Oslo show…

 

So Kevin and i met up with Ole and Stuart and i also got to finally meet Maria, we have several friends in common but have just never met before.

By now it was going on 6 o clock and the start time on the ticket for the show was 7:30, an early one tonight with doors opening at 5:30. It was an indoor arena tonight but a lot wider than most with 5 blocks of seats across the width of the venue and 3 long blocks back, plus a single tier all the way around the venue.

It was gone 7pm when we walked in the venue, Stuart and Ole were front row in front of Harry tonight, Maria was on the same block but 20 or so rows behind them and Kevin and i were 18th row dead centre(well for the 1st half) on the isle. I remember the Norwegian audiences being very quiet even in 2002 and with 30 minutes before the scheduled start time they were all sat patiently in their seats.

As i was walking to find Kevin i heard my name shouted, i looked over and it was Pat Lennon, i hadn't seen any of the guys so far this year, Robbie e mailed me last week wanting to say hi but I'd arrived at the venue tonight to see most of the guys. I sat down with Pat for 15 minutes and we caught up on things. He was telling me how for the firs 4 days of rehearsals(and the first show) in Arnhem how he had had food poisoning and was carried off the stage by Duncan and Tod before sitting down and totally passing out! Thankfully it had been and gone and he was fine now but said the first show was awful for him! he said the start time had been put back to 8pm before heading back to get ready for the show.

Kevin and i took our seats and took in the atmosphere while waiting for the start, the guy in front of me turned around and asked if i was Simon, he was a member of one of the online forums I've read in the past, was nice to meet you “mfloyd” hope you enjoyed the show. I next met up with a friend from the US who had flown in for the two shows, Ray, we’d never met before but had exchanged e mails and he’s a HUGE collector of Floyd memorabilia. Him and his wife have been touring around Europe, were heading to France after these two shows and then back home to Ohio.It was great to finally meet Ray and we hung out a little at intermission and after the show too.

Sure enough at 8pm exactly the sound of Rogers lousy trumpet playing was heard in the venue and the new Spartacus face mask images were projected on the wall ends.(have to say i prefer the “im Spartacus” in different languages projections.There was very little emotion at all as Roger walked out onstage dodging the pyros as he walked, and there wasn't a single person in the venue that stood as he ran round onstage thrusting his fists in the air! Due to the show being indoors you could see again just how bright and more detailed the projections were, however the first section on the right looked way out of focus, something Ole commented on when i saw him at intermission. During Rogers speech at the beginning of Mother, he yet again attempted to talk to the crowd in their local language, commenting tonight on how it was such a difficult language. As he started to talk English again and explain the whole double track vocals thing there was a loud voice that broke the deadly silence in the venue, “Get on with it” they shouted! to which Roger quite angrily shouted back, “No, I'll take as long as i want” the heckler again shouted something back and Roger made another couple of comments, one of which thanking a person in the audience from memory.(look up Mother , Oslo on YouTube, im sure it’ll be there over the next few days.)

The crowd were very paid back, probably the most I’ve ever seen at a show, i also noticed there were very few people using cameras and this meant the inside of the venue was ever so dark with no glow at al from many LCD screens!

Dave K’s solo on Young Lust was outstanding, i watched Robbie and Roger during the track and they were having ever so much fun together, when Robbie does his screams of “wooooooow “ in unison with Dave's guitar solo early on in the track, Roger looked over to him and gave him the biggest smile, returned straight back at him by Robbie who then looked over to Dave who intern looked over to Roger, this all lasted probably 15 seconds at most but in just these few seconds alone you could tell the guys were having so much fun onstage tonight despite the lull from the crowd.

Ole and Stuart at tonight's how

The sound while loud was yet again crystal clear, this venue was in effect a metal shed with a roof on and I'm not sure what other bands sound like here, i could imagine its not the best sounding venue in the world but this just proves how good Tripp Khalaf is on the FOH and why he’s the best in the business, click here for a little more info on Trip

At intermission we met up with Ole and Start who told us there were two seats free the whole first half on the isle of the 3rd row centre,not any more there weren't as Kevin threw his coat on them like a German placing a towel on his sun lounger at 5am in the morning around the pool!

Fancy dress was optional at tonight's show!

 

Second half of the show went without incident with the exception of what looked like Dave and GE picking up the wrong guitars for ITAOT and swapping them over just in the for the opening notes! ( Dave just said to me 5 minutes ago: the guitars were placed on the wrong stands!!! GE didn't realise, but as soon as I picked up 'mine' I thought 'hey, Tim has changed my strap.... and the EQ.... and ummm.... hang on a minute'!!! ) Even the opening hotel room from the wall didn't get the Norwegians on their feet with their  cameras! something that usually always happens at most of the shows. Comfy Numb started and at the line of “can you stand up” i looked over to Kevin and said “screw this, 3,2,1” and we both stood up and encouraged everyone else to do the same, it was hard work but with Rogers help we managed it! lol it was short lived though as everyone couldn't wait to get back to their seats for The Show Must Go On.

Run Like Hell did the trick though and even got the Norwegians to learn  a new way of showing their appreciation called clapping! again, short lived and the crowd descended for Waiting For The Worms.

Roger is risking it more and  more as the shows go on, standing onstage tonight as the wall was moving at the top just before the bricks fell, by the end of the tour he’ll be getting hit with the bricks if he keeps on at this rate! I still marvel at the “fake” wall fall that's projected on the ends of the wall before the actual middle section falls, its sheer brilliance and a very cool and believable effect. The whole middle section came down in two hits tonight, all falling forward towards the crowd giving the Norwegian crowd their first and probably last experience of “wall wind” Kevin and i moved up onto the rail and joined Ole and Stuart for Outside The Wall, all four of getting acknowledged by the guys as they waked offstage.

These 5 guys created more atmosphere than the crowd tonight!

Whilst not one of  the most atmospheric shows I've seen it was surprising in my top ten shows! something that Ole and Stuart

After the show, we took a walk back to the bus stop for the shuttle back in to Oslo, there was several hundred people that had had the same thought as us too!

Stuart wasn't in the happiest of moods after the show  as his soccer team (Scotland) had been playing England and got miserably beaten! he drowned his sorrows by buying us all a bottle of wine and some pringles at a hotel near the venue, we sat down for an hour having a few expensive drinks before getting a taxi back into Oslo then paying an extortionate amount for some food that I’d rather forget ( food and monetary wise!)  and got back to our hotel and in bed for 2am