June 30th - XCEL ENERGY CENTER, ST PAUL, MN, USA |
Capacity: 15,300 Concert starts: 8pm Address of venue: 175 Kellogg Blvd W, St Paul, MN 55102. MAP Website: www.xcelenergycenter.com
Tickets for this concert went on sale
on March 10th, through www.ticketmaster.com and www.livenation.com.
WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD! Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played! As the tour powers its way to its conclusion, word is that the band are giving it their all to go out on a high note. No sign of fatigue or boredom from the performers, and a tight, well-honed performance.
To see what the local press said, visit the website of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which gave the show a glowing review (which is accompanied with a great shot of Roger in action). Next show is Monday night in Milwaukee's Marcus Amphitheater... then the massive Live Earth show on Saturday! CONCERT COMMENTS - by BD contributer, Anthony God bless Roger Waters and the whole Dark Side of the Moon crew. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen - such words, lights, energy - he really makes you question authority even more! He came, he sang, he made my life complete! Thank you Roger!!! CONCERT REVIEW -by BD contributer, Rick Wimmer I just got back home to Milwaukee after seeing Roger's concert last night in St. Paul at the Excel Energy Center. I drove 5 hours from Milwaukee to St. Paul and it was well worth it. I had initially only planned to see the Milwaukee show on July 2nd, but when my best friend Matt said he would drive up from his home in northern Iowa to meet me for the St. Paul show, I decided it would be too worthwhile to pass up. Matt and I grew up together in New Jersey. By an interesting turn of fate, he has ended up in Iowa and I have ended up in Wisconsin. Together we had seen Roger at the Philadelphia Spectrum on the Pros and Cons tour in 1985 and at the Meadowlands Arena (New Jersey) on the Radio KAOS tour in 1987. Both shows were fantastic and we agreed that we had to see this year's show in St. Paul. Matt lives closer to St. Paul than Milwaukee. It was a great show last night. Before the show, Matt and I had dinner at a pub across the street from the arena. There were lots of Pink Floyd and solo Roger Waters stuff being played on the pub's sound system. I was surprised to hear several songs played from the Division Bell. I don't know if the person selecting the songs was ignorant of Pink Floyd/Roger Waters history or if perhaps they were expressing some kind of opinion on the Floyd Wars of the 1980s and 1990s. I suspect it was the former. However, I was pleased to also hear The Tide is Turning and Four Minutes played while we were eating dinner. Then we went into the arena. The Excel Energy Center looked pretty full, so I am guessing that the show was sold out or close to it. Does anyone know what the actual attendance was? The crowd was quite loud in its appreciation. Our seats were on the side of the stage on the stage right side. At times Roger was only 10 or 12 feet away from us when he walked over to our side of the stage. He seemed to be enjoying himself and often made eye contact with people in the audience and smiled at them. A few other observations... Leaving Beirut was well received and I heard no booing from where we were sitting. Quite the contrary, it received loud applause at a few points during the song and very loud applause at the end. The first part of Southampton Dock was just Roger singing and playing acoustic guitar, like on the recorded version. I seem to recall that the first half of this song was accompanied by keyboards, drums and the backup singers when it was played on the In The Flesh shows I saw in 1999 and 2000. The first guitar solo that is normally in Shine on You Crazy Diamond was missing. The song went right from the keyboard intro into the well known four note guitar riff. Right after Sheep finished, Roger goofed around a little bit, stepped up to the microphone and made the baaaah sound of a sheep. He then spent a brief moment trying to get the audience to do the same. Quite fun. A fantastic show. I am very happy that I get to see it again tomorrow night here in Milwaukee. CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES - by BD contributer, Brian The Demolition Man Little It seemed like one eternity before we here in Minnesota would get another concert from Mr. Roger Waters. It seemed like another eternity once the date was announced for tickets to go on sale. And another once we got the tickets for the date to arrive. But alas June 30th finally arrived so we packed the Xcel Energy Center in high hopes of an amazing concert. And indeed we got an amazing concert and then some. Since I've never been in the Xcel for a concert before I have no idea how to judge the sound quality. However compared to the Target Center the sound is excellent. Very loud. Roger's use of surround sound is amazing. While to me most of the concert was coming from the front the use of the rears really added a nice element during certain parts of the concert. An example of this is during "In The Flesh" when what sounded like whooshing sounds were being played on the rears. Performance wise the entire band was hot. Roger did have a few brief times when his voice sounded a little off but otherwise I did not see any signs of him lip-synching at all. It would be hard for me to narrow down what was the best moments of the concert since I felt everything was amazing. I will say the moments that really stick out to be are Set The Controls, Leaving Beirut, Sheep, and Comfortably Numb. The only bad thing I can say is that I really wish Roger would give a little more thought into the imagery on the projections at times. Especially given the number of references to marijuana/weed was a bit disturbing at times. I can think of a LOT better imagery to give to a song like "Time" for instance. Overall an amazing concert. I really hope that Roger doesn't end his career now given that he still has a lot to say. It would be a shame if he did. Thank you Roger & Company for an amazing night! CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Julie Kunc First and foremost, Roger and the band were absolutely fabulous and in top form for this show. Roger appeared healthy and fit and smiled throughout the entire evening. Show Highlights Include: * "In The Flesh" - Wonderful opening. However, only about 45% of the audience seemed to recognize the song. * "Leaving Beirut" - A very moving song. Did not notice any booing, only cheers. * "Perfect Sense" - Incredible. * "Sheep" - One of the best songs of the evening. Amazing. Actualy, one of the best songs I have ever heard live. * The entire "Dark Side" set was surreal and near perfect. Snowy White and Andy Fairweather Low were simply brilliant the entire show. Roger covered the entire stage throughout the night, spending a good portion of time on the side stage extensions on either side of stage. The show incorporated some of the best pyrotechnics I have ever witnessed at a show. The visuals accompanying the music were also truly moving and incredible. Although the show was one of the best I have ever seen, I must comment on the negative aspects of the audience in attendance. It would appear the more technology introduced into society, i.e. cell phones, ipods, iphones ect., the more people become selfish, rude and self absorbed. When did dancing become "illegal" at concerts? Or simply standing for that matter. During "In The Flesh", 3 people in our section DEMANDED my girlfriend and I sit down while standing to the opening song of the show. There were decent people among the audience, although, the decent fans were mixed among a sea of loud drunk men. Sadly, much of the first half of the show was ruined for us due to the obnoxious idiots whom socialized loudly throughout 75% of the songs in the first set. During "Leaving Beirut" many of the "Sheeple" in attendance headed for the beer stands or out to socialize, missing some of the best material in the show. If you are more concerned with using text message features on your phone instead of watching the actual show, WHY the hell are you there? It is just plain scary to see so many dolts addicted to their cell phones. I seem to remember when only fans of a band would attend concerts. Everyone at the show would be there for the same reason, to enjoy the music and the show. Sadly, those days seem to have been replaced with bored, dumbed down, rude individuals whom spend good money on tickets only to socialize and act obnoxious throughout the concert. The sample of human genetic make up that I saw within the Xcel Energy Center last night was absolutely frightening. In closing, I suppose my girlfriend summed it up perfectly when she said, "Roger and the band deserve more respect than these obnoxious jerks are demonstrating." I would add, the true fans also deserve proper respect as well, so that we may all enjoy the experience which is Roger Waters.
SHOW: Excellent! CONCERT COMMENTS - by BD contributer, Eric I saw the show Saturday night and all I can say is it was excellent. The band had so much energy and really seemed to enjoy being on stage. Being the concert was in Minnesota, land of 2 million democrats and 3 republicans, Leaving Beirut was a hit. It was well worth the months waiting for him to return back to MN. Thank you Roger! CONCERT REVIEW - by BD contributer, Angela I'd have to agree with the one guy, there were a lot of people there who only there to see DSOTM, and just didn't seem attentive to the concert itself. Obviously, you get that at all concerts, but there were more loyal fans at the 99-2000 concerts I went to. The couple that sat next to us stayed for only the first 4-5 songs and then left. Behind us were were grandparents with their adult daughter and their grandchildren. The boy was maybe 10, and he was not enjoying it. He kept covering his ears! Plus, the poor kid probably couldn't see much when people were standing. And how could you waste $100 ticket on a kid?! But, ignoring all that, I enjoyed myself. I felt an especial connection when Roger played 'Bring the Boys Back Home.' Damn straight! |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 03 July 2007 ) |