|
This is a combined story of my best concert experience ever... EVER!! And my
review of the San Francisco Oct 14 2007 show. It's long, but this is actually
the short version.
First off, let me say that I am a HUGE Floyd fan as I
am sure most of you are. I’ve seen Pink Floyd six times, Roger Waters twice, and
had front row dead center balcony seats to see David Gilmour perform "On an
Island". I own every Floyd CD except for a few pre David Gilmour records. I am
telling you this so you will know how much I enjoyed this show!!!
Pink
Floyd came to San Francisco Oct 14. They left Dave, Roger, Richard, and Nick
behind, but I don't think anyone noticed. They were disguised as The Australian
Pink Floyd. This was my fourth time witnessing this band in action and they
somehow get better each time! I drove three hours to get "good seats"
directly from the venue's box office. It was worth the drive! The seats were not
as good as good as the first three times but I can't complain about 7th row 6
seats from center. Thanks to Ebay and Craig’s list, I have managed to get dead
center front row for the first two concerts and thanks to general admission and
sitting in line two hours we were "elbows on the stage" for the third.
Oakland 2006, San Jose 2006, Santa Cruz 2007, San Francisco last Sunday
..... I'm starting to feel like a groupie!!! Wow, a 42-year-old groupie.
Cool......
One of the things I Love about TAPFS is the fact that they are
not "YET" Super Rock Stars, at least not in the minds of most (they are in
mine). Therefore, the concerts are still small enough to get great seats, and to
actually meet the band if lucky enough. I managed to score a couple of backstage
passes to do a "meet and greet" after the concert. Don’t ask me how I got
them... I can’t tell you. I would, but then I would have to kill you. (It would
void our blackmail agreement.)
My girlfriend, Cindy, and I parked at the
BEAUTIFUL Nob Hill Masonic theatre and spent the day at Fisherman's Wharf. Then
we rode the Cable car directly back to the venue to have dinner two hours before
the show. We hop off the cable car and run to the curb trying not to get run
over by taxis and find ourselves face to face with Jamie Humphries walking down
the sidewalk. Like the star struck tongue twisted idiots you see on TV, all I
could muster was "are you ready for the show?" He said yes and asked if we had
seen the show before. I explained this would by our fourth time in a year in
four different cities. He seemed surprised to be recognized off stage. I wonder
if I will accidentally run into David Gilmour someday... Yeah
Right!!
After dinner we went to the will-call table 15 minutes before the
show to pickup the backstage passes and realize we are again standing next to
Jamie. He seemed to remember us so I ask him if he's stalking us. Big smile. I
ask him, "shouldn't you be getting ready for the show?" Nice guy AND he plays
guitar about 10,000 times better than I do. To our surprise, the passes came
with two tickets!! Better than the ones I bought!! Cindy and I go outside and
find two guys that needed tickets that have never seen the show, and donate them
to future APFS fans. By the way, during Run like hell, I look over and one of
them was dancing crazy in the isle, totally lost in the song. He was the only
person dancing… Totally engrossed in the song! I think he’s a new
fan!
As for the show, what can I say that all of you don’t already
know?
The Sound, crystal clear with enough bass to drive it into the soul! I
have go to get a better stereo!!!
The stage was a Half-Round configuration so
there was, from the left:
Jamie Humphries
Carl Brunsdon
Ian
Cattell
Damian Darlington
The lovely trio of heavenly voices! Right out
front for a change. Loved it!!
On raised platforms behind:
Paul
Bonney
Jason Sawford
The set list: Forgive me if I miss a few, I was
comfortably ecstatic! Can you tell I’m a Floyd fan?
Breathe
On the
Run
Time
Great Gig in the Sky
Money
Us + Them
Any Colour you
Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse
** Break **
Shine on
Learning to Fly
Take it Back
Set the Controls For The Heart of the
Sun
Pigs
Fletcher Memorial
Wish you Were Here
One of These
Days
Another Brick in the wall Pt 2
** Encore ** I am missing one… Brain
dead….
Comfortably Numb
Hey You
Run Like Hell
My personal
observations:
Ian’s voice was GREAT. He has given the songs his own flair.
He really makes them come alive! As much as I worship Dave G, I find his live
voice to be a little reserved. Ian on the other had really puts it all in. I
love the couch and lamp set for Nobody Home. That looks like a lot of fun to
perform!
Damian sounded great as usual, but both Cindy and I looked at
each other and exclaimed WOWWWW after each of his solos. It’s not about hitting
the notes… Its how you hit them. He’s flawless, every bend, every wah wah and
with a visual show to boot. It’s like Jesus dancing on a guitar! (I stole
that line from Cindy’s son).
Jamie Humphries plays his solos with so much
passion. I love the intro to Shine On. I can play it myself, but he plays it as
if he wrote it. He seemed to play it real slow…sultry… sounded awesome!!
Paul was awesome. I love the “three drum” intro-solo in Time. He says
its simple, but I doubt it. I wish I could play drums a bit so I could
comprehend how good he is.
Jason really sets the mood of each song with
his magic fingers on the keys. I would love to stand over his shoulder and watch
him play sometime. Too bad you can’t see the keys from the
audience.
Carl Brunsdon seems to have fit right in with the band,
sounds like he has been playing with them for years, but it’s only been 14
shows. (I think that’s what Damian counted).
As for the girls… one word…
WOW How do they do it night after night??
I have been back stage only
once before, at a KISS concert in 1990 or so. There were about 50 people trying
to get close to Gene Simmons for an autograph so I didn’t know what to expect
tonight.
I ran down to my car to get my White Stratocaster I purchased
for my Floyd Collection. When I got back, I was surprised to see only about
eight people waiting to go backstage. We were escorted to a small room with food
and wine. Ian was talking to someone so Cindy and I walked over and said hi to
Jason. I asked him what his favorite song was to play. He said he likes shine
on. Can’t say I blame him. Jamie soon came in and I quickly asked him if he
could sign my guitar. He was pretty busy trying to do something on his laptop so
I didn’t get to talk too much. Cindy got a picture of him signing my guitar… She
told him she got a picture of his “arse” so he put on his best mean look for
her… didn’t fool anyone. Nice tats… maybe that what I need to play
better.
We got into a nice conversation with Ian about how he performs
some of the songs… like the overlapping echoes in one of these days. Says it
beats up his thumb a bit. Cindy, being a teacher, starts talking about school
and other things and Ian mentions he is working on his physics degree.
I
notice that Damian is in the room now so Cindy and I walk over to say hi. He
asks us if we would like to have a glass of wine… Sure! So he picks up a wine
opener, uncorks a bottle, and pours us each a glass! We feel like quests, didn’t
expect the hospitality! This is one group of nice people!! When I asked Damian
to sign my guitar, he was surprised. He told me it was the first one he has ever
signed. I couldn’t believe it! He said he could call his mom and tell her he
must be famous now. Damian and I talked for a while till I hear Cindy talking to
Amy Smith about relationships. Girls are Girls. I told her it was great to see
them at the front of the stage. She said it was a nice to have some extra room
to do their dance moves. After about 30 min the other guests had gone home and
Cindy and I sat down with the rest of the band and chatted for well over an
hour. It was nice to see that everyone in the band gets along. No PF drama. We
pass around wine and chocolate truffles. Ian gets the last truffle and
accidentally drops it, wrapper and all, in his wine glass. Everyone got a
chuckle out of that.
I got the feeling talking to everyone that they didn’t
seem to know how much people were in awe of the show. I told them they send 2000
people home tonight saying OH MY GOD!! That was amazing!! Paul was sitting
next to Cindy when we were talking about the Spain leg of the tour. Cindy asked
if everyone’s passport was full of stamps, so Paul pulls out his passport out
and tells Cindy to check out his “caveman” photo. He says its tough to get
through airport security. Wow, is it really 1 AM? Gotta be at work tomorrow 7AM
Bummer… Paul mentions that they are going out for a drink in the city and asks
us if we want to go. Uhhh, Yeahhh!!! But that Responsibility thing kicked in…We
said our goodbyes and thanked them for all their hard work and their pursuit of
Pink Floyd perfection.
Lying in bed trying to get to sleep…. Cindy says "you have grin on your face ear to ear! You should! After all, we partied with
rock stars!!"
We will definitely Remember That Night!! Sounds
familiar….
|
