"So ya, thought ya, might like to go to the show,
To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow..."
And so it was this week that I had the privilege of feeling the warm thrill of confusion, seeing Roger Waters perform "The Wall" live at the M.E.N. Arena. By way of Catharsis I feel I must write a little about it. It was the most amazing show I have ever seen, and I have seen a few. I can't quite get over it...
Words cannot express the spectacle of it, the musicianship, the design, the sheer brilliance, but I have to say something. I'd like to go through the whole show in detail, but that's not going to work, so I may pick some random bits. I'm hoping that some readers at least will know a little of the album - The Wall. It's about a rockstar named Pink...
The show began with a brief flash-forward. Two Nazi-esque post-apocalyptic-nightmare soldiers marched onstage carrying a soft toy version of Pink in his stripped bare state as caricatured in the trial sequence from the animated footage of the film. A pencil outline of a strange childlike figure, emotionless and vulnerable. The soundtrack to the old film "Spartacus" boomed out as Pink's head was manipulated as though through his broken-down haze he examined the audience as if we were the ones chanting, "I'm Spartacus". The rabble reached its climax, stopped dead, and Pink was unceremoniously dropped to the floor. The soldiers marched off.
And then without warning in a sudden flash, all hell was let loose...
The opening bars to The Wall are thumping drums, screaming guitars and organ, playing a slow, grandiose rock piece. The drums did not thump here though, they thundered, they beat at your diaphram, they made the earth move. Banks of red maroons shot across the stage highlighting the first beat of each phrase, each double-hit of the impossibly deep drum sound. The maroons were SO bright it was surreal, lighting the whole auditorium in incandescent crimson. Giant white Roman candles fizzing across the top and bottom of the stage came at the end of the song, dazzling, almost blinding. All the pyrotechnics accompanied the stomping opening bars perfectly and stunningly. OK, now you have my attention, this is exciting, this sounds amazing, this is what I call Rock and Roll.
The sound quality throughout was immaculate. I say this as a former sound-engineer, indeed I still mix the sound for our band from onstage whilst playing keyboards, singing backing vocals, and trying to look pretty. I digress...
It was loud, excitingly so, but the clarity of sound was perfect. Attention to detail in every respect. Waters' vocal sat atop the mix majestically, clear and warm. He sang everything just as he did on the album, bringing a familiarity that you don't always get in a live show, but the whole sound was just, better. He's not the greatest vocalist in the world, but his voice has a certain character; his ability to wail desolately, or scream the lyrics manically is unique and brilliant within itself. I've never been his biggest fan, always preferring the musicality of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, but I always appreciated the song-writing partnership they had, which to me stands alongside the genius of Lennon and McCartney. I think it's safe to say, I am now a fan of Roger Waters. He is a visionary. What he created 30 years ago and has once more brought back to life and revitalised was, and is, pure genius.
The album was played through in its entirety true to the original format, some extended songs and solos, some brand-new brief additions here and there, no major re-working of any songs though. I've heard clips of older live performances of The Wall and it's obvious that this time Waters wanted to get back to how it was originally intended. This was wise in my opinion; it's what audiences want to hear. This was The Wall as it was supposed to be, the same arrangements but with attitude, and with one hell of a show to go with it.
Snowy White was on second guitar, quite a surprise. The main guitarist, Dave Kilminster, played the big Gilmour solos note perfectly and with feeling. He blew me away, I have never heard anyone take off Gilmour so brilliantly. His playing was truly wonderful, it was a joy to behold and he certainly looked like he was getting into it.
Over the course of the show, giant "puppets" appeared, as big as a house. Again these were based on the grotesque characters drawn by Gerald Scarfe for the album artwork and film; the teacher, Mother, and later the scary wife with her praying mantis arms, and lips that freakishly didn't meet at one side. At the end of the first song a plane flew from the back of the hall over the audience's heads, bursting into flames as it crashed through the wall, which at the start of the show had been built at the sides only. A follow spot hovered out from the main lighting rig above the stage and passed right above our seats, accompanied by massive helicopter noise. "YOU, yes YOU, stand still Laddie!"
And then of course there was the inflatable flying pig daubed with slogans such as "Drink Kalashnikov Vodka", floating around the entire auditorium just over our heads. And all throughout the first half of the show, they gradually built a bloody great wall in front of the band...
"Goodbye cruel world, I'm leaving you today... Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!"
The final brick was added on the last note of the first set. The first song of the second set had no visuals. There was no band to be seen, they played from behind the wall; Waters' controversial way of making his point. All we could see was a giant, stone-textured wall. "Hey you, standing in the aisles with itchy feet and fading smiles can you feel me..?"
This was strangely unnerving. The stage was lit but we couldn't see it, the follow spot faded up during the vocals, the lights shone down behind the wall. How long are we going to just see a very big wall, we wondered. Not for long...
Apart from the music, the sound quality, the gigantic puppetry, the effects, and various objects flying around the arena, what really made the show different, what made it a stunning and thought-provoking visual experience, were the projections onto the wall. They were there in the first half, but with the wall now complete (and bloody massive), we saw the projections in all their glory. Not just the animations that had been used in the film, but, well, too much really to even attempt to describe. There was a strong anti-war message running throughout. It was stark, brutal, and factually up to date including hundreds of photos of real people accompanied by their name, rank or occupation and born/died dates, all who'd been killed in conflicts from the first world war through to 9/11 and beyond. It was moving, and so cleverly done...
As each brick was individually added to the wall we noticed that after a second or two the new brick would light up. The entire projection area had been broken down into blocks matching the position of each physical brick in the giant wall, so that each one could be lit or projected upon independently. This innovative idea was used to such clever effect in many different ways. At one point every brick on the wall was projected with a different photo of someone lost through conflict. We became aware that occasional bricks began to "fly" backwards, leaving a black hole in the wall as the photo-brick floated away into the vastness of space. More and more bricks faded away backwards, and for final emphasis when about half the bricks randomly remained, each still showing their individual projection, they twisted and floated away together into distant space; hundreds of real people fading away. You had to be there for the impact, it was devastating.
Later in the show, individual bricks appeared to explode out from the wall and hurtle forwards into the audience, each brick projection getting larger and spinning towards us. An amazing, seemingly 3D effect, all done by projection onto a very large wall. The projections - weird, wonderful, beautiful, bizarre, and it being Roger Waters, usually anarchic, were omnipresent, barely giving us time to catch our breath as the next mind-bending idea was projected across the width and height of the stadium. And all this set to the massive, "theatrical" music of The Wall. Stunning.
After the first song in the second set, the "surrogate band" appeared and took up their places in front of the wall. All were wearing the pseudo Nazi style uniforms, with hammer-logo armbands instead of swastikas, black berets instead of helmets, guitars their weapons of choice. Waters returned wearing the same outfit minus beret, and at first with a long black leather coat, eyeing the band up and down as if performing a military inspection as he walked across the stage; Gestapo meets twisted, delusional rockstar, oh but it was fun. Even when he shot me with his machine gun that flashed from the barrel as he fired, and panned across the speakers as he strafed the audience. And yes he did shoot me! You know when people think the singer is looking into their eyes and is singing just to them? Well he really was shooting right at me! I cowered in my seat, raising my arms in defence, I hope he appreciated me playing along...
In the first song, Waters had exclaimed with glee, just as on the album, "Lights! And all the sound effects!" Searchlights flying overhead and picking us out was spooky, but the sound effects were verging on scary! Not content with the giant stack of speakers on either side, many of the sound effects came from another pair, the same size, at the back of the room. Helicopters panned around the 4 speakers, surrounding us with their sound. Guns, bombs, and weird and wonderful noises boomed out from behind. Such volume and clarity, like some immense, rock and roll, sound and light extravaganza, fairground ride. Nearing the end the music built towards its climax of mayhem, the Nazi rally chant, "Jawohl" emphasised the beat as it marched through the stadium. Battle noises, screeches, the final wall collapse and other huge sound effects rattled your body, you felt it right through you. It was awesome, I grinned throughout, it was hard to resist laughing manically. It was frightening and feel-good all at once. This was the warm thrill of confusion; an assault on the senses, safe but terrifying, insane but wonderful. Earth shattering, mind-blowing, beautifully done.
xx
Roger's entrance:
Goodbye Blue Sky
Photos on the wall
Mother, should I trust the government?
Big wall, nearly built
Those bricks are coming right at us!
Slightly blurry, but we were there
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