Dave is…
On the Dark Side of the Moon.
Well I mentioned that I was fiending for live music. I got it today, from none other than Roger Waters live in Budapest. And it was FUCKING AWESOME. A concert completely worthy of the profane adjective.
It was three hours of sheer resplundancy including a second set complete rendition of Dark Side of the Moon and the kind of extravagant spectacle you expect from the man who once performed The Wall at the Berlin wall. God, I am such a fanboy in this picture.
Every song played (even the stuff off the Final Cut and Roger’s new song Leaving Beirut which featured a really interesting Frank Miller style Graphic Novel projected in the background) was a classic, almost all of which are instantly recognizable to anyone whose turned on a radio in the last 30 years. And trying to describe the visual staging and the quality of the surround sound is almost impossible and certainly useless as you either are a Pink Floyd fan and are familiar with their ability to redefine “concert experience” or you aren’t a Pink Floyd fan and in your ignorance and completely false sense of disdain for this giant of modern music couldn’t possibly understand the grandeur of them live.
Setlist
Set I
- In the Flesh
2. Mother
3. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
4. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V) (abridged)
5. Have a Cigar
6. Wish You Were Here
7. Southampton Dock
8. The Fletcher Memorial Home
9. Perfect Sense, Parts 1 and 2
10. Leaving Beirut
11. Sheep
Set II
1. Speak to Me
2. Breathe
3. On the Run
4. Time
5. Breathe (Reprise)
6. The Great Gig in the Sky
7. Money
8. Us and Them
9. Any Colour You Like
10. Brain Damage
11. Eclipse
Encore:
1. The Happiest Days of Our Lives
2. Another Brick in the Wall, Part II
3. Vera
4. Bring the Boys Back Home
5. Comfortably Numb
I will say though that the crowd left something to be desired. It was all baby boomers (or their Eastern European equivalents) many of whom brought their children and all of whom were docile. Not only did I not see that many people drinking, I didn’t see a single person smoking pot. Hell a girl a few rows over got asked by a fellow concertgoer to extinguish her cigarette! This in an area of the world where no smoking laws are considered as binding as a commitment from Jeff Hughes. Shameful. Absolutely shameful.
An odd side note, the few people drinking outside were generally buying their beer from the “Amerikai Hot Dog” cart which featured the very American Stars n’ Bars quite prominently. All of Europe seems to consider the Confederate flag to be as representative an icon of America as “Fuck tha Police” an epithet that can be found graffitied on the wall of any town in the world with a more than 1000 residents.
There was a little more to my day than the concert, but not much. I walked Pest’s famous Vaci U pedestrian street (laaaame),
I crossed the chain bridge,
I enjoyed the view from Castle Hill in Buda (really Budapest is actually two towns, Buda and Pest. Definitely a situation where the combination is cooler than its parts.) and generally just hung out enjoying the weather, avoiding doing anything substantial until Josh shows up and setting the controls for the heart of the sun.