Roger Waters, 6 June. Where to start? This is going to be a long post!
The show was easily the absolute best I've seen in all my life. And it almost didn't happen, thanks to the Ottawa Senators... I really can't even begin to describe what a brilliant time I had. It was perfect, absolutely perfect from start to finish. This was my first time seeing Roger Waters from the floor, and I think that had a lot to do with it. The atmosphere on the floor was great. Very warm, friendly and excited crowd. I was able to meet up with an older fan who I knew through e-mail and forum correspondence, which was great. Roger fans are the best bunch of people you could ever wish to be around!
The first set was flawless. Great sound, note-for-note perfection. I was surprised at how much heat you could feel coming off the stage at row six! Every time a firework, jet of flame or explosion went off, I was blasted with hot air. It was amazing. And the band! They were in top form and appeared to be having one hell of a good time. Especially Ian Ritchie (saxophone player) and Roger. I loved it that Roger was smiling at us all virtually non-stop. The people in the stands closest to the stage went wild any time he so much as nodded at them! "And up here in the stands, the fans are goin' wild..." He's a thrill to watch.
Best performance of the night was
Perfect Sense, Parts I & II. Not only is it one of my favourite songs from Amused To Death, it's one of Roger's best live performances. A lot of people were sitting down (alas, some people will ALWAYS go to a RW show expecting to hear Pink Floyd songs and nothing else) but that didn't take away from it in the slightest. I was standing up, anyway. And mimicking all of Roger's moves as well.
Loved it when he played air piano and air violin! Singing along with P.P. Arnold was amazing as well. I love her, she's fantastic.
Leaving Beirut was also a fun one. Most people didn't know the lyrics, but they really appreciated the message. If Bono had have been there, he would have exclaimed that Andy Fairweather-Low was on fire! Love his soloing in that song. Roger apparently does as well...air guitar! Roger was especially amusing to watch. He really gets into it. Wagging his arse like a dog during 'the bulldog is a poodle' bit and such. Almost everyone on the floor was sitting down for this one (at least in rows six and up, dunno what was going on behind me) and I used this to my advantage. Sang along to the whole thing. There's a part in the song that goes like this: Oh George! Oh George! That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small! Roger was standing in front of my section, so I stood up and shouted along, pumping my hand up on every syllable. He noticed, and seemed to get a kick out of it!
Sheep was also awesome. The whole band had fun on this one, along with the audience. You'd never think that yellow confetti and an inflatable pig could whip people up into such a frenzy, but boy did it ever! I didn't really pay much attention to the pig (I'd already seen it last year) and got in some more eye contact with ol' Rog instead. Sheep is my favourite Pink Floyd song, so it meant a lot to me.
The Dark Side set was also incredible. Everyone was on top form. Ian especially. His playing on
Us And Them sent shivers up my spine! Don't know what Roger ever did without Ian prior to this tour. The man is an amazing sax player. One of the highlights was definitely Carol Kenyan doing
Great Gig In The Sky. She's incredible. To see her belting out that one five rows away...nothing short of incredible. Everyone loved it! There was a woman standing two seats to the right of me who looked like she was going to flatline right there and then. The new videos used were brilliant.
On The Run is enough to give you an epileptic fit. And
Any Colour You Like is gorgeous! The colour on that screen is pristine. Perfect. The prism above the stage came out during the end of that song and stayed there until
Eclipse. Man, that thing was incredible. They used a prism last year towards the end of the US leg, but it wasn't a laser prism! This is a fucking
laser prism. I wish I had gone back a few rows to see it better. My neck still hurts from trying to see it from where I was.
The encore. Oh man, the encore... Had my greatest concert experience ever, there. The friend I met up with before the show and during intermission (what a great guy) brought me up to front row, slightly to the right of centre. Oh, it was incredible. If I didn't have the pictures, I would have thought I'd been dreaming. I really can't describe what it feels like to be standing about a metre from Roger Waters. I mean, for goodness' sake, the man wrote the lyrics for Billboard's longest-charting album ever. He's one of rock's biggest legends.
And he was one metre away. It was so surreal. I didn't even bother looking at any other members of the band. Just danced there with everyone else at the front and sang along with a side-splitting grin on my face. Then, during
Comfortably Numb...oh man. During the chorus, Roger was moving towards the right away from the microphone. I was singing along and swaying from side to side, completely lost in it all. Roger noticed, stopped right in front of me, looked directly into my eyes, grinned, and mouthed the words with me. It could have only lasted three or four seconds, but it felt like an eternity. It was so fucking incredible. There is nothing quite like singing along to one of your favourite songs with your favourite songwriter. Nothing like it at all.
And because of that moment, no other concert will ever top it.
Photos:
In The Flesh
P.P. Arnold during Perfect Sense
Leaving Beirut
Dave, Snowy, Roger and Ian during Sheep. Classic Waters pose!
"DO YOU STILL LIKE OUR PIG?! He's an old pig, but he's still a big pig!" Even after over twenty years, that quote still works!
On The Run
Hi, Rog!
More photos/video to come.
Yeah, it pretty much is the most amazing thing ever. I could probably die quite happily, knowing that I've sung along to Comfortably Numb with the man who wrote it smiling at me. 
Damn blurry pictures.
)
Life altering experiences FTW! 
That was lovely. I hadn't even thought of it from the other way around... It must be such a powerful feeling, knowing that your music is still capable of gripping generations over thirty years since its release. I really hope Roger gets the album he's working on out soon...he's bound to do a few one-offs for it. 
