To say that Roger Waters has a peculiar relationship with his audience is like claiming his former band Pink Floyd did quite well in the 1970s. He came up with the wheeze of building a polystyrene wall between Pink Floyd and their audience after one Canadian crowd annoyed him so much, he spat at them. Today it seems Waters himself knows his image could do with a makeover: these greatest-hits shows, he claims, represent him "coming out from behind my wall".
Former collaborator David Gilmour recently attempted to inject some humanity into Pink Floyd's austere oeuvre by playing intimate acoustic gigs, but Waters is made of sterner stuff. The inflatable flying pig has gone, but he can't abandon pomp entirely. Sound effects echo quadraphonically, specially commissioned films flicker. There is even the occasional burst of amateur dramatics. During Dogs' gargantuan keyboard solo, Waters and his band play cards and swig whisky. The significance of this remains a mystery. Perhaps these days even Waters needs a stiff drink to get through Pink Floyd's more rococo instrumental passages.
Steel-haired and plummy, Waters is not a natural frontman, but he is clearly trying, standing on the lip of the stage and encouraging an audience singalong during Comfortably Numb. When he invites them to dance - "It's only rock'n'roll, after all" - it seems odd and out of character, like an aloof company director suddenly joining in the office party hokey cokey. In addition, the material is hardly party stuff. The later Floyd tracks in particular are so cold that Radiohead, the inheritors of their mopey mantle, sound like Chas and Dave by comparison.
Still, nobody is here for belly laughs and bonhomie. They want Money and Shine on You Crazy Diamond, and for over two hours Waters and his note-perfect band power slickly through his back catalogue to general delight. The underwhelming response to his post-Pink Floyd albums may be behind his sudden and slightly awkward change of heart, but for the first time in his career, Waters seems happy to oblige.
· Roger Waters plays Wembley Arena (020-8902 0902) on Wednesday and Thursday.
