Roger Waters/MO,USA 2017

With his new album “Is This The Life We Really Want?”, Roger Waters’ US + THEM tour has finally started. An incredible recording has suddenly appeared from the premiere performance in Kansas City! This high-quality, high-quality title, which can be said to be the best recording possible for checking the first day of the tour, will be released this weekend! Last week, the apex sound source of the dress rehearsal held prior to the premiere, “US + THEM TOUR: DRESS REHEARSALS 2017”, was released, and it is still a hot topic as a special edition that allows you to listen to the wonderful performance with the best sound quality. Meanwhile, in sync with that, the first day of the tour sound source has gradually started to appear on the Internet. Among them, our Sigma label has been paying attention to one that shines with a clearly different brilliance from other posted recordings. This recording was so scary that it directly absorbed the dynamic sound from the quadrophonic speaker above and behind the recorder’s left shoulder at zero distance without any obstruction. “Wha, this is…!!!” The entire staff was shocked, but the right channel was not without problems, such as the occasional strong cheers of the surroundings. However, the label’s exclusive engineer polished it up with the latest software, corrected the signal that was slightly over-input on the left side where the speaker was, removed the slight digital noise that was mixed in, and rationally and as much as possible removed the strong cheers of the surroundings on the right side, and a threatening super sound that is probably the best sound source for the first day of the tour was realized! The vividness is already a special class even for today’s digital recordings. In the show introduction “Speak to Me”, which is recorded for about 3 minutes, the sound of a train running away comes out immediately after the start, and the vivid and powerful SE sound should reach the maximum expectation value immediately after the disc starts. And finally, the super vivid sound of “Breathe” begins… The closeness of Roger’s voice, the extraordinary clarity of the performance, and above all, the range of the sound that challenges the ears are overwhelming, and you can experience the kick-off of the US + THEM tour with an ultra-class sound that can be said to be nothing more. In “One of These Days”, the extremely thick sound pressure of the twin bass is also tremendous, but even more than that, the keyboard tone jumps out with a vivid attack, and the dazzling contrast of the roaring bass and the shining treble invites unknown excitement. In “The Great Gig in the Sky”, the twin chorus of Jess and Holly appears with a special tone, and you can experience the vivid trajectory of the two voices separating and merging with an incredibly detailed sound. Please pay attention to the charm of the transparent high range that stretches and reverberates. The mellow and powerful sound image of “Deja Vu” is also very attractive. The multi-layered sound structure that surrounds Roger’s singing voice from close range in three dimensions leaves an overwhelming response to listening, and the new song “The Last Refugee” will surely be overwhelmed by the way the deep sound spatiality and vividness of the tone dynamically change the expression of the sound at your ears. On the other hand, “Picture That”, which has already become a hot topic among Japanese fans because of the appearance of “Japan” in the lyrics, surprisingly increases the power of the sound by about +2 from the beginning of the song, and the loud and tough, extremely thick ensemble scatters the attractive melody line of the song and a tremendous spark. The impact of this first day’s performance is already greater than the expression you can hear on the new album, so please enjoy the way the charm of the songs unique to live performances overflows with the best sound. The second part of the show continues with the overwhelming super high sound quality, but how can we describe the overwhelming sound resolution that suddenly appears in “Dogs”? The dazzling sound of the guitar and the amplitude of the spacious sound of the singing voice and keyboard spread into the sound field with an unparalleled heat, enveloping the listener with an overwhelming sense of volume. Furthermore, in “Pigs (Three Different Ones)”, it is a mass of sound with such high precision that it seems like a sound board, and you can feel the dynamic range that makes you tremble. The vulgar sound that progresses in the dynamic mid-to-low range is a pictorial performance that is sufficient even without the anti-Trump video, and I think that this sound image makes it clear. In “Money”, the miscellaneous sound effects and the coming and going of the sound emitted from the drifting ensemble are recorded with great precision, and the mid-tempo kineticism that unfolds in the mid-range can be perfectly tracked. The saxophone that appears in the middle also has a very good sound in this song and “Us and Them”, and you can’t help but notice the high descriptive performance of this recording. I would like you to check out the sound image of this work, where the ensemble that thickens in the chorus, the male harmonies, the female chorus that adds color to them, the percussion that perfectly picks up every single hit, all overlap with a sense of full sound pressure. On the other hand, “Smell the Roses” has a melody of the middle part of “Have a Cigar”, which was probably used as a rough diamond, recorded with a solid sound, and the thickness of the dense sound makes it sound even more dramatic, and “Brain Damage” also has a very dazzling sound contrast between the male harmonies and the female chorus, where you can see the ideal connection between the performance and the voice. And the rising strings that seem to take your soul in “Comfortably Numb”, and the sharp excitement of the ensemble that comes out one by one after the guitar solo, which continues with a threatening high sound quality until the end, are things that you will never get from other recordings. After the end of the last song on Disc 1, “Another Brick…Part 3,” Roger shouts, “Thank you so much for coming. Tonight is the first show!!” before the 20-minute interval. This declaration is the moment we Floyd fans have been waiting for, and the fact that we can hear this clearly is also a happy topic of this recording. The band is gone forever, but my feelings for Floyd and my expectations for Roger will remain even after the disc has finished playing… No matter what artist you are, there are few recordings that leave such a rich sense of ecstasy when listening to the first day’s recording. Live at Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO. USA 26th May 2017 TRULY PERFECT SOUND Disc 1(60:40) 1. Speak to Me 2. Breathe 3. One of These Days 4. Time 5. Breathe (Reprise) 6. The Great Gig in the Sky 7. Welcome to the Machine 8. Deja Vu 9. The Last Refugee 10. Picture That 11. Wish You Were Here 12. The Happiest Days of Our Lives 13. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 14. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3 Disc 2(72:36) 1. Battersea Rises SFX 2. Dogs 3. Pigs (Three Different Ones) 4. Money 5. Us and Them 6. Smell the Roses 7. Brain Damage 8. Eclipse 9. Band Introductions 10. Vera 11. Bring the Boys Back Home 12. Comfortably Numb