Roger Waters - Arnhem 2007

Gelredome, Arnhem, the Netherlands
05 May 2007
Roger Waters

On Holland's liberation day it's time for a lot of festivals all through the country. But some 33,000 fans come to see Roger Waters perform at the Gelredome again. Outside the venue masses gather in front of the McDrive that had been transformed into a McWalk people relax in the sun before they can enter the stadium of Arhem bases soccer team Vitesse. Those who had a ticket seem to be more fortunate than the crew of Reflections of Darkness however. Due to miscommunication between label and promotor it's impossible to stay after the first three songs. The show must go on...

 

The co-founder of Pink Floyd and succesful solo artist Roger Waters (63) has returned to the Netherlands after almost a year. The man who has made concept albums into an art form is not just into rock music. In 2006 he released a real opera about the French Revolution on which he had worked for many years. The band mainly consisted of the same people as last year and that can only mean the show has to be close to perfect.

Well based only on the first three songs it seemed like Roger Waters was ready to please the crowd. Many of them haven't seen the previous two shows but for those who have been there there were some changes in the stage. This time no projection screens but LED screens which gave new animations during 'In the Flesh'. No more big hammers in the background but images of writings and random colourful patterns. During 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' it was clear that new technologie isn't always better however. The screens can produce nice graphics but when the black and white photos were shown in the background there was some colorcast in it. None of this however has bothered the fans who were treated well by a smiling Roger and his band. Mr. Water's vocals seemed to be in good shape this day and so was the voice of the lovely Katie Kissoon during 'Mother'. As from what was written elsewhere it seems like the show was great but the setlist didn't change compared to the 2006 shows. Nothing could have bothered the fans less, they were just happy they had a 3 hours show of music that never lost power or grew out of date, many of the lyrics could have been written for today's world just as easy. No rating for this concert of course, there just wasn't enough time to have a good foundation for that, but the first three songs sure rocked!

01. In The Flesh
02. Mother
03. Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun
04. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
05. Have A Cigar
06. Wish You Were Here
07. Southampton Dock
08. The Fletcher Memorial Home
09. Perfect Sense parts 1 and 2
10. Leaving Beirut
11. Sheep
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12. Speak To Me
13. Breathe
14. On The Run
15. Time
16. The Great Gig In The Sky
17. Money
18. Us And Them 
19. Any Colour You Like 
20. Brain Damage 
21. Eclipse
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22. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
23. Another Brick In The Wall (Pt 2)
24. Vera
25. Bring the Boys back Home
26. Comfortably Numb