Roger Waters on the charity gig with David Gilmour

[Menolly]

So Sarge, no comments at all regarding the show?

[sgt.null]

it was awesome!

roger was very gracious, very animated. very happy.

the effects were stunning in spots. the intro explosions, the plane exploding. the inflatables.

and the pig of course. :0 saw it two years ago as well - i want one!

he had a group of houston kids come out to sing Brick II.

the new animation was great as well.

his band was moking hot. the solo during comfortably numb was jaw-dropping.

still hearing it my head almost a week later.

i am so very happy i got to witness it.

[Menolly]

Sounds about right.

And yeah.
I was afraid to comment that the solo for Comfortably Numb was incredible. I didn't want to get in to a "can't compare to Gilmour" discussion.
But it seriously was.

[sgt.null]

roger has always worked with great guitarists. barrett, gilmour, clapton, beck, fairweather-low, white, bramhall, smith and now kilminster. (he did the solo)

[Menolly]

My apologies to those not on Facebook but I haven't found it elsewhere yet...

GILMOUR!!!

I'll check rogerwaters.com. Perhaps it is there as well.

[Menolly]

And it is!

The video is on the home page for rogerwaters.com.

[sgt.null]

it would have been better in Houston.

[Menolly]

And the best in Tampa.
...but the guitarist who played on Comfortably Numb in Tampa did a stand-out job of it.

[Menolly]

Nick Mason (!) and David Gilmour with Roger Waters performing "Outside the Wall" live

This is not my favorite cut from the album, but it is a very appropriate ending to the guest appearances.

[StevieG]

These are fantastic recordings - how special would it have been to be there!

I still maintain that Roger Waters was the main creative force (after Syd Barratt) behind Pink Floyd, but there's no way he could have done it without Gilmour in particular. It was nice to see David Gilmour enjoying the show - I've seen previous footage of a previous event where he looked like he didn't want to be there.

It's also great to see Roger has finally grown up! I would imagine that being in a massive band might hinder his ability to see outside the world he's creating, and it might seem as though the others are hindering him. But he seems to have gotten over that, and is savouring the old Pink Floyd members now. It's a treat to see them getting along again!

[Menolly]

An interesting perspective from one of the more quieter members of the band...

Behind the Scenes of the Pink Floyd Reunion
'We were all just a little bit nervous,' drummer Nick Mason tells Rolling Stone

By Patrick Doyle
May 18, 2011 11:40 AM ET

When Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason got to London's O2 arena last week, he had no idea that he'd be walking into David Gilmour and Roger Waters performing "Comfortably Numb" in a soundcheck for Waters' show that night. "It hadn't ever been quite finalized – there'd been talk about maybe playing in Paris or something else," Mason tells Rolling Stone. "So it was very nice to get there and see that [David] was there."

Later, the three remaining members of Pink Floyd performed on stage together for only the second time in the last 30 years, and the first since 2005's Live 8 concert. "It was really nice to be sort of part of it and to show support for Roger, not that he really needs it," Mason says of Thursday night's show, at which the three played "Outside the Wall." "I suppose it's nice to have Roger wanting to register David and myself as part of it, in a way. It was sort of a mutual thing: it was nice to be recognized but also very nice to lend support to Roger and make it clear that we're not sort of punching it out in these auditoriums. We're not critical of him doing it."

After soundcheck, the three took seats at a table in a backstage room and had a light dinner. "We were all just a little bit nervous, because it was a pre-show moment so it wasn't that sort of totally relaxed, 'Let's all chat about everything.' Since [David] hadn't played the track in so long, he was probably worried about the technology of lifting him up on the Wall. It's quite scary up there – I've been up there once and it's a long way up."

Next, Mason retreated to his seat on the floor of the arena, where fans greeted him enthusiastically, and watched The Wall for the first time as a spectator. "It was mind-blowingly good," he says. "It's a shame in a way . . . if you could turn the clock back and have access to that sort of technology, 40, 30 years ago, it would've been fantastic. I mean, it's interesting because I think The Wall has been brought up to date. When you look at the stage sets and the lighting that goes on now, it so eclipses what we used to do."

Gilmour's performance of "Comfortably Numb" went off magnificently. Then at the end of the show, Waters invited Gilmour (this time with a mandolin) and Mason (with a tambourine) for "Outside the Wall," which he he'd been asked to do just half an hour before the show. Onstage, Waters put his arm around Mason and swayed with him. "He very nearly knocked me over," Mason says. "I thought he was going to throw me off the stage."

Were any more words exchanged backstage after the show? "You mean apart from 'Fuck off. I hate you?' 'I never want to see you again?' No."

The news spread like wildfire online, which baffles Mason. "Incredibly, it's just three old blokes getting together for a moment, really odd. But if that's what people like then, that's great." And naturally, it reignited hope for a reunion. As it stands, Gilmour is the only holdout for a reunion of the band's living members. Mason and Waters have said they were open to more band activity after reforming at Live 8 in 2005.

"I think particularly at the moment David has other issues to worry about," Mason says. "But also people change from when they are interested in doing something to when they're not. I think that we will just have to wait quietly to see if Dave ever does come around to it. I think there is an outside possibility even if it's, you know, another Live 8."

The drummer will be at tonight's show at the O2 to see the Wall again, but don't expect him onstage. "It was a very nice thing to do but it could become a bit cliché if we kept climbing to the top of the Wall and kept hugging each other onstage. I mean, I think enough is enough. I mean, we're English after all. We don't do that hugging thing a lot."

[amanibhavam]

I was there at this show:) A memory to cherish until the last of my days.

[lucimay]

Nick Mason (!) and David Gilmour with Roger Waters performing "Outside the Wall" live

This is not my favorite cut from the album, but it is a very appropriate ending to the guest appearances.

ahhh. nice! i've been avoiding this thread cause i'm so jealous of those of you who got to see this tour, but at last i had to peek. glad i did.
soooo lovely to see roger and david together and smiling. and GE Smith!! awesome!

...after all it's not easy, bangin your heart against some mad bugger's wall!

thanks for all your links menolly.

I still maintain that Roger Waters was the main creative force (after Syd Barratt) behind Pink Floyd, but there's no way he could have done it without Gilmour in particular... It's a treat to see them getting along again!

agreed stevie. i've always said it's roger waters' pig.

[sgt.null]

nice to see the acrimony is past. when you lose two members in a couple years it must be a sobering experience.