Tale of Two Concerts
I went to two concerts this week in Buenos Aires both of which were acts from England rather than Latin America. Also, both are has-beens, but I thought they would entertain me while I am in this large city. I went to the first, Roger Waters, because I knew there would be songs that meant something to me. I went to the second, Asia, because I knew the musicians would be good although I figured the concert would be lousy. Both held up to my preconceptions well.
The Roger Waters concert was in Estadio River Plate. As with many things in Buenos Aires, the name of the stadium is pure Spanglish and they even pronounce “plate” as we do in English. Spanglish is all through Latin America, but Buenos Aires takes it to new levels. Today I saw a business called “Happy Cooker” which made me laugh because few Argentians would get the play on words. This happens all of the time here and especially during the concert… more on the English nonsense in a bit. The stadium was very split up and I concluded that it was done on purpose for crowd control during football matches. Football is more than a national obsession here. It seems to be the national diversion from reality. I estimated 30,000+ people attended. I was expecting a mostly male, 30+ year old audience and I was quite surprised to find a very young crowd and half of which was female. How do youngsters know Pink Floyd music which is 25-40 years old?
Another national obsession here is the cellphone. I am constantly amazed how many people are gabbing away, texting away or photographing everything with them. I was appalled at the amount of usage during the concert. How can anyone talk on the phone over the noise of a concert? When the show started, I thought the people in the general admission infield were using their lighters to welcome the band, but then I realized I was seeing the screens of the phones and they were raised above heads to take photos of the stage. I hate being reminded that I am getting old and this was truly one of those moments. Speaking of the infield, I started there, but soon realized I am no longer in Peru and therefore I am no longer a tall person. Argentinians are tall people and I knew I would never see the stage down there so I headed for the seats. I also have claustrophobia issues amongst people at concerts since a dangerous incident at a Who concert in 1982 so it was for the better that I went to the peaceful seats.
Argentinians love to smoke cigarettes. They are free to do so as much as Europe or at least Europe of a few years ago. After spending months in Africa, California and Latin America I really notice the cigarettes. In Africa, no one has money for cigarettes. In California, it is a sin. And in most of Latin America people again do not have the money for them and you only see Europeans smoking them. I’m sure American travelers are also smoking to some degree, but there is a real difference in how obnoxious Europeans are with them compared to others. Aparently, Argentinians also smoke a good amount of marijuana or at least they do so at Pink Floyd concerts. When I was in Peru at Carnival I smelled some and asked my friend, Lourdes, about it and she basically said “of course, this is Latin America”. Although Argentina is very different from the rest of Latin America (more later), it apparently is not in this respect.
Last night I went across the street to see Asia in a theater with maybe 4000 seats. Now the demographics made sense. Literally, 90% of the attendees were men in between 35 and 60! While the four musicians are very good (especially Carl Palmer on drums), they played as I suspected as four musicians and not as a band. Due to the lack of Asia songs all of which are twenty-five years old, they mixed in some songs from their previous bands which ended up being the highlight of the show. They played videos all of which have been sitting on the shelf for twenty-five years. What a contrast to the previous concert! Not much else to say other than I went in with very low expectations and they were matched perfectly. Asia was a bad idea when it was created and it is a worse idea bringing it back now. As John Wetton said “thank you for remembering us 25 years later”!
I don’t go to many concerts these days or at least the kind with big theatrics so I really have not seen how modern technology has been introduced. Well, I got a real eye-opener this evening. On stage there was a giant radio making up the background behind the instruments as well as a giant glass tumbler. Or so I thought. Right before the performers entered, a giant hand appeared and it poured liquor into the glass and then changed the radio station. It wasn’t until then that I realized the props were purely video. The fun with video effects was just beginning.
The most interesting thing about the show was that it was all in English and the vast majority of the fans had no clue what was being said or sung. Many of the songs should have had people singing along, but they were silent. When a classic rock-and-roll line like “don’t give me that do goody good bullshit” is thrown out, the reaction in America and Europe is quite predictable… bedlam. But not in Buenos Aires… almost silence. I looked around and decided not many had any clue what he just said. So why would people come see music that is so lyrically-based? Well, the crowd certainly got two other pieces. They loved the music and showed their appreciation immensely. They also loved the special effects which for the most part held up to what one would expect from a Pink Floyd concert, a band that even today no one can touch for theatrical productions. I was thankful that they at least had a reason to be present.
I was very embarassed to be an American when a couple of attacks on George Bush, America and our little Iraqi problem became themes of the show. If I was a supporter, I would have died. But even though I ferverently agree with the world’s opinion against Bush and America of late, it is very painful to be in a foreign country and have this played out before you. Images of Bin Laden, Bush, Hussein, Hitler, Stalin and the rest of the warmongers was part of a video clip and the largest jeer was sounded for Bush. Ouch! I was again have witnessed that the least popular person on this planet is our leader and he would lose a popularity contest against Bin Laden. I’m sure most Americans don’t give a damn what the rest of the world’s opinion is on this matter, but I do.
For a concert where only one new song in the past twenty-five years was played and only one of the band members of those songs was present, this turned into a great show. The musicians took a backseat to the songs themselves and played well as a band. And the theatrics other than a stupid little pig balloon (a figment of what Pink Floyd would have had back in the day) were stellar and very modern. I was quite happy to be there singing along even if the 30,000 others didn’t know the words.
The Songs… (there aren’t many concerts where I know every song)…
In the Flesh and Mother from The Wall – a great way to start things off from the last great Floyd album which sold 30 million copies.
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun – Only real Pink Floyd fans would know this song from the 60s. Along with the next song, Syd Barrett was featured in the videos along with other 1960s videos of the band members during happy times. Syd Barrett is a tragic rock-n-roll figure and is a favorite theme in Floyd songs. He died last year and I figure this was Water’s tribute to his one-time partner.
Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Have a Cigar and Wish You Were Here – All from my favorite album, Wish You Were Here. I sure wished Chris was here during the last song. She loved Pink Floyd.
Final Cut and another song from Final Cut – Technically from the last Pink Floyd album although any real fan would say the last album was The Wall and this was just pathetic Roger Waters music under their name.
Leaving Beirut – The newest song which was very good and truly ripped on George Bush and Tony Blair.
Sheep – The one song from Animals and this is when the silly pig balloon made its appearance. The real pig balloon over the Battersea Power Station was featured in the video that played along making this one that much more ridiculous looking.
Intermission – I was wondering why this concert was called The Dark Side of the Moon concert being a total rip-off of the album that sold 40+ million albums in the 70s and remained on the billboard chart longer than any other album. Then I learned why…
Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety – Every song from the album was played. The video that played as well was unbelievable.
The Wall – Part Two, Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home and Comfortably Numb all from The Wall were played as the encore. The Wall – Part Two being a RnR staple of the young and disenchanted was the only song known by the crowd and I guess I was not surprised since there are only about five different lines easily understood. I am sure that Boys Back Home was only played because of the Iraq War. Can’t end a concert with a better song than Comfortably Numb. After three hours, we were all just that.
Tags: argentina, south america
vagabondrick
Hey Rick – What unusual experiences these concerts in Argentina were Glad you were able to catch them. Lots of Love Kathy