Roger Waters Tour 2016

Roger Waters will be performing in Mexico in September, followed by 2 appearances at the legendary Desert Trip concerts, that will feature The Stones, TheWho, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul McCartney and Roger Waters. Each act will do a full length show, with two bands on each evening. I will be playing saxophone with Roger. The band will meet up in the USA in September for production rehearsals. I will keep a blog during the whole period.

My blogs from previous tours during 2006 - 2008 and the Sandy Relief Concert in 2012 can be found here :

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Monday, 17th of October : Coachella/L.A./London : The end of the tour. Back to the Sunset Marquis to hang out before Dave, Snowy and myself head to LAX, then back to London. Our flight was delayed by a couple of hours, so I was able to make this last minute update before we fly home. The link below is to Flickr, where I have uploaded all the pictures I took on the tour.


Sunday, 16th of October : L.A/Coachella. : Travel to La Quinta in the morning. Arrive at the venue around 4.30 to prepare for the show. The band are rested and keen to play after our week off. I caught about an hour of The Who's great set then headed back stage. Highlights of Roger's show for me include Graham's 'Time' rototom solo and the girls fantastic and inventive 'Great Gig'. I really enjoyed the final gig of this brief tour. Being part of the histioric Desert Trip was amazing. A view shared by everyone present. The after show party was fun and managed to continue till after 2, when we headed back to La Quinta.


Saturday, 15th of October : L.A. : Our last day in LA. Snaps by the pool and on Sunset. Car park practising again and a trip to Canters for Matzo ball soup in the evening. We head back to Coachella tomorrow for the last Desert Trip show. Excited.


Friday, 14th of October : L.A. : Jess had a barbeque at her place attended by Roger and most of the band. A very enjoyable evening was had by all.


Thursday, 13th of October : L.A. : Lots of pottering. L.A. has many of good places to eat. Mel's for breakfast. I met Colin Lyon with Randy and Jane in the hotel bar and bought them a few drinks. Colin tells me that due to a recent land purchase, he is now Lord Colin of Conniston. I will tug my forelock on sight in future.


Wednesday, 12th of October : L.A. : Another day pottering around. I found a new place to do my daily practise, where the security guards don't send me packing for disturbing the residents ( of local apartments ).


Tuesday, 11th of October : L.A. : A day pottering around. Some nice Thai food in the evening and a late night visit to Sam Ash on Sunset.


Monday, 10th of October : Coachella/L.A. : We leave La Quinta today and return to Los Angeles. A week pottering around, then back for more Desert Trip! My friend Gene Barkin posted some photos of his Desert Trip experience, which can be viewed HERE.


Sunday, 9th of October : Coachella: Up at the crack of dawn to soundcheck at Coachella. One of the penalties of headlining is that you soundcheck first. Everything worked and as usual Roger refined the arrangements of a couple of songs. Back to La Quinta for a quiet day and an afternoon siesta, before returning around 4pm. The Who kicked in to good effect after 6. Loud and quite energetic for older gentlemen lol. We hit the stage around 9.20. The band rocked. Roger was in good form. All in all the show went down well with the capacity crowd. I played most of the right notes in most of the right places, so was very happy. The after show party was good fun. I said au revoir to Gene and Frank and rode off into the sunset after midnight.


Saturday, 8th of October : Coachella: Another day chilling, with a little trip into the desert to keep my chops in trim. Holly and I had lunch with Gene and Frank at the excellent hotel restaurant then headed off to Coachella. Neil Young was first on the bill. He kicked off on upright with 'After The Goldrush' followed by 'Heart Of Gold' on acoustic guitar. Both were magical and incredibly moving. The set built beautifully, culminating in an extended 'Down By The River' jam and 'Rockin The Free World' with Promise Of The Real supporting Young vocally and instrumentally with consumate musicallity. Macca followed up with a crowd pleasing mixture of Beatles, Wings and solo material plus Rock Star anecdotes. His solo rendition of 'Blackbird' accompanied by acoustic guitar was the highlight for me. I am looking forward to tomorrow more than ever. One more day to go.


Friday, 7th of October : Coachella: More fun in the sun! We had an epic one and a half hour coach trip the short distance from La Quinta to Indio, due to trmendous numbers of people heading for the Desert Trip site. Bob Dylan was first on. It was great to see the legend that is Bob for the first 3 tunes. After this, he had the cameras filming himself and the band turned off. Not so bad for me and the few thousand that were reasonably near the stage, but many more thousands would only see small specks moving around on stage. That aside, I will always remember hearing him and his great band. The Rolling Stones pulled out all the stops. Great sound, playing and oodles of charisma, particularly from Mick. An extended 'Midnight Rambler' and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' were among my favourites. All in all a great start to the festival.


Thursday, 6th of October : Coachella: Lots of chilling going on. I went out into the desert so that I could practise without disrbing anyone bar the snakes and lizarrds. In the evening Roger generously took us all to an excellent local steakhouse where we were wined and dined royally. A quick nightcap in the hotel bar then off to bed. Bob Dylan and The Stones tomorrow!!


Wednesday, 5th of October : Los Angeles/Coachella: Everyone met up at the band hotel around 10 ( a few of the band live in L.A. ) and headed off in a bus to our hotel near Coachella. At 4 we travelled to the Desert Trip site and ran through a few tunes. The stage is dominated by the massive screen that Roger used in Mexico. He has kindly allowed the other bands to use what I think is the largest screen anywhere in the world. We ran 'Brick' with a new set of local kids and played through a new arrangement of 'Set The Controls'. Tomorrow we will have time to chill by the pool.


Tuesday, 4th of October : Los Angeles: Another quiet and restful day. I put in a couple of hours practising in the studio below the hotel. It was built to give Jeff Beck somewhere to go when he wanted to play, rather than turning his amp up to 11 in his hotel room. I found a few more shots of Zocalo, so here they are.


Monday, 3rd of October : Los Angeles: A rest day in L.A. I had lunch with my friend Gina, did a little practising and swung past the Whisky A Gogo, where my first band Deaf School played for 3 nights in 1977 !!!


Sunday, 2nd of October : Mexico City/Los Angeles: Sadly we leave mexico today. In the lobby of the hotel G.E. hooked up with some local musicians and started jamming. Big smiles from hotel staff and guests alike. The police escorted our convoy to Toluca where we boarded 2 private jets and set off for Los Angeles.


Saturday, 1st of October : Mexico City: The day of the Zocalo Square show. We needed the police escort to get us through the incredible crowds of people converging on the square. It was decided not to soundcheck, but we did go onstage to linecheck the various instruments. Once we saw Roger having some pics taken with the audience, the rest of the band followed suit. I have included the ones I took of the band and crew here. Most of us also made the climb to Dave's perch atop the screen and got some shots from up there. Respect to Robbie and Dave Kilminster in particular for making the climb in the dark. Dave then has to play the 'Numb' guitar solo with very little between himself and a long fall! The show was amazing. The Mexican audience was the best of the best. Altogether an unforgettable experience.


Friday, 30th of September : Mexico City: Another rest day for the band. Not so for the crew who will be working overtime to get the stage ready for the Zocalo Square show on Saturday. I spent most of the day wandering round the Roma part of the city. In the evening dinner at the excellent Dulce Patria. An early night is in order to be fresh for the Big Show tomorrow.


Thursday, 29th of September : Mexico City: The second show at Foro Sol. We had a chance to run through 'Brick' choreography with the kids! If anything the crowd were even more enthusiastic than Wednesday. The band were generally more relaxed and comfortable with the set. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the pig tethers so no pig on this occasion. I am sure all the teething problems will be sorted for Zocalo Square.


Wednesday, 28th of September : Mexico City: The first Foro Sol show! The rain isn't helping, but calmed down in time for us to start the performance 15 minutes late at 9.15pm. Everyone in the band was very excited to get underway and the Mexican audience were amazing. ( particularly considering the torrential rain they had to negotiate on the way to the stadium ). Everything seemed to work but Robbie and Dave stayed on the stage for 'Comfortably Numb' rather than playing from the top of Battersea Power Station!


Tuesday, 27th of September : Mexico City: A day resting, sightseeing and eating in a very nice restaurant. Oh and one or 2 margaritas!


Monday, 26th of September : Mexico City: Dress rehearsal day. When we got to Foro Sol the skies opened and the rain was torrential for most of the show. We got through it, but I am hoping for better weather on Wednesday and Thursday. Some members of the crew and management filled in for the kids on 'Brick'. Good fun.


Sunday, 25th of September : Mexico City: The roads are closed around La Reforma once more! This time for a mass cycling, rollerblading, walking event. I managed to get a bicycle from the hotel, so managed to take part. It was very interesting to see Zocalo Square before the show in a few days. Paul McCartney had 250K people at his show last year. What will the numbers be for Roger? The monsoon really kicked in during the run through in the evening, but we got through it! Dress rehearsal tomorrow.


Saturday, 24th of September : Mexico City: Two demonstrations centering around La Reforma today. One is families protesting against gay marriage and the other is supporting the same. Police were in evidence keeping the two factions apart. They all chose to potest earlier in the day when the weather was fine. By the time we got to the venue the monsoon had appeared, but we still managed a run through including some amazing effects which I will not spoil by describing here.


Friday, 23rd of September : Mexico City: Down to the venue by2.30. A 90 minute trip through mad Mexico City traffic. Roger had notes about various musical parts of the show, so we spent the afternoon addressing those. After dinner the intention was that we run the entire show. The monsoon kicked in seriously around 8.30, so we only made it half way. Better luck tomorrow.


Thursday, 22nd of September : Mexico City: One more day before we start rehearsals at Foro Sol. I managed to get in a bit of practise in a room behind the hotel restaurant thanks to Oswaldo. Later I had a wander around the city and happened on the Roma area, which has a lot of the charm of 60's / 70's Greenwich Village. I ate at The Restaurant Cabrera 7 on the Plaza Luis Cabrera. Chile En Nogada, which is a strange concoction of chile pepper, meat, cream and nut sauce covered in pomegranite. Only served at this time of year, so good timing ( or bad depending on your taste ). I enjoyed it. I stopped off at the Terreno Baldia gallery on the way back.


Wednesday, 21st of September : Mexico City: We are settled in to the hotel. Dave and I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art in the park. Some excellent Mexican art including the inevitable Frida Kahlo and some Diego Riviera drawings. very enjoyable. I think Dave will go back and visit the Zoological gardens tomorrow in search of koalas lol Checked out the band playing acid jazz in the bar with Harry, Robbie and Andrew, then bed.


Tuesday, 20th of September : Tulsa/Mexico City: A travel day. The band is split between two private jets. In the air by 12. Toluca, outside Mexico City by 3.30. After a bit of shenanigans at Mexican immigration/customs we headed off to our hotel led by two police motorcyclists. Settling in nicely. No ill effects from the altitude so far. A bit of exploring tomorrow is in order.


Sunday, 18th of September : Tulsa : It is getting to the end of our rehearsal time in Tulsa. After sorting out a few individual problem areas we ran the complete set to good effect. In the evening Harry, Robbie and myself caught set from Harry's excellent vibes playing friend from L.A. Nick Mancini who happened to be playing at a local bar. Quite a coincidence.


Saturday, 17th of September : Tulsa : We are now in a larger room with a cut down version of the large screen that will be used at the shows. Some great surprises in store. Roger and the band are working hard to fine tune the performances of each song. I have been enjoying playing 'Money' and 'Us And Them' along with 'Shine'. I even have 2 improvised solos I wasn't expecting. It is not long before we move to Mexico City. I am hoping the monsoons there don't stop us having a few more run throughs before the first show on the 28th of this month.


Tuesday, 13th of September : Tulsa : Rehearsals going well. We will shortly move to a larger room where we will have the BIG screens and will synchronise with video playback. Working hard, so not much to say other than it is clearly going to be a GREAT show.


Sunday, 11th of September : Tulsa : Had a good first rehearsal and a nice band dinner in the evening. Lucius are an interesting addition to the band. Backing vocals and percussion! Onward and upward.


Saturday, 10th of September : Tulsa : Our first day in the USA. Jon, Robbie, Harry, Graham, Holly and Jessica all get in this evening. Roger and GE don't arrive till tomorrow when the rehearsals start. After breakfast with the guys, I popped into the rehearsal room to check my spare horns arrived in one piece and have a play. Had a beer and watched a band at Elmore's in the afternoon. Dinner with Pompey at a local Mexican restaurant then early to bed. More tomorrow.......

 


Thursday, 8th of September : London: Last minute packing. Looking forward to hooking up with Snowy ( White ) and Dave ( Kilminster ) at the airport tomorrow. Graham ( Broad ) travels on Saturday. Hopefully more interesting entries to come! lol


Friday, 12th of August : London: Early days yet. My soprano, EWI and spare tenor were picked up by Rockit today, ready to be shipped to the rehearsal location in the USA. I am having fun reaquainting myself with those great Dick Parry solos.