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Roger Waters’ recent tour, in which he performed the entirety of Pink Floyd’s "The Wall", was loaded with great music along with amazing special effects and props. The tour was a resounding success, and it looks like Waters will be back in the United States in 2012 according to Roger Waters Tour
While the tour’s shows have been an indoor affair in the past, Waters wants the majority of his shows to be outdoors this time around and plans to go even bigger.
"There are quite a few markets we didn't cover last time, like Austin," Waters said. "But we want to base the tour around Saturday nights in baseball stadiums. As we speak, I'm at my office working on an outdoor version of the show."
"We're going to be projecting over 140 yards," he continued. "So now it's going to be 1,500 pixels wide. We've done light tests and Fenway Park and Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium just to see what the ambient light is like. And it's fine. It works. We've taken part of the Wall and the projectors into those three places."
Despite being in high demand, Waters thinks he’ll be in need of a break once he’s done the performances in 2012.
"They're trying to get me back to Europe next year. But I think I'll be completely cooked by the end of July next year."
Waters also hinted that this could very well be the last big tour he does before slowing things down.
"I'm not sure I want to go out and do the greatest hits again. Which just sucks. What I love to do is theater in a rock & roll context. I think if I did any more in the future, it might well be smaller."
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943 in Great Bookham, Surrey) is an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He is best known as the bass player, co-lead vocalist, lyricist and the principal songwriter in the rock band Pink Floyd.
Following his departure from Pink Floyd in 1984 Waters began a solo career, releasing three studio albums The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (1984), Radio K.A.O.S. (1987), and 1992's Amused to Death. In 1990 Waters staged one of the largest rock concerts ever, The Wall - Live in Berlin on the vacant terrain between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate.
In 2005 he released Ça Ira, an opera in three acts to a French libretto based on the historical subject of the French Revolution. Waters reunited with Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour for what would be a final one-off performance at the 2 July 2005 Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park, Pink Floyd's only appearance with Waters since their final performance of The Wall at Earls Court London 24 years earlier.[1][2]
He has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tours of 2006-2008. Waters recently confirmed to David Frost that he is hoping to tour The Wall in late 2010.[3][4] Waters manager Mark Fenwick has confirmed that Waters will tour The Wall. The tour dates were announced on 12 April 2010, and the name of the tour is The Wall Live.[5][6]
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early years (1943–64)
1.2 Pink Floyd years (1965–85)
1.3 Early solo years (1984–2005)
1.4 Later solo years (since 2005)
2 Views and advocacy
3 Hits and awards
4 Equipment and instruments
4.1 Bass guitars
4.2 Guitars
5 Solo discography
5.1 Albums
5.2 Singles
6 non-LP tracks
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years (1943–64)
Born in Great Bookham near Leatherhead, Surrey, Waters grew up in Cambridge. His father Eric Fletcher Waters fought with the British army in World War II as a member of The Royal Fusiliers Company C. He died in combat at Anzio Italy in February 1944 when Waters was five months old.[7]
Waters referred or alluded to the cost of war and the loss of his father throughout his work, from "Corporal Clegg" (A Saucerful Of Secrets, 1968) and "Free Four" (Obscured By Clouds, 1972) to "Us and Them" from The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), "When the Tigers Broke Free", first used in the movie version of The Wall (1982), later included with "The Fletcher Memorial Home" on The Final Cut (1983), an album which is dedicated to Eric Fletcher Waters. The loss of his father and subsequent traumatic upbringing play a central role in the theme and composition of The Wall (1979).[8]
Waters and Syd Barrett attended the Morley Memorial Junior School on Blinco Grove, Cambridge, and later both attended the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys (now Hills Road Sixth Form College), while future band member David Gilmour attended The Perse School on the same road.[9] He met Nick Mason and Richard Wright while attending the Regent Street Polytechnic school of architecture. He was a keen sportsman and was fond of swimming in the River Cam at Grantchester Meadows. At 15 he was chairman of the youth section of the Cambridge YCND[10], having designed its publicity poster and participated in its organization.[11]
[edit] Pink Floyd years (1965–85)
Pink Floyd portal
In 1965 Roger Waters co-founded Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, Richard Wright and Nick Mason. According to Mason their first recording session took place in December 1964. The band which still included Bob Klose was calling itself the Tea Set, and had managed to secure some recording time through a friend of Wright's who worked at a studio in West Hampstead, and let them use some "down time" for free. The four-song recording session would become the Tea Set's first demo and included the 1957 Slim Harpo song "I'm a King Bee", two Syd Barrett originals "Butterfly" and "Lucy Leave" and "Double O Bo", a group composition which according to Mason was "Bo Diddley meets the 007 theme."[12][13][14]
Through 1966 and 1967 Barrett was Pink Floyd's lead guitarist, singer, and primary songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote all but one track of their debut LP The Piper at the Gates of Dawn released in August 1967. Waters contributed the song "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (his first sole writing credit) to the album, which was a critical success that positioned the band for stardom.
Roger Waters performing with Pink Floyd at Leeds University in 1970By late 1967 Barrett's deteriorating mental health and increasingly erratic behaviour rendered him unable or unwilling to continue in his capacity as Pink Floyd's lead singer and guitarist.[15][16] Though several of Barrett's friends, Roger Waters included, claim to have tried to help him by encouraging psychotherapy with the "celebrated" Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing,[17] Barrett refused to cooperate. In December 1967 the band added David Gilmour[18][19][20], initially not to replace Barrett, but to join as the 5th member of Pink Floyd, intending to keep Barrett in the group as a non-performing songwriter.[21][22][23][24]
Working with Barrett eventually proved too difficult,[15][25][26][27] so in early March 1968 Pink Floyd met with then business partners Peter Jenner and Andrew King of Blackhill Enterprises to discuss the band's future. Barrett agreed to leave Pink Floyd and Pink Floyd "agreed to Blackhill's entitlement in perpetuity" in regards to "past activities."[28][23] The band's new manager Steve O'Rourke made a formal announcement about the departure of Barrett and the arrival of Gilmour in April 1968.[29][30][23][31] Jenner and King, who regarded Barrett as the creative genius of the band, decided to represent him and end their relationship with Pink Floyd.[32][33][23][28] Filling the void left by Barrett's departure, Waters began to chart Pink Floyd's new artistic direction. The lineup of Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason eventually brought Pink Floyd to world prominence, producing some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums of the 1970s.
Roger Waters performing The Dark Side of The Moon with Pink Floyd at Earls Court 18 May 1973Waters became the main lyrical contributor and primary songwriter in Pink Floyd after Barrett's departure. He wrote all the lyrics to the five Pink Floyd albums preceding his own departure, starting with The Dark Side of the Moon and ending with The Final Cut, while exerting progressively more creative control over the band and its music. He produced thematic ideas that became the impetus for concept albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, written largely by Waters,[34][35] and The Final Cut, written entirely by Waters.[36] Initially Waters' bandmates were happy to allow him to write the band's lyrics and guide its conceptual direction while they shared the opportunity to contribute musical ideas. This give-and-take relationship began to dissolve circa 1979.[37][38]
During the recording of The Wall, Waters[39], Gilmour[39], and Mason[40] became increasingly unhappy with Wright's lack of contribution to the album. Gilmour said "he hadn't contributed anything of any value whatsoever to the album."[41][42][39] Mason said: "Alas, Rick's contribution was to turn up and sit in on the sessions without doing anything, just 'being a producer'.[43] Longtime Pink Floyd Studio Engineer Nick Griffiths said "by the time of The Wall, Rick Wright had lost interest in the idea of the Floyd. He was more interested in his leisure time-sailing around the Greek islands and enjoying the life of a rich rock 'n' roll star."[44] Gilmour would later say Wright "wasn't doing the job he was paid to do" and "he got the boot because he wasn't contributing in any way to anything."[44] Waters added, "he was not prepared to cooperate in making the record." and "...it was agreed by everybody. I made the suggestion that O'Rourke gave to Rick: either you can have a long battle or you can agree to this, and the 'this' was you finish making the album, keep your full share of the album, but at the end of it you leave quietly. Rick agreed."[39] Waters threatened to take The Wall tapes and not allow them to be used as a Pink Floyd album[43][45][44] at a time when they were nearly bankrupt from bad investments[46][47][39] and so Wright, under much duress, decided to leave Pink Floyd.[45][43][44]
In 1996 Wright said "I made a decision and left, and then he (Waters) left, and I came back."[48] Wright stayed on as a paid musician while Waters and Gilmour led the band through 25 complete performances of the album.[49] Gilmour acted as the musical director of the shows. Ironically Wright's firing and subsequent position as a paid session musician meant he was the only one of the four to realize a profit from the "Wall" tour - since the financial losses of the expensive shows were paid by the three remaining 'members' of Pink Floyd.[43][50] The final performance of The Wall was 16 June 1981 at Earls Court London, and would be Pink Floyd's only appearance with Waters until their final one-off performance at the 2 July 2005 Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park 24 years later.[1][2]
In 1983 the last Waters–Gilmour–Mason collaboration, The Final Cut, was released. The sleeve notes describe it as "The Final Cut: A requiem for the post-war dream by Roger Waters, music performed by Pink Floyd". The Final Cut is the only Pink Floyd album on which Waters is credited with writing all the lyrics as well as all the music. Rolling Stone rated the album 5 stars and called it "a superlative achievement" and "rock art's crowing masterpiece."[51]
In November 1986 Waters began High Court proceedings to formally dissolve Pink Floyd's partnership, saying Pink Floyd was "a spent force creatively."[52][53] Gilmour and Mason opposed the application and announced their intention to continue as Pink Floyd. The ensuing battle descended into threatened lawsuits and public bickering in the press. Waters' position was that since the original band consisted of himself, Barrett, Mason and Wright, that Gilmour and Mason should not be allowed to use the name Pink Floyd now that it was without three of its four founding members, and because he had written all of the band's lyrics since 1972, and a great part of the music after Barrett's departure in 1968 (Waters has sole credit on 59 Pink Floyd tracks), that Mason and Gilmour should not be allowed to continue as Pink Floyd or legally perform the band's music.[54] Eventually Waters conceded and much like Wright some years earlier, decided to leave Pink Floyd based on financial considerations, stating "...if I hadn't, the financial repercussions would haved wiped me out completely."[54]
According to Mason "We eventually formalised a settlement with Roger."[55] "On Christmas Eve 1987...David and Roger convened for a summit meeting on the houseboat, (Gilmour's studio/houseboat the 'Astoria', moored on the north bank of the River Thames at Hurst Park, Hampton).[56] with Jerome Walton, David's accountant. Mince pies, noggin and festive hats were placed on hold, as Jerome painstakingly typed out the bones of a settlement. Essentially-although there was far more complex detail-the arrangement allowed Roger to be freed from his arrangement with Steve, and David and me to continue working under the name Pink Floyd. In the end the court accepted Jerome's version as the final and binding document and duly stamped it." [55] The new David Gilmour-led Pink Floyd went on to release two more albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987 and The Division Bell in 1994.
Gilmour relied heavily on outside songwriters and lyricists to complete both albums.[57][58][59] Only 5 tracks on the last two Pink Floyd albums were written by Gilmour using entirely his own lyrics and music, and no credits at all are given to Mason on either album, four tracks have music credited to Gilmour/Wright. In Waters absence the longtime Pink Floyd tradition of making conceptual albums with thematically linked songs was also abandoned, though not for a lack of trying, in favor of straight forward unrelated tracks.[60][57]
[edit] Early solo years (1984–2005)
Following the release of The Final Cut Waters embarked on a solo career producing three concept albums and a movie soundtrack. His first solo album, 1984's The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, was a project about a man's dreams across one night. The album featured guitarist Eric Clapton and jazz saxophonist David Sanborn. Conceived around the same time as The Wall, the concept was shown and demos played to the Pink Floyd members, but they chose to proceed with The Wall over The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, rejecting the latter as "too personal". According to Gilmour both demos were "unlistenable" and "sounded exactly alike."[61] Longtime Pink Floyd engineer Nick Griffiths disagreed: "I heard the Wall demos. They were seriously rough, but the songs were there.[62] The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, accompanied by Gerald Scarfe artwork that some claimed was sexist, received mixed reviews, with Kurt Loder describing it as a "strangely static, faintly hideous record."[63] On the other end of the spectrum Mike DeGagne of Allmusic praised the album for its "ingenious symbolism" and "brilliant use of stream of consciousness within a subconscious realm" rating it four out of five stars.[64] Waters began touring the new album aided by guitarist Eric Clapton[65] and featuring a set design by Mark Fisher of Fisher Park and lighting design by Mark Brickman.[66] With a new band, new material, and a selection of Pink Floyd favourites, Waters débuted his tour in Stockholm on 16 June 1984. Unfortunately for Waters, poor ticket sales plagued the tour and some venues had to be cancelled. Waters lost an estimated $400,000 on the Clapton collaboration[67] and despite the lukewarm reception he received in Europe, went to the US in 1985 with the Pros and Cons Plus Some Old Pink Floyd Stuff — North America Tour 1985.[65]
In 1986 Waters contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the movie When the Wind Blows based on the Raymond Briggs book of the same name. His backing band featuring Paul Carrack was credited as The Bleeding Heart Band. In 1987 he released Radio K.A.O.S., a concept album based around a mute man named Billy who can hear radio waves in his head. Billy learns to communicate with a radio DJ and angry at the state of the world simulates a fake nuclear attack.[68] Waters followed the release with a supporting tour also in 1987.
The Wall - Live in Berlin
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'The Schoolmaster' looms above the wall
Roger Waters performing The Wall in Berlin 1990
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Roger Waters performing The Wall in Berlin 1990On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and on 21 July 1990 Waters staged one of the largest rock concerts ever, The Wall - Live in Berlin on the vacant terrain between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate. Leonard Cheshire asked him to do the concert to raise funds for charity.[69][70][4] Waters' group of musicians included Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, and Sinéad O'Connor. Waters also used an East German symphony orchestra and choir, a Soviet marching band, and a pair of helicopters from the US 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron. Designed by Mark Fisher of Fisher Park, a 25 by 170 meter wall was built across the set and Scarfe's inflatable puppets were recreated on an enlarged scale. Although many rock icons received invitations to the show, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, did not.[71]
In 1990 Waters hired Mark Fenwick as his new manager and left EMI for a worldwide deal with Columbia. He divorced his second wife Carolyne Christie and released his third studio album, Amused to Death in 1992. Amused to Death is heavily influenced by the events of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the Gulf War, it is a critique of the notion of war becoming the subject of entertainment, particularly on television. Pat Leonard, who had also worked on A Momentary Lapse, co-produced the album. Ezrin was also referenced, with the line "Each man has his price, Bob, and yours was pretty low" from "Too Much Rope".[72] The title was derived from the book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. It is Waters' most critically acclaimed solo recording garnering some comparison to his previous work with Pink Floyd.[73] Waters himself describes the record as the third in a thematically-linked trilogy, after Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall. The album had one hit, "What God Wants, Pt. 1" which hit #4 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.[74] Jeff Beck played lead guitar on many of the album's tracks, which were recorded with a rotating cast of studio musicians. Although there was no tour in support of this album, Waters would perform material from it seven years later during his In the Flesh tours.
In 1999 Waters embarked on the In the Flesh tour, performing both solo and Pink Floyd material. The tour was a financial success in the US and though Waters had booked mostly smaller venues, tickets sold so well that most of the concerts had to be upgraded to larger venues. With Gilmour's Pink Floyd retiring after 1994 and many Floyd albums selling at the pace of Beatles records, Waters was in great demand. The tour eventually stretched across the world and would span three years. One concert was released on CD and DVD, named In the Flesh Live. During the tour he played two new songs "Flickering Flame" and "Each Small Candle" as the final encore to the show. In June 2002 Waters played the Glastonbury Festival performing many classic Pink Floyd songs.
Waters left the UK shortly after the passing of the Hunting Act 2004, denouncing it as "one of the most divisive pieces of legislation we've ever had in Great Britain".[75] Though in October 2005 he clarified: "I come back to the UK quite often. I didn't leave as a protest against the hunting ban; I was following a child in the wake of a divorce."[76]
After leaving Britain he moved to Long Island in New York with his girlfriend Laurie Durning.[77] Miramax announced in mid-2004 that a production of The Wall was to appear on Broadway with Waters playing a prominent part in its production. Reports stated that the musical contained not only the original tracks from "The Wall", but also songs from Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and other Pink Floyd albums, as well as new material.[78] On the night of 1 May 2004 the overture for Ça Ira was pre-premièred on occasion of the Welcome Europe celebrations in the accession country of Malta, performed over Grand Harbour in Valletta and illuminated by light artist Gert Hof.
In September 2004 Waters released two new tracks on the internet: "To Kill The Child" and "Leaving Beirut." Both of these tracks were inspired by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Waters, who currently resides in the U.S., has said that the songs were written immediately after the start of the war, but he delayed releasing them until just before the 2004 presidential election. The lyrics to "Leaving Beirut" contain strong attacks on former US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. After the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and subsequent tsunami disaster, Waters performed "Wish You Were Here" with Eric Clapton during a benefit concert on the American network NBC.[79]
Roger Waters Tour Pre Show Details:
During the pre-show, in the American part of the tour, a man who appears to be homeless pushes a shopping cart around the aisles around the floor seats. He wears a flannel jacket and a cowboy hat, and makes small talk with
the fans as he makes his way around the floor. His cart is full of empty soda cans and rubbish and a sign that reads different sayings that vary from show to show, including, "No thought control" on one side and, "Homeless people
need money for booze and hookers" on the other. His cart also contains the original stuffed "Pink" doll from 1979. In order, the music that plays during the pre-show are "Mother" by John Lennon, "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan, "A
Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, "Imagine" by John Lennon, "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday, and "People Get Ready" by the Impressions. The walk-in audio has differed from city to city ranging from Neil Young tracks to
George Carlin comedy routines.
Roger Waters Tour
details:
During the homeless man's tour through the crowd, the pre-show music stops and the sounds of channel surfing can be heard. When the homeless man reaches the stage, the climax of the movie Spartacus is played. A spotlight
shines on him and his cart as the sounds of the slaves each claiming to be Spartacus are heard. After which, the man throws "Pink" onto the stage.
For the European shows, the homeless man is replaced with two "soldiers", bearing the crossed hammer uniform, who bring the "Pink" puppet onto the stage and hold him throughout the Spartacus clip, before dumping him on the
ground and marching off the stage.
When he does this, the audio transitions to a trumpet (later revealed to be Roger Waters) playing the melody of "Outside the Wall". The trumpet playing lingers unaccompanied for about a minute, until the band bursts into "In the
Flesh?" with no warning. Fireworks explode across the stage during the opening chords and stage hands with arm bands and flags bearing the marching hammers emblems rise up above the band on lifts hidden in the stage
floor. At about mid-song, Waters emerges from the back of the stage, dressed in black. During the climax of the song, a scaled down Stuka Dive Bomber, suspended by a guide wire, flies into the wall and explodes in a fiery ball.Roger Waters Tour
During "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" there is a giant inflated puppet schoolmaster, an icon from the original show, which plunges up and down and appears to walk via suspending guide
wires. Local school children are brought out onto the stage to lip-sync and dance. From the Berlin 16 June show onwards, Waters sings an acoustic reprise of Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) with lyrics referring to the murder of
Jean Charles de Menezes before finally greeting the audience and telling them about the filming of the original Wall Tour shows. He then sings along with a video of him playing the song from the original 1980 tour. He refers to the
video as "Miserable little Roger." A giant mother blow-up designed on the look of the animated version is featured as well. The song has more of a political message than before, the words "Big Brother Is Watching You" are written
on the wall, with the "Br" crossed off and replaced with an "M". After the line "Mother, should I trust the government?" the words "No fucking way" are projected on the wall, as well as a local translation in non-English speaking
countries.
The initial projections shown during "Goodbye Blue Sky" caused some controversy. During the song, aeroplanes are shown dropping bombs shaped like Latin crosses, hammer and sickles, dollar signs, star and crescents, Stars
of David, the Shell logo, and the Mercedes-Benz logo, with the addition of the McDonald's logo in later shows. The plane dropping dollar signs appeared directly after the plane dropping the Star of David. Although Waters said in
Rolling Stone that there was no relevance to the order of the bombs, he changed the order after Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti-Defamation League, complained. Roger Waters stated, "Contrary to Mr Foxman's assertion,
there are no hidden meanings in the order or juxtaposition of these symbols." These visuals were changed at Waters' request for all future shows, to avoid any sensitive juxtapositions of the symbols used in the video. During the
song "Don't Leave Me Now" the production features a giant wife puppet similar in design and execution as the Schoolmaster. During the first half on the show, The Wall is slowly built up brick by brick and as with the eighties tour, an
extra song is played "The Last Few Bricks" giving the stage hands extra time to build the wall. at the end of "Goodbye Cruel World", the last brick is put in place and the wall is completed across the stage. An intermission follows with
photos and short bios of people lost in conflicts are projected on the wall.
Waters performing in front of The Wall during the guitar solo to "Comfortably Numb"The second act begins with "Hey You" and is played with minimal visuals on the wall. The band performs, now hidden from the audience's view,
from behind the wall.Roger Waters Boston Tickets
For the acoustic guitar solo piece "Is There Anybody Out There?" a brick is removed so that guitarists Dave Kilminster and G.E. Smith are visible. As "Nobody Home" begins, a section folds out of the wall
revealing a small mock hotel room complete with a television, chair, lamp and unmade bed. Waters, in character as "Pink", sings the song while seated on a comfy chair that is on a platform extending from the wall. During "Vera"
images of Vera Lynn are displayed on the wall, along with videos of young children being reunited with their veteran fathers. "Bring the Boys Back Home" features Dwight D. Eisenhower's American Society of Newspaper Editors
speech. During "Comfortably Numb", Robbie Wyckoff and Dave Kilminster stand on top of the wall as David Gilmour did in the original tour - a performance reprised by Gilmour himself during a one-off appearance at the London O2
show on 12 May 2011. At the end of the song, the projection of the wall explodes and cinematic pillars rise.
The band plays "The Show Must Go On" dressed in black fascist attire complete with the Marching Hammers armbands. Waters' trademarked inflatable pig is released, untethered, during "In the Flesh", and guided by remote
control, floats around the venue. Spotlights shine on the audience as Waters interrogates them, pointing out the "riff raff" in the room. During "Run Like Hell", images are displayed on the wall parodying the iPod lowercase "i" fad.
Pictures of pigs are shown next to the words "iLead", dogs next to "iProtect", sheep next to "iFollow", George Bush and other leaders next to "iBelieve", Hitler next to "iPaint", children next to "iLearn", and gravestones next to "iPay"
among others. In all of the pictures, the subjects are wearing iPods. After this montage, the leaked footage from the 12 July 2007 Baghdad airstrike is played, displaying captions of the American pilots speaking and pointing out
Reuters employees Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen, whose cameras were mistaken for weapons; after the attack, a banner is projected onto the wall: "Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, We Will Remember You." A
burst of gunfire sends it to the ground.
"Waiting For The Worms" features more of Gerald Scarfe's original animation from the film adaptation and tour, except that the infamous sequence of marching hammers has now been replaced with a new computer-generated,
cel-shaded version. "Stop" abruptly blacks out the entire wall, with a lone spotlight shining upon the Pink doll from the beginning of the program, which is sitting atop the wall; it is then thrown off of its high perch to the ground.
Gerald Scarfe's animated sequence is displayed during "The Trial". As the song reaches its steady climax and with the crowd shouting "Tear down the Wall", the wall crumbles violently from the top down amid smoke while a flurry of
red paper confetti (in the shape of the bomb symbols from earlier in the show) drops on to the audience. The band emerges from behind the rubble and plays "Outside the Wall" with a variety of acoustic instruments. Waters
introduces the band to the crowd, they bow and then exit the stage. It will be interesting to see what changes are made during the outdoor versions of The Wall on Roger Waters Tour 2012.
[edit] Later solo years (since 2005)
On 27 September 2005, after 16 years of work, Waters released his opera Ça Ira. It was released as a CD/DVD set, with Baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang and tenor Paul Groves. The original libretto was written in French by the late Étienne Roda-Gil and his wife Nadine, who set the opera during the early French Revolution. From 1997 Waters rewrote the libretto in English, and had this to say about the composition: "I've always been a big fan of Beethoven's choral music, Berlioz and Borodin … This is unashamedly romantic and resides in that early 19th-century tradition, because that's where my tastes lie in classical and choral music."[80] Waters appeared on television to discuss the opera, but the interviews often focused instead on his relationship with Pink Floyd, something Waters would "take in stride", a sign Mark Blake believes to be "a testament to his mellower old age or twenty years of dedicated psychotherapy."[80]
On 2 July 2005 Waters and Pink Floyd reunited for a performance at the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park. They played a four-song 23-minute set including "Speak to Me/Breathe"/"Breathe (Reprise)", "Money", "Wish You Were Here", and "Comfortably Numb". Waters told the Associated Press that while the experience of playing with Pink Floyd again was positive, the chances of a bona fide reunion would be "slight" considering his and Gilmour's continuing musical and ideological differences.[81] During an interview with Rolling Stone Waters further denied the possibility of a future Pink Floyd tour saying: "I didn't mind rolling over for one day, but I couldn't roll over for a whole fucking tour." [82]
Gilmour told the Associated Press, “The rehearsals convinced me it wasn’t something I wanted to be doing a lot of. There have been all sorts of farewell moments in people’s lives and careers which they have then rescinded, but I think I can fairly categorically say that there won’t be a tour or an album again that I take part in.”[83] In the 2009 BBC documentary Which One's Pink Waters appeared open to the idea of a Pink Floyd reunion tour stating, "It was really cool (Live 8), I'd like to do more of it...I don't think it will happen but I'd like...well, you can ask David when you speak to him."
Roger Waters performing "Comfortably Numb" during the encore of his Phoenix Arizona show 3 October 2006
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Roger Waters performing The Dark Side of the Moon Perth Australia 2007
Roger Waters (far right) performing with Pink Floyd at Live 8, 2 July 2005
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Solid state laser system designed by Marc Brickman that depicted The Dark Side of the Moon album art used on Waters' latest toursWaters has confirmed the possibility of a new solo album which "might be called" Heartland.[84] He released a download-only single in March 2007, "Hello (I Love You)" from the soundtrack to the film The Last Mimzy. Two other songs that may possibly appear on this album have been released on Flickering Flame: The Solo Years Vol. 1: "Each Small Candle" and "Flickering Flame". In recent interviews Waters has stated that he has numerous songs written that he intends to release when they are a complete album.[82][84]
In 2006 Waters launched his nearly three-year The Dark Side of the Moon Live Tour starting in Europe and North America. The first half of the performance was a mix of Pink Floyd classics and Waters' solo material. The second-half included a complete performance of 1973's Pink Floyd classic, The Dark Side of the Moon, ending with an encore from The Wall. Elaborate staging designed by Marc Brickman, complete with projections and a full 360 degree quadrophonic sound system were used. Former Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason joined Waters on some of the tour dates and Richard Wright was reportedly invited to participate, but declined to work on other projects. Waters continued touring in 2007 starting in January in Australia followed by New Zealand then going through Asia, Europe, South America, and finally North America in June. On 7 July 2007, he played on the American leg of the Live Earth concert, an international multi-venue concert aimed at raising awareness about global climate change, featuring the Trenton Youth Choir and his trademark inflatable pig. Waters has also become a spokes-person for Millennium Promise, a non-profit organisation that helps fight extreme poverty and malaria, and wrote a commentary for CNN's website on 11 June 2007 about the topic.[85] After performing at California's Coachella Festival in April, Waters continued his The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour with some shows in Colorado and Texas in 2008.[86] Waters was to be among the headlining artists performing at Live Earth 2008 in Mumbai, India on 7 December 2008. This concert was cancelled in light of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai throughout November 2008.[87] He finished the world tour in 2008 with several shows in Europe and the US.[88]
Syd Barrett died on 7 July 2006 and shortly after his passing Waters remarked: "... this is very sad ... Syd Barrett was one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. He left us long, long ago and although he only died just a few days ago fans have mourned him for decades."[89]
Following Wright's death on 15 September 2008 Waters stated: "Rick's ear for harmonic progression was our bedrock. I am very grateful for the opportunity that Live 8 afforded me to engage with him, and David and Nick that one last time. I wish there had been more."[90][91]
In March 2007 the science fiction film The Last Mimzy was released featuring an exclusive Waters song, "Hello (I love you)", which played over the end credits. Waters described it as "...a song that captures the themes of the movie, the clash between humanity's best and worst instincts, and how a child's innocence can win the day."[92]
Waters confirmed in December 2009 to David Frost that he is hoping to tour The Wall in late 2010.[3][4] Waters' manager, Mark Fenwick, confirmed 6 April that Waters will tour The Wall, and the American tour dates were announced 12 April 2010.[5][6][93]
[edit] Views and advocacy
Roger Waters performing The Dark Side of The Moon in Phoenix Arizona 3 October 2006Waters is a supporter of the Countryside Alliance and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation.[94] A strong supporter of fox hunting, Waters claimed he left Britain due to the Hunting Act 2004:
“I’ve become disenchanted with the political and philosophical atmosphere in England. The anti-hunting bill was enough for me to leave England. I did what I could, I did a concert and one or two articles, but it made me feel ashamed to be English. I was in Hyde Park for both the Countryside Alliance marches. There were hundreds of thousands of us there. Good, honest English people. That’s one of the most divisive pieces of legislation we’ve ever had in Great Britain Roger Waters Tour
. It was disgusting.”[95]
Waters opposes the barrier being built by Israel, calling it an "obscenity" that "should be torn down."[96] In December 2009 he pledged his support to the Gaza Freedom March.[97][98] Waters has voiced his opposition to Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War in Afghanistan (2001–present):
“The loss of a father is the central prop upon which (The Wall) stands. As the years go by, children lose their fathers again and again, for nothing. You see it now with all of these fathers, good men and true, who lost their lives and limbs in Iraq for no reason at all. I’ve done Bring the Boys Back Home in my encores on recent tours. It feels more relevant and poignant to be singing that song now than it did in 1979.” [99]
[edit] Hits and awards
Roger Waters performing The Dark Side Of The Moon, Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona Spain, 21 April 2007Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) "is one of the most acclaimed albums of all time. A stunning exploration of madness, death, anxiety, and alienation", it stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 724 weeks—the longest ever consecutive run for an LP—and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. It still sells around 5,000 units every week.[100] RIAA ranks The Dark Side of the Moon number 22 on its "Top 100 Albums" list, with 15 million certified units sold in the US.[101]
Pink Floyd's album The Wall is largely based on Waters' life story[47][34][102] and having sold 23 million RIAA certified units in the US is one of the top three selling albums of all time in America. Roger Waters Tour for The Wall 2010 - 2011 should be very succesful in its own right.[101]
The eagerly-awaited Roger Waters concert tour will combine an evening's worth
of music --comprised of two sets - with state-of-the-art staging, lighting and sound.
The Set will consist of Roger Waters and full band performing "The Wall," one of
the defining works of rock music history, from start-to-finish. Waters last performed
"The Wall" live in America with Pink Floyd more than 30 years ago.
The Roger Waters concerts will utilize elaborate large-scale video projections and
theatrical staging to underscore and accentuate the power of the music which is
delivered via a state-of-the-art 3600 quadraphonic sound system immersing the
audience in a 3-dimensional hyperworld.
The appearance will be a state-of-the art affair, featuring a 240-foot-wide and
35-foot-tall Wall complete and after broken down during the concerts. Other
backdrop and appropriate furnishings are accepted to be allotment of the
appearance as well.
Album illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who worked on the tour and 1982 film, is
providing new art and redesigning puppets and inflatable objects.
The RIAA and the National Endowment for the Arts named the Waters composition "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" one of the "365 Top Selling Songs of the 20th Century".[103] "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" was also ranked number 375 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.[104]
Pink Floyd has sold over 200 million albums worldwide[105][106] including 74.5 million certified units in the United States.[107]
"What God Wants, Pt. 1" from Amused to Death, reached number 35 in the UK in September 1992[108] and number 5 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart in the US.[74]
His first solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, has been certified Gold by the RIAA, and his opera Ça Ira reached number 5 on the Billboard Classical Music Chart in the US.[109]
Waters has been inducted into the US and UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd; he has also received a "Media Event of the Year" award for staging The Wall Live in Berlin. In February 2009 he received a "Cinema for Peace" award for The Wall.[110]
[edit] Equipment and instruments
Waters first played a Höfner bass that was soon replaced with a Rickenbacker 4001S. Circa 1970 he switched to a Fender Precision Bass. He often plays with a pick but is also known to play fingerstyle. Waters uses RotoSound Jazz Bass 77 bass guitar strings. Throughout his career he has used WEM, Hiwatt and Ashdown amplifiers. He is known to use delay, tremolo, chorus effect and phaser effects in his music.
While usually credited only as a bass guitarist and vocalist, Waters is also known to play electric guitar (as he did on Wish You Were Here and Animals, where he played rhythm guitar on tracks "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" part 9 and "Sheep") as well as synthesizer and tape effects, both to Pink Floyd and his solo works. He also plays acoustic guitar frequently during his live tours, mostly on tracks from The Final Cut and on the track "Mother".
The following is a list of equipment Waters has used on his recordings and tours.[111][112][113]
[edit] Bass guitars
Roger Waters performing at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa 6 June 2007
Roger Waters playing "In The Flesh" during his The Dark Side Of The Moon tour at Viking Stadion, Stavanger Norway, 26 June 2006Höfner bass guitar. His first bass.
Rickenbacker RM-1999/4001S, Fireglo with rosewood fretboard, used from 1966–1969, then lost in a 1970 equipment van heist in New Orleans.
Fender Precision Bass, first used in 1968, after 1970 he has rarely used any other bass guitars.
Sunburst with rosewood fretboard and brown tortoise pickguard. First seen in September 1968. Also used in the early 70's. Pickup cover and thumbrest (below pickups) attached.
White with brown tortoise pickguard and rosewood fretboard. Appears on back cover of Ummagumma 1969. Seen used at the KQED TV recording April 1970 as well as several photographs from 1969. Stolen along with Rickenbacker after equipment van heist in 1970.
Multi-coloured jazz bass with rosewood fretboard painted in a WWII German camouflage pattern. Used extremely rarely in 1969.
Black with rosewood fretboard. Seen in some early performances.
Black with white pickguard, maple fretboard. First seen at a concert in Hyde park July 1970, this guitar was rarely used prior to April 1972 when it became his de facto stage guitar. Circa 1976 Phil Taylor (Gilmour's guitar tech) replaced the white pickguard with a black, this is visible on the In the Flesh and The Wall tours. During the Wall sessions and tour Waters had three of them.
Sunburst with maple fretboard and gold anodized pickguard. Used during the Dark Side of the Moon recordings.
Black with maple fretboard and black pickguard. His main bass guitars during the 1980s solo album and tours.
Black with maple fretboard "Charvel" Precision style - currently used on Live 8, The Dark Side Of The Moon Live 2006-2008
Waters currently uses Samson wireless systems with his basses.
[edit] Guitars
Roger Waters and his band after their performance of The Dark Side of The Moon Phoenix Arizona 3 October 2006CBS Fender Stratocaster. Black with white pickguard, maple fretboard.
CBS Fender Stratocaster. Black with maple fretboard. Used on the 1977 tour.
Ovation Legend acoustic/electric guitar. Used on the 1977 tour.
Ovation Legend 1619-4 acoustic guitar. Used on The Wall recording sessions and tour. Also used on The Pros & Cons of Hitch Hiking Tour.
Ovation Classical 1613 acoustic guitar. Used on The Wall tour.
Washburn electric-acoustic guitar. Blue. Roger's main acoustic during the KAOS/Wall in Berlin era. Also used on 2000 In the Flesh tour by Andy Fairweather-Low.
Gibson Les Paul guitar. Black. Used on Radio K.A.O.S. tour.
Unknown Fender Telecaster copy. Black, with three control knobs. Used exclusively at The Wall Live in Berlin, on "Hey You".
Martin 000-28EC acoustic guitar. Used on In the Flesh tour.
Martin 000-28ECHF Bellezza Nera acoustic guitar. Used on Dark Side of the Moon Live tour.
Washburn RR300 electric guitar (hi-strung). Sunburst. Used on In the Flesh tour.
Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster. Torino Red with white pickguard. Used on In the Flesh tour.
Fender Stratocaster. All black. Used on 2002 In the Flesh tour.
The eagerly-awaited Roger Waters concert tour will combine an evening's worth
of music --comprised of two sets plus encores-- with state-of-the-art staging,
lighting and sound.
The Set will consist of Roger Waters and full band performing "The Wall," one of
the defining works of rock music history, from start-to-finish. Waters last performed
"The Wall" live in America with Pink Floyd more than 30 years ago.
The Roger Waters concerts will utilize elaborate large-scale video projections and
theatrical staging to underscore and accentuate the power of the music which is
delivered via a state-of-the-art 3600 quadraphonic sound system immersing the
audience in a 3-dimensional hyperworld.
The appearance will be a state-of-the art affair, featuring a 240-foot-wide and
35-foot-tall Wall complete and after broken down during the concerts. Other
backdrop and appropriate furnishings are accepted to be allotment of the
appearance as well. All info for Roger Waters Tour The Wall 2012 should be full of tickets and tour news and the webs trusted pink floyd source when it comes to roger waters tour and tickets!Waters' touring band for this outing will include notables GE Smith (guitar and
bass), Snowy White (guitar), Dave Kilminster (guitar), Joe Carin (keyboards), Harry
Waters (organ), Graham Broad (drums), Robbie Wyckoff (vocals), and Jon Joyce,
Pat Lennon, Mark Lennon and Kipp Lennon on backing vocals.
In a press video for the tour, Waters states that when he wrote the Wall
in 1979, the plot was "deeply rooted in this specific story of me and the
loss of my father and how that affected my life and how I grew up and
how I went through certain changes and things." But with this new
resurrection of the production, he says, "I wanted to broaden it to the
point that anyone who shares that sense of loss, or that sense of
outrage at the losses that occur, can identify with my personal story –
but also understand that it was my loss that enabled me to empathize
with others."
Roger Explains why tour now.
"I recently came across this quote of mine from 22 years ago: ” What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us to understand
one another better, or will they deceive us and keep us apart?” I believe this is still a supremely relevant question and the jury is out. There is a lot of commercial clutter on the net, and a lot of propaganda,
but I have a sense that just beneath the surface understanding is gaining ground. We just have to keep blogging, keep twittering, keep communicating, keep sharing ideas. 30 Years ago when I wrote The
Wall I was a frightened young man. Well not that young, I was 36 years old. It took me a long time to get over my fears. Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear
and loss with it’s concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns.: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, Whatever! All these issues and ‘isms
are driven by the same fears that drove my young life. This new production of The Wall is an attempt to draw some comparisons, to illuminate our current predicament, and is dedicated to all the innocent lost
in the intervening years. In some quarters, among the chattering classes, there exists a cynical view that human beings as a collective are incapable of developing more ‘humane’ ie, kinder, more
generous, more cooperative, more empathetic relationships with one another. I disagree. In my view it is too early in our story to leap to such a conclusion, we are after all a very young species.
I believe we have at least a chance to aspire to something better than the dog eat dog ritual slaughter that is our current response to our institutionalized fear of each other.
I feel it is my responsibility as an artist to express my, albeit guarded, optimism, and encourage others to do the same. To quote the great man, ” You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
- Roger Waters, 2012
Album illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who worked on the tour and 1982 film, is
providing new art and redesigning puppets and inflatable objects.
Roger Waters Tour
Massachusetts Demolition Contractor
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