Roger Waters on the charity gig with David Gilmour

[Menolly]

So here's what happened. Last year, 'The Hoping Foundation' a charity that supports Palestinian refugee kids, (www.hopingfoundation.org) put on a fund raiser at Ronnie Scott's Club in London, the idea of which was to raise money by auctioning karaoke performances by various celebrities. David was there as a supporter and was moved to perform an impromptu rendition of George Gershwin's 'Summertime?' which he performed aided and abetted by supermodel Kate Moss.

In the wake of that evening, someone, I think it was David himself, came up with this 'Wouldn't it be funny', idea. What if he (David that is) were to sing the old Teddy Bears song 'To Know Him Is To Love Him' with me (Roger that is), what with us having been so famously at each other's throats for years and years. Get it!!!! Anyway he E-mailed me with this suggestion and I loved it, so then it was just a question of juggling dates and deciding to do 'Wish You Were Here' and 'Comfortably Numb' to round out our little set. Or so I thought, until he sent me a number of very musical and eloquent demos of how we could do the song in two-part harmony. I listened with a sinking heart, knowing that David, with his superior vocal skills, could sing either part standing on his head, whilst I would have to search for a different key and then struggle through hours and hours of routining a performance that lay way outside my vocal comfort zone. To my eternal shame I bottled out and told Dave I would happily do 'Wish You Were Here' and 'C. Numb', but that 'To Know him is to Love him' was beyond me.

Some weeks passed with David cajoling me from time to time, telling me how easy it would be, but I clung resolutely to my fear of failure until one day he made one final entreaty. I quote "If you do 'To Know Him Is To Love Him' for The Hoping Foundation Gig, I'll come and do 'C. Numb' on one of your Wall shows". Well! You could have knocked me down with a feather. How fucking cool! I was blown away. How could I refuse such an offer. I couldn't, there was no way. Generosity trumped fear. And so explaining that I would probably be shite, but if he didn't mind I didn't, I agreed and the rest is history. We did it, and it was fucking great. End of story. Or possibly beginning.

Roger

PS. Just heard from David, he will decide in due course which gig he wants to do, it will be a surprise!

Oh man, having heard the rumors of the ill will of these two towards each other, what a great thing to do for charity.

I hold out very little hope that the Tampa show of The Wall which we are going to will be the surprise gig, but hope springs eternal...

[AjK]

Wow! That would be awesome, Menolly! I'll be rooting for you so let us know how the show goes.

[Akasri]

I have my fingers crossed for the Kansas City show, since I got excellent seats for that one... but most likely it won't be

[dANdeLION]

Roger will probably choose to have Gilmour at a late show, which will virtually guarantee the tour sells out.

[Menolly]

That makes sense.

I wonder if it will be in the Western states towards the end of the US leg in December, or in Germany or Switzerland towards the end of the European leg next June.

[sgt.null]

he needs to do it in Houston.

[StevieG]

It's fantastic to hear that they are on talking terms, matured well!

Maybe one day they'll tour Oz, and my dreams will come true...

[Menolly]

Speaking of the charity gig...

[Menolly]

I forgot to go back and check when the gig was uploaded last month, but it is currently still on the charity site's home page. Go to Hoping Foundation to see the entire half hour set with Gilmour and Waters.

[sgt.null]

thank you menolly!

[Menolly]

Off to see The Wall in Tampa tonight!

[Orlion]

It seems they've been on speaking terms since Live Aid. Essentially, they're friends, but they understand that to keep it that way they have to not really work with each other... hence why Gilmour volunteering to perform Comfortably Numb during Waters' tour was a big deal.

In other words, there'll be no Pink Floyd reunion.

Good luck, Menolly!

[sgt.null]

julie and i will be seeing roger perform the wall on saturday here in houston!!!!

tickets came in the mail yesterday.

[Menolly]

Oh, Sarge.
I know you have more of an idea of what to expect, having seen Waters do Dark Side. But I was absolutely, positively, blown away by this show.

I would say it is more a theatrical event than even a staged concert, but the impact is overwhelming. At least, it was for me. There were some very uncomfortable moments for me as a practicing Jew which are hinted at on the album, but seeing performed in front of my eyes. Wow.

I know the Totalitarianism of the "surrogate band," both at the start of the show and after intermission, is for effect and the entire message is to reject such things and embrace more the total opposite. But to see young audience members so enthusiastically return the dual hammer salute...

*shudder*

The musicianship of those playing with Waters is awesome. The staging and effects, perfect. The entire experience is something that will truly stay with me the rest of my life. Hyperception agrees and Beorn is still processing what he saw.

If anyone reading this has the chance to go, I truly, strongly, encourage you do to so.

[sgt.null]

menolly - in my teens the Wall was my favorite Floyd album.

so i have been playing the album for Julie. and she asked what the whole facist angle was about...

and i had a hard time explaining how it belongs to the rest of the album.

but she has agreed to just go with it. she was not expecting to enjoy the Dark Side concert - but she loved it. (she is in Dave's camp)

[Menolly]

so i have been playing the album for Julie. and she asked what the whole facist angle was about...

and i had a hard time explaining how it belongs to the rest of the album.

For me, I've always believed the Totalitarianism part of the story reinforced the harm we do ourselves as individuals when we wall off our feelings. By doing so, we become mere puppets of those in control of things outside of ourselves, and we willingly join in to a group mentality. Regardless of our inner voice screaming at ourselves that some things we take part in is wrong...

[sgt.null]

but it doesn't really fit the more personal theme of the album in my opinion. it was better served as a theme for Animals and the Final Cut. I would have prefered the Wall had been broken into two albums - one personal and one political.

because Floyd fans need more albums.

[Vraith]

so i have been playing the album for Julie. and she asked what the whole facist angle was about...

and i had a hard time explaining how it belongs to the rest of the album.

For me, I've always believed the Totalitarianism part of the story reinforced the harm we do ourselves as individuals when we wall off our feelings. By doing so, we become mere puppets of those in control of things outside of ourselves, and we willingly join in to a group mentality. Regardless of our inner voice screaming at ourselves that some things we take part in is wrong...

There is that, of course...but [noticed this first when I saw the film] the thing that got me/I find scarier is that you might not become a puppet, but one of the puppet-masters.
On the Fascism, [though I think it would have been great if they'd done what Null said, one personal one political] it was much fresher/real/visible [both the wounds it caused and the believers in it] when and where Roger was growing up. Not many people remember, or even knew...but when I was stationed in Europe in the early '80's, fascist and communist groups were taking turns planting car bombs on U.S./NATO military bases.
Also, this was the initial rise of serious mega-corps...Waters was making the connection between "orders" everyone recognized, and those sneaking up on them.

[Menolly]

This show reinforces Waters intent to tie the personal and the political together even more. He wants us to take personal responsibility for political choices, and to buck the system with individuality. You really understand that for Waters, at least, politics and personal are entwined.

[Orlion]

It seems to me, also, that 'Pink's' attempt at demagoguery was an attempt to control the injustices around him that hurt and disgusted him. However, he was still that immobile, pink doll that only could be moved by these same effects... and wall itself off. The fascism was caused by him being controlled by these "bricks in the wall"... something that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't isolated himself and his feelings from others.

(Yeah, I pretty much agree with Menolly's interpretation )