Roger Waters Us + Them

Roger Waters is no stranger to concept albums, either as a solo artist or when he was the creative lynchpin in Pink Floyd, and here he carefully curates his back catalogue to deliver a concert film with a message. Filmed during a sell-out arena show in Amsterdam, the movie weaves songs from such Floyd classics as Dark Side of the Moon, Animals and The Wall - plus material from his 2017 solo album Is This the Life We Really Want? - into a series of snapshots lambasting political ogres, corporate greed and civil unrest. The playing is faultless, if a little clinical, and Waters largely relies on filmed backdrops and dazzling special effects to underscore the sociopolitical commentary of his lyrics. Holograms referencing iconic Floyd record sleeves don't look quite as spectacular on screen as they might have in the concert hall, and the musicians themselves are pedestrian on stage, but Waters is to be applauded for engaging in a form of protest when most of his contemporaries are settling for box-ticking exercises in nostalgia.