Thursday, September 23, 2010

Roger Waters: The Wall

There comes a time when you're leaving a show and your mind in literally blown!  For those who attend or have attended numerous shows, by numerous bands, in numerous venues...  You know what I mean.  Last night it happened to me and it was real...

I witnessed perhaps the greatest show I've seen.  I'm not talking about the band or the setlist, I'm talking about the show.  The sound, the visual, the production.  Roger Waters has always been a purest, his fans know it.  His production of the Wall, was brilliant!  It's been a mixed bag in the media, but once again it proves that they haven't got a clue.

The evening started with no hassles getting my tickets at will call.  Thanks again to Roger for allowing his fans to get pre-sale prime seating, and making it impossible for scalpers to get their hands on the good seats.  Arrived in plenty of time to avoid lines, and plenty of time to look at the merchandise. 

"8 PM prompt" is a little bit of stretch, lights were out by 8:15PM.  It's more than I imagined!  The pyro, the sound, the visual!  In my opinion the Wall was written to be performed live.  The first 5 songs went by in a flash!  It wasn't until Mother that things started to sink in.  This is ROGER fucking WATERS doing the Wall!!!  LIVE!  Roger caught alot of shit in the press over performing this song, since he essentially sings it to himself. One of My Turns->Don't Leave Me Now KILLED IT! If you weren't paying attention to the band, you were watching the graphics, and watching the wall get filled in...  Goodbye Cruel World....  Intermission.

Second Set started with Hey You, just you and the Wall...  Interesting to "watch" a band behind a wall.  I'm not going to give away the ending until everybody sees the show!  It's everyhing you would expect and then some!  Comfortably Numb is the lowpoint is there was one.  David's vocal duties are handled by somebody else, and Roger just stands around awkwardly while this is happening.  I've heard Floyd do better versions of this song.  The last 15 minutes of the night will have you talking for months!

Overall, I would have paid twice as much for my tickets, and still got my money's worth.  The United Center has never sounded so good, I don't care how many times Chelsea Dagger is played when the Blackhawks score.  The quote of the night belongs to security...  "Hey you with the one-hitter you're not 16 anymore so put it away!"  I consider this show the end of my summer concert season, 7 shows this summer, got plenty more to write about....

Bottom Line:  GO BUY A TICKET AND TELL ME I'M WRONG...

-MD

2 comments:

  1. Here's my thing with "Comfortably Numb", Roger has never made it a secret that he really doesn't like the song. But I still think he's puts all he can into it. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the Gilmour-led Floyd does a better job on the song seeing as it's kinda Daves baby, plus Dave gets to play his own solo on it. Which happens to consistently get listed as "the greatest solo of all-time".

    As you might imagine, I'm excited to witness this production for myself! 32 days...

    -R

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  2. 32 days? Seems like a long time to travel between Chicago and Detroit. His tour manager needs an ass kicking

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