REVIEW: Roger Waters: The Wall 10/24/2010

When I was 11, I wandered into the living room one night while my parents were out to find the rather disturbing image of kids being put through a factory assembly line so they were all fitted to be the same then dropping into a meat grinder at the end. All of this was put to music but I didn't really care about that, I was scared to death by the imagery! As I ran from the room, my older brothers saw a golden opportunity to make me suffer and chased me down in the house. The literally dragged me back to the room and forced me to continue watching. Much to their horror after I got used to the radical images, I realized I was hearing something amazing. The movie playing was Pink Floyd-The Wall.

Through the years, I've come to have a very deep love for just about everything Pink Floyd have done. And only in my wildest dreams did I think I could actually see a proper performance of The Wall, until this year when Roger Waters (the primary song writer for Pink Floyd and the man whom The Wall is largely based on) decided to do a world tour with exactly that. Roger Waters (and the rest of Pink Floyd for that matter) have a history of really taking care of their real fans. So I was pleased to find out that Roger had set up a lottery on his website for fans to get first chance at the best seats for the whole tour. I thought that was a nice touch, which I had more admiration for when I found out that on top of the lottery itself, there were also additional measures put in place to ensure that scalpers would not benefit from even entering the lottery.

It's through these measures that I was awarded front row, center at face value of the tickets to an event I'd only dreamed I'd ever get to see since the age of 11. Needless to say, the months leading up to the show were killing me with anticipation. Our very own Mike D saw the show a little over a month ago and was blown away. I checked, re-checked and triple checked fan forums daily for any bit of info, pictures, audio or video I could find. Seeing as I was going to be sitting so close to the stage, I was anxious to see a lot of the visuals I might not get the chance to in being so close. In doing so however, I caused myself to wonder in the last days leading up to the show; had I over done it? Waiting since 11, getting amazing seats, checking out every form of media I could, talking to everyone I know about it... had I some how built the show up so much that when I finally saw it I could only be let down? The answer in a word is, no.

In the final days before the show, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a great Pink Floyd forum called A Fleeting Glimpse (www.pinkfloydz.com). I was invited to a pre-party over in the Plymouth area on show day. I also found out that a fellow blogger I'd been following (www.simonwimpenny.blogspot.com) would be at the pre-party. He is in the very fortunate position of touring with the production this year and has posted some very insightful thoughts about the shows and goings on around them. So I was anxious to meet all these nice folks from the forum along with Simon.

Our group started our day by heading to the pre-party and it was just fantastic to hang out and chew the fat with so many other people that were as excited to see the show as we were. Here's a picture of some of our group:

After saying our goodbyes, our main group took off for The Palace. When we arrived, getting my tickets from will call was a piece of cake. After hitting the merch stand, we moved on making our way toward our seats. Along the way, we spotted this cart of "bricks" complete with instructions waiting to become part of our experience:

Moving on, we made our way through the curtains into the main concert area and I saw something I'd only ever dreamed I would:

Making our way down to the floor and on to first row, it was finally starting to hit me; I was about to see Roger Waters perform his masterpiece the only way it was meant to be performed. Getting to our seats, we found many other people as excited as we are. As the floor began to fill, we were inching toward that "8PM PROMPT" start time written on our tickets. I roamed around the floor and eventually located Simon and we conversed more about the show, his travels and our love of music. He came up front to hang with us for a bit then got on his way. I also received a call prior to the show from a high school friend of mine who had been given ticket at the last minute and was just calling to make sure I was already at the show. I thought that was a very nice thing to do and I made sure to get him up to our seats for a quick picture prior to the start of the show. Here's a blurry (but still fantastic) shot of myself and Chuck Graham:

With that long preamble out of the way, I shall digress and dig into a review of the actual show. The actual show begins with a "homeless man" wandering around on the floor of the venue. He's got a shopping cart filled with cans, bags and other refuse. Sticking out boldly was a giant poster board that read "HOMELESS! NEED MONEY FOR HOOKERS AND BOOZE" He mingled with the crowd here and again before eventually making his way between us and the stage. He reached down in the packed shopping cart, pulled out a stuffed "Pink" doll and threw it up on stage by Roger's trench coat and sunglasses which had been waiting there, center stage since we walked in. The lights dropped, the crowd went wild, the settled back to hear the subtle tones of "Outside The Wall":

The capacity crowd fell nearly silent, listened and waiting for the real spectacle to begin. The reward came quick with a brilliant pyrotechnic display and a perfect sound mix to accompany "In The Flesh?" Besides the amazing display occurring, something else was noticeable immediately: a very different Roger Waters had taken the stage. This was not the man whose own outright hatred toward "fans" had caused him to write the very piece he was performing. This was a man beaming with excitement to finally have "won the war" so to speak. So many lost battles in the Pink Floyd court bouts of the 1980s had finally given way to a man who is finally getting the recognition he so richly deserves.

The first set of songs flew by in a whirl for me. As Mike & Simon had warned, there's just so much to take in that it seemed to be flying by. For my part, I was excited to hear the music the way it was meant to sound. And while the pyro, and the giant teacher puppet were fantastic, my experience was elevated by Roger himself. His passion, energy and true love for what he was doing and who he was doing it for shined through at every turn. Instead of the angry man snarling and showing open contempt for the crowd, we were treated to this man:

Yes. That's THE Roger Waters, but not the one the world is used to. This is a new Roger, one who completely let go of his anger and presented his tale of alienation and grief with a new set of (literal) open arms. Hoping that through doing so, others might realize how dangerous the things that he himself let get in the way of his own relationships can be. Although, the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that in the very same song, "Mother" the old Roger did show up, but only on film. This revamped production features 2010 Roger singing a duet of sorts with himself, 30 years younger and full of many bad feelings. It was quite the study in contrast to see young, angry Roger looking down and singing along with old, happy Roger. Both singing together in a song about how even the best of intentions can have tragic consequences.

The visuals of the show itself only grew grander as the show went on. I should also stop to mention that the sound system & mix was among the best I've ever heard. A quadraphonic speaker set up carried the mood setting intricacies of the album throughout The Palace while the main speaker set up remained crystal clear. Besides the primary instruments, those at the mixing board were responsible for keeping various sound effects, along with 5 backing vocalists in time with the visuals and mixed properly to have the right effect. I cannot image the things the wizards at that mixing desk know about mixing a show, but at a guess I'd say you could classify it under "all you possibly could".

Roger did not let up at any point with the effort he put into ensuring the sold out crowd was feeling the emotion behind each song. He sat in a lonely spot light near the beginning of "One Of My Turns" and when he moved around, he wasn't just signing the lyrics, he was literally performing them. He conveyed to the crowd the intention of rage coming near the end of the song. But then looked full of remorse immediately when the giant "Wife puppet" emerged on the side of the stage as he followed into "Don't Leave Me Now". He begged and pleaded with the "Wife" and looked deflated, disappointed and completely let down which is the direct feeling in the lyrics.

One of my favorite tracks ("Another Brick in the Wall Part 3) was up next and as The Wall began to be completed it was clear exactly what kinda of visual assault was pre-pared:

An instrumental (not found on the album, but rather in the original Wall shows) called "The Last Few Bricks" followed building up to Roger stepped to the front of The Wall. Only able to see out from behind The Wall through the opening of a solitary brick, he delivered the final song of the first half with even more feeling than can heard on the original studio track. He sang "Goodbye Cruel World" as if he had written it only moments before. The level of desperation and lonely tone of his voice was very moving as was the fact that the capacity crowd was again moved all at once to almost complete silence.

An intermission was followed by the opening chords of "Hey You" which featured the band completely behind The Wall itself. The performer and crowd were completely separate just as Roger had wanted it all those years ago. Only a projection of a very gray, ruined wall stayed on the actual Wall surface through much of the song. The Wall seemed to open up, through the amazing technology they were using for projections. A small, cowering "Demon" was shown hiding behind The Wall. He lashed out, ran toward the audience and made a swipe at them which caused The Wall to slam shut and the final verse of the song to kick in.

During the next sequence one of the production elements from the original tour was used. A section of The Wall was opened to reveal Roger, seated in a lonely hotel room singing a fan favorite "Nobody Home". Again, Roger interacted in ways with the crowd not previously seen. He was looking around, smiling, waiving and even invited the crowd to take the line "thirteen channels of shit on the TV to choose from" even thanking the crowd for singing along both in words and with a giant smile immediately after. At the close of "Nobody Home" the apartment closed back into The Wall which led to one of the single most powerful visuals of the night. Roger and band were completely off stage while still performing the song. While the strings section rang out backing Roger singing lines like "Remember how she said that we would meet again some sunny day?" The Wall was filled with footage of children being reunited with their soldier parents by surprise. The raw emotion on the faces of those children immediately had its desired effect; you remembered those parents and children who were never awarded such a luxury, one of which was Earl & Roger Waters so many years ago.

That track "Vera" leads perfectly into "Bring The Boys Back Home" which found Roger returning to the stage pouring his all into the vocals. It goes without saying that this particular section of the source material is extremely close to his heart and it's evident in the delivery. Then came what many were looking forward to from the very start "Comfortably Numb". Again Roger was a different man than in the past, he was moving

around the stage, switching between courting the audience and The Wall itself. For much of the first verse, he paid more attention to the audience. It seemed extremely important to him that the audience really see his love for the lyrics that are so beautiful while so desperate. I even found myself on the receiving end of direct eye contact with Roger. By this point in the show I had become a little overwhelmed at the entire show and it must have been showing on my face. The accompanying photo was followed by Roger mouthing the words "Are you ok?" at me. When I responded with a rapid head nod and large smile he did the same adding a thumbs up and a chuckle that would end up causing him to come in late for his next line!

From about the second chorus on, Roger turned his attention more to The Wall itself. Searching, listening and tapping on it here and again. Trying to find some way in or through this giant divide (again, brilliantly conveying the point of the song). As Dave Kilmister laid down a beautiful solo from atop The Wall, Roger continued looking around The Wall for a way in so to speak. Again using the amazing projections, Roger found a way through; the middle! Both of these pics, were amazing on their own still don't really gave you the full idea of how amazing this to see.

Near the end of the song, the rest of the band emerged from under the stage and rose up in front of The Wall. No time was wasted after the grand conclusion of "Comfortably Numb", the band almost immediately went into a slightly different arrangement of the album cut "The Show Must Go On". As the four part harmony was still ring clearly throughout the venue, it was completely drowned out by the dramatic opening of "In The Flesh"

Roger took the stage once again, this time in full character. The difference these days was that he was merely playing the character. He was miming these hateful, disgusting thoughts and actions. He was no longer the man consumed by and believing in them. It still looked therapeutic for him, whether he was just plain having fun or maybe even remembering some of those feelings from all those years ago. Every action was still followed by a grin at minimum all the while still nailing the vocal lines perfectly. After "In The Flesh" comes the fan favorite "Run Like Hell" which had some of the most impressive visuals of the night and of course that means A LOT in a show like this. Bricks seemed to fly off The Wall almost in 3-D at the audience while many phrases and images flew around at rapid speed in time with the music.

Next up was my personal favorite track on the album "Waiting For The Worms" which continued the visual assault. The new projections were again mixed with old and the classic "marching hammers" filled the entire surface of The Wall. All senses were being flat out assaulted at this point. Hammers were marching in time on a 200 foot long, by 40 foot tall surface, the band was loud, tight and rocking. The crowd was roaring from front to back all while Roger himself (again, in "Pink" character) belted out orders to the entire crowd via a megaphone.

Roger (or "Pink") ordered the whole thing to a halt with "Stop" followed by the main act ending song "The Trial". Roger moved along, again alone on his stage and sang the parts fantastically. Was he singing lower than he did 30 years ago? Sure, but he was singing more emotion and caring than he ever did in the those days and given the choice, I'll take the latter every single time. As "The Trial" wrapped up in it's epic "TEAR DOWN THE WALL" chant, The Wall itself turned blood red. All the images of the past 2+ hours were firing at us in rapid succession and the crowd chanted along with Roger and the enraged crowd from the studio recording being pumped through the sound system.

After The Wall came to a crash directly in front of us, Roger and all the musicians responsible came up once more to deliver "Outside The Wall", the album's closing track. It was slightly extended from in length and quiet a bit different in arrangement but nonetheless effective in closing the show. Again, Roger and his band were showing their complete appreciation for the applause raining down from the entire venue. Roger introduced the entire band, they all took a bow together, then he stayed for one final bow on his own. This wasn't your typical rock star attitude of "look what I did!". He wasn't directing your attention to the show itself or the music he's created, he was calling attention to that fact that he'd learned his own lessons after all these years.

After leaving the stage, the strains of "Outside The Wall" continued to ring in a nod to the original album sequence where that song actually works as a loop to cut back to the opening track. When the house lights came up, the crowd was in a state of shock from what they'd just seen. I received a text message today from a close friend who expressed to me, in his words that the show was "a life altering experience". I knew in that moment, coupled with Roger's expressions of overcoming his own demons that Roger's mission was accomplished.

This was the single greatest concert experience of my entire life and it is with ease that I say this show (from production, to sound quality, the quality of the material, to crowd interaction) is a solid 10 out of 10. It will be a long, long time before any one on this Earth comes even remotely close to using the concert stage in a such a powerful, effective and amazing way

-Russ.

EDIT: at Greg's request, here's one more pic. I convinced security to bring me a brick to take a picture with: