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A RIGHT CARRY ON WITH ROG
Jolly good show, Julian Marszalek, for calling out Rogers Waters in the live review in Prog 142: a man not frightened to say what many were thinking.
Having attended the Manchester show, the music was great, especially the firepower of Dogs. But I can’t help thinking how much was often childish, churlish and naïve: the Gilmour omissions, the onslaught of sloganeering and the thought that Roger seems to have turned into the old man in the supermarket who complains in a stage whisper, but within earshot of the staff, about the cost of a loaf. The trick seemed to be to switch off between songs and try to take with a pinch of salt or filter out the assorted propaganda that was hard to ignore on the huge screens.
I didn’t go to the bar, but did leave before the encore to miss the crowds.
BUT STILL WORTH THE TICKET
I felt compelled to highlight how different people’s perceptions and opinions can differ, as highlighted between the two reviews of Roger Waters’This Is Not A Drill tour printed in your mag.
The first from his concert last August [Prog 133] was so positive and put across so well that it made me buy a ticket for his show in Birmingham this May.
The second review from June [Prog 142] was more negative and the reviewer thought it would have been best to have stayed in the bar! That would have made me not buy a ticket.
My opinion is that Roger Waters wears his heart on his sleeve in highlighting the imperfections in the world but people’s interpretations of his feelings can be misconstrued. As for his so-called‘spat’ with Dave Gilmour and others – some fantastic and memorable music has come from it. From my POV, the show was excellent with some goosebump moments making you feel alive.
LONG-DISTANCE MEMORIES
A friend and I hitch-hiked 150 miles to London and back from rural Shropshire to attend Pink Floyd’s Earls Court show on May 19, 1973. Despite it being only my fourth-ever gig, I recall it being‘wow’ visually, but musically unfulfilling! The relatively new material (DSOTM had only been out for two months) wasn’t the problem, as proven by the fond memories I have of similar trips later that year to see Jethro Tull auditioning A Passion Play at the Empire Pool (later Wembley Arena) and Yes debuting 70 minutes of Tales From Topographic Oceans at The Rainbow [in Finsbury Park, north London], both prior to those albums being available.
A year later I tried Floyd again at the Empire Pool and was even
