After each show, the second the band have left the stage, Kami and I have plowed our way out of the stadium and hustled the 1/4 mile or so to get a taxi. This has worked great, with the exception of the 3rd night—we couldn't get a taxi at all and walked towards the apartment for at least an hour before we found a bus to take us the rest of the way. One thing that is still cheap in Buenos Aires is taxi fare. Well, it’s not cheap compared to the bus, but it’s a good value. The venue is about 7 miles from our apartment, and a taxi ride home costs about 40 pesos, which is approximately $7 US. The bus only costs 1.20 pesos, or approximately 25 US cents, but it’s not direct and there’s more waiting and walking involved. We got back after the show and made it to La Fabrica del Taco, had dinner around 1 A.M. and got back to the apartment to sleep around 2:30 A.M.

Full album of pictures below  including sound check, backstage, and the show itself.

View Full Album

P.S. Just a note I've remembered from the show last night (show 8) was that they have added a new graphic during Waiting for the Worms—the words TRUST US in HUGE letters are projected at each end of the wall. It’s just another sign that the show is still changing and that little tweaks are constantly added here and there! I will try grab a picture of it tonight, as it does look good and works well.