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<\/p>\nBy Christopher David<\/p>\n
\u201cSyd and I had it all figured.\u00a0 We\u2019d start a band.\u201d<\/p>\n
The understated foreshadowing of this statement about halfway though Roger Waters\u2019 set at the United Center on Tuesday offered some context for attendees who perhaps didn\u2019t know the full history of the legendary Pink Floyd, and throughout the night, glimpses into the band\u2019s history appeared as text messages on the massive, X-shaped screens that formed the foundation of the \u2018in the round\u2019 approach; it was a goosebump-inducing callback for the faithful die-hards, but it was exactly one of several things that contributed to the overall imbalance of Waters\u2019 current \u201cThis is Not a Drill\u201d show.<\/p>\n
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First off, Waters has set a high-bar for himself with his 2010-12 deep dive into The Wall<\/em>, surely one of the most ambitious tours of all time, and his 2018 tour, complete with the Animals<\/em> factory and a stunning, arena-sized Dark Side<\/em> light prism for the climax would be far and away enough for any band to enter the annals of rock-tour infamy.\u00a0 And make no mistake – \u201cThis is Not A Drill\u201d is a visually stunning, emotionally affecting show, no question; no one outside of perhaps U2 could, at this point in the live music landscape, deliver a show of this caliber.\u00a0 But perhaps it\u2019s the result of those meticulously constructed tours past that left Tuesday\u2019s show feeling somewhat scattered and unfocused at times.\u00a0 Waters\u2019 recent material is strong and, as one would expect, heavily political; anyone who would raise a flag on that play has no understanding of Waters\u2019 musical or personal history.\u00a0 Which is why the spelling out of certain elements via screen-text felt so odd at times; of course Animals<\/em> was an homage to George Orwell, and most Floyd fans know that Waters has a deeply committed sense of social justice that presides over much of his imagery and lyrics.<\/p>\n It felt, at various points, as though this show didn\u2019t know what it wanted to be.\u00a0 Was it a Waters\/Floyd retrospective at career\u2019s end?\u00a0 It certainly felt like it at times, from the marching hammer rally of \u201cIn the Flesh\u201d calling back the 2012 stadium tour, to the explicitly stated history of the band that played out on the screens and felt like excerpts from a diary, to the suite of tunes from Dark Side of the Moon<\/em> and Wish You Were Here<\/em>.\u00a0 Or was it the pancake stack of political messages from start to finish, with not a free moment to breathe and simply enjoy being at a rock show?\u00a0 Waters offered a humorous disclaimer at the start, letting fans who weren\u2019t on board with his politics the chance to \u2018fuck off to the bar\u2019\u2014given the current political landscape, perhaps this was necessary, though it\u2019s a shame that it had to be.\u00a0 A nice wink-and-nod to that was the performance of a new tune called \u201cThe Bar,\u201d built around the idea of a neighborhood bar as a place of non-judgmental sharing of ideas; the lyrical framework of the arena as a such a meeting place was a great springboard for intimacy, and few artists can achieve this level of bringing a room of any size together.<\/p>\n The politics themselves weren\u2019t the problem; as I said, one would expect this from a long-time champion of human rights.\u00a0 But the political messages were near nonstop the entire night, with random, confusing images of frightened children and bombs falling during the record-label basher \u201cHave A Cigar,\u201d for example; such imagery and messaging had no place in the song, but it was shoe-horned in anyway.\u00a0 Why, when so much of the show (mainly Waters\u2019 most recent work) was already so deeply steeped in intensely violent, barbed political commentary?\u00a0 The visual elements and use of the mega-screens were often lush, dazzling compliments to the music onstage\u2014but at times, they were more of a distraction than an compliment, which was unusual for an artist so seasoned in presenting a cohesive, cinematic live performance.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it was impossible to ignore that the band was largely the backdrop to the barrage of words upon words, when it really should have been the other way around.<\/p>\n In terms of setlist, \u201cSheep\u201d was a monstrous, triumphant dip into 1977\u2019s Animals<\/em>, perhaps Floyd\u2019s best album from a technical standpoint, and \u201cUs and Them\u201d has never felt so effortlessly poignant.\u00a0 \u201cThe Bravery of Being Out of Range\u201d from 1992\u2019s Amused to Death<\/em> saw Waters at the piano for one of several times throughout the night and came across beautifully, and newer songs like \u201cThe Powers That Be\u201d and \u201cDeja Vu\u201d from 2017\u2019s Is This the Life We Really Want<\/em> fit nicely with some the funkier Floyd material like the backend of \u201cShine On You Crazy Diamond\u201d and \u201cMoney,\u201d which itself was a stunningly missed opportunity to showcase each individual band member on the screens; in fact, the band was mostly absent from the camera feed, which furthered the sense of disconnect in terms of Band vs. Messaging; forget seeing most of the musicians from the highest parts of the arena.\u00a0 (Case in point: the immensely talented Joey Waronker delivered a perfect set from the drum kit, but his image didn\u2019t appear on screen for more than a few seconds over the course of the night until the literal credits rolled.)<\/p>\n Perhaps it\u2019s because the band wasn\u2019t to be the focus if providing an even more overt platform for Waters\u2019 political grievances was the order of this particular go-round.\u00a0 Understandable, but one wonders what might have come from a more subtle approach.<\/p>\n For more on Roger Waters, click here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Roger-Waters-Pink-Floyd-United-Center-Chicago-2022-17-1024x684.jpg\")
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