NOTE: The following concert videos are being
graded as a guide to documenting the live performance
history of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Past reviews have
been posted here.
In the first two issues, we began with a look back at
Roger Waters' previous solo concert tours. We now begin a
series of reviews of shows from Roger Waters' recent In
The Flesh tour.
Roger Waters-Molson Centre Theater, Montreal, Quebec,
July 31, 1999
This
video, like the Montreal reviewed last month, is shot
from the same luxury box at the Molson Centre Theater.
Though this video is not shot on a tri-pod, it is still
very steady with sharp focus. The camerawork is
exceptional. The camera operator does an excellent job of
anticipating where to move the camera for each band
member's featured vocal or solo in any given song. This
is aided by a completely unobstructed view of the show.
The close-ups are excellent. Waters fills the screen from
head to toe when the camera is zoomed in. The camera is
slightly shaky when it is zoomed in tight. The colors are
solid. This video can be identified by the "Roger
Waters Mtl 99" superimposed in blue occasionally at
the bottom of the screen. I grade this video a
"B+," the audio is "VG+."
Roger Waters-Molson Amphitheater Toronto, Ontario,
August 1, 1999
Starting
with the sounds of "The
Thin Ice," this video is heavily
obstructed. The camera is located in
the left mezzanine of the
amphitheater. The right side of the
stage is obstructed more than the
left. The best shots are in the center
of the stage. For the most part the
camera has to maneuver its way
between heads obstructing the view.
When the stage is obstructed, the
camera has an option to move to a
scoreboard type of video screen
with lines and color distortion. The close-ups are solid
though a tad shaky and always shot
between heads. When not obstructed, the shots of the
screen behind the band are very
good. Unfortunately, there is a cut at the very end of
"Perfect Sense." This video can be
identified at intermission when the cameraman says
"We are at the Molson Amphitheater,
August 1st 1999." The end of the video shows footage
outside the amphitheater and shots
of downtown Toronto. All told, the camera operator is in
a bad spot in the crowd but gets
the most out of what he has to work with. The sound is
about as good as one can expect
from a camcorder. I grade this video "B-" and
the audio "VG+."
Roger Waters-Molson Amphitheater, Toronto, Ontario,
August 1, 1999
The video
begins with "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives"
and it immediately becomes apparent that obstruction is
going to a major problem throughout this video. The
camera appears to be located between someone's legs and
they are sitting in the front row of the 2nd group of
seats. This means that people will be walking back and
forth on the aisle in front of the camera for the
duration of the video. The close-ups are very nice, the
color is solid and the video is stable and but the
continuous number of people walking in front of the
camera make the video difficult to watch at times.
Despite the continuous obstruction, I grade this video
"B-." and the audio "VG."
Roger Waters-Jones Beach,
Wantaugh, Long Island, New York, August 7, 1999
The camera
for this video is elevated. When panned back you can see
the stage and two video screens, one on each side of the
stage. A digital camera was used. There are excellent
shots of the video projection screen. In some videos, the
projection screens have problems with lines in the
screen, a fuzzy picture or color distortion. When the
camera pans to one of the projection screens in this
video the shot is crystal clear. This allows for some
amazing close-ups. You can see everything from the
expressions (and even a few wrinkles) on Waters' face to
the way left-handed guitarist Doyle Bramhall strings his
guitars upside down. The video also has its share of
flaws. There are stability problems for the overall shot
of the stage and close-ups of the projection screen. The
close-ups of the band on stage are a bit blurry. When the
camera goes for a shot of a band member on stage the
camera view of the close-up is almost totally white due
to the brightness of the spotlight. In addition, an
over-enthusiastic fan occasionally provides a sing-along
as well as a few comments on the show. There is a very
slight cut between "It's A Miracle" and
"Amused To Death." Despite these flaws, the
close-ups on the video screen give this video a
"B" that could've been even better. The audio
is "VG+."
VIDEO QUALITY RATINGS A Broadcast quality
B Very good, typically a well shot, low generation single
camera recording
C Fair, watchable but with defects, color distortion or
loss of clarity due to high generation
D Poor, difficult to watch
Videos are compared to broadcast quality standards. All
videos are subject to loss of quality through multiple
generations. Single camera recordings may be dark,
obstructed, unstable, out of focus and distant.
"B+" is the top rating for a single camera
video though on rare occasions an exceptional single
camera video may receive an "A" or
"A-."
AUDIO QUALITY RATINGS
E Broadcast quality
VG Average audience recording
G Difficult to listen to
Audios are compared to FM broadcast quality standards.
Audio audience recordings may lack clarity or include
excessive crowd noise. "VG-E" is usually the
top rating for an audience recording.
This
video, like the Montreal reviewed last month, is shot
from the same luxury box at the Molson Centre Theater.
Though this video is not shot on a tri-pod, it is still
very steady with sharp focus. The camerawork is
exceptional. The camera operator does an excellent job of
anticipating where to move the camera for each band
member's featured vocal or solo in any given song. This
is aided by a completely unobstructed view of the show.
The close-ups are excellent. Waters fills the screen from
head to toe when the camera is zoomed in. The camera is
slightly shaky when it is zoomed in tight. The colors are
solid. This video can be identified by the "Roger
Waters Mtl 99" superimposed in blue occasionally at
the bottom of the screen. I grade this video a
"B+," the audio is "VG+." 
Starting
with the sounds of "The
The video
begins with "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives"
and it immediately becomes apparent that obstruction is
going to a major problem throughout this video. The
camera appears to be located between someone's legs and
they are sitting in the front row of the 2nd group of
seats. This means that people will be walking back and
forth on the aisle in front of the camera for the
duration of the video. The close-ups are very nice, the
color is solid and the video is stable and but the
continuous number of people walking in front of the
camera make the video difficult to watch at times.
Despite the continuous obstruction, I grade this video
"B-." and the audio "VG." 
The camera
for this video is elevated. When panned back you can see
the stage and two video screens, one on each side of the
stage. A digital camera was used. There are excellent
shots of the video projection screen. In some videos, the
projection screens have problems with lines in the
screen, a fuzzy picture or color distortion. When the
camera pans to one of the projection screens in this
video the shot is crystal clear. This allows for some
amazing close-ups. You can see everything from the
expressions (and even a few wrinkles) on Waters' face to
the way left-handed guitarist Doyle Bramhall strings his
guitars upside down. The video also has its share of
flaws. There are stability problems for the overall shot
of the stage and close-ups of the projection screen. The
close-ups of the band on stage are a bit blurry. When the
camera goes for a shot of a band member on stage the
camera view of the close-up is almost totally white due
to the brightness of the spotlight. In addition, an
over-enthusiastic fan occasionally provides a sing-along
as well as a few comments on the show. There is a very
slight cut between "It's A Miracle" and
"Amused To Death." Despite these flaws, the
close-ups on the video screen give this video a
"B" that could've been even better. The audio
is "VG+."