Roger Waters

The majority of this post will mean nothing to you if you're not a fan of Pink Floyd.

I'm a simple fella. 3 major loves in this world, women, music and sport. The sporting highlight of my life was probably the trip to see Manchester City play Liverpool 7 years ago. The women highlight, well, thats not really for general consumption sorry.

Music highlight occured last night. My favorite band in the entire world is Pink Floyd. Those of you who know me may know that the one thing in this world that I want is to see them reform and play a concert. Just once. And they did, at live 8 last year. Roger Waters and David Gilmore put their differences and egos aside for 20 minutes, just long enough to remind us fans why they were and are so wonderful. Sadly, I was in Toowoomba at the time, a long way from Hyde Park.

Last night was about as close as one could get to fulfilling that dream. Roger Waters, the bass player and chief inspiration behind the band, played at the band's spiritual home, Earls Court. It was incredible.

The first set included works from the Wall, Animals (my personal favorite), the Final Cut and a lot of his solo stuff. The music was accompanied by a pretty incredible light show and pyrotechnics display, and was just so powerful. For the real fans out there, the pig, so famously set free above Battersea Park power station, made a welcome return to the arena.

The second set was a real treat. His band and he played the Dark Side of the Moon from start to finish, uninterrupted, and incredible. I've never heard noise like this crowd made to get him back for an encore. Another brick in the wall was belted out before the whole thing finished with the greatest song ever written, Comfortably Numb.

For the second half of the show, I was lucky enough to have a seat right next to the stage. On several occasions Waters walked to the side where we were sitting/standing/cheering like idiots. He was literally 10 metres away. At one point he looked at me and mouthed 'Thank you'. Rob, whom I was with, swore that he was looking at him, but he was wrong.

The experience was amazing, the show and the music were so powerful, I don't mind admitting to shedding the odd tear during the performance. Without doubt it was the best concert I've ever been to, and definately one thing on the list of things to do before you die crossed off. He's playing again tonight, I'm looking around for a ticket. He was in Australia last year, but is still fit and clearly enjoys what he's doing, may I take this opportunity to recommend his show to all of you out there, whether floyd fans or not. You will not be disappointed.

The grey skies of London are brighter than ever today as a result. Hope you are all super.

Liverpool (again)

Coming to Liverpool is like travelling back in time about 30 years. The buildings are old and un-snazzy, the men have naturally windswept long hair and wear vests and no one is really sure what to do when they meet people from somewhere other than Liverpool. Mind you, I have no idea what to do with them either, can barely understand a word they're saying.

Having said all of that, Natasha Goss has asked me to point out that coming to Liverpool is not a bad thing. I tend to agree, its certainly an experience. The one thing this city is famous for is the Beatles, and their presence is everywhere you care to look. John Lennon International Airport is apparently a favoured tourist destination for many a Japanese tourist.

It is then something of a surprise to find that the city that produced probably the most influential rock band of all time has a nightlife which revolves entirely around cheese. A walk down Mathew St will take you past the Cavern Club, which the Beatles played in hundreds of times. A bit of culture. By the end of the street however, you have walked past (and certainly not into) 2 x 70's bars, 2 x 80's bars and a 90's bar which apparently focusses on recent house music. The most surprising bar was perhaps 'Rubber Soul'. A name like that conjures up images of Rockabilly types jitterbugging late into the wee hours. The truth however was that this was the Down Under bar without the backpackers. We found ourselves surrounded by mid-30's scousers wearing far less than the weather demanded of them sculling bacardi breezers and dancing around to such classics as 'How will I know' by Whitney Houston.

Truly a surreal experience and I wish to thank Tash and Tim for humouring me on what was quite the magical mystery tour.

Off to see an aunt and uncle this evening before heading home tomorrow. Its a long weekend here and at home, hope that you're all having a good one.