Roger Waters Summer Tour- Should I Go?

[Library Jon]

Roger Waters has a new album coming out and is doing a summer USA tour. He is playing 2 nights at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia during August 2017. I am really on the fence about going to this concert. Tickets are kind of expensive. It does not conflict with my work schedule so I guess that I could attend this thing. So what do you think? Should I go or not?



Library Jon

[klothos]

It really depends on a lot of factors to justify the ticket price......I did the Black Sabbath meet n greet, paid a lot of money to do that. I almost didnt do it because it was sans Bill Ward. Although I like Black Sabbath, i wouldnt say they are favorites of mine but I thought that these guys were living legends and time is slipping away where legends like these may not ever tour again...So, I paid the extravagant price: I had a great time, met the legends (even if just briefly), and enjoyed a great show with a (Bonus) great opening band that I am now a fan of thanks to that show (Rival Sons).....I felt like I got my money's worth

Im hoping my Black Sabbath story helps

[Bartellb]

I'm also on the fence about going to the show at Wells Fargo Center. There's a thread here with setlist and stage show info if you want to know that to help decide.

[klothos]

It really depends on a lot of factors to justify the ticket price......I did the Black Sabbath meet n greet, paid a lot of money to do that. I almost didnt do it because it was sans Bill Ward. Although I like Black Sabbath, i wouldnt say they are favorites of mine but I thought that these guys were living legends and time is slipping away where legends like these may not ever tour again...So, I paid the extravagant price: I had a great time, met the legends (even if just briefly), and enjoyed a great show with a (Bonus) great opening band that I am now a fan of thanks to that show (Rival Sons).....I felt like I got my money's worth

Im hoping my Black Sabbath story helps

One last thing to my above post: Politics would also be a big factor for me in deciding......I don't care if someone agrees with me or disagrees with me politically: When I go to a concert I just want to get into the music and forget about the world and the daily nonsense I see everyday in the news and on social media. Nowadays, if an artist is going to get all political as part of their performance, I won't go and I don't care who it is and how much weight they have as a living legend

[NogbadTheBad]

If you don't like the politics then don't go to Waters. I'm going, I like the setlist and missed The Wall shows. I found it hard to justify the expense but I've been a fan of Floyd for a long time and haven't seen anything live in 30 years.

[JKL2000]

Aren't there tickets for like $50? Sit in the back, smoke a bone, and watch the flying pig!

[Facelift]

One last thing to my above post: Politics would also be a big factor for me in deciding......I don't care if someone agrees with me or disagrees with me politically: When I go to a concert I just want to get into the music and forget about the world and the daily nonsense I see everyday in the news and on social media. Nowadays, if an artist is going to get all political as part of their performance, I won't go and I don't care who it is and how much weight they have as a living legend

Rock music is social movement music. Asking that it divorce itself from its politically progressive inception is like asking a guitarist to only play with one hand.

If you want scrubbed, sanitized "entertainment" go to Disneyland.

[Trane]

As much as I expect a lot from Waters' upcoming album, most likely, I won't catch his tour (should he come to Benelux) for whatever price they ask (I'll catch the DVD later - if there is one)

It's not a question of price, I can afford it... or even a question of principle, either.... I like Waters' engaged artiste personae.
But I don't fancy huge concert crowds...
I'm not really agoraphobic, but don't want to deal with huge crowds - haven't been to a sport event in three decades

[Rael]

One last thing to my above post: Politics would also be a big factor for me in deciding......I don't care if someone agrees with me or disagrees with me politically: When I go to a concert I just want to get into the music and forget about the world and the daily nonsense I see everyday in the news and on social media. Nowadays, if an artist is going to get all political as part of their performance, I won't go and I don't care who it is and how much weight they have as a living legend

Then you would have a terrible time. Let's just say if you're a fan of the current administration, you will probably want to walk out before the show is over. There is no escape from politics when you see Roger Waters live and this tour-and the new album-is even more politically motivated. If you want escapism, go see Kiss instead.

[battema]

Based on The Wall tours, IMHO Roger Waters delivers a show comparable in quality (technical/musical) to the ticket prices asked. Based on the early setlists, the show isn't going to be a deep dive and like Gilmour, he seems to mostly be overlooking his own solo work in favor of Floyd (plus of course his newest album). But, it isn't just a Greatest Hits set either and I'm expecting some genuine goosebump moments along the way.

One potential other bonus is seeing him move back toward a band performance. As much as I loved the Wall shows, it was a theater show with spectacle first, message second, band third. I missed some of the musical highlights of the prior tours, like watching Kilminster absolutely own 'Any Colour You Like' or Carin's wonderfully-Wrightlike synth lines. Based on the setlist, we'll have a few more of those moments this time around.

I'm seeing him in DC in August, and definitely looking forward to the experience. Personally, I'd suggest going...there aren't too many of these older acts still putting on a show like this

Regarding the politics: if you are more than a casual Pink Floyd fan, you should already be aware of Waters and his blunt-force approach to messages. It isn't exactly a recent development.

[nycsteve]

Im going in Sept in NY. My main reason is to accommodate my 23 year old daughter who has turned into a HUGE Floyd fan, with next to no encouragement from me. She was ecstatic when she found out we were going. Had it not been for my daughter I would have passed due to reasons already sited. First, cost, its not worth it to me anymore. Second, and primarily , I cant stand the current vibe in big arena shows. People act as if they are at a sports event rather than music event. They don't shut the fuck up for a second. They play with their phones in a relentlessly intrusive manner. And I don't like being treated like cattle, even understanding the need for security. Im hoping my concert neighbors will be of the courtesy minded set. I also have no doubt whatsoever that any part of the show that Waters has control of will be top notch.

[Supersonic Scientist]

He is playing directly across the street from my work-place the day before my birthday. I loved Floyd back in the day but RW's political stage-Shiite has turned me off to him and his music for many years/decades now.

[Rael]

Second, and primarily , I cant stand the current vibe in big arena shows. People act as if they are at a sports event rather than music event. They don't shut the fuck up for a second. They play with their phones in a relentlessly intrusive manner. .

This is exactly why I'm not going. The last time I saw Roger Waters was in 2007 for "The Dark Side of the Moon". The show itself was great but it was more like being at some sort of talkie convention instead of a rock concert. And that's been my experience the last several times I went to an arena for any band tours. The only relatively recent show I saw in a big place where the audience wasn't disruptive was for Rush and that's because the band were so fucking loud. Yeah, I know, get off my lawn and all that.

[klothos]

Rock music is social movement music. Asking that it divorce itself from its politically progressive inception is like asking a guitarist to only play with one hand.

If you want scrubbed, sanitized "entertainment" go to Disneyland.

Im calling BS on your comment because there are plenty of bands like ELO, Duran Duran, Moody Blues, The Sweet, 10CCs, Klaatu, etc that have kept their politics-in-their-music to either a nil, a tolerable minimal song-or-two if any, or mostly off the stage, and Id say those are more the norm than not

Not all bands are Rage Against The Machine or Bono and some have learned by The Dixie Chicks example of how much of a disaster that can be for themselves.............

[Score2112]

Based on The Wall tours, IMHO Roger Waters delivers a show comparable in quality (technical/musical) to the ticket prices asked. Based on the early setlists, the show isn't going to be a deep dive and like Gilmour, he seems to mostly be overlooking his own solo work in favor of Floyd (plus of course his newest album). But, it isn't just a Greatest Hits set either and I'm expecting some genuine goosebump moments along the way.

One potential other bonus is seeing him move back toward a band performance. As much as I loved the Wall shows, it was a theater show with spectacle first, message second, band third. I missed some of the musical highlights of the prior tours, like watching Kilminster absolutely own 'Any Colour You Like' or Carin's wonderfully-Wrightlike synth lines. Based on the setlist, we'll have a few more of those moments this time around.

I'm seeing him in DC in August, and definitely looking forward to the experience. Personally, I'd suggest going...there aren't too many of these older acts still putting on a show like this

Regarding the politics: if you are more than a casual Pink Floyd fan, you should already be aware of Waters and his blunt-force approach to messages. It isn't exactly a recent development.

Agree with all this. Also going to the DC show and can't wait.

[100423]

I saw the first show of the tour on Friday night and it was magnificent. If politics are a deal breaker, the second set, especially, will not be your thing. That said the production for this show is amazing. And the sound was the best I've heard in the enormo-dome aka the Sprint Center here in Kansas City.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Rock music is social movement music. Asking that it divorce itself from its politically progressive inception is like asking a guitarist to only play with one hand.

If you want scrubbed, sanitized "entertainment" go to Disneyland.

While I agree in principle, the sad truth is that the moneymonsters have scrubbed *most* of rock'n'roll of its political roots. Yeah, sure, there are still some old pharts like Waters and Rundgren and Bono -- and even a couple of young pharts -- who politicize. But the same machine that mainstreams everything had its way with the main stream of rock decades ago. By the mid-80s, Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going To Take It" was the biggest social statement mainstream rock had to offer...

As a certain tinyhanded ferretwearing cheetofaced shitgibbon might say: Sad!

[Facelift]

Im calling BS on your comment because there are plenty of bands like ELO, Duran Duran, Moody Blues, The Sweet, 10CCs, Klaatu, etc that have kept their politics-in-their-music to either a nil, a tolerable minimal song-or-two if any, or mostly off the stage, and Id say those are more the norm than not

Not all bands are Rage Against The Machine or Bono and some have learned by The Dixie Chicks example of how much of a disaster that can be for themselves.............

I never said that *all* bands either have a social/political message or were conceived from one. I am saying that "rock;" as distinguished from "rock and roll", as it came into being in the mid 1960s, was a music of the counterculture and Roger Waters is one of the artists who were part of that. It's ridiculously unfair to have an expectation that artists refrain from voicing their social/political opinions - especially those from this particular era; especially those who already have a track for doing so, and especially in this particular era, when these opinions are needed more than ever.

[Scott Bails]

Roger Waters? Political?

The hell you say!

[Dale]

It's ridiculously unfair to have an expectation that artists refrain from voicing their social/political opinions - especially those from this particular era; especially those who already have a track for doing so, and especially in this particular era, when these opinions are needed more than ever.

So you'd have no problem with listening to the "opinions" of, oh let's see, Ted Nugent in concert?

[klothos]

It's ridiculously unfair to have an expectation that artists refrain from voicing their social/political opinions - especially those from this particular era; especially those who already have a track for doing so, and especially in this particular era, when these opinions are needed more than ever.

I never said that I have any expectation of anything, political or otherwise...I was only saying what my preference is and the OP specifically asked "What do you think?". In the case of this thread its:

"He is an icon and may never tour again.....If you can stomach his political agenda, for or against, go see him......However, if you prefer to have your live music sans political sabre rattling and the use of a live stage as a medium for personal diatribe, don't go......I personally dont want to pay money to have some rock star, iconic or otherwise, ram their opinion in my face (especially when they've made their millions from the same machine they are supposed to be raging against)......Your mileage may vary"

[moecurlythanu]

Roger Waters? Political?

The hell you say!

So I have to ask : Does he have a giant inflated Trump float through the arena when they do tracks from Animals?

[Bartellb]

If Trump is the pig who is the dog and are the audience members the sheep?

[Yodelgoat]

I have no objections to seeing "trump is a pig" at a concert. I like the music, if I were gullible enough to let a British Communist tell me how I think, I probably shouldn't attend, but I don't think it a crime for someone to voice their opinion. I dont know why Roger believes Trump is a Pig, but its not very intellectually effective to simply offer up insults. If you are cowed by that, or take that to be your own belief because a Rock Star said it... Well that doesnt speak much to your personal judgement does it? If you agree, Scream it out at the concert... Great. Isnt free speech wonderful?

Try doing this in Communist China - Not the Trump thing, but say, against Xi Jinping and you'll see that Trump aint the only pig on the planet. Funny how things change when free speech isnt free anymore. I'm kind of chuckling while waiting for Rogers Concerts in say, Bagdad, to see how that would go...

I'm gonna go see Roger if I can this tour. I would not bother to go to a Ted Nugent Concert. I dislike his music.

Let people rage at a concert. Its better than Roger trying to shoot someone. Or (God forbid) spit on them....

[Casey]

^ Well said.

It's easy picking soft targets. I bet there are a great many PF/RW fans in countries where free speech isn't part of life. I would like to see RW put his money where is mouth is & tour those places, take shots at their leaders/belief systems, & then accept the consequences. There's a great many things in the world against which objections & protests should be raised. Why, I ask, does RW always seem to return to his familiar targets? Is is simply because they are still available as targets? Is is because they are safer? Is it because they are more profitable?

Years ago I read an interview with Gilmour wherein he was talking about RW's lyrics/world view, & said something along the lines of "after a while, it just seems like complaining."

Just to be clear, when I attend a concert, I simply want the beauty of the music. Maybe some funny stories. But please, leave your political & religious commentary in your dressing room. Just like here on PE!