Roger Waters says the Live 8 reunion for Pink Floyd was a “symbolic” moment for both him and David Gilmour.
The founding member and bassist had left the band in 1985, but guitarist Gilmour would front the group until 1994. The classic line-up would play just once together between Waters‘ departure in 1985 and keyboard player Richard Wright’s death in 2008. Pink Floyd’s twenty-minute show for Live 8 was received well by fans at the time, and frontman Waters believed the group did well to bury the hatchet with this performance, albeit temporarily. Waters would go on record in interviews just after the performance that he was very proud of the band, and would even be interested in further shows. Said shows did not materialise, though there is something to be said for Waters and Gilmour reuniting on stage for the first time since their heyday in Pink Floyd.
The moment was not lost on Waters either, who called it a “symbolic” moment for the legendary musicians. He said in 2007: “I guess the Live 8 thing could have been seen as symbolic of something, and in fact I did make some comments to that end. It did seem that to be wandering around espousing this idea of communicating and solving problems while not talking to [David] Gilmour was hypocritical.”
Waters would say several times after the Live 8 show he would be open to another reunion. 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, but 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.
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