Rock In Rio DVD: A Track-By-Track Look

[Tenniru]

Lip-syncing, flamboyant guitarists, screens, double-tracking, it's all been tossed at this. At last, I chose to download the NTSC version of this from ye old Yeeshkul and look at it.

First impressions: Roger is definitely the best-looking Floyd man now. The cameras are moved very well for a live performance, focusing on key bits during the right parts of the song, some closeups, little boredom. The soundboard operator appears to be a monkey.

Oh, and Rog's acoustic has a special mic trained on it AND there's an antennae coming out (internal pickups?). What's the deal?

Also, what is going on with the visuals? They're AWFUL! We see bored looks at single images through the whole thing, with anything good happening rarely. Sometimes the thing is off. What happened to the great stuff we saw on the ITF tour? Have any concert-goers seen anything this bad at the shows they went to?




HDOOL/ABITW: Looks very real. The bass plays when he plays it, his voice plays when he opens his mouth, and he's moving around the stage too casually to be waiting for a lip-sync track.
The new guitarist looks like Nick Mason put in a blender with Gary Glitter. He also looks like a 1980s refugee.
He's a good guitarist, though. Not as good as the Berlin guy, but he does a pretty nice job without Gilmour.
The other guitarist (Snowy?) I don't find as good. I think it would've been best if they stopped it after Scott Page The Guitarist.
Also, everything seems in sync with the sound. The screen in back is mysteriously immobile (is that even a screen, or a well-disguised speaker setup?).

MOTHER: The acoustic guitar seems very real. The blue lights are aimed straight at poor Rog's face, making him look like the newest member of the Blue Man Group. He gets a bit far from his mic at some points, and his voice fades with it; this performance is quite real.
It's also very nice; he stands up there playing, getting the usual happy reactions to "should I trust the government" and "should I run for president".
The backing vocalists are mixed WAY too low this time. Also, the lead one has a huge purple growth on her left shoulder. Can't the backing vocalists wear full clothes like everyone else? The Talking Heads got away with it.
The screen shows some random images of a room. (Are they from the Wall? No idea.)


SHINE ON: We see all three screens showing nothing but stars for the synth intro. Snowy's riff seems very real and in sync. The Hammond is mixed high and proud (Harry Waters isn't bad at all). The camera is ackwardly focusing in on the wrong people, as well; although it's probably for the better, as what we do see of the lead guitarist is not very pretty. His playing is very nice, though, with the occaisional look at the fretboard.
Roger's bass and voice seem real and in-sync. His voice altogether disappears during the chorus, though; the crowd and the backing woman is louder. His bass is still playing and his mouth moves, but... yeah. The "caught in the crossfire" line has issues, as he's still mixed to near-inaudibility (despite the passion he's putting into singing).
The screen gives us some Syd images from the Piper era, shot by a bad cameraman and with a bad-film effect on it.
Also, we get to see lights that aren't also blue. Amazing.
The saxaphonist is not Scott Page-like. If not for the fact that we can hear noise, you'd never guess he's playing.
Oh, and the mic on the row of bells the drummer hits is off. The camera zooms in on him hitting it and nothing comes out.
In the very end, we see a shot of a guy with an Eminem t-shirt. Eew.

HAVE A CIGAR: The screen is in full-swing, showing us non-rhythmical images of money-related objects.
Everything seems real, except the mysterious sir Rog. His bizzare muttering voice is mixed way higher than the mysterious lead voice in the far background (who I can't even identify), and he's clearly syncronized to the muttering. Even that voice disappears randomly when the mystery-voice continues.
The bass seems entirely real, though. The guitarist-of-mullett plays very well, and acts like a nut. Well, if that's the only way he knows how to play...
But why couldn't Rog just do WTTM? He wouldn't need to do whatever he's doing here with that.

WYWH: The screen shows us footage of a guy flipping a guitar radio. As usual, we get some extreme boredom during this song; the visuals are at an all-time low. At least Nick Mason The Guitarist is in good form. Rog seems entirely real now, and does one of his better performances of it; his voice sounds better than some bad points. Can't he bring back the 80s arrangement, though? Please?
At least Severus Snape isn't singing with his guitar. One point for him. I'll excuse his dung-beetle bracelet now. I HATE it when Dave does that live.
Oh, and the hammond helps.
But as far as versions of this song go... this and the DSOT version are my favorite incarnations. Roger does a very nice job here, as does his guitarist, despite the dead visuals.

STC: Why are the singers' hands put together, like they're praying? Odd.
The drummer switches to cloth mallets for the cymbals and toms. The screen gives us images from the Arnold Layne video (and nothing else... what happened to that great '02 backdrop!?); we see stills of the band hauling a mannequin around a beach, among other things. Harry Waters gets his first closeup here as he plays his organ expertly... also, that is a HUGE beard. And mullet. Like a hobo.
Roger is real here; his bass plays, and his voice sings (and disappears when he gets too far from the mic).
When the sax solo starts, someone hands our drummer his normal sticks and the screen reverts to a lava lamp. Snowy does a great solo. Then the mallets return. An image of the Scarecrow appears once.
One of the best versions of this song in history, as I said before.

THE GUNNER'S DREAM: The screen shows us a textless image of TFC's cover overlaid with a barbed wire fence. Mr. Carin does a very nice piano intro. For the first few lines, Roger is entirely inaudible despite the fact that he is moving his mouth. The normal voice stays mixed very low, and Roger's whispering is now less groaning (see HAC). The screen shows us some graves and trees. "HOLD ON TO THE DREAM" is whispered with passion, and the backing vocal is mixed very far down.
We hear three Rogers at one point; as usual, the long "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE" plays as the whisper-Rog and the normal-Rog sing at once. (The "INSAAAANE" tape is essential, and was used on P/C.)
Roger is holding his guitar here, but never touching it.

SOUTHAMPTON DOCKS: Roger's guitar is real. Instances where he moves his hand in rhythm and nothing happens are quite normal to keep the beat; notice he isn't actually hitting the strings when there's no noise.
The screen shows up a battleship. At this point there's wind on Mr. Sheet, causing an annoying wave effect. Why can't it be Mr. Cardboard Rectangle?

TFMH: We clearly hear a low-mixed normal Rog and a whispering Rog. They both continue. The spoken section has no whispering (very real).
Mr. Screen shows us a building, doors, and an empty room with a guy and a disco ball in it. We then see a camera moving over portraits of people he doesn't like. Quotes by politicians are written in the wall like a madman's scribbling. This doesn't appear to be the 1983 video; in many ways, it's better. The "madman scribbling" quotes are a stroke of genius. I'll miss Napolean and his snail, though.
Rog seems enthusiastic, at least.
Roger is holding his guitar here, but never touching it.

PERFECT SENSE: The drummer is using his hands. We see lots of this. The screen shows an astronaut (part of the HAL bit?). I don't recall that scene in 2001, so I assume it's stock footage. The venue's lights are on in many reds and blues, with a Cylon-like light bounding around. The female lead is initially mixed too far down, resulting in a tinny effect as the others' mics pick her up. The guy at the soundboard rectifies this quickly, but she still sounds tinny. Roger stands without an instrument. He seems real, although his screamed verse seems faked. The screen switches to the "submarine vs rig in stadium" image, which is certainly nice. During the choruses where he doesn't appear, he walks out to the very edge of the stage and leads the crowd in the chorus; nice bit of charisma there. We also see a big shot of the audience... and it is HUGE. This has got to be his biggest gig. Ever.

LEAVING BEIRUT: Narrative replaced by sax. We see (every once and a while) the comic in the background, which is very nice and retells the narrative. The chorus order is now "keys to the car"/"hear our plea"/"gentleness"/"not in my name". Rog still has no instrument. He seems real here. The crowd's reactions to "Oh, George" and "Christian Right" restore my faith in humannity, along with the rest of this song.
I really didn't appreciate this song enough until I saw this. Roger really spills his heart out for us.

SHEEP: He picked his bass up again. Mr. Sheet shows us a forest canopy, some people behind fences, and the like as John Carin plays the intro while holding a guitar. The backup girls just sit in front of him talking. The row of lights under the sheet show alternating green lines... much like Radio KAOS.
Rog's bass intro seems real.
I can't judge the vocal. The mysterious whisper is gone (unless what I'm hearing isn't a phasing effect but that), but his mouth doesn't open very wide. He's mouthing words, I know that, but is that him?
Snowy's playing is very real. We see the Sheet give us some power plant and store footage. At one point the camera shows us the nutjob guitarist, who is playing rhythm; this might explain why some people think it's guitar-syncing.
The lights below the screen start showing the words of the Lord's Prayer. It seems longer than usual (I don't remember the "he converteth me to lamb cutlets" line), but it's still as hilariious as usual. The "rise up with karate skills and make the bugger's eyes water" line seems missing.
For the coda, Snowy and Weirdman synchronize. The backup ladies now have tambourines.
Some pyrotechnics go off; some fire-flares at the front and sparklers in back. The band leaves.


All in all? This is pretty good, although Mr. Sheet left a LOT to be desired (I hope he's better on the rest of the tour). Rog only seems to sync on three songs, and you'll notice one of them (The Gunner's Dream) seems to have left his setlist. Maybe he'll trace HAC for WTTM by the time he makes it to America?

[Alternative 4]

Nice review. I agree with most of what you said. Leaving Beirut is amazing, Snowy on Sheep is awesome also.


PS. Anyone who wants this join my vine.

[chuckmein]

Excellent review , thanks for the efforts and clarification.

Chuck

[azza200]

Thanks for the review but what was with all mentions of Scott uber mullet king Page mentions he didnt turn up did he. Or is that what the people were like.

[Tenniru]

Assuming what I'm talking about isn't in the late 80s, it'd be safe to assume that it's in the middle of a vague metaphor about Roger Waters' new guitarist. The one who looks like Nick Mason with a long black mullet. And an open leather jacket. And lots of jewelry.
And please don't make me think about his stage mannerisms. You'd think he's having sex with the guitar.

[goldeneagle33]

But Mr Mullet has finally hit the big time?

[azza200]

But Mr Mullet has finally hit the big time?

who scott page or mullets in general. god that guitarist sounds like Scott uber mullets Page's long lost brother if he has the same stage mannerisms they must be related

[Meneer Jansen]

Downloaded the DVD. Watched 'Have a cigar'. After that, just couldn't motivate myself to watch/listnen to the rest of it. If Waters gave his OK to air this on television, then why have we not the The Wall Live 1980/81 on DVD yet? What a bloody shame. Waters did NOT sing on HaC (more some sort of a stupid whisper/grunt). I only heard the vocal track from the studio album. And I read that he does this on more songs. If he can't sing anymore, then why perform? People pay good money to see this.

[azza200]

Downloaded the DVD. Watched 'Have a cigar'. After that, just couldn't motivate myself to watch/listnen to the rest of it. If Waters gave his OK to air this on television, then why have we not the The Wall Live 1980/81 on DVD yet? What a bloody shame. Waters did NOT sing on HaC (more some sort of a stupid whisper/grunt). I only heard the vocal track from the studio album. And I read that he does this on more songs. If he can't sing anymore, then why perform? People pay good money to see this.

good point on The Wall footage if he going to air something where he is lip syncing/miming to well i think he release The Wall dvd right now people payed to see the legend live not half sing half lip sync to certain songs.
I also have thought the same about songs Roger plays now it was preety clear on In The Flesh and on Time that his voice was not as good it was i found his version of Time on ITF rather cringeworthy.
Yes it is good he playing songs which havent got played for many years Sheep,Have a Cigar nice to hear them but he should sing songs where he can sing and not pick songs where he strains his voice that dont bode well for future albums and tours IMO.