Roger Waters says he has “nothing but positive feelings” for Pink Floyd‘s Live 8 performance.
The reunion of Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright may come as a surprise to those who know of the split between the four, but they got back on stage together for a one-off show in 2005. It would be the final performance of Pink Floyd’s classic line-up, despite a $250million offer for the band to perform a series of shows together. Waters confirmed this was turned down, though he has stated he would be open to reuniting with Pink Floyd somewhere in the future. It appears unlikely this will ever happen given the relationship between Waters and Gilmour. But the bassist and founding member did have fond memories of the performance, even suggesting it was a wholly positive experience for himself and the band members.
He said: “I felt it was very important for me to do Live 8, and I thought it was great to get onstage with the other three guys. I had nothing but positive feelings about that.” Waters enjoyed the show so much he once suggested he was open to returning to the stage with Pink Floyd.
Even if the band were to get back together, Waters suggested there would be some difficulties that could make a performance impossible. He told Word Magazine: “I would do something else (like Live 8) in a heartbeat — but if it was for anything more than a few songs, then I think there would be difficulties.”
Not only had Waters been interested in further reunion events, he said the Live 8 show was a fantastic experience. He added: “Oh it was terrific. I really loved it. I hope we do it again. It was more than good.
“If some other opportunity arose, I could even imagine us doing The Dark Side of the Moon again – you know, if there was a special occasion. It would be good to hear it again. Live 8 was so great.” No such plan came to be and the band has yet to perform since their twenty-minute set at Live 8.
But Waters says it would need to be another “good reason” to get back together if they were to take to the stage. He added: “A good reason. I don’t know. Something with a political or charitable connection.
“The day they announced the Pink Floyd were to play Live 8, I went out to dinner with a friend and an offer arrived – literally bang on the dinner table – for the four of us, the Pink Floyd, to tour again. An offer of $250 million. Guaranteed.”
Waters did not reveal why the offer was turned down but it may have something to do with the lack of a charitable angle associated with the performance. The bassist has toured as a solo artist in the years since Pink Floyd’s Live 8 reunion, as has Gilmour.
The Live 8 performance was so great in fact, that Waters suggested it was a moment which rekindled his love for playing to larger crowds. He added: “We have holes in our psychology and performing in front of large numbers of people who enjoy it is obviously part of the point of doing it. And so when it happens, trust me, it feels fantastic.
“It’s something I lost touch with entirely in Pink Floyd, which is why I wrote The Wall and why I left in the end. Since then I’ve started to do tours with my own band and I started to realise that I had allowed myself to let go of the past and just really enjoy – wallow – in that connection with people who know my work and appreciate it.
“We did a big tour in 02 of the Southern Hemisphere, everywhere from Seoul to Santiago. People knew every word to every song and they knew what they meant. They get it like I get Imagine.”
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