Concert Review: Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon

This is a review of the Roger Waters concert held at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia on September 23, 2006. The venue is 37 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The concert was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

I went to the concert with two of my rock'n'rolling friends. We were excited, as this was our first Roger Waters concert. We arrived at the venue about an hour early to avoid the time of peak traffic. Jiffy Lube Live has a capacity of 25,000. Not surprisingly, we faced long delays as we entered and later exited the parking lot.

As we headed over, it was already approaching twilight on the warm, fall evening. Our seats were in section 304, which is located towards the back in the left half of the venue when facing the stage. I took many pictures inside the venue both during and in between songs performed by the band. The level of light inside was rather low most of the time. That made it a challenge to take pictures with my camera, as it was necessary to use long exposure times (and a very steady hand!).

Before the concert began, it was amusing watching the stage screen, which showed a radio being tuned to different stations by someone's hand having a smoke and drink.

Then came the opening song, "In the Flesh," drawing loud cheers from the audience. It was a powerful opener and played pretty faithfully to the studio version from "The Wall." Roger Waters did a fine job with the vocals on this song, as he did for all of the songs generally.

Other highlights of the first set included "Mother," "Have A Cigar," "Wish You Were Here" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." The guitar solo in "Mother" was played with emotion, as was the saxophone solo in another song, "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun." A cool, starry image was displayed during the first set.

Two other songs, "Leaving Beirut" and "Sheep," had overtly political messages. A huge pig balloon floated over the crowd during "Sheep," the last song of the first set, and then disappeared in the sky.

The second set began with "Speak to Me," which then led to "Breathe." Highlights from the second set included the Pink Floyd classics "Time," "Money," "Us and Them" and "Brain Damage." We were finally beginning to understand why this tour was called "Dark Side of the Moon." The band did a great job in making these iconic songs come alive. "Money," the well-known odd-meter song, was pulled off perfectly.

After that great set, the audience naturally wanted more. Roger Waters returned for the encore, which included the great cult classic, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II," and "Comfortably Numb." Both of these songs featured extended guitar solos. Most of the audience remained standing during the encore.

All in all, it was an enjoyable concert. All of the singers and musicians on stage put forth great performances. The special effects were amazing. I personally enjoyed the second set and encore more than the first set. But that's mainly because I was more familiar with those songs.

I also think the experience gave us a glimpse into the mind behind one of the biggest bands in rock music.

Sam Bhattacharya
http://www.sambhattacharya.com