Review by Shawn Perry
After a two-year delay (thanks to the pandemic), Roger Waters finally brought his ‘This Is Not A Drill’ tour to Nashville. As expected, the staging and visuals were state of the art, the sound and music at its highest caliber, and Waters’ widely controversial political and social views on full display.
The setting was in the round with a screen in the shape of a giant “X” suspended above the stage. Before the show began, the X sat on the surface, dividing the stage into four sections. From the minute the lights dropped, and a dark cityscape and moving silhouettes canvased the X, everyone felt a sudden pull into a dystopian head space. A quiet, orchestrated version of ‘Comfortably Numb” filled the air and the room with a mixed feeling of hopelessness and anticipation for what was coming next.
More Pink Floyd music, of course. In fact, more from The Wall, arguably Waters’ greatest achievement. He’s presented it on the concert stage, the big screen, in Berlin, almost on Broadway. Tonight, he and his touring band — keyboardist and guitarist Jon Carin, keyboardist Robert Walter, guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Wilson, guitarist and bassist Gus Seyffert, guitarist Dave Kilminster, drummer Joey Waronker, saxophonist Seamus Blake, and backing vocalists Shanay Johnson and Amanda Belair — stayed on track with the essentials from the celebrated double album opus and followed the gloomy opening with spirited renditions of parts two and three of “Another Brick In The Wall.” The second set began in grand dictatorial fashion with “In The Flesh” and “Run Like Hell.”
Big chunks of Wish You Were Here and The Dark Side Of The Moon were also played (specifically, all of side two of the vinyl version). And, not surprisingly, “Sheep” from the Orwellian Animals album made the cut. The audience was treated to a floating sheep that roamed the arena during this song, though it may have been slightly upstaged when the floating pig tatted up with a few heavy messages showed up. Oh yeah, there were no shortages of thought-provoking messages being shared here and there. This may have been the first concert I’ve been to where a pair of reading glasses would have been helpful.
You can roll with the politics or not. Waters issues a firm warning up front with an announcement five minutes before showtime (“If you’re one of those ‘I love Pink Floyd, but I can’t stand Roger’s politics’ people, you might do well to fuck off to the bar right now.”). You’d like to think most of the folks in attendance are well aware of his highly publicized and controversial views on a variety of issues. By the number of Pink Floyd shirts, it’s likely most could care less and just wanted to hear the songs. That’s probably the best way to approach it.
While the venom in “Sheep” isn’t quite so obvious, several of Waters solo pieces are more on the mark. The militant video that accompanied “The Powers That Be,” from 1987’s Radio K.A.O.S. album, certainly put certain authoritarian groups in a bad light, no matter what year it is. “The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range,” from 1992’s Amused To Death album, was equally head-on in its assessment of war. “The Bar,” a newer song that’s yet to appear on a record and played in two parts tonight, reminds everyone of the Standing Rock protests. If anything, the drone-shot footage of the protests speaks to the enormity of the event. Other solo numbers included “Déjà Vu” and the title track from 2017’s Is This the Life We Really Want?. Both underscore Waters take on the world in which we live.
Selections from The Dark Side Of The Moon became platforms for social consciousness. “Money,” with Wilson on lead vocals, featured an animated pig drowning in money, effectively highlighting the singer’s disdain for corporate greed. He pushes points of equality and rights on “Us And Them.” A vocally rough tumble through “Brain Damage/Eclipse” redeemed itself with iconic Dark Side imagery. The animated sequence that accompanied “Two Suns In The Sunset,” from 1983’s The Final Cut, Waters’ final album with Pink Floyd was equally compelling.
On the lighter side, the screens came alive with images of Pink Floyd’s early days during “Have A Cigar” and, more specifically, Syd Barrett when the ensemble fell into “Wish You Were Here.” Waters regularly pays tribute to his old friend and the original visionary of the band whose fate lead him to a dark, isolated place where he spent the rest of his days. The only noticeable glimpse we get of David Gilmour is when he’s blowing smoke rings. It’s probably best not to read much further into that.
Waters’ band was completely on their game, exploring some truly universal passages during the instrumental portions of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI – IX)” and “Any Colour You Like.” Jon Carin, who’s toured with both Waters and Pink Floyd, slayed the slide guitar on the former. Seamus Blake nailed all the famous Floyd sax parts, while both Shanay Johnson and Amanda Belair added that necessary female touch to the harmonies. It’s a shame they didn’t get the “The Great Gig In The Sky” spotlight that previous singers in Waters’ band have received.
They all followed their leader as he made his way around the perimeter of the stage for a final round of “Outside The Wall,” the last song on The Wall. They continued playing as they descended the stairs and walked backstage, where the cameras caught it all the very end.
It’s hard to say where Roger Waters can take his act next. He turns 80 in 2023 and has casually suggested that ‘This Is Not A Drill’ is his “first farewell” tour. That leaves a lot to interpretation. The politics are in danger of wearing thin, especially for an audience that’s looking for an escape — even the kind of trip Pink Floyd were once known for taking their audience on. We can’t count on the kind of nostalgic journey Nick Mason and his Saucerful of Secrets take their audiences on. But a short excursion into the distant past to when life wasn’t so bleak certainly couldn’t hurt Roger Waters’ bottom line of giving the people what they want.
