Roger Waters

I had the privilege of seeing Roger Waters in concert earlier in the summer in Kansas City. My beautiful and gracious wife agreed to go with me even though she is not-and I really mean NOT- a fan of Pink Floyd. I warned her that this was going to be primarily Floyd music surrounded by smatterings of music from the new Waters album. She came along anyway. We were treated to what I would have to say is the best pop/rock music concert I have seen. Last summer we saw Dylan, Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt and Richard Thompson on their tours and yes, those were small scale shows compared to what has become the norm for a Waters concert, but just the high level of musicianship, skill, technology and showmanship that went into that concert was astounding. I have become fond of the new album Is This the Life We Really Want?. Yes, it uses templates from old Floyd songs, but who cares?  Many artists borrow from other sources including themselves and I like the old Floyd songs. I listen intently to lyrics because that's where I get my jollies in rock music. Waters' are among the best. The album is through-composed and works like most of the classic-era Floyd albums. There are moments (Deja Vu) that bring me to tears and I don't even know why. I'm just grateful that music can still have that effect on me after all of these years. I find it remarkable that there are 70-somethings out there like Waters and Dylan and a few others who are not simply jukeboxes of the past catalogue but are creating new art. It's something to aspire to.