Atlanta to Houston…….

Woke around 7, showered, packed and made my way out to the airport. My flight out was at 10:45 a little later than i remembered but i was there on time and stopped in the Delta lounge for some juice and breakfast.

The flight was just under two hours and i fell asleep within minutes of getting on the plane and cant even remember take off! i woke around 30 minutes later and realised id seen a sight on the outside of the plane saying “wireless enabled” they had Wi-Fi on the plane!!!

I signed on and sure enough it was a mega quick connection and i downloaded the latest episode of Gossip Girl so id have it to watch in Houston,lol I took a couple of pictures of the clouds outside and put them on my facebook page.(by the way, if anyone on here who reads my blog has facebook then drop me an e mail with your details and i will add you, i do put a few more pictures and things on facebook as I'm travelling round more than i do on here!)

Clouds from the plane                                 Texas down below

  

The flight went really quick with being able to surf the net and i i started writing a few bits from my blog which i put up yesterday. The captain said the weather in Houston was sunny with a temperature of 75` and no chance of rain, i was happy! Took me 30 minutes or so to pick up the rental car due to the line and by 1pm i was on my way to my hotel on the outskirts of Houston. I had decided not to stay in the centre as i got a great deal on hotwire for the Omni hotel out near the Galleria mall, it was about 12 miles west of Houston but i was there for two nights and they had a great pool and gym so i knew id have some comforts for a couple of nights.

Hello Houston!                                   Nice Malibu i saw

   

I arrived around 2pm after hitting a bit of traffic on the highway and check into my room. The view from my room isn't anything special but i could see the pool and it looked so inviting. I put my swim shorts on and headed down there for a couple of hours while the sun was still warm. I headed back to my room and a couple of hours later went for a 30 minute workout in the gym. Then headed back up to my room and chilled out. I wasn't gonna go out for anything to eat but i hadn't eaten all day, had been swimming and then used the gym so at around 8pm i had a look at what was around me online and found  a Chipotle :) i also called at the local CVS Pharmacy and picked up a couple of things including some thing to hopefully kill my throat and cold problem that's seemed to still be just kicking around.

Pool at the Omni                                                  Gym at the hotel

 

I got back to the hotel around 9pm, got into bed, had a quick chat opn the phone to a couple of friends and the next thing i know i woke around 6am this morning.

Atlanta Pre show meet up and show review….

So we arrived in Atlanta around 3:30pm, Greg was staying at an old school friends house about 15 miles north of Atlanta, i dropped him off there and then headed downtown to the Philips Arena, i wanted to get there and parked up before the rush hour traffic started.

Cool colour trees on the drive in to Atlanta.

Olympic torch from the 1996 Olympics

I parked up outside the arena around 4pm, i had a few friends that i was meeting up with pre show today and we’d all arranged to meet up at Taco Macs, a restaurant in the Philips arena complex. Chris Wagner, Jim, Zoyd, Kyle, Dave and a few others were all gonna be here.

I had an e mail last night from my good friend in the UK Dave Moran, i hadn't seen him since Live 8, the e mail was blank and all it said in the e mail header was “ Hi Simon, Dave Moran here - just wondered if you are at the Atlanta show?”  I had no idea Dave was coming over for any shows and was looking forward to meeting up.

A lot of us meeting up used to post on the Amused To Death message board in 1999 when Roger came out on tour for the first time in god knows how long! we had all kept in touch somehow and a few of us were meeting up tonight. My friend Kyle was coming to the meet up and we had been texting during the day, we missed actually meeting up at the Dark Side shows and i was looking forward to finally meeting face to face. Same with my friend Jim(aka Zoyd) we had met up here at the dark side show and it was good to be seeing him again.

This is the site that had the old message board we used to post on.

Amused to Death site

Zoyd, Kyle, Dave etc check out the link below to members area and read through the names and see how many we forgot when we were trying to remember everyone!!

Members area

I was the first to arrive at Taco Mac, then a few people started to arrive and we got a table set up outside for about 10 or 12. Dave Moran arrived about 15 minutes after id been there then Kyle and his friend Steve and Adam and then Zoyd and his fiancé Jaime. It really was fantastic to finally get to meet Kyle and to se Dave and Zoyd again.

Dave Moran and I                                Myself and Kyle                                   Dave, Myself, Jim and Kyle

   

It was fantastic to sit outside on the patio and have a drink and to chat to people i had known for years and some i had only just actually met. I have to say that i think Atlanta was THE best pre show meet up I've been at so far, just for the sheer quality of people that were there. It was great to actually have time to chat as well as everyone arrived when they said they would! most meet ups start at 5pm but everyone gets there around 6 or 6:30 and there's never enough time to chat however we were all there for 5 ish and had a fantastic time.

Jim and Jaime                                    Adam and Dave                                  Greg and his friend and others.

 

Chris Wagner and his wife and daughter Astrid arrived and his daughter has to be THE sweetest your girl I've ever met, Within seconds of meeting up she was telling me her favourite Roger song, which song she was looking forward to seeing and there was no shutting her up! don't get me wrong i wasn't complaining i was just amazed at how outgoing she was and her confidence!

Chris, his wife and Astrid.                               Myself with Astrid, SOOOOOO cute

     

Greg arrived with his friend and a couple of other people arrived and by this time it was going on 6:30, time to head over to the venue!

I have to say one of the highlights of the night was when Kyle's friend Steve lent on the security gate at the bar and set the alarm of, the security guy came running and had a laugh and joke at arresting Adam! i don't think anyone knew what it was at first, the waitress looked on in confusion and the same when the security guy arrived at first!

Steves Security breach!

I left for the venue with Kyle and once i go inside got a text from Greg to tell me i had left my camera on the table to Taco Macs! i headed back out there grabbed my camera and then went back into the venue.

We all met up once we were inside, Dave was sat stage right about 15th row, Kyle and his friends were a couple of rows in front of him, Jim and Jaime were about 7th row dead centre on the aisle and i was a couple of rows back behind Jim. Hassan didn't make it to this show but Amin did and he came over to meet up with Jim and Kyle whom he knows from the message board.It was great hanging out on the floor with such good friends and talking about the show. I played tour guide and told Jim and Jaime what to watch out for and when and where to look.

As i was sat talking to Kyle and Dave a guy shouted my name and said he had been reading the blog! i was once again spotted and had a quick chat to Alan and his wife, was great to meet you both and hope you enjoyed the show!

Jim and Jaime on the floor                   Dave and Kyle in their seats                Myself with Alan and his wife

    

Jim pointed out how he had been to a hockey game here a few months ago and knew if Roger was touring the wall shows he would definitely be playing this venue. why ? well look at the walls inside the venue at each corner!!

Notice anything similar to the wall?

With a few minutes to go we all took our seats and Brent the homeless guy was at the front of the stage ready to throw Pink in front of the mannequin holding Rogers coat and sunglasses.

Pre show panorama

The band sounded a touch off to me tonight to be honest, just the timing of their entries into the first couple of songs, wasn't real bad and maybe it was because id just seen a couple of amazing shows a few days before in Ft Lauderdale and Tampa who knows. I could see Jim and Jaime's face during In The Flesh and they were completely blown away, that made me happy! I didn't take many picture at this show but the ones i did came out kinda cool.

     

Jim and Jaime came back to stand with me for a few tracks as the guy in front of them was apparently all over the place and drunk before the show had even started. How can people pay $250+ for a ticket and go to the show like that! do they even remember the show the next day ? ok i know i did once in New York in 2007 but that was a mistake,lol

 

At intermission Jim, Jaime and i chatted about the show, Amin came over to see us and said the same as me, he thought it was good but the band were just off slightly. Dave's guitar went down in what was probably one of the worst places it could have done for him, right at the opening riffs of Young Lust! it was only down for 10 seconds or so though.

Everyone stayed seated for Hey You, and then started to stand up during Is There Anybody Out There, by the time the hotel room came down for Nobody Home the whole place was standing up again.

Roger now has a holder type thing  for his machine gun, Robbie doesn't have to hold it and hand it to him, Roger just picks it up and places it back in the holder to his right. A few shows ago Roger started rolling his R’s at the beginning of Run Like Hell, he did this again tonight “this is Rrrrrrrun Like Hell” he said.Once again i noticed there was mayhem on the floor when Roger threw his armband into the audience and i then saw someone hold it up in the air triumphantly pronouncing they had it!

The post it note type projection made another appearance and Roger shot it down as he had done a couple of nights before in Tampa.

Dave K has been suffering from a chest infection for the last few days but you would never know it to watch him play he doesn't show any signs of faltering at all. They have changed a little guitar bit during Run Like Hell, kinda hard to describe but Dave has a little bit of a riff he now does on his own half way through.

The wall came down pretty good tonight as you can see from the video below

Atlanta Wall fall

Id rate the show as probably an 8 out of 10 however to anyone that hadn't seen the show before the only mistake and problem they would have noticed was Dave's guitar going down during Young Lust.

We all headed back to Taco Macs after the show, as i was flying out to Houston early the next day i had booked a hotel out at the airport for tonight and  only stayed for one drink and left rather early, was great to hear what Kyle, Jim, Jaime, Adam and the other thought about the show before i left though. All in all a fantastic night with some amazing friends and its certainly one of the show that i wont forget in a hurry

Security, Chris myself and Kyle                 Chris and I

 

 

More pictures from Atlanta.

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Panorama below after the show

Tampa show…

So Tampa, I'm trying not to leave the show reviews too long before i write them otherwise i end up forgetting things like i have now! its just so difficult with the travelling and meeting people and from now on I'm going to make a conscious effort to write reviews of the shows within 24 hours!

So Ralph, Lori, Greg, Mike, Maria,Jack and i all caught the Hotel shuttle bus out to the Embassy suites which was right next to the venue in Tampa. I had a few friends to meet up  with there and wasn't sure what time they were getting there. The second i stepped off the hotel shuttle bus a guy walked past, looked at me and said “ are you Simon” i was totally floored and said “yeh” it turns out he was a friend of a good friend of mine, Vernon Fitch. Vernon's written a few books about Floyd and we've been good friends for probably going on 10 years now! i hadn't seen Vernon since the Dark side tour in 2007. Brett had been reading the blog and had recognised me from my pictures!

He joined us on the walk round the the Embassy Suites and we met up with Jeff Post whom i had met up with at several other shows including Detroit and Chicago and had also gone to Jeff's house before the Detroit show for drinks and snacks. He had a couple of friends with him and we all got drinks from the bar and went to sit outside in the warm air! Just as i was having my picture taken with Brett and his friend i felt an hand on my shoulder and turned around and it was Vernon.

Myself with Vernon (right) and Brett (my left)    Vernon and Myself

 

Everyone was introduced to everyone and that alone took a good 10 minutes!! We all drank, talked and took countless pictures.

   

   

Pre show meet Tampa

Maria's has always been a party girl and you don't have to wait long till after she has had a few drinks to hear her shouting “PARTY” you just know its her and that the place is gonna start rocking! so how fitting that when her and Jack went to Harry’s little gig last night down in Miami she was given the following!

   

Tampa hanging out.

Lori and i were drinking Long Island Ices teas, damn they were good but i hadn't had a single thing to eat all day since i left Cape Coral this morning, just two toasted muffins. The cookies that Gary gave me where locked in the car!! So the first drink went straight to my head and i had a great little buzz! i knew i couldn't have another one though or id have been rolling into the show and not remembered a thing! i needed food!I I headed down to the venue with Maria and Jack and once inside i got myself a hot dog, i could feel the bread hitting my stomach and all the alcohol bieng soaked up, it felt great,lol

The venue in Tampa

Once inside i met up with my friend Hassan and Amin whom id been next to for the Ft Lauderdale shows a couple of days earlier, these are two really great guys whom I've had so much fun seeing the shows with and whom feel just as passionate about Rogers music as anyone i can think of.

He had a great t shirt on and here’s his story of how it became:

There's a 4-1/2 hour drive from Miami to Tampa. To be safe, we were planning to leave no later than 2pm. so i go into the closet to look what I'm gonna wear and decide i need a new t shirt. get the banksy book, scan the image, Photoshop, i have extra t shirt transfers and the printer has some ink left in it still. print, do a terrible job cutting the design, iron, and it's done. left 25 minutes after 2pm and parked in front of the venue 7pm sharp. will do a better job next time.

Hassan and his T shirt.               Hassan, Dave and Amin.

Dave came out from backstage, spotted me and wondered over, we had a chat about women,lol and a few other things and he posed for the picture above. Within minutes a couple of people had spotted him and  a line had formed down to aisle of people wanting pictures and autographs. its really cool when he comes out and see;s me and offers up pictures of himself but i think it gets a bit much when countless people start hassling him, i don't know maybe I'm wrong but i really do appreciate his time, he's a great guy and a great friend. My friend Gary whom id stayed with the night before arrived to see the show  about half  an hour before the start and i went back and sat with him and had a quick chat, he was looking forward to seeing it again and was about 8th row right on the aisle.

I snapped a picture of Amin and Brent the homeless guy and the three of us then took our seats front row left. It was at this point that i also took the panorama picture below that came out rather cool.

Brent and Amin

 

Panorama from Tampa.

Within seconds of In The Flesh starting i could tell this was going to be a great show, the sound was incredible! it was SO damn loud, probably the loudest one yet but every instrument was crystal clear!! Hassan, Amin and I all turned and looked at each other i think we all knew at that point that we were in for an amazing show.

Now here's why i shouldn't leave the reviews too late as i forget things! honestly i cant remember any of the problems or technical hitches if there were any but from memory there were a couple.  I do remember how good the kids were at this show though! and they were all having a fantastic time!

I don't take the camera to every show as some of the shows i like to enjoy without taking pics, however i got some great shots tonight as can be seen below:

This was probably my favourite one of the tour so far as id seen this picture a few times in my head and tried at several shows to actually get it but hadn't been able to till tonight!

I was loving every minute of tonight's show! the plane came down at the beginning at EXACTLY the right time, the timing was dead on, it hit the wall exactly as the last pyros went up and the last note was played! if your at the front at one of the shows watch the press camera guys that are there for the first 4 tracks. Tonight they were all stood milling around while the trumpet music was playing and not expecting the pyros at the beginning of In The Flesh and you should have seen them all jump when the flares went up!! I've seen this a couple of times and thanks to Hassan for reminding me about it.

Also check out Grahams bass drum skin

At intermission we all hung out and discussed how loud and powerful the show seemed tonight, there was also soooo much energy coming off the stage, i don't think I've ever felt as much at a show.

Everyone sat down for Hey You apart from Amin, as I'm so tall whenever i stand up i can always hear the people behind me complaining and grumbling so i sit down so they are able to see, hey its like 1 of 52 shows for me, its probably the only show they will see so its the least i can do.

The backing guys and Robbie are still doing their head tturning hing when the hummers  go round the wall, they've been doing this at most shows but i keep forgetting about it!

Second half of the show seemed like it was in fast forward, before i knew it Comfy Numb had been and gone, as had In The Flesh and we were on Waiting for the Worms! Dave's solo in Comfy Numb was simply stunning, not a single mistake that i could hear.

    

We were unable to see Dave on top of the wall due to being front row and in a way that makes you concentrate more on the sound and the music rather than watching him actually play!. I love the ending where Roger stands and raises his arms and the drums and amps come up through the stage, its just a shame that so many people don't get to see this due to where they are sat and even people sitting near that can see are  just so consumed by what's just happened when Roger hits the wall with his fists that they don't get to see it either, they just completely miss what's going on in front of them!

Instruments rising

There was one slight difference tonight and one addition! When the demon come up and slaps its hand across the whole wall, instead of it turning red it went white and i preferred this and it looks a LOT better. He has also added  what looks like a huge post it note projection on the right side of the wall at the end of Run Like Hell, i wasn't able to see exactly what it said but it had a couple of peoples names on and said “ we always remember you” under them, Roger then took his machine gun and shot at the “post it note” after which it fell down to the bottom of the wall. He did this again in Atlanta last night but i missed it again, I'll be ready tomorrow in Houston:)

 *** Hassan just e mailed me the following: hey si, the banner that gets thrown over the wall at the end of run like hell has the names of the reuters camera men that were killed in iraq, you know, in the clip that is projected on the wall. Namir Noor el-Deen and Saeed Chmagh. ******

Took a couple more nice shots of Roger during the second half.

   

It always makes me laugh when I'm on the front rail for a show, as soon as the instruments go down into the stage and the crew have done their thing with taking the instruments and mics off the stage and Roger makes his way over to the right hand side to start the Trial sequence the security always come round the front and move everybody back to their seats and off the rail in preparation for the wall coming down in six or seven  minutes time. The look on peoples faces is funny, they have no idea at all what's going to happen and wonder why on earth they are being moved back when they have been stood in the same pace all night!! Then when the wall comes down and they see it actually happening its great to watch the crowds faces and see the amazement in their eyes!

Tonight's wall fall was fantastic, it came down in two sections and the first few rows went forward towards the crowd then the second couple of rows backwards and then the rest of it falling forward.

   

Amin touching a brick after the wall falling down

The band looked so happy during outside the wall, you can always tell its been a good show by how they look when they come out onstage. They knew it was a good show and you could see that, Dave was so appreciative of the audience as was Roger and the rest of the band. I must say though that G E Smith is an odd one! he never seems to smile or look happy and has the same expression on his face the whole show!

Its hard to decide which was the best show of the tour so far between this one and the first Ft Lauderdale one, i think the first Ft Lauderdale one just took it to be honest, not exactly sure but it had a touch more energy, the crowd were a bit better and the whole show just seemed faultless.

Full album of pics here:

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