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Just back from Roger's Dublin gig and I'm now wondering if that is the best concert I have ever seen. I did'nt think the Hyde Park performance could be improved upon but I think it has. I know I've a limited exposure to Floyd related gig's compared to some but this seemed to be as good as it gets in this day and age. The set list was the same but I don't think there is any harm in renditions of some of the best music ever written by the key creative force involved in that very writing. From a spectacle point of view what appeared to be additional to last year was the whole Radio Station introduction, the Laser Pyramid, the Bubbles and the confetti (though the latter two would have been an impossibility in Hyde Park). I think the background Videos were slightly different too, for example I'm not sure if I remember the Heavy Steam Train Interludes in "On the Run" last year. I was glad to see that the crowd were very well natured too and a very warm atmosphere pervaded in the Arena. I believe this has to be the way Roger projects himself out to the audience, its a gift that man has. Only drawback was that I had a dodgy back before the concert and I let myself get carried away with the music from a dance perspective. I'm suffering now as a result and I'm stinkin' of deep heat

They had interludes in On The Run at Hyde Park but I think he's changed it slightly for this tour proper.

Yeah, my long term memory can be dodgy at times. I think some of the Video Background remains the same also but possibly with a slight change of colouring

I was at the gig last night too. I left thinking was this the best concert I've ever been to. And I would have to say it's right up there. It was much, much better than the last time I seen him on the In The Flesh tour. I deliberately didn't read any other reviews of his tour beforehand so the setlist, apart from Dark Side of the Moon, would be a surprise. As it turned out there wasn't any song that I didn't enjoy. Leaving Beirut was a bit overtly political for me, but other than that I can have no complaints. Particular highlights were Set the Controls, Mother, Perfect Sense, Time and Any Colour You Like.

I read some of the reviews of his tour before I wrote this and some guy werote that he thought that the Aussie's show was better. I have to disagree. For me there was no comparison. Roger's show was in a different league for me. There really is no substitute for the real thing as far as I am concerned

My thoughts too. You can never take away what the Aussies give but you can't compair them with Roger. I know it's all Floyd (apart from Roger's solo stuff) but it's almost like compairing Stiff Little Fingers and Status Quo! You can't do it!

Hmmm, I think this must be me and I think I have been misunderstood or perhaps I didn't put my point forward correctly. I don't think I actually said the Aussie's were better than Roger, what I said was that musically they presented themselves better, especially this year. They just sound more like Floyd than he did. I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Roger, but I am a huge fan, I go to see him everytime he tours and I can get tickets and I have all his works, Cd's - DVDs the lot. I think he is an awesome talent and a great showman. His music has moved me more than anything else I own (and I have a lot of Cd's! :-\) and I know for a fact that nothing else in my music collection has been played anything like the number of times I have played DSOTM - not even close. It's a work I reach for at those special moments in life, you know the ones - the perfect sunset, the best days on a holiday or when you just feel so damn good about yourself. So don't get me wrong, I was not trying to directly compare the two, as there is never a substitute for the real thing. There is only one Pink Floyd (+ members) and as an emotional experience nothing can compare to a show put on by those guys. But the Aussies this year have (IMHO) been able to produce musically (not emotionally or visually) the magic on stage that Floyd used to produce for me - or they certainly did that at Bournemouth. Now as I said before, I fiercely disagreed on this very same point last year, whilst talking to Nick and I stand by that, as last year I didn't feel they were there.

I just thought that something was lacking musically on Friday night, I cannot put my finger on it and I had an entirely different experience on Saturday night. Now that could be the emotion of having Nick on stage, again I cannot put my finger on it. But my eyes were watering during the whole of DSOTM as I sang along to every word. Roger's passion and motivation for writing music is to move people and he certainly did that for me on Saturday and everyone else lucky enough to be at Earls' Court.

So guys, don't get the wrong impression I never actually said the Aussies were better, I just posed the question of were they better musically. And I had a rant about the tour programme, as that was just pure profiteering. The show is the same as last year, so why is the programme different? The only reason is to sell more. Now the main reason this annoys me, is because of Roger's stance on such things or certainly where he used to be years ago. I respected him for his views in the past, so this to me seemed hypocritical and a disappointment that he has jumped on the same commercial bandwagon that other bands have.

So there we go - I hope perhaps you may understand a little more of where I am coming from?

GG