Stockholm 2nd show

Didn't do much at all today during the day. The weather wasn't great--it snowed the day before we got here, so it wasn't exactly sightseeing weather.

We headed out to the venue around 5:30 and got there around 6. I had a 5th row ticket for tonight, but went to watch the first half of the show from an empty seat on the right side of the stage just for a change. The sound wasn't great there, but I love the view from that block right next to the wall--especially when Roger comes right over to the side of the stage.

Tonight's venue

Not sure why they've done it, but when the subway train comes along and you hear the gunshots at the end, the sound is now only heard through the rear quad speakers. It sounds very odd--it's quiet and doesn't sound anywhere near as good and as before! It was like this for the last two shows, but we’ll see if it was a glitch or not after tomorrow's show.

Pink arriving onstage

   

I spoke with Dave K. before the show about the vocals on Hey You from the night before, and he said it was definitely Robbie! Dave said he'd been listening to Gilmour earlier that day and was trying to perfect his style of singing! He did a damn good job! Dave also mentioned that Rush were playing in Stockholm, and a lot of their road crew were here to see the show tonight.

The crowd were very reserved again. Before Mother Roger said, “Wow it’s so quiet in here--you can hear a pin drop.” And you could! It was deadly silent, but even after his comment there was very little feedback from the crowd. Roger just grinned to himself and carried on with his intro to Mother. There was a good 10 seconds of feedback during the middle of Mother--didn't cause any other problems--it was just painfully audible. I forgot to mention--last night, just before Mother when Roger was talking about that “fucked-up young Roger,” he played the first few notes to WYWH before going straight into the opening chords of Mother!

Roger's still adding little nuances to his performance--he's added an audible “sniff” to accompany the line “a silver spoon on a chain,” and during Nobody Home, he mimics snorting up some substance. He's continued to gesture his middle finger in a suggestive way during the line “trying to pick her locks,” although tonight he picked someone out on the front row and bent down to do it at them!

Kevin and I got talking to a nice guy we saw the night before who, like us, has his own band he follows around the world--Ultravox. He’s seen more than a hundred of their shows and totally understood our passion. I have to apologize for forgetting his name, but he’s pictured below with Kevin before the start of the show

Roger tried his best to get the crowd on their feet tonight to no avail. He laughed to himself a few times when the odd person shouted out in-between tracks. Even the line “can you stand up, stand up” and his gesturing for people to stand up didn't work at all! His timing for the machine gun fire was totally off tonight--he didn't try to correct it, either. I'm not sure if the click track was off or what, but the first gunfire noises came, then he pointed the gun, then “shot the audience” as there was silence. He then lowered his gun just as the gun shot noise returned. It's the first time I've seen him mess this up. He did, however, point his gun in the air and shot up a few extra times tonight--I then heard the sound of a bird squawking over the audio, and a  few feathers dropped down from the roof adding to the effect. I kid you not! Who said The Wall on Broadway wouldn't work as a comedy?

The crowd were so polite that at the end of Waiting for The Worms when Roger normally throws down his shirt and armband onstage, he threw it up in the air, and it landed in the arms of two people in the front row. What happened next? The people stood up and handed it  back to the security in front of them! Can you imagine that happening in the US? Or anywhere else, for that matter? I think not.

The wall fall was the same as the night before--the first few rows fell forward straight away, then the remaining rows teetering backwards and forwards before it all came crashing down. Honestly, I think they've perfected the fall too well now. There's no randomness to it--no chaos--it's all too perfectly controlled. It all stays within the barriers, and there are very few bricks that have to be thrown backwards to the rear of the stage before the band come out. If you're going to tear down the wall, TEAR it down without the 'random precision'!

As I stood outside waiting for Kevin, a guy came up to me and asked, “Hey, are you the guy doing the blog?” "Yeah," I replied. “Great--keep it up. I read it everyday,” he said. I just wanted to thank you for making my night. It always makes me smile when things like that happen--makes it all seem worthwhile!  Sorry I didn't get your name or a picture, but thanks for reading the blog!

At the moment it's 11 A.M. Friday, and Kevin and I are on the train to Copenhagen. It's always nice to get on the train and see other fans--especially ones we’ve met before at shows all around the world.

Joakim on the train with us.