Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Brown-Eyed Women and Red Grenadine
"when night falls on the city
there is no peace
the lights may be gone
and the sound may be low
but the dark faces in the street lamp's light
are there around the corner
hiding out in the night" - AF
there is no peace
the lights may be gone
and the sound may be low
but the dark faces in the street lamp's light
are there around the corner
hiding out in the night" - AF
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
I'll See You On the Dark Side of The Moon
Like many young people across the country and undoubtedly, around the globe, I discovered Pink Floyd's classic album from 1973, "Dark Side of the Moon". The themes of escaping youth, growing up, regrets and the ills modern society had struck a chord with me when I was in my later teen years as I saw my sheltered life forever altered by the events of 9/11 and my carefree youthful existence slipping away.
Now sitting here writing this at the wise age of 22, I yearn for the days when my biggest worry was where my buddies and I would be hanging out that weekend or how to skip out of school a few periods early. Anytime I hear a song from "Dark Side", I still think of the days spent hanging out with a couple of my best friends discovering this music for the first time.
When I heard the news that bassist, vocalist and songwriter from Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, would be coming to Philadelphia to perform "Dark Side of The Moon" in it's entirety I knew it was a show I could not miss. Purchasing my tickets in mid-February, it seemed like June 1st was a lifetime away.
But finally, the day had come. The parking lot was filled with a lovely aroma and throngs of baby boomers and teenagers anticipating the show. And what a show it was. From the opening chords of The Wall's "In The Flesh", the audience morphed into one of the loudest, respectful, attentive -- greatest -- crowds I have ever been a part of. As Waters continued onto such Floyd classics as "Wish You Were Here" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" it became obvious why Waters was able to fill an arena of 20,000 nearly 30 years after his last significant album.
We were all in search of the same thing. The seats were filled with people who all had the same memories that I had. We remembered what it was like to be just a kid, searching for his or her way in the world, trying to find a place where they fit in. When Waters finally kicked into the "Dark Side" material during the second set, every seat was filled and fully in tuned with what was occurring on the stage.
I had feared that this would be nothing more than a second rate Floyd cover band doing songs that only this one band could perform. Luckily, I was wrong; by the time he came out for his encore and the band broke out into "Another Brick in The Wall (Pt. 2)" it had been apparent for a long time that Waters came with an ample band. I would be remiss to not note the incredible pyrotechnics, lighting and enormous screen - but this writer would be unable to describe their usage and really, they don't get to the heart of the show.
The last song of the evening was "Comfortably Numb", a song Waters wrote with David Gilmour for 1979's "The Wall". It's a song that fits perfectly within the context of that album; the writer feels nothing for himself, for the world, vaguely remembers memories from his childhood and in the end accepts the way things are. We should hope for a more positive outlook on life, but in reality, the line "the child is gone, the dream is over" rings true for a lot of us. At least for this one night, Waters let us catch a "fleeting glimpse out of the corner" of our eyes into what it was like to once again be young and idealistic.
Now sitting here writing this at the wise age of 22, I yearn for the days when my biggest worry was where my buddies and I would be hanging out that weekend or how to skip out of school a few periods early. Anytime I hear a song from "Dark Side", I still think of the days spent hanging out with a couple of my best friends discovering this music for the first time.
When I heard the news that bassist, vocalist and songwriter from Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, would be coming to Philadelphia to perform "Dark Side of The Moon" in it's entirety I knew it was a show I could not miss. Purchasing my tickets in mid-February, it seemed like June 1st was a lifetime away.
But finally, the day had come. The parking lot was filled with a lovely aroma and throngs of baby boomers and teenagers anticipating the show. And what a show it was. From the opening chords of The Wall's "In The Flesh", the audience morphed into one of the loudest, respectful, attentive -- greatest -- crowds I have ever been a part of. As Waters continued onto such Floyd classics as "Wish You Were Here" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" it became obvious why Waters was able to fill an arena of 20,000 nearly 30 years after his last significant album.
We were all in search of the same thing. The seats were filled with people who all had the same memories that I had. We remembered what it was like to be just a kid, searching for his or her way in the world, trying to find a place where they fit in. When Waters finally kicked into the "Dark Side" material during the second set, every seat was filled and fully in tuned with what was occurring on the stage.
I had feared that this would be nothing more than a second rate Floyd cover band doing songs that only this one band could perform. Luckily, I was wrong; by the time he came out for his encore and the band broke out into "Another Brick in The Wall (Pt. 2)" it had been apparent for a long time that Waters came with an ample band. I would be remiss to not note the incredible pyrotechnics, lighting and enormous screen - but this writer would be unable to describe their usage and really, they don't get to the heart of the show.
The last song of the evening was "Comfortably Numb", a song Waters wrote with David Gilmour for 1979's "The Wall". It's a song that fits perfectly within the context of that album; the writer feels nothing for himself, for the world, vaguely remembers memories from his childhood and in the end accepts the way things are. We should hope for a more positive outlook on life, but in reality, the line "the child is gone, the dream is over" rings true for a lot of us. At least for this one night, Waters let us catch a "fleeting glimpse out of the corner" of our eyes into what it was like to once again be young and idealistic.
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