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RoIO Review YEESHKUL! Recorded live at the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, 11 March 1973. By Gerhard den Hollander and Brian "_pink" Davis Gerhard:
The Camera Eye By Richard Mahon NOTE: The following concert videos are being graded as a guide
to documenting the live performance history of Pink Floyd and
Roger Waters.
This video begins from the back left corner of Madison Square Garden. The shots of the screen are the best of the Roger Waters solo videos. The camera appears to be more stable when it shoots the entire stage as opposed to trying for close-ups from that distance. There is a cut in "Who Needs Information" and a little over a half a minute into "Money" the camera angle switches to the right corner. While the camera is closer to the stage at this point the screen is now obstructed by the overhead PA and the most unique part of the video is now missing. The stability of the camera is a problem through the course of the video along with the occasional security duck. There are also cuts in "Not Now John", "Nobody Home" and the last song on the tape, "The Tide Is Turning". At the end of watching this video, knowing that every Waters video afterwards on the KAOS tour was shot from the right side of the stage, my thoughts only centered on why the camera was moved at the beginning of the show. I grade this video “B-” and the audio “VG+.” Roger Waters, The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia, September 2, 1987
Shot from the upper right balcony of The Omni, Atlanta, GA. When the video starts the camera is panned back and there is minor obstruction then the zoom lens goes in for closer shots of the stage. There is no obstruction. The focus is soft. Camera stability starts out average and becomes excellent through the course of the video, especially when the camera is zoomed in as often as it is. Unfortunately the video screen is obstructed by the lighting truss. The color is a bit bright but solid for a camcorder. The opening song, "Tempted", performed by Paul Carrack, "Another Brick In The Wall, Part One", "Home", and "The Tide Is Turning" have cuts. I grade it a “B-” with the audio a grade of “VG.” Roger Waters, Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana, September 5, 1987
The camera seems level with the height of the stage at the start of this video. Obstruction is a problem initially but when the view is clear this is a very well-shot video. The camera angle is from the right side of the mezzanine section. The camera is stable and steady. The focus is solid. The circular screen is obstructed for the most part but when there’s a clear shot the camera picks it up nicely. When the camera is zoomed in, Waters fills 2/3 of the screen from head to toe. There’s a nice shot of the crew setting up the chair and TV for "Nobody Home" in the background while the band is playing "Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two". "The Powers That Be" is the only song with a cut besides the opening of the first song, "Radio Waves", and the final song, "Four Minutes". I grade the video “B” and the audio “VG.” Roger Waters, Quebec City Coliseum, Quebec, November 7, 1987
This video begins with a nice close up of Waters and the band members. When the video zooms back the entire stage setup fits in the screen. The close-ups are excellent. At some point in the video it seems each of the band members are captured in a close-up from head to toe that fills the screen. The video is well focused and steady. This is the only video from the KAOS tour that allows a clear unobstructed shot of the message board at the back of the stage. While this is the best shot of the KAOS videos there are problems. The picture is unusually dark though it improves slightly in the second set, the color is almost nonexistent, the projection screen is covered by a lighting truss, and there are audio problems. Only 2 of the songs have cuts– "Another Brick In The Wall, Part One" (while the tape is paused to switch to the second tape) and "Home". Despite the defects mentioned this is still the best of the Radio KAOS tour videos. I grade the picture “B” with the audio “VG.” Without the defects, this video would easily merit a “B+.” Roger Waters, Molson Centre Theater, Montreal, Quebec, July 31, 1999
The first of the Roger Waters In The Flesh tour videos reviewed in this column was shot in a luxury box at the Molson Centre Theater in the upper left corner of the theater. When the camera pans back you can see just how high the luxury boxes are elevated. There is a problem with soft focus on this video. Everything seems a bit hazy. To make up for this, a tripod was used. In the early songs of the show, the camera is slightly unstable before the tripod is set correctly. Around five songs into the show, the stability is set but the focus always seems to be soft. From that point forward this a very well-shot video. There are moments where the camera is moved to follow Waters on stage. Then the video must be stabilized again. This process flows better as the video continues. Unfortunately, there is a cut at the very end of "Dogs". While there is also some color distortion at the top of the screen I grade this video “B” and grade the audio “VG.”
Suggested Surfing: Floyd Web Site Reviews By Maglor WHAT GOD WANTS... A TRIBUTE TO ROGER WATERS
The Pictures featured here are nothing rare and unseen, just your regular Roger “moa” Waters. The Tab site features 11 bass tabs and 5 guitar tabs, ranging from early Floyd to a (little part)of his solo work... could have been better. The Articles are a group of links to sites about Roger news, and a small (but very interesting) collection of interviews and song/album interpretations. But the true gem and pearl of this site lies in the live samples
stash just waiting there for us. Several tracks from the In The
Flesh tour, and very interesting tracks, like the "Me or Him" demo,
"Money" demo, the spitting incident, and the "Across the Universe"
Lennon tribute. It’s a pity, though, it has no entire albums.
Who Needs Information? If you need information, Povey and Russell's book Pink Floyd: In The Flesh is where you will find it. Plenty of it. By Rick Karhu Pink Floyd: In The Flesh
Let's put it in terms that an alcoholic would understand: if Nicholas Schaffner's A Saucerful of Secrets is a martini, then consider Pink Floyd: In The Flesh a few straight shots of the hard stuff. Povey and Russell's offering is aimed at the raving, uncontrollable Floydaholic, and you can barely find a purer distillation of this stuff than theirs. Any book about Pink Floyd that unabashedly begins its performance history with a spring 1962 show by Geoff Mott and The Mottoes (featuring a then-unknown Roger "Syd" Barrett on guitar and vocals) promises to be the ultimate keepsake of Floyd fetishists everywhere. And indeed, the book delivers in ways that can scarcely be summarized in a review. The level of detail and research here is simply mind-blowing. Put it this way: if the depth of your Floyd fanhood compels you to know exactly what the Jokers Wild were doing March 25, 1965 or which future Floyd member was in the short-lived Those Without or what happened to the inflatable pig at the April 22, 1977 show or which song the band chose to end the evening with on November 17, 1972 then this book is a must! (And no, I'm not telling you the answers. Go buy the book.) Answers to those questions are exactly the kind of painstakingly organized minutae that makes up the heart of Pink Floyd: In The Flesh. For most fans, doubtlessly, this book is dispensible, but if you're 'one of the few' (like me) who fears lost sleep and recurrent nervous conditions as a result of not having this information close at hand, you have reason to rejoice (and to get some sleep.) Had the book simply covered that much ground as well as it does here, it would have been well worth the asking price, but Povey and Russell strive for better. The co-authors intersperse the performance history with a richly detailed narrative of the band that makes for more engaging reading than any previous effort. Certainly their recount of the early days of Pink Floyd as it emerged from Cambridge's intermingling pool of musical and artistic talent in the mid-1960s makes for much more enjoyable reading than Karl Dallas's tedious attempt. On top of that, the book is absolutely packed with full-color reproductions of rare band photos (both professional and amateur), memorabilia, ticket stubs, posters, newspaper clippings, and so much more. The newspaper photograph of David Gilmour in 1965 is absolutely priceless (he looked so harmless and clean-cut!) Likewise, the two-page spread showing the teacher puppet from the performances of The Wall looming over the diminutive (by comparison at least) Roger Waters at the microphone should be required viewing by all fans of The Wall. Physically, the book is quite appealing. It's larger than most paperbacks, professionally designed and printed on semi-glossy medium stock paper that adds a surprising weight (appropriately enough) to its 256 pages. In short, it's a fair notch above most offerings of this sort and is a definite keeper. Another pleasant bit of icing on the cake is the exhaustive discography in the back (and this includes a Joker's Wild discography in the front) that clearly separates solo discographies from the group. In such an excellent book, there are a few puzzling oversights though. First and foremost (and this is a pet peeve of mine) there is no index. Certainly the argument could be made that an index in a book that chronologically arranges the Floyd's performances would be a redundancy, but any reference book without an index feels as though it's lacking something essential. I would also cite a couple of weaknesses in the performance timeline. Namely, the almost dismissive way that The Division Bell shows are handled. Though this era is definitely complete, it lacks the extra tidbits of information that made the earlier timeline entries so engaging. Apart from a few extra comments about some of the more noteworthy shows (the rain in Texas and the first complete performance of Dark Side of the Moon) the section detailing The Division Bell is a monotonous listing of each night's setlist. Also, it feels like the timeline (especially in the early years) could have benefitted from a few 'signposts' along the way. True, most hardcore Floyd fans already know the exact release date of Ummagumma but a few non-performance related notes thrown in would have made a nice addition to give more casual fans an idea of where you were. And curiously, Roger's notorious spitting incident in Montreal (which partly inspired The Wall) isn't mentioned in the timeline. It is explained in the narrative, but it seems strange that this rather important moment in Floyd history was omitted from the performance notes. But these are minor criticisms to be sure, and perhaps can be addressed in later editions. The book is absolutely worth every penny and should be required reading by all Floyd fans. If you don't own it, stop what you're doing right now and go get it. |
