Sunday May 21 2017
Roger Waters Us + Them Tour Rehearsal
New Jersey, Meadowlands Arena
Disclaimer: As the tour has not yet started, I will minimize
spoilers on content and details of the show beyond the group’s reaction to
them. If there is anything I think constitutes a spoiler, it will be indicated.
My definition may vary from yours, but the intent here is not at all to ruin
anything who does not want it ruined. Read at your own discretion.
Simon and I woke up early Sunday morning, still fairly tired
from tailgating and a Jimmy Buffett concert with my folks in Bristow, VA.
(Actually, I thought that performance was one of the better Buffett shows I’ve
been dragged to over the years, and the tailgate was mostly with work mates, so
it was fun watching them do tequila with my parents.) (There was an incident
with an inflatable shark, too.)
We rustled together snacks, drinks, chargers, etc., threw
them in the car, and got on the road for 7:30. We listen to James O’Brien’s
Mystery Hour podcast for 4 hours on the drive up to New Jersey, but the closer
we got, the more excited we were getting to meet up with friends, enjoy the
pre-show gathering, see the state of this “abandoned” venue, and, of course,
see the show.
After picking Wendy and Matt up from their hotel, we drove
to the nearby “Irish Pub” where, after drinks and a Full Irish Fry Up, we met
up with Other Matt and his friend, Drew, Mike, Wes, Chris, Patrick, Ellie,
Andy, Jackie, Kimberly, Chris, Marco, and Donna (representing everywhere from
Canada to Hawaii and back). We discussed our love and preferences of the new
Roger tracks. (Some people liked Déjà Vu best, some likes The Last Refugee
best. I’m team Last Refugee.) As 4:00 approached, we peeled off and made our
way to the venue—apparently everyone had a pretty fun time trying to find this
no-longer-existent address on GPS. And because of the relative size and nature
of the show, there was a fraction of a percent of usual event staff. There was
literally one guy directing traffic that we encountered before we parked. How
were we supposed to find a place to park in all that open space?!
Outside the entrance the venue had an obelisk with posters
for Roger’s new album as well as a 10-ft pig specifically for the album. Wendy
and Matt did an obligatory handstand as we waited for doors to open.
I met outside with my friend Oni and her husband, James.
This would be their first ever Roger Waters show (what an introduction!) I was
twice as much excited for them to see it as I was to see it myself.
Perhaps due to low staff levels and for crowd control, the
venue only let people into the venue in batches of 100–150. It gave me a
flashback to the old George Pal Time Machine.
Once in the venue EVERY SINGLE ATTENDEE had to pick up
tickets from will call. I have to give props to the skeleton staff for doing
this relatively quickly and efficiently.
In the will call foyer, the pillars were covered in
promotional flyers for the tour and another display for the album. Several of
us… um… needed a closer look at those flyers. (None remained upon exit.) I
mention all the décor, because it was stark against the otherwise completely
bare venue. Usually there are advertisements for beer and concessions and local
car mechanics and law offices. Not even a PSA against drunk driving—just the Roger
stuff. The same conditions existed in the arena proper—there were no LED banner
advertisements or colorful posters around the perimeter. It was stripped. That
was nice in its own way—you could really focus on the stage setup—fewer
distractions.
A scattering of chairs on the very left and right of the
arena floor were speckled with a few first arrivers, but many people either
made their choice of seat anywhere up the stairs either side of the arena or
joined the *hopefully washed* masses standing centerstage. It was all “general
admission,” and you really did have your choice of pretty much anywhere. Oni
and James and I sat 5 rows back, stage left and gushed up until the show. The
row was actually relatively empty! (And after two songs, I actually went up to
the front where Simon, Matt, Wendy. Kimberly et al. were gathered right up on
the front rail!)
SPOILERS!!!
The stage was setup with a large LED screen background
approximately the same expanse as the “wall” from The Wall tour arena shows—so
completely one side to the other. 15 minutes or so before the start, it played
a mostly silent introductory video in the vein of Sean Evan’s “Last Refugee”
short film. Perhaps it was only for the rehearsal, but the separate PA system
was playing pre-show tracks, and I definitely caught “Strange Fruit”—a veteran
track from The Wall tour. Will all following shows have a new, unique pre-show
track list?
Lights went down . . . Speak to Me. . . band trickles on
stage . . . . . . . . BREATHE. Roger and the band perform the first half or so
of Dark Side without saying much—this was probably the weirdest and most
surreal part of the show for me. Did I enjoy the music and the performance?
Sure—I didn’t not enjoy it. But the gig wasn’t clicking with me. Maybe it’s my
old-crotchety fan bias, but getting through all the Dark Side tracks at the
beginning was a chore, like eating flavorless vegetables before digging into
the the Kobe beef and cheesy potatoes. I mainly watch the performers, as the
background video just doesn’t offer much once you’ve seen it already (correct
me if I’m wrong rehearsal goers, but…) it’s the same video footage as used in
Desert Trip and Mexico. Roger has a few scratchy words after “the old stuff,”
then gets to “the good stuff.” Déjà Vu, followed by The Last Refugee. This was
the first time I heard The Last Refugee live, and, yes, I teared up like a
complete nerd. It’s such a beautiful song. (I heard Déjà Vu first when it was
“If I were God” at his gig with G.E. Smith in Sag Harbor in October 2015.) I
really do like both songs, and I actually appreciate both MORE live, even
though Roger was clearly having voice/throat issues from the likely days of
practice.
After The Last Refugee, we had a REAL treat. The new, as yet
unreleased fourth track from the new album—Picture That. Well, *I* really
enjoyed it. I want to listen to it a dozen more times, but it’s definitely as
Simon described—one of his “list” songs. (I like his list songs...) I think it
got the crowd a little fired up—in part because of the make-up of the crowd and
their relation to Roger or the band—no half-time fans! (Except this one guy in
the crowd who dissed KAOS.) It’s like everyone knew—“This is it! This is the
new song he hasn’t released yet! We haven’t heard this yet! EEEEEE!”
Then? WYWH that rolled into Happiest Days, then Brick I and
II. During Happiest Days, a group of school kids in orange prison jumpsuits
lined the front of the stage staring downwards during the song, they rip these
off to reveal black and white “RESIST!” shirts. Right in front of Wendy and I
was a little boy who couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6, and I do have to say,
the poor thing looked TERRIFIED. And it wasn’t even a full venue! I just wanted
to give him a hug and let him know it was going to be great and he’d do great
and how precious he was. Wendy and I waved and he quickly waved back before
making sure he was looking down again like he was supposed to. Even though I’ve
personally heard Brick I and II “enough” already, that made the song for me
that night. I wanted him to see that we were there and enjoying it and he was
doing a good job, so made sure to clap along and smile—Wendy and I gave him a
thumbs up before he left the stage.
Roger had a few more croaky words thanking everyone for
coming to the special gig before intermission. Intermission in which we barely
moved and just kept talking about the new songs and the performers and the
setlist thus far. When would he play Smell the Roses?!
Intermission ended with my favorite part of the visual
production—the Battersea Erection. Other than that, I’m not going to say
anything about that aspect—I hope you go to see it for yourself at least once!
Definitely damn cool production.
The band plays through Animals with some new arrangements to
accommodate the new band members and the tweaked Desert Trip/Mexico graphics.
Me personally? I’ll never get tired of hearing the Animals Tracks live. What
can I say—their just so Orwellian and Rock and Roll and In-Your Face Lyrics and
(Dave K’s) Guitar and Drums.
Roger transitions to the end of Dark Side set with Money
(not my favorite, but some new “fun” graphics) then finally Us and Them—another
favorite of mine live. Before he can start Brain Damage. . . . . SMELL the
ROSES. I don’t know if I’d call the song transitions here smooth… feels like it
would have been better fitting amongst the Animals set.
I like Smell the Roses. I really do. And performed live was
better than the studio recording, definitely. My one little critique of that
track in the show is that the graphics were a little OTT graphic for me.
Footage from Cambodian political prisons and the killing fields, torture,
violence. I’m not saying AT ALL that we should hide the existence of these
things, but, very honestly, I felt like a bit like this:
I just generally tend to be an empathetic person—I know
those things exist and are really terrible… I don’t really want to see them
again, (and again) because it hurts my heart.
Maybe this was Roger’s intent? But while he tries to provoke and affect the
disaffected masses, I’m over here in tears T_T.
I pulled myself together for Brain Damage and Eclipse
(extended edition!), but was honestly so distracted with trying to figure out
what they were trying to do with a remote control orb that I didn’t really get
an impression of the visual production here. The musical performance was great,
though! (Maybe they’ll figure out the orb thing before Friday?!)
Roger ended with another croaky speech—but you could tell he
was genuinely grateful for the turnout and the reaction. (super fans are good
for something!) He (tried) to introduce the band, but is still learning the
names of the new members. Whoops. We’ll see how that goes Friday in Kansas
City. (They did a great job regardless!)
The ladies from Lucius and he sang Vera and Bring the Boys back
home, and he entreated the crowd to sing with him. As I have said to friends,
Lucius seems to be getting more comfortable with their vocals and have softened
up from last fall. Their new arrangements are somewhere between the studio
standard and the very experimental and sometimes jarring ones I remember from
Mexico. (I like it better now, but I know others won’t because it’s not the
“same”) Finally—Comfy Numb. Dave K’s solo is still spot on, couldn’t be
faulted. Still gets to me. But admit… I was distracted. Roger did something
that A) He’s never done as far as I know and B) I never ever thought he’d do.
In the latter half of Comfy Numb, he walked down the front rail smiling, saying
hi, and shaking hands. WHAAAAAAT. WHOA. I mean, that was cool. And then the
ceiling exploded confetti.
We were all a little bit stuck for words after the show. Was
it good? Of course it was! It was awesome! Was it a little disappointing to the
Roger fans who have really been waiting to see him preform his amazing solo
work live instead of the more tired “Time and Money” tracks? Well, yeah. Are
Simon and I going to follow it like we did The Wall tour? Probably not. We’ll
be happy to see a handful of shows in places with lots of friends and good
venues. Yeah, we’ll miss the cool, quirky nuances of each show, but we agree a
more enticing setlist could have been fashioned. What about all of the amazing
tracks from ATD which was remastered and rereleased in 2015? Which is not to
say, again—and I can’t stress it enough—that the show wasn’t fantastic. The
performers look awesome and so so so promising—I mean, the performers really
make it—so much talent and emotion. I’m excited for that and I’m excited for
the new material.
Simon and I had to rush off home (4-hour drive… definitely
nodded off several times), but made sure we said goodbyes to all the friends we
could. We also saw Ian (who does the fantastic sax solo) on the way out.
Rolled up our driveway at 2 AM, exhausted, happy, full of
desire for everyone else to just go see it now so we can talk about it.