The Wall
 

I just picked up tickets to see Roger Waters play The Wall next week, and even though it's not The Floyd, I'm still psyched. :-)

At one time, amongst my circle, that was THE album; it was amazing. The original Wall tour was only three cities, I believe, so of course I never had a chance to see it. To hear Comfortably Numb done live in an arena alone will be worth it.

For the first time in along time, last night I dug out the album and put on the 'phones. And you know what? It's still amazing! :cool:

Thoughts?

i'm seeing the show next year in Dublin...

:twisted: :yep:


Hope you both have a good time at the shows you're going to 8)

Thanks! I'll be sure to report back! ;)

The tour opens tonight. I read on the net that David Gilmour has agreed to come sing on Comfortably Numb at one undisclosed date on the tour. The heck with him singing, I want to hear that guitar solo! :pray:

I'm sure it will most likely be later in the tour though- they'll want to get people to go to shows in the hopes that "this one will be it", as in the slot machine principle. ;)

im seeing the show in october int he states.

Maybe I should go and see it in Berlin next year. I watched the live TV broadcast when it was performed in Berlin 20 years ago - one of the most impressive shows I've ever seen. As far as I remember it took place on the border between East and West Berlin, i.e. in two countries at the same time. :cool:

It's certainly a show that'll be on myto do list when some spare cash comes available.

With Meat, Southside Johnny and the Astbury Jukes, Nils Lofgren and Gaslight Anthem over the next three months the wallet is bare at the moment.

That's so cool- I think you should go! :cool:

What did you think of the movie? I remember going to see it at the midnight show when I was a teenager. :-) I haven't seen it in many years, but I thought it was well done.

dont forget christmas ;)

I would have gone to see Nils if it wasn't acoustic. He was great when I saw him live in Nov 2001. My late gran actually pointed out the gig to me as it wasn't exactly well advertised in those days. It was on a ferry in Glasgow, really bizarre but fantastic. First time I'd seen an E-streeter live. Southside was ok but didn't love it like I thought I would. :shrug:

First review of the show in. Looks awesome! :cool:

http://www.torontosun.com/entertainm.../15366946.html

omg so cant wait for october now!

Based on the last two times I've seen Nils on a solo "acoustic" show. It's not been all acoustic,he's performed a number of songs solo but electric, including a blistering Because The Night.

I thought Southside was superb (some of his band less so these days), but then I've been a fan of his stuff almost as long as I have of Springsteen.

We are going to see it in May in Manchester and dh just picked up another two tickets to go again in June as they've added more dates. I'm only going to the May show though. :)

I thought it was pretty scary - but brilliant. A visually fascinating movie.

So jealous, would love to see The Wall performed live, it was the solo from Comfortably Numb that inspired me to start learning to play the guitar.

Make sure you tell us all how it is!

Here's another review (contains a few spoilers):

http://www.660news.com/entertainment...how-in-toronto

yes, the Potsdamer Platz, I have the show on DVD, and it is certainly worth watching, full of weird and wonderful cameos from artists covering all parts of the musical spectrum!

Review and lots of pictures here- spoiler alert: ;)

I'm going tomorrow night- I can't wait! :D

Review:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/boot...ed-center.html

Pics:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...7.photogallery

So, I went to the show last night...and the first thing I can say is WOW! :D

I'm not great at writing reviews, so I'm going to do my best here. ;)

I'll begin by echoing one of the reviews, and say that visually, this show is absolutely stunning- no other way to describe it! :cool: For one thing, the wall itself is huge- it stretches all the way across the stage, and up into the stands on either side, and it's somewhere around 4o feet tall when it's complete. They use all of it, projecting images on it during the show. It was actually kind of fascinating watching as it got bigger, until it was finally finished by the end of the first set, blocking out the band completely. (I wish I could have seen it from the band's perspective, and what was going on behind it.) It's difficult, if not impossible, to take in everything that is going on all at once. In addition to the wall, there were also the giant puppets of the schoolmaster, Mother, and Pink's wife. There was also a plane that shoots across the arena to crash into the wall, and even the famous inflatable pig makes an appearance :-).

Roger was in excellent voice, and while I am not really familiar with them, the band is just fantastic, that is really what I think. ;) They played nearly note perfect versions of all of the songs, which were done almost identical to the album, with a few exceptions. The sound was excellent, though at a few points I wished they would turn the volume up a little. ;) (I shouldn't be able to hear people talking at a rock concert :mrgreen: )

There were many goosebump moments for me. One particularly cool one was during Mother, which Roger played on an acoustic guitar along with a video of himself playing the same song 30 years ago. Comfortably Numb did not disappoint, and the guitar solo, played by Dave Kilminster (? not sure) from the top of the wall, was just awesome. :cool: Those who have seen the movie (or remember the MTV videos) will recognize Gerald Scarfe's animations, but there is just something about 40-foot-tall marching hammers that is just mind-blowing. :-) Another high point, of course, was the entire arena chanting, "Tear down the wall!" before it was toppled.

As far as the "message" of the show, it's been updated for today's times; a major theme is war. The show begins with an image of Roger's father, who was killed in WWII, but quickly moves to photos (which were submitted by family members) of soldiers who have been killed in the current conflict. More photos are projected on the wall during the intermission. There's a very poignant montage during Bring the Boys Back Home that brought tears to my eyes. Roger takes a stab at the government and consumerism as well, especially during Goodbye Blue Sky.

(I just found an interesting video about the show here; Roger talks about it, as well as a few clips of the production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKaU20Ho2G0)

All in all, it was just an amazing show, and one that really has to be experienced to fully appreciate. Those folks who are going are really in for a treat- I wish I could go again. :D


If anyone was wondering about cameras, small ones are allowed provided a flash is not used. I wish I had known this, as I would have brought mine. It's probably a good thing I didn't though, as I wanted to take pics, but at the same time I just wanted to watch the show without being distracted by fiddling with a camera. I did manage to snap a few with my cell phone, and these are a few of the better ones:

Here the schoolmaster puppet is in the right of the picture; it gives you some idea of the scale of this thing:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/...9d483436ec.jpg

I don't remember what song this was, but it was somewhere in the middle of the first set, and you can see little views of the band peeking through openings in the wall, which were eventually filled in:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/...8b17a65b47.jpg

The famous flying pig: :-P

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/...e67d30cfae.jpg

This guy has some amazing quality videos on his channel...

http://www.youtube.com/user/1yestor#p/u/2/zf7HXdZawzo

Thanks for the review and the links to the videos, Julie. The videos are fantastic. I like the modernized parts. They seem to fit very well into the show and demonstrate how timeless The Wall is. That's true art. I'm looking forward to the shows in Europe next summer.

P.S.: Anybody who still hasn't understood what a real concept album is should go and watch that. :twisted: