 Live Bands |
 Interview & Articles |
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Roger Waters in Mumbai: Feb 18, 2007 |
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Roger,
Roger, What has become of you? |
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Nearly
five years since his first visit to India, Roger Waters was back. In
02 he played at Bangalore, and now he was in Mumbai. A craftsman par
excellence, and the prime mover behind Pink Floyd post the departure
of Syd Barrett, here he was, once again ready, willing, and able, at
the age of 62, to flaunt his stuff to the deprived (musically) denizens
of the country. |
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So what was different this time around? |
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A very David Gilmour looking Dave Kilminister on guitar and vocals had replaced Chester Kamen, and Andy Wallace had made way for Jon Carin on keys. Snowy White the other lead guitarist and a long time Waters ensemble musician, had become older and had been relegated to second place, with the prime leads going to Dave Kilminister. The wind player had changed too with Ian Ritchie taking over from Norbert Stachel on saxophones. The crowd had not changed at all; we had the golden oldies - those who had smoked a lot of pot in the seventies and possibly played in a band; the wanna bees – who had come because of the buzz and make sure that they did not miss on yet another “unique” experience, and before I forget, the ‘original’ Roger Waters fans – they of the witty T shirts and loads of attitude, along with their digital cameras and portable recorders. And this time around Roger had flashy pyrotechnics and a host of new and revamped visuals. |
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But
hey, what about the show? What did Roger do? |
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How
was it? |
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Well, the show was musically solid with parts being played to perfection.
Roger’s voice has suffered the travails of age and it was clearly
evident on “Wish you were Here”. Ian Ritchie and Jon Carin
mixed it up nicely on “Set the controls for the heart of the sun”,
the only ‘really’ old number in the entire show. Dave Kilminister
played a nice serpentine lead on “Another Brick on the Wall –
Part 2”. “Comfortably numb” saw him and Snowy White
go to work; a nip and tuck there, multiple incisions here, with the
melody playing out like an enthusiast angler working his line in deep
seas. |
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Well,
and is there anything else? |
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His selection of songs in the show had an explicit political stance: We had “ It all makes perfect sense”, “Southampton Dock”, “The Fletcher Memorial Home”, not to mention “Bring the Boys Back Home”, “Vera”: all distinctive anti war songs. He ended the first set with “Sheep” and let loose the Pig on the Wing, with “impeach George Bush” written on its bottom, and the crowd went wild. In the melee of the Pig, the music went totally unnoticed; Snowy White and Dave Kilminister were shoved aside, as the crowd strained to catch a glimpse of the floating Pig and record the definitive “Roger Waters” moment on their cameras. |
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So
what was he trying to do, you think? |
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Me thinks he was trying to leave his impression on the pages of history and script a turnaround, from a musician performer to political activist; in other words generate “ART”, rather than just rock music. The songs written by him earlier as part of the band are definitely political; just look at “Animals”, “The Dark Side of the Moon”, and “The Wall”. You could throw in “The Final Cut” for good measure, though it is not in the same league. Us and Them is a wonderful song on “what it is all about”. His song writing there blurs the divide between the personal and the political and offers a caustic and wry look at life in the present time. The Dark Side of the Moon is epic in its conception, drawing on grand themes of death, old age, insanity, and greed. The Wall though seemingly intensely personal, is a tragic opera of alienation, despair, and the tendency to retreat into fascism to counter the death of meaning in society. He did not need to call anybody names then and does not need to now. George Bush is the easiest target in the world for all sorts of people; especially the English-speaking upper classes. If you can abuse him, why does the crowd not abuse or even question their local politicians in their own streets? And we know, why that cannot be done and why we would not do it. Yes, these antics get cheers from the crowd and may be fulfill Mr. Waters’ fantasies of “great art”, but does it make a difference, in terms of at least the crowd looking at social and cultural issues, which are on every street but seemingly outside their immediate lives? In which case we should all be running desperately to attend the latest Gadar concert (hero, poet, revolutionary from Andhra Pradesh. He sings very well too, and dances, using techniques drawn from folk). Thanks to MTV and the Dance movement, the personal is now completely in the pop culture, while the political must occupy a domain, which is totally separate and independent, and never the twain should meet. For the audience the concert is just another consumption experience, to make sure they photograph it, record it, so that others would know that they were there. While they are riding the “Gravy Train”, the very symbols of protest have become tokens and are co-opted into yet another consumption experience for a high price. |
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Yes,
there are great musicians and performers around who are also activists;
Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and the sadly neglected
Ritchie Havens. (I hesitate to include Dylan here for various reasons).
Their songs are as much personal as political. Imagine what that would
have done to Bob Marley in his time! Roger, Roger what has become of you? Is that what you would really like to do? |
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Andy |
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HOME you would like to have your article and pics appear here, submit them to randhir@expressionsindia.com |
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