By David Haerle
Grays Harbor News Group
Sadly, Pink Floyd is no longer with us.
Keyboardist extraordinaire Richard Wright died in 2008. Iconic guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour has moved on, saying the band will never reunite. And founding members Nick Mason (drums) and Roger Waters (bass, vocals) have parted ways.
If you saw them in totality during the 1970s or 1980s, consider yourself quite fortunate, because a live Pink Floyd show was truly a magnificent production.
About the closest thing you can get to that these days is coming to the Tacoma Dome on Sept. 19 when Waters brings his “This Is Not A Drill” tour to the Pacific Northwest. (He will also perform two nights later in Portland.) Surprisingly, plenty of good tickets are still available for both shows, which will be performed “in the round” on a stage in the center of each arena.
Waters was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, which formed in London in 1965. When Sid Barrett left the band in 1968 due to deteriorating mental health, Waters became the primary lyricist, composer and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind the albums “The Dark Side of the Moon” (1973), “Wish You Were Here” (1975), “Animals” (1977) and “The Wall” (1979).
It is those four albums that made Pink Floyd a household name.
And seeing Waters per-form is likely the closest you will get to the real deal these days.
One note of caution to potential concert-goers: Waters is well-known these days for his politically charged performances and his distaste for President Trump. If you are an ardent supporter of the current White House occupant, this may not be the show for you.
“To be blunt, we need to change the way we organize ourselves as a human race or die,” Waters said in a video announcing the upcoming tour. “This tour will be part of a global movement by people who are concerned by others to effect the change that is necessary. That’s why we’re going on the road. That’s why speak to each other in pubs. That’s why this conversation should be on everybody’s lips, constantly, the whole time, because it’s super important. So I hope you’ll all come to the shows. This is not a drill.”
