No sooner had this disc started to play than it became obvious that, as good as Dave Gilmour's Pink Floyd is, there is justifiable cause to argue that the real Pink Floyd died when Roger Waters left. Sure, Gilmour's Pink Floyd is a great band, and legally he has the right to use the name Pink Floyd (after a much publicised legal battle), but only the very stubborn would argue that the departure of Waters wasn't noticeable.

Watching Roger Waters' first live performance in the United States for 12 years, it is almost as if he is trying to say to the fans and Dave Gilmour himself, "I'll show you bastards who Pink Floyd really was." Every song has been meticulously arranged and faithfully presented. It is no coincidence that three quarters of the tracks performed are Pink Floyd songs, with a handful of solo career selections played as a block, mid-show. This essentially highlights just who was responsible for the core of these songs. The Floyd style sound effects are there, as are the big choruses and the imaginative, almost cryptic lyrics.

At a time when many performers are asking big money for tickets to their shows and delivering rather short concerts, it is refreshing to see an artist who is not frightened to give the audience value for money. At 152 minutes, this has got to be one of the better value releases around. As any Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan will know, there are no shortage of epic songs in the catalogue, and it is comforting as a fan to know that there has been no clipping of numbers in order to fit more songs into a shorter concert. Roger Waters is to be congratulated for not taking the easy option.

Backing Roger Waters for his 2000 US tour was a fantastic group of musicians and singers, including legendary guitarists Andy Fairweather Low and Snowy White (sorry Mr Gilmour, but they were almost as good at playing your solos as you). The backup girls deserve special mention for their rich, gorgeous and strong backing vocals - producing a veritable wall of sound.

From the dramatic opening number In The Flesh to the final (and new) song Each Small Candle, we are treated to one sensational song after another with no let up in intensity or passion. Many of the songs are bordering on evangelistic and are very powerful musically and lyrically.

Track listing

By now you're probably asking, "OK, so it's a good show, but does it look and sound any good?" - the answer is, "Yes."

Roger Waters In The Flesh Live" is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is anamorphically (16x9) enhanced. The cover boasts this is "A High Definition Live Concert Video", and overall the transfer is very good. Colours are bold and slightly oversaturated. The image is clear and detailed, dropping only slightly when the stage is washed in blue light. There is no evidence of chroma noise, grain or compression artefacts. This is a very clean transfer with no instances of flecks, flashes or dirt. Even the normal problem of aliasing of guitar strings was very limited and non-intrusive - a rare thing indeed. Shadow detail is also good, and black levels are deep and even with no evidence of chroma noise.

Audio-wise there is a choice of Linear PCM 48/20 or Dolby Digital 5.1. It was the latter that impressed a little more, if only for the fuller, more ambient sound and feel. This is not the standard 5.1 release though, as the centre and surround speakers are not in use for much of the time and while this may sound off-putting, it actually contributed to giving this a truer concert sound. The centre and surrounds were used for crowd ambience (limited, as this was quite a 'listening' audience) and some of the musical and sound effects (clocks, cash registers, helicopters).

The low-level sounds were deep and resonating, perfectly suited to the songs. Instruments and vocals are placed along the front, and are well balanced and clear. Acoustic guitars and pianos sound very warm and the backing vocals, as mentioned, are rich and full. Lead vocals are generally clear and always in sync. The wall of sound occasionally drowns lead vocals out, which is a shame as Waters is very much a poet and his lyrics are well constructed - thank goodness for subtitles.

The Linear PCM 48/20 track is almost as good. The instrumentation and vocals seem just a little less defined as they compete to be heard, and the low-level sounds not quite as rich but still surpass CD quality. That 'wall of sound' is still there, and working well.

With such a song-packed feature that runs as long as this, I didn't expect much in the way of extras, but there are a couple which are quite interesting, though slightly misleading. The "Gearing Up" Documentary only runs for 17:36 minutes and not 30 minutes as advertised on the cover. It is still an interesting fly-on-the-wall style doco but there is no interaction between Waters and the camera. It is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is of acceptable quality. There is some grain evident and various artefacts, but hey, it's an extra and so it's not worth lamenting.

Band Member Biographies are text-only screens providing some interesting trivia about the band members. You will be as surprised as I just how many big name performers that Waters' band have either played with or are related to. It's like reading the encyclopaedia of rock.

Also included is the almost obligatory Stills gallery, which is basically a photo album of the tour.

A rarely included feature is a Technical Sound System Set-Up Guide, which is a guide to maximising your 5.1 set up (assuming you have one) and while helpful, is something that any home-theatre enthusiast worth his/her salt would have already done.

Yes folks, I have a new favourite DVD (well, maybe a tie with The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over) and Roger Waters In The Flesh Live is it - what a show! Technically, this is not quite as superb as Hell Freezes Over but is still extremely good. As a Pink Floyd fan (with split loyalties), I have ached for Pulse on DVD (along with countless others), and this is as close as we've been and I am pretty damned excited. In The Flesh is a must for existing fans and may go some way to winning some new ones. Here's hoping that it may even jolt Dave Gilmour into getting off his behind and either giving us a live Floyd DVD such as Pulse or maybe even a new album. If not, he may lose a number of fans who decide that Roger Waters is actually more relevant. Care to disagree, Mr Gilmour? Drop me a line at terry@dvd.net.au - always happy to hear your thoughts...