Roger Waters – Dark Side of the Moon in Hong Kong

I’m a huge fan of Pink Floyd and proudly own all of their albums. It was a dream come true for me to be at the Roger Waters concert yesterday at HKCEE. He’s currently touring the world, with the Pink Floyd’s classic Dark Side of The Moon. It was an unforgettable event. I remember having a similar experience when I went to Iron Maiden’s concert in Moscow in 1998. The only thing I regret this time is not bringing the camera with me. There was a warning in the ticket that said “bags would be searched and cameras wouldn’t be allowed”. It looks like I was the only one bothering to check/follow the ticket’s warnings, everyone else had their camera flashing throughout the show. I’ve managed to take few shots with my phone’s camera but they aren’t very good. I’ve posted them anyway. Take a look…

The concert hall was huge and fully packed, there was a grand screen at the back of the stage and two smaller ones on both sides. The performance was just mind blowing, with 3D visual effects and surround sound. It all started with “In The Flesh” together with The Walls marching hammers on screen, and cracking fire flames blindingly lightening the stage. Waters performed most of the Pink Floyd’s classics including “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”, “The Cigar”, “Sheep”, “Speak To Me”, “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse”.

Waters performed a new song called “Leaving Beirut” based on what happened to him when he was a teenager traveling to Lebanon. When his car broke and had no money, an Arab family gave him food and shelter and treated him very well. The performance had a comic screen background, with lyrics. This was an anti-war, anti-bush and anti-blair song. You can find the full lyrics of “Leaving Beirut” here. The crowd went crazy cheering when Waters sang following lines.

Are these the people that we should bomb
Are we so sure they mean us harm
Is this our pleasure, punishment or crime
Is this a mountain that we really want to climb
The road is hard, hard and long
Put down that two by four
This man would never turn you from his door
Oh George! Oh George!
That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small

During the performance of “Sheep”, a giant pig was flown over the audience. The flying pig had messages all over, some of which read, “Kafka Rules OK! “, “Fear builds walls”, “Don’t be led to the slaughter, Vote Democratic Nov. 2 “, and “Impeach Bush Now”(across the pig’s ass).

The band bowed and said bye to the crowds near the end. The stage went dark, then all the audience rose, cheered, clapped and shouted “once more”. There was an explosive comeback, with the classic from The Wall “Bring the Boys Home”. “Another Brick in the Wall” was accompanied with the images of West Bank walls created by Israel. The concert perfectly ended with “Comfortably Numb”. I’ve been to concerts like David Coverdale, Nazareth, Smokie, Iron Maiden and many more…, but undoubtedly this is the best concert of my life so far.