The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (tour)


The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking was the first solo concert tour by Roger Waters. It included performances of some of his songs from Pink Floyd of whom he was still a part when the album was produced, and a full performance of his first solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. The tour, despite featuring Eric Clapton, under-sold tickets, but did better during 1985.

Tour set list

A typical set list for the tour:
;1984
Set One
  1. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  2. "Money"
  3. "If"
  4. "Welcome to the Machine"
  5. "Have a Cigar"
  6. "Wish You Were Here"
  7. "Pigs on the Wing"
  8. "In the Flesh"
  9. "Nobody Home"
  10. "Hey You"
  11. "The Gunner's Dream"
Set Two
  1. ""
  2. ""
  3. ""
  4. ""
  5. ""
  6. ""
  7. ""
  8. ""
  9. ""
  10. "5:01 AM "
  11. ""
  12. ""
Encore
  1. "Brain Damage"
  2. "Eclipse"
;1985
Set One
  1. "Welcome to the Machine"
  2. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
  3. "Money"
  4. "If"
  5. "Wish You Were Here"
  6. "Pigs on the Wing "
  7. "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert"
  8. "Southampton Dock"
  9. "The Gunner's Dream"
  10. "In the Flesh"
  11. "Nobody Home"
  12. "Have a Cigar"
  13. "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1"
  14. "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
  15. "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2"
Set Two, as 1984
Encore, as 1984

Backdrop projections

The backdrop projection was directed by Nicolas Roeg and between 1984 and 1985, combining Gerald Scarfe's animations and Roeg's live action footage.
"He came to America and all the stuff he shot in America... Yeah. I told him what I wanted but, I mean, very broadly. I said 'I want trucks, truck stops, people get on and off buses, deserted cabins...' You know. After the going to the country dream has gone sour. Just broad stuff like that, but I never expected him to arrive back with these fantastic kind of circling helicopter shots of broken down cabins in the middle of the desert and things like that. He actually went there to shoot the clip from "Pros and Cons" and so, he stayed on for an extra three days or something, just shot a whole bunch of footage and came back and said 'There you are!'"
The 1984 tour featured footage during "Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad", "Running Shoes", "Arabs With Knives ", "For the First Time Today, Part 2", "The Remains of Our Love", "Go Fishing", "For the First Time Today, Part 2", "Dunroamin, Ducarin, Dunlivin" and "Every Strangers's Eyes" while the 1985 tour had uninterrupted footage during the full piece.
The first set featured the original 1974 Pink Floyd footage for "Money" and the original 1977 Pink Floyd footage for "Welcome to the Machine". The film used in "Wish You Were Here" is the same that was used for "Us and Them" on the 1974 Pink Floyd tour. "Pigs on the Wing" featured footage of the inflatable pig suspended over Battersea Power Station. "In the Flesh" used the footage of "Waiting for the Worms" from the original 1980-81 Wall shows and movie. "The Gunner's Dream" was a completely new video featuring stock footage and the photographs from "The Final Cut". "Brain Damage / Eclipse" featured the same footage as on the original 1974 Pink Floyd tour.

Tour dates

Tour band