Live Review: Roger Waters

It's hard to believe that's it's already been six years since Roger Waters played a run of three epic shows here on The Wall tour. Those lucky enough to catch one, or more, of those shows would probably agree that what Waters and his team managed to bring into reality was beyond many of our wildest dreams, and have probably been left doubtful he'd ever be able to live up to that experience again. Tonight, Waters returns, holding up another vast mirror and show us where we're wrong. Enter Us & Them...

Shortly after 8pm, an alarm hurries everyone into the arena. Once in our seats, a mammoth LED-screen commands our attention. The panorama is of a woman sitting on a shore, staring out at the sea, and it feels as if we've all been invited to share in the calm of her experience. The serenity of the scene soon begins to slip away, as ominous crimson-hues seep into the clouds, and the vista is suddenly torn violently through a kind of fleshy portal, only to emerge in a cosmic scenario as Speak To Me rolls out of the speakers and Waters takes the stage. It is perhaps one of the most impressive introductions in touring history, but as we should well know by now, Waters doesn't do things lightly, and tonight, he's merely getting started.

Breathe (In The Air), One Of These Days, Time and Breathe (Reprise) are seamlessly sewn into each other as trippy sequences of cosmic imagery continue to dazzle our retinas. The band is impeccable and placements of extra speakers around the arena mean we're at the complete mercy of Waters' startling sound and quadraphonic effects. Vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig (both from Brooklyn born, LA-based band Lucius) look ready to steal the set when they step forward into the starlight on The Great Gig In The Sky, but there's just no preparing for the intensity of Welcome To The Machine, which comes complete with its original, foreboding animations.

From here, Waters diverges into a run of material, Deja Vu, The Last Refugee, and Picture That, from last year's impressive Is This the Life We Really Want? record. While these don't disappoint in the least, it's evident that the masses respond better to the familiar, so the appeasements are put in place with heavy hitters Wish You Were Here, The Happiest Days Of Our Lives and Another Brick In The Wall (Pt 2 & 3). The last brings the set home on a theatrical note of protest, which sees a frontline of children dressed in orange prison jumpsuits and black hoods slowly become liberated through a choreography that comes to a close with them tearing off their over-garments to reveal the word 'RESIST'!

Audience members are already looking dazzled in the intermission, but the proceedings are only set to intensify in the second half. The production moves into top gear as a spellbinding structure of screens lowers down, and divides the room with a virtual adaptation of the buildings from the Animals album cover, while Waters and band sip champagne at a round table while wearing animal masks. Where The Wall tour pushed the limits of stage production, this one extends its reach to occupy the entire space of the arena. Swivelling bodies stare, mesmerised as they're dragged on a long, synethesiac journey through the dark terrains of Dogs and Pigs (Three Different Ones). The stabbing satirical treatment and critique of the current US President that ensues is not subtle in the least, and the Animals journey finds its explicit end with "Trump is a Pig!" spelled out in black and white as the infamous inflatable pig wraps up its tour of the room. This makes for a smooth entry point into the second half of The Dark Side Of The Moon, with Money and Us & Them, before Smell The Roses shows us just how deep Is This the Life We Really Want? digs. But none to fear, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. As Brain Damage transitions into Eclipse, a laser pyramid takes shape over the crowd and a shooting rainbow covers everyone in luminous bands of colour.

Taking his last opportunity to say a few words, Waters glosses over the corporate-political threats to our world, "If I was an Australian I'd care about Chevron coming over here and stealing your natural gas… this is about the survival of the species, we need to say 'no'," hammering home an impassioned plea for unity, "The message in this show is that love has the transcendental ability to affect anything in your life!", and breaking it to us that this is likely his final tour of Australia. And finally, with this in mind, he bids us a final farewell, leaving us with the impassioned notes of Mother and Comfortably Numb to ring out in our collective memories.