Tag: Roger Waters

Social Distancing Spins – Day 27

by thedailyrecord, posted in Album review, review

By Joel Francis

David Gilmour – About Face (1984) Simply put, About Face is not only David Gilmour’s finest solo album, but superior to Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell as well. “Murder” is Gilmour’s response to the assassination of John Lennon. It starts as quiet acoustic number before exploding in anger against Steve Winwood’s expansive organ playing. I have no idea what “Cruise” is about, but it’s an extremely catchy acoustic number. I’ll admit to be taken aback the first time I heard R&B horns on “Blue Light,” something Pink Floyd never explored, but they have grown on me. Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics for two numbers here. These compositions fit will with what Townshend was doing on his White City album, which I discussed way back on Day 4. Check out the live album Brixton Academy in 1985 featuring both Townshend and Gilmour for another stellar example of their synergy during this time. “You Know I’m Right” is about Roger Waters, with a title (and lyrics) shutting the door on any reconciliation. Gilmour and the Floyd (sans Waters) would be back in a couple years, but About Face makes a strong case that this was the (albeit less commercial) path Gilmour should have considered instead.

The Nels Cline 4 – Currents, Constellations (2018) Playing this album is a good way to find out who your true friends are. While some will hear obnoxious jazz guitar noodling (with two guitarists, no less), others will hear sublime fretboard interplay. If you do happen upon someone who also appreciates this music, buy this person a drink or ask them to marry you, depending on his or her gender and your preference.

Ed Ackerson – Capricorn One (2019) I must confess I had never heard of Ed Ackerson before buying a ticket to his memorial concert last February. Circumstances aligned in my favor: a free evening, a solid lineup, a reasonable ticket price and an opportunity to finally see a show at the famed First Avenue. For a while I felt like an interloper, but after exiting with an armload of vinyl and all the $1 CDs I could get, I now count myself converted.

Capricorn One was Ackerson’s last album before succumbing to pancreatic cancer last October. It’s a Syd Barrett-influenced slab of soaring guitars as wonderfully atmospheric as its sci fi-inspired title implies. Ackerson wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and produced all the tracks. His final musical vision is a great ride.

The Black Belles – self-titled (2011) The self-titled debut by this garage rock quartet is unfortunately their only release. Produced by Jack White for his Third Man Records, it’s hard to tell where the producer stops and the band ends, but if you like White’s raw aesthetic that’s not a bad thing. According to the band the writing and recording came together pretty quickly. They did several high-profile shows during their brief time together, including backing Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report and playing on his “Charlene” single. They also performed at the Devil’s Night Halloween concert in 2012. My favorite songs here include the appropriately titled “Honky Tonk Horror,” the moody “Not Tonight” and the very Jack White “In a Cage” but the entire album is good enough to make me wish there was at least another volume. Main songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Olivia Jean has subsequently released two solo albums with White and Third Man.

Buffalo Springfield – Again (1967) Neil Young jumps to the fore on Buffalo Springfield’s second album, and it’s easy to see why. His three compositions – album opener “Mr. Soul,” “Expecting to Fly” and closing cut “Broken Arrow” – are all classics in his expansive songbook. But the other songs here are no slouches either. Stephen Still’s banjo-driven “Bluebird” is a lovely song. Later, the harmony vocals on his song “Rock and Roll Woman” foreshadow the coming of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Richie Furay chips in a couple solid compositions as well. The unique horn arrangement on “Good Time Boy” definitely makes it stand out on the album. Buffalo Springfield collapsed under their own weight the following year. Again ranks as the group’s finest release during their short tenure.

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Review: Roger Waters

by thedailyrecord, posted in Concert review, Kansas City Star, review

(Above: “Dogs” and “Pigs” from the classic Pink Floyd album “Animals” captured Roger Waters’ disgust at the current political landscape.)

By Joel Francis
The Kansas City Star

As the lyrical and conceptual soul of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters’ music has helped define classic rock radio for nearly two generations.

Many of the songs Waters performed at his tour opener on Friday night at the Sprint Center are more than 40 years old but hold contemporary relevance in today’s fractured political landscape. In fact, his depraved, pessimistic views of humanity seem downright prescient.

Fans knew every note and syllable thanks to decades of continuous airplay, but Waters put the performances in a modern context by the films that accompanied the band on a huge screen that spanned the arena behind the stage. During the second act, another perpendicular screen was lowered over the floor.

LEDE REV ROGER WATERS 0114 SK 20The video for “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” was a devastating piece of anti-Donald Trump propaganda. Borrowing from the lyrics, the word “charade” splashed across the screens as unflattering illustrations of the commander-in-chief cycled in and out. During the long guitar solos, an inflatable sow wearing the phrase “piggy bank of war” flew over the crowd.

“Money” sustained the proletariat rage, as images of Trump’s failed casinos, Russian buildings and photos of Kremlin and cabinet officials accompanied the music.

A very few people headed for the exits – one man raised his middle finger to the stage while departing during “Money” – but they were easily outnumbered by fans raising their beers, singing along and reveling in the moment. “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” may have been the least subtle moment of the evening, but it also drew far more applause than any other non-radio track.

Waters got help from his 10-piece band, which included Kansas City native Gus Seyfort on bass and former Pink Floyd and The Who touring member Jon Carin on keyboards. Backing vocalists Holly Laessig and Jessica Wolfe stole the spotlight several times, including a duet on “Great Gig in the Sky” and the new song “Déjà Vu.” Dressed in platinum blonde wigs and black fringed dresses, the pair looked like Cleopatra as reimagined by Bryan Ferry.

The only material that didn’t come from the Floyd catalog were four new songs. All were well received and dealt with the same themes. Driven by piano and drums, “The Last Refugee” wouldn’t have been out of place on Waters’ previous solo album, 1992’s “Amused to Death.” Nestled near the end of the set, “Smell the Roses” emerged from a slinky guitar line and sounded like an outtake from Pink Floyd’s “Animals” album.

Ten local children lined the front of the stage during “Another Brick in the Wall.” After singing the familiar chorus, they shed their orange jumpsuits and danced around wearing black shirts that said resist. At the first notes of “Wish You Were Here,” seemingly every phone in the building was held aloft to capture every moment. The nostalgic ballad was a rare moment of reprieve from the scathing critiques and protests.

A similar moment arrived during the final song, “Comfortably Numb.” As Dave Kilminster tore into another guitar solo, Waters raised his hands and swayed back and forth. The crowd, bathed in soft lights and gently falling pink confetti, joined him. After nearly three hours of angry catharsis, it was time to heal.

Setlist: Breathe, One of These Days, Time > Breathe (reprise), Great Gig in the Sky, Welcome to the Machine, Déjà vu (new song), The Last Refugee (new song), Picture That (new song), Wish You Were Here, The Happiest Days of Our Lives > Another Brick in the Wall (parts two and three). Intermission. Dogs, Pigs (Three Different Ones), Money, Us and Them, Smell the Roses (new song), Brain Damage, Eclipse, band introduction, Vera > Bring the Boys Back Home, Comfortably Numb.

Keep reading:

Shine on Rick Wright

Jeff Beck relishes “Commotion”

Review: Prophets of Rage

Shine on Rick Wright

by thedailyrecord, posted in Kansas City music scene, review

Above: “Comfortably Numb” from the 1994 tour.

By Joel Francis

Seven a.m. Saturday morning, is a brutal time to be awake, particularly when you’re 16. It was even worse in the cold weather we faced that day, standing in line outside the Hy-Vee grocery store. But no one among the 300 or so of us lined up where complaining: Pink Floyd was coming to Kansas City.

It was the biggest crowd I’d seen at Hy-Vee. Guys were walking inside to buy six-packs of liquid warmth, passing cans along the line and relieving themselves against the wall. Elderly, crack-of-dawn shoppers paused in front of the assembly and asked if they could go right in. One old lady asked why we were all waiting in the cold. One guy responded we were hoping for a sale on melons. That drew a big laugh.

In the days before the Internet, you had to buy tickets in person. Although the gonzo days of camping out at the box office were long past, it still paid to show up somewhat early. At some point management would pass out line numbers to the assembly, then draw a number at random. The person holding that number was first and the line started from there. If you showed up after line numbers were distributed you (hopefully) got bad seats or heard those two dreaded words – sold out.

Finally our effort was rewarded. Upper deck, 40-yard line. Not the greatest seats, but we were in. The remaining tickets were long gone by dinnertime. Even though the band was playing Arrowhead Stadium, the largest venue in town, it was one of the fastest sell-outs in local history.

Winter gave way to spring and the excitement built. At long last the tour commenced at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. As the psychedelic trio snaked their way across America I was inadvertently trailing them. A church trip found us in Columbus, Ohio the night of the show. I remember the drunken revelry waking me in our motel room as the joyous throng returned. It was hard falling back asleep with that much energy flowing just outside the door. My summer job took me to Minnesota the day after the band played Minneapolis. Everywhere I went people were talking Pink. It was the summer of Floyd.

On June 20 the Pink Floyd descended on Kansas City. Our newspaper, The Star, ran a two-page chronicle of the band’s history. One fan interviewed for the story bragged about the line of dates he had tattooed on his arm – one for each time he’d seen the band. Some lucky, longtime fans had seen them play Kemper Arena on the Animals Tour in 1977. A lot more had seen them play Arrowhead just seven years earlier on the Delicate Sound of Thunder tour. I had never seen them before, but I didn’t care. I was getting to experience them now.

As the sun lowered over Interstate-70, Stadium Drive was gridlocked. People were openly smoking weed and drinking in their cars. They hopped out to take a leak behind trees and bushes in lawns along the way. One large bush was particularly popular, but when an overweight woman decided to use it about a dozen guys hurriedly scattered back to their vehicles.

There was a popular grocery store commercial where Arrowhead Stadium was transformed into a BBQ grill and smoke rose from the bowl as meat sizzled on its field. I imagine passing cars were treated to a similar spectacle as everyone inside lit whatever they brought to mellow out before the show. The band opened with “Astronomy Domine,” but thanks to The Star we already knew that. They didn’t do the complete “Dark Side of the Moon,” but we got several of its stronger tracks, including “The Great Gig in the Sky” and “Breathe.” Two vicious pigs emerged from the speaker towers during “One of These Days.”

The most powerful moment for me was “Comfortably Numb.” During “Numb” a huge mirror ball emerged from the soundboard and effects area near the back of the field. At the point where the song fades out on record, David Gilmour was just getting started. He laid into a ferocious solo as the mirror ball opened and slowly rotated. The 80,000-seat stadium was transformed into an intimate campfire as Gilmour, keyboard player Rick Wright, drummer Nick Mason and their accompanying musicians kept building and building. After what seemed like a rapturous eternity, the song thundered to an end and the band said left the stage. The encore set of “Hey You” and a searing version of “Run Like Hell” was a great coda to a spectacular evening.

Preserved for nearly 15 years, these memories came flooding back to me when I learned that Rick Wright lost his battle to cancer today. I saw Roger Waters on his solo tour at Kemper Arena in 1999 – he premiered the song “Each Small Candle” at our concert. I was surprised at how excited I got watching the quartet finally reunite on live TV in London just hours before the Get Up Kids final show at the Uptown Theater in 2005. Honestly, though, the Floyd haven’t been a major part of my listening diet for a long time. I guess the same thing that kept me away from their records for so long brought me closer to Rick Wright today – I can cue up any of his notes from any of their albums any time I want in my head.

Set list: (opening set) Astronomy Domine, Learning To Fly, Whad Do You Want From Me, On the Turning Away, Poles Apart, Take It Back, Sorrow, Keep Talking, One Of These Days //(second set) Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Breathe, Time, Breathe Rep, High Hopes, The Great Gig In the Sky, Wish You Were Here, Us and Them, Money, Another Brick in the Wall (part two), Comfortably Numb//(encores) Hey You, Run Like Hell