by Michael Meloni

Surrounded by Poms on my train ride to see Roger Waters, I had to remind myself that I was not in England and in fact only 30 minutes from home in Brisbane, Australia. Thankfully, the drunken Kiwi sitting beside me left me firmly stranded in reality.

To be honest I was a little worried that Roger might not be able to pull the evening off. After his Live 8 performance I was largely disappointed and decided not to bother with front row centre tickets (something which I would have killed for had it been Gilmour playing). I wasn’t even that excited until the day before. Was I trying to set myself up for a dismal night so I wouldn’t feel ripped off? All I know is I couldn’t have been any further off the mark.

No fancy entrances, just fancy lights, the first half of the concert was made up of mainly Pink Floyd hits. Opening with In the Flesh, the audience gave an unexpected sound of joy when Waters’ slowed things down with Mother. And whilst I’ve heard better performances of Wish You Were Here, hearing Waters sing it live for the first time will not be something I forget.

However, it was Roger’s solo number Leaving Beirut where he really shined. His performance and lyrical jabs at George W and the Christian Right had the crowd roaring. His energy was peaking so high I thought he might have been able to tell us if there really was anyone up there.

After a 15-minute line up at the toilets (for me, not Roger), He didn’t mess around and got straight into the second half of the gig, Dark Side of the Moon. Waters took a step back and allowed the band to perform a lot of the vocals early on, while he showed off to the crowd with some nifty playing and seizure like body jolting. He absorbs his own music like no other when playing live. Money really highlighted what a great bassist Waters is.

Fire explosions, bubbles, smoke, everything just added to the experience. For the entire night only the floating pig managed to distract the audience from Waters and the band.

After DSOTM, Roger thanked everyone (for a moment I thought he thanked Perth, but the drum intro to Time probably though my hearing out of whack) and they left the stage. Luckily, he returned to perform the rest of his advertised set list.

Boy did the crowd love getting into Another Brick in the Wall. Who wouldn’t? While it might not be every Pink Floyd fans favourite song, maybe not even in their top 10, it’s undoubtedly an anthem. And to finish up with Comfortably Numb, what more can I say?

I don’t regret turning down front row seats for cheaper ones, I regret doubting if Roger still had it. If he is touring your part of the world this year don’t think twice. Prepare yourself for one hell of a concert.