Aged 78, Roger Waters was perhaps making his very last visit to Quebec. If ever this was the case, the memory left behind will have been a memorable one. A concert that corresponded perfectly to the current era. Very large Waters.
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For this tour This is Not a Drillpassing through the Videotron Center on Sunday, the ex-Pink Floyd, his seven musicians and two singers performed on a central stage with, above them, a huge giant screen.
“Turn off your phones in respect with your neighbors. And if you don’t like the political opinions of Roger Waters, swear your camp at the bar”, he launched in slightly less polite terms, during a pre-recorded intervention.
Political messages
Waters kicks off the evening with a daring version of Comfortably Numb, slower, with some organ notes and the presence of choirs, and without the mythical guitar solo. On the screens, images of a city in ruins. We hear thunder rumbling.
The flying pig is seen appearing in the images. The public reacts. A superb entry. Different and above all successful. Which felt good with a title that we have heard a lot and which is starting to get burned out.
The screen rises, we discover the scene, the noise of the helicopters is heard and it’s off to The Happiest Day of Our Livesfollowed, of course, by Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 et 3.
Relevant political messages scroll across the screen and bear witness to a turbulent current era.
Waters walks across the stage, under red lights, so he can be seen by people on the other side.
With recent tours where Pink Floyd material was omnipresent, the singer-bassist revisits Radio KAOS et Amused to Death with The Power That Be et The Bravery of Being Out of Rangein slightly different versions from the originals.
It was good to hear his solo material that we hear, unfortunately, very rarely in his shows.
Immense moment
Durant The Power That Be, the images refer to Montrealers Pierre Coriolan, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, victims of police brutality. We then see the Reagans, Clintons, Bushes, Obamas and Trumps parading during The Bravery of Being Out of Range. A piece where guitarist Dave Kilminster delivered a superb solo. New element, Waters was at the piano for this piece.
“Cheers,” he said, before taking a long sip from a bottle of wine.
After a short story titled The Bar, with Waters alone at the piano, we were treated to Have a Cigara nod to Syd Barrett with a Wish You Were Here well sung by the public and the second segment, rarely played in concert, of Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
The electric piano notes of Sheep, deployed by Jon Carin, are suddenly heard. On the screen, we can read that the dogs and pigs of the album Animals, launched in 1977, are even more powerful today.
What piece ! Certainly one of the greatest of Pink Floyd. The highlight of This is Not a Drill.
Playing the air drum and making the crowd react by raising his arms in the air, Waters thoroughly enjoyed this moment before the arrival of intermission.
On the way back, the banners with the hammers appear to In The Flesh.
Durant Déjà vu et Is This The Life We Really Want ?, Waters gets the “trafficking,” fucking empires, the Supreme Court, the patriarchy, guns and occupations, emphasizing the importance of human rights. Is this the life we really want? The question was relevant.
After the unmissable second side of Dark Side of the Moonwith the laser triangles during Eclipsepeople gave a standing ovation that seemed to blow away the legendary musician.
During Outside the Wall, the musicians circled the stage to greet the audience. A great finale that put an end to a superb evening.
