Capacity: 16,550

Concert starts: 8:00pm

Address of venue: 2005 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 77380, USA. MAP

Website: pavilion.woodlandscenter.org

Tickets for this concert went on sale on February 16th, through the normal ticket agents www.ticketmaster.com. Our thanks to James Sloan for sending in the ticket scan, shown to the right, and to Willie who sent in the set list shown below the ticket.

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played!

The fourth and final show in the North American leg of Roger's 2008 Dark Side Of The Moon mini tour, and another knockout performance! the band sound to be getting better and better! Reports are now arriving and so have some excellent pictures too. 

In five days time the tour resumes in sunny Spain. The audience in Granada are due for a real treat! If you are going, have a great time and don't forget to tell us about how the show was for you...

CONCERT REVIEW by BD contributor, Ted

Walking in with some friends, the atmosphere seemed a little tense for some reason. Lots of Floyd shirts, Tool, and others. I ran into another guy who was wearing the same King Crimson shirt, and we talked about the shows we were going to this summer. Got a small crowd in the lawn area cheering my shirt as well! I love prog rockers...

The music coming in was from Levon Helm's "Dirt Farmer" album, which I highly recommend. My friends and I had great seats in the middle facing the stage to the right of and slightly behind the mixing board. Perfect view of the stage.

During "Have a Cigar", a guy in front of me lit his up, and the smell was a nice added effect until a staff worker made him put it out. And yes, it was regular tobacco.

The quad effects were amazing, and I was told there were extra quad speakers for the lawn area so no one was left out of the effects.

As I stated in the Waters section [of the forum at our sister site, A Fleeting Glimpse], the political views were warmly received from what I could see, and Waters was very touched by the response. He crossed his arms across his chest (not in the hammer guard way), in a way like he was hugging the crowd. He said he couldn't think of a better city to end the US tour in. I could see people tearing up.

The pig had us in stitches. It appeared to the left behind some bushes and trees which made it very ominous looking, then came close enough for me and my friends to actually touch (some people rubbed on it as if for good luck), and laughed at the caricature of George W. Bush...yes, even in the current home of his parents...where we have never had a republican mayor (surprise!).

Absolutely amazing, lots of ooohs and aaaahs! People around me were amused with my knowledge of the Floyd and Roger's band, but whenever they had a question, I answered like most of the pros here on this board.

Speaking of which, it was nice talking to Gabriel, and we were the only people that we managed to contact from the board. But everyone around my friends and I were wonderful. The guy from Denver who missed that show but saw this one came by himself since he was on a business trip for his oil company. He was a joy to talk to.

I heard lots of foreign languages and accents, and saw people of all sizes, shapes and colors. Houston is a very diverse city, being near the Gulf and all. This concert proved it. I never felt so much international unity at a rock concert. It was not just a bunch of drunken rockers (though there were some as at any), but this was unbelievable. The couple in front of me, translating the Arabic language on one of the visuals...that was something I couldn't describe. Its like Roger was speaking to them.

The only problem was getting out. It was definitely a bottleneck, and one girl was freaking out saying she was gonna plow through everyone. I found her annoying at first, but remembered that some people have phobias, so I didn't say anything.

As for Roger, HE WAS ON. He sang with no backing track, he was VERY emotional during many of the songs, pointing his fingers, thrusting his arms and fists in the air like HIS SONGS HAD MEANING. "Bring the Boys Back Home" had the crowd on their feet. My buddy Kirston was with me, back from Iraq, and it really hit home with me. He loved the Final Cut songs especially. But Roger looked so touched after looking slightly nervous in the beginning. He was very pleased with our reaction and acceptance of the songs, however heavy handed they were (as even many liberal thinkers in the audience felt).

This will go down as one of the greatest concerts this venue (and many concert goers) have ever seen. It was also the 38th anniversary of Kent State.

CONCERT REVIEW by BD contributor, EK

Roger looked and sounded good. The sets were great. He launched into a full political assault on Bush, the Texas Education system, the Christian right, etc. The "Vote Obama" leaflets and dirigible were released. Once again, this concert proved that Waters is a great musician, but should stick to his artistic talents rather than his political rants.

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, James Sloan

A review of the concert (and a critique of a Houston radio station’s Monday morning, May 5, “review”)

First, the Executive Summary: Great. Wonderful. Mind-bending AND mind-blowing. Fantastimagorical. Magical. Powerful. Spellbinding. Awesome. Awesome to the max.

Roger and his band were on target. Tight. Even with Chester Kamen replacing Andy Fairweather-Low they did not miss a beat. All the cues were hit perfectly, the films perfectly timed, the props (spaceman during “Perfect Sense”, pig and flamethrowers during “Sheep”, spark throwers during “In The Flesh”, explosives during “Bring The Boys Back Home”) just perfect.

All in all, a perfect show. Well worth $1200 (ticket, flight, hotel, car, eats) for a whirlwind trip from Poca, West Virginia to Houston and back, all within 54 hours. I mean, and I certainly hope this ISN’T the case, this could be the last Waters show ever in the United States. The only other whirlwind trip I’ve ever done like that was a 1000-mile-one-way drive from here to New Orleans over New Year’s 1994 in 3 days to see a Sugar Bowl game, but that one didn’t turn out so perfect.

Now for the concert review. The executive summary says it all. There’s really not much more to add. This venue is a great venue. Roger’s crew has the sound production down pat. Speakers everywhere, so the sound moved, just like on the studio versions. “On The Run” was absolutely brilliant. I’ve never heard such clear and crisp sound from a live performance before, and that includes the Waters-less Floyd in 1994 in Cleveland. Graham Broad on the tom-toms for “Time”. Jon Carin’s keyboards, guitars, and vocals, which channel David Gilmour’s almost perfectly. (Side note – Carin along with Guy Pratt will carry the Pink Floyd mantle well into the future.) Ian Ritchie’s mellow sax on “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun”, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, “Us And Them”, etc. Snowy White alternating with Dave Kilminster on lead and rhythm guitars. Andy Fairweather-Low’s replacement was more than adequate. Harry Waters on backup keyboards. Roger himself on his bass and vocals and all else he does. And last but certainly not least, Carol Kenyon, P.P. Arnold, and the third woman who replaced Katie Kissoon, Sylvia Mason-James, with the backup vocals. I can’t remember which one wailed to “The Great Gig In The Sky”, but she was just, well, words can’t describe it. This group of women is essential to the entire “Dark Side of the Moon” performance, and I don’t think that the 1994 group (with the exception of Sam Brown) did near as good of a job as this group does.

The crowd was very well-behaved, although a few times I smelled “skunk”, if the readers know what I mean. Ages ranged from 6-ish to OLD. Singing, dancing while the staff would let it happen. A great crowd. I heard no boos after “Perfect Sense Parts 1 and 2” or “Leaving Beirut. As a matter of fact, the cheering got louder as good ole’ Bush Junior’s picture flashed across the screen and Roger sang that his Texas education must have fucked him up when he was very young. I was a little surprised, this being IN Texas, I didn’t know what to expect. But there were some who disagreed, which I’ll discuss later in my “critique of the reviews” of the next morning.

This show was far superior to the show I previously saw in September 2006 at the Nissan pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. And that show was damn near perfect. I met a guy (hello, Bruce, if you read this like I told you to) who has seen now 5 shows on Roger’s “Dark Side” tours, and lo and behold he was at that very show! Small world. He even saw a show in Holland, as his job requires a lot of overseas travel. That would be ever so nice.

OK, enough about the show, Everyone who’s seen it knows about it. Now time for a critique of this Texas Republican Christian right-wing radio station’s (I should call it out because I know which station it is and even know the DJs’ names, but I won’t) morning-after review that I heard while driving to the airport Monday morning in a frog-strangling downpour.

First, these guys don’t think music should make “statements”. What the hell is it supposed to do? Don’t they know who Roger Waters is? What he is all about? He does not write anything that doesn’t say SOMETHING, and something important. They took call-ins. Some of the call-in reviewers were very supportive and said the show was fantastic, some were blah about it, but there were couple of callers that were absolutely idiotic. These right-wing jerks were nasty. One caller said that his group LEFT THE SHOW after “Leaving Beirut”, giving Roger the “one-finger salute” as they left. What did they expect? It’s Roger Waters! Why did they even bother to come? Morons. The DJ’s then complained about Roger using pre-recorded stuff, and I say BFD to that. They also said that he was “downing” Texas itself during “Leaving Beirut”. They are cretins; the song does NOT down Texas, it down the leaders of the Western world who wage war in the name of the almighty dollar. They said something like love Texas or get out. They called his stuff “liberal garbage”. What a bunch of Christian right-wing assholes. I laughed practically all the way to the airport at these morons.

“There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.”

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Andrew M

This was the fourth time I've seen Roger on this tour and like Mr. Sloan I saw him at the Nissan Pavilion back in 2006 and thought this show was even better. It was certainly the best show I've seen and it meant a great deal to me to see the Houston crowd cheer along with Perfect Sense and Leaving Beirut.

These were the best seats I've had for the show and the sound was incredible. I really can't emphasize enough on how great it is to hear all the different instruments being played and to experience surround sound during On the Run. I saw Van Halen earlier this year (no judgement folks, it was fun) and it's like night and day in terms of sound quality.

The pig seems to have gotten bigger from the first time I saw him and unlike in Tampa (he got stuck in the rafters) he flew off into the night without a hitch. Kilminster's playing was the best of the four shows I've seen and I was happy to see that Harry Waters is shunning the barber shop for another year.

My girlfriend even commented on how lively Roger was on stage and he definitely likes to move around the stage.  Roger generally seemed touched by the crowds enthusiastic response to the show and he said, "I couldn't think of a better place to end the North American Tour than right here."

Dark Side was great and around Us and Them I started to realize that the show was nearing an end and that this might be the last time I ever see Mr. Waters again. If it was the last time, then at least I got to see the greatest concerts of my life for the last two years and it all culminated with the best show I've ever seen on a perfect night. Thanks again Roger.

YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover Roger's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!