Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters has embarked on his 2017 Us+Them tour and is getting set to perform in California, as we write. Yes, the tickets for the remainder of the 61-show North American tour of the former Pink Floyd bassist is still available.
Fret not, the show continues until October 29, so you've got plenty of time to make up your mind to book that once-in-a-lifetime ticket.
Waters' North American Us+Them tour started off in Kansas City on Friday, May 26, and a first account encounter reveals that the show at the Sprint Centre was nothing but spectacular and LEGENDARY.
The unreal audio-visual experience consisting a mind-blowing quad sound and the cutting edge video production remained the highlight yet again, along with the evergreen songs like 'Money', 'Time', 'Another Brick in the Wall' and of course, 'Comfortably Numb'.
Waters also performed songs from his new album 'Is This The Life We Really Want?', which released June 2.
Sayantani Ghosh, an ardent Pink Floyd fan from Kolkata, who was lucky and fortunate enough to be present at the Sprint Centre on the fateful night, shared her sentiments with International Business Times, India, right after the Kansas City concert...and we were absolutely left blown away!
Excerpts from the tête-à-tête with Sayantani:
IBT India: To start with, how was the FEELING watching the legendary Roger Waters LIVE? Let's hear something special how the experience affected you and all.
Sayantani: Growing up in Kolkata, Pink Floyd is not just music, it's a religion. So, undoubtedly, I had dreamt of watching them live ever since I first heard 'Another brick in the wall' when I was about 14. So, naturally, when I was a part of the audience watching Roger Waters on stage, it was like living a dream.
He was every bit as amazing live as he was on the tapes. I think it is very hard for me to describe the experience, because I still have trouble believing it actually happened.
IBT India: Tell me about the reception to Roger's show in Kansas. Which PF numbers did he perform and if he gave out any SPECIAL message as such.
Sayantani: The concert hall, as you can expect, was a almost full. And I think because of it being the first show in the tour, there were more people attending it.
He performed to some of the timeless Pink Floyd songs - 'Another brick in the wall', 'Time', 'Comfortably Numb', 'Pigs', 'The Great Gig in the Sky', 'Dogs', as well as some songs from his new album, 'Is this the life we really want'.
His performance of 'Another brick in the wall' was about racism. There were a row of African-American kids on the stage dressed like prisoners breaking out of the orange jumpsuits into a t-shirt that read 'Resist'.
The performance of 'Pigs' was about resisting all that is wrong about our leaders, which is the original intent of the song, which was written for [former UK prime minister] Margaret Thatcher. His songs were not just about the music, it was about a message. And that's what music is supposed to do, it's supposed to make you feel things.
IBT India: Take a breath...and tell me what unique way did he chose to criticise Donald Trump this time around.
Sayantani: The performance of 'Pigs' was all about pointing out every bit that is wrong about Trump. The video had Trump's face doodled played on the screen. There was a balloon pig flying around. Overall, the message was pretty in-your-face. To be honest, I had expected this performance of 'Pigs', because he had done the exact same performance at Mexico City last year.
And those who walked out of the concert, there were quite a few, were either ignorant or in denial, because this is what Pink Floyd is all about.
IBT India: You've also witnessed David Gilmour LIVE. What has been the unique takeaways from both these LIVE shows?
Sayantani: David Gilmour, I'll be honest, is my favorite member of the band. So, naturally, I was more excited to listen to him. And he lived up to every bit of my expectations. He came up in a plain black t-shirt, no introductions, straight to the music. His voice was so powerful, I swear I had goosebumps. He sang more of my favorite songs - 'Coming back to life', 'Wish you were here', 'High Hopes'.
But David Gilmour was just about the music, Roger Waters was about the message. But one thing that was common for both these shows is that their performances were a world apart from all the other bands I've ever seen perform - RHCP, Coldplay, Radiohead, AC/DC etc., be it in music quality or performance.
And that's when you realize what Pink Floyd really is compared to any other band.
IBT India: Finally, Floydians back here in India like me are jealous of you haha for what you've just done in life. Tell me if you really think PF would reunite someday and if so, how desperate would you be to get the ticket.
Sayantani: To be honest, I doubt they will reunite, at least to perform. As much as I want to deny it, they are pretty old. [Richard Wright died in 2008] And David Gilmour started coughing on the stage once while singing. Also, they both perform once in 5 years. So, it's pretty unlikely.
But, obviously, if they do unite someday, I will definitely be there, even if it costs me a kidney!
