$150 to see Roger Waters...

[Troy]

Sooooo . . . how come he's not touring his new opera?

Brad's right, this guy is SO out of touch with his fans and the public at large.

[BradH]

Brad's right, this guy is SO out of touch with his fans and the public at large.

Maybe The Wall was about something he never intended to tear down.

Here's my UTOR (Unified Theory of Roger): Starting with Dark Side of the Moon, he began a recurring cycle of big-stage-production-rock-tour, followed by post-tour egalitarian guilt over the money involved, followed by therapeutic, angst-ridden studio project, followed by big-stage-production-rock-tour, followed by...well, you get the picture. Rinse and repeat. His disdain for the fans grew to the point on the Animals tour that he lured one audience member close to the stage with smiles and groovy rock star posturing - then he spat on him. Roger refers to this as his "breakdown". That's right, he saw himself as the victim. What's more, he saw everybody as the victim. Gilmour, workmanlike as ever, said he didn't notice anything special about the show. The bootleg I have of that night doesn't markedly differ from the rest of the North American tour. But Roger used that incident as creative fuel to write about The Wall between the performer and the audience. Then, of course, they mounted a huge stage production. Irony in action, performance as commentary on performance. Rinse and repeat. Waters used the rock star Pink to reveal his own modus operandi. The Wall wasn't just about The Wall, it was an expose on how Waters mines his own creativity. It's a self-referencing blueprint somewhat like The Who singing about a quadrophiliac mod as metaphor for The Who.

The Wall. Whiney? Pompous? Self-absorbed? Pretentious? The ultimate whine-fest of the Boomer rock era? Yup. Is that a bad thing? Some critics have said the same about DSotM, which I think is PF's masterpiece - musically and lyrically. Oh, well, all true art is self-indulgent, anyway. Otherwise, it's dry and utilitarian. Besides, you can dance to parts of The Wall.

Bottom line: I don't mind irony. Townshend and Steely Dan made good work of it. But Waters took it to gross excess. "Look at me, I'm suffering because I feel guilty because you're paying to see me suffer." We've seen this circular, hermetically sealed logic before in his comments about Gilmour's songwriting skills. It's a gift, you see. You've either got it (like Rog) or you don't (like Dave). If you're not a songwriter, you can't start. And if you can't start then you're not a songwriter. If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

The point is, we may be seeing some uptight, twisted thought processes that make Robert Fripp's numerology obsession look like a good time. But hey, Roger is working it out. You can even pay to watch him do it. (I won't.) And if the whole thing seems contradictory and hypocritical, just remember: the fans are part of Roger's art project, they're part of the irony. In fact, without you, the fan, there can't be a wall.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Maybe The Wall was about something he never intended to tear down.

Here's my UTOR (Unified Theory of Roger): Starting with Dark Side of the Moon, he began a recurring cycle of big-stage-production-rock-tour, followed by post-tour egalitarian guilt over the money involved, followed by therapeutic, angst-ridden studio project, followed by big-stage-production-rock-tour, followed by...well, you get the picture. Rinse and repeat. His disdain for the fans grew to the point on the Animals tour that he lured one audience member close to the stage with smiles and groovy rock star posturing - then he spat on him. Roger refers to this as his "breakdown". That's right, he saw himself as the victim. What's more, he saw everybody as the victim. Gilmour, workmanlike as ever, said he didn't notice anything special about the show. The bootleg I have of that night doesn't markedly differ from the rest of the North American tour.

I have heard that the show to which you refer was in Montreal, is that true? I was at the show in Olympic stadium, and though I was waaayyy too far to see any spitting incident, he did stop in the middle of the accoustic guitar intro of "Wish You Were Here", to tell us to "shut the **** up, this is a quiet song."

[ForeverAutumn]

I have heard that the show to which you refer was in Montreal, is that true? I was at the show in Olympic stadium, and though I was waaayyy to far any spitting incident he did stop in the middle of the accoustic guitar intro of "Wsh You Were Here", to tell us to "shut the **** up, thjis is a quiet song."

That's funny!

[Woochifer]

I've been scanning the summer concert listings in my area, and the prices for so many acts have gotten out of control. I hardly bother with big concerts anymore, and go more for club gigs.

The Roger Waters tickets for Shoreline Amphitheater are going for $134 and $94 reserved, but at least the general admission "grass" section is going for a far more reasonable $30. I'm bracing myself for the sticker shock when the Steely Dan concerts are announced.

For whoever said that symphonic performances were cheaper, the San Francisco Symphony's playing a July 4th concert at that same outdoor venue with the top dollar tickets going for under $30! (The best seats at Davies Symphony Hall usually go for about $90-$110, and my second tier seats for their upcoming performance of Mahler's Eighth [the Symphony of a Thousand] cost $45)

I wanted to see the Gipsy Kings like I have in previous years when they played outdoor venues with lawn sections, but the venue this year is at one of these mountain wineries, and the reserved seats are selling for $120. In years past, I never spent more than $25 for general admission.

[Troy]

The Roger Waters tickets for Shoreline Amphitheater are going for $134 and $94 reserved, but at least the general admission "grass" section is going for a far more reasonable $30. I'm bracing myself for the sticker shock when the Steely Dan concerts are announced.

Last time Waters was in the Bay Area I saw him at the Shoreline. We had the best/closest spot on the lawn you could have- center, right at the bottom. The seats totally sucked. They were a mile away. I'll never sit on the lawn there again. I'll just save the $30 and buy the DVD of the show.

[BradH]

...but at least the general admission "grass" section is going for a far more reasonable $30.

Remember when every section was the "grass" section?

[BradH]

I have heard that the show to which you refer was in Montreal, is that true? I was at the show in Olympic stadium, and though I was waaayyy too far to see any spitting incident, he did stop in the middle of the accoustic guitar intro of "Wish You Were Here", to tell us to "shut the **** up, this is a quiet song."

Yeah, July 6 at the Olympic stadium, the last show of the tour.

The month before he tells Boston "For f*ck's sake, take your fireworks outside." Can't disagree with that.

This tour has the hottest Gilmour solos I've heard.