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The Camera Eye More great moments from Roger Waters' 1999 In The Flesh tour. By Richard Mahon NOTE: The following concert videos are being graded as a guide to documenting the live performance history of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Past video reviews have been posted at the following site. In this issue, we continue reviewing videos from Roger Waters' 1999 In The Flesh tour. Roger Waters-PNC Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, August 6, 1999
Roger Waters-Oakdale Theater, Wallingford, CT August 8, 1999
Roger Waters-Jerome Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH 8/15/99
Roger Waters-Jerome Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH 8/15/99
VIDEO QUALITY
RATINGS Richard Mahon is a staff writer for Spare Bricks. |
This video begins
with a bit of obstruction and instability. Shot from the
left side of the stage, the camera operator quickly
learns the best shot is the elevated video screen. There
are stability and obstruction problems at the start. The
shot of the screen is not as clear as the Jones Beach
video mentioned in last issue's reviews. This screen shot
is a little hazy and slightly tilted. It takes a few
minutes before the shot is settled in on the screen. Then
the video becomes very nice, similar to watching a
pro-shot video with slight generation loss. There's a cut
at the start of "It's A Miracle" and
"Comfortably Numb." I grade the video
"B" and the audio "VG."
This video is very
close to the stage. Shot from the 7th row, the close-ups
are extraordinary. Unfortunately, there's a lot of
obstruction, focus problems and instability throughout
this video. Starting with Mother the video begins to
settle in on the best it has to offer - close-ups. Hit
and miss is the definitive phrase for this video. You're
either getting an excellent unobstructed close-up or the
screen is totally black due to security ducks and other
forms of obstruction. The portions of the video that are
impossible to watch outnumber the close-ups the camera
provides. For this reason, I grade this video
"C+." I grade the audio "VG+."
There were at least
four cameras in the Jerome Schottenstein Center in
Columbus, OH. This version is the only known video of the
complete show that is not edited or incomplete. This
video was shot from the upper balcony in the back of the
arena, towards the right. This location provides some
different shots from the other Waters videos reviewed so
far. For example, the camera angle provides an excellent
shot of Hammond Organ player Andy Wallace. In this video,
you can see that a Hammond Organ is not present. Wallace
is using a Kurzweil keyboard (just as Jon Carin is) to
produce a Hammond Organ sound. The camera is steady
despite the distance from the stage and the focus is
sharp. Clarity seems to vary. When the spotlight is on a
member of the band the picture is clear. When the
spotlight is off it appears to be somewhat grainy. This
is a well-shot video that I grade "B-" due to
the somewhat grainy picture. Audio is very good for a
camcorder - "VG+."
Shot from the back
left corner of the arena, this video features an
extraordinarily clear and unobstructed shot of the
background projection screen and the overall stage setup.
The video includes shots of the screen that do not appear
in other videos that focus on the musicians on stage. The
only drawback is a collection of cable wires that stretch
across the screen through the duration of the video.
There's a cut in the opener "In The Flesh."
"Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" is
completely edited except for the taped introduction.
There's another cut at the end of "Welcome To The
Machine" that cuts into the intro to "Shine
On." The show then cuts to the end of the song. This
video only shows the first set of the show but the
content is very nice to watch. I grade this video
"B" ("B+" without the wires.) I grade
the audio "VG."