Roger Waters to tour The Wall

[Analogman]

We couldn't get tickets through ticketmaster or the box office - so ended up doing the presale of $295 for one pair of tickets at Staples Center. The seats are in the 1st section behind the floor and center. For $150 bucks a pop (basically), I'm pretty pleased. I had to pay $130 for secondhand tickets to see Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl in 2008 and the seats for that weren't near as good as these.

 

Many thanks to the replies from my earlier post of others seeing the show first! I'm excited to hear what you think.

 

Personally - I'm stoked for this show. It's gonna be awesome - even if the music is 30 years old, that's pretty much why I want to go. Yes, it's a shame that we have to pay so much to go to these shows and the ticket buying process has become just criminal - but I love music and I love to see awesome live shows and to me it feels more worth it to spend $150 to see Water's do The Wall than it is to pay $150 for just about anything else. Except maybe if I was using that money to see Wilco again.

 

I was 13 when the album came out. I think I have an original pressing of it on vinyl. I know I still have the Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)/One of My Turns single. I respect the album. and have heard it many times, but never really got into it. That is partly due to Bob Ezrin's style of production. It's too polished for my taste.

 

I am somewhat amazed by the comments about Roger lip-syncing or whatever it is called these days. I am surprised that he did not hire a Pink Floyd tribute band to back him on this tour. It will be interesting to see how much it cost him to put on the show versus what he makes from the tour.

[Moss]

I have such great memories of The Wall. I used to work at a pizza place with a friend and the two of us were always closing it down. We would throw on that cassette, start drinking all the beer and playing video games. I was 17 years old. I think we did that for about a year. Best job I ever had.

[augustus westerberg]

30 years after buying the album and 26 years after first seeing Roger in concert on the Pros & Cons tour, finally saw the Wall show tonight. This is a stadium sized show being performed in arenas, doesn't really matter where you sit, I was in the first row of the upper bowl (at $75 Canadian + charges, $89.75 total) and would sit there every night no question (I'm in the same row same section tomorrow and in the back corner of the lower bowl Saturday). The crashing plane took off from almost right above me, but the pig only did its float about on the other side. The wall itself is as high as the top row of the lower bowl and is used as a screen for projections throughout, in this respect you could be ANYWHERE in the arena and not miss a thing except close up view of the musicians in the first set, while the wall is only partially built. In the second set they're mostly hidden behind the wall anyway.

 

*SPOILER ALERT*

 

There were no surprises song-wise, no Wish You Were Here, Brain Damage> Eclipse encore, no When The Tigers Broke Free slipped in somewhere, just the Wall in its entirety. Gilmour never appeared despite the considerable buzz, the smart money's gotta be on London for that or if it's in North America you'd have to think NY or LA. Happily they included What Shall We Do Now? (a highlight for me) and the 'Last Few Bricks' instrumental that I'll always think of as the Empty Spaces jam 'cos that's what it was called on the first boot I ever got of the Wall live, and at the beginning the little burst of Outside The Wall that you hear on the album was an extended intro version, more like an intrumental verse of the actual song. A couple of songs had slightly extended versions, most notably Mother had a longer instrumental section and ending.

 

From where I was sitting it was impossible to get any visual evidence but going purely by my ears I would like to take a closer look at both rounds of In The Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting For The Worms, the Trial and sadly, Vera, to judge the 'live-ness' of Roger's vocals. Maybe I'm just cynical but they sounded too clinical to me. Must remember binoculars tonight. The band was very professional, too much so for me in that they're not even a 'band' really, this is 50/50 rock show/broadway show and the tightness/borderline stiffness reflects that. I love that boot of the 75 Hamilton Floyd show with You Gotta Be Crazy and Raving And Drooling where they do long, jammy verions of those songs, and even on Wall tour boots there's a rawness to the sound of the band even with the extra musicians, you can hear the band within that, even on the KAOS tour at the Hamilton show there was a moment when Roger had technical difficulties with his guitar chord and, testing the replacement, started Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun and after the crowd goaded him into singing it the whole band and backup singers picked up on it and it turned into a really cool thing. There's no room for anything like that in this show and that's about the only drawback I can think of, the Broadway-ness of it. But it's THE WALL, and easy as it is to take it or Dark Side for granted after hearing them a million times, they really are pretty much note and word perfect pieces of work and it's a real treat to hear them done live. Though more than anything I'd rather hear Roger do some new stuff!

 

The tickets ain't cheap but the lesser priced ones are at least do-able, if you're a Floyd or Waters fan you really can't miss this show, the Wall shows are legendary for a reason, you'll probably never see a better marriage of rockshow and theatre. Can't hardly wait to do it again tonight.

[Wild Frank]

As you can see earlier in this thread I was not particularly excited about Roger taking The Wall on the road again. I stubbornbly refused to get tickets, preferring to focus my money on younger artists with new material to peddle (and I have seen some great shows this year).

 

Well I'm regretting that now. Reading that review has me longing to be there. It brings back memories of listening to the album in the early 80's, pouring over the lyric sheet and really buying into the whole 'package'.

 

Some times its good to look back and revel in old music. Hell, I'm even go to see a Genesis tribute band in November!!.

[froggie]

i heard the Gilmour buzz was that he'll do some surprise appearances on the tour.. probably in the UK if roger heads over there

[Dmada]

As you can see earlier in this thread I was not particularly excited about Roger taking The Wall on the road again. I stubbornbly refused to get tickets, preferring to focus my money on younger artists with new material to peddle (and I have seen some great shows this year).

 

Well I'm regretting that now. Reading that review has me longing to be there. It brings back memories of listening to the album in the early 80's, pouring over the lyric sheet and really buying into the whole 'package'.

 

Some times its good to look back and revel in old music. Hell, I'm even go to see a Genesis tribute band in November!!.

same here

the opening sequence is insane

after seeing some of the vids, I am starting to get the bug

[Orkie]

Seeing anyone else this year is pointless. This is the greatest rock show I've ever seen. There is nothing that even begins to come close, and I mean *nothing*.

 

Clearly, Waters is considered the greatest live rock mastermind of all time for a very good reason.

[augustus westerberg]

After 3 shows I'm loving it more every night, sorry it's all over now for me until Buffalo. Think I'm gonna try and make Ottawa too although it's showing as completely sold out right now, and keep an eye on Auburn Hills and Cleveland if I can get the time off work. And Roger did utter the magic words at the end of the 3rd Toronto show, "we'll be back", so another North American leg would seem likely at some point. Don't miss it. He came back and ended the DSOTM tour here, would love if he did so again.

 

For all the pyro, flying pig, crashing plane, and giant puppets, the projections are the real visual stunner in this show. Using the wall as a giant screen stretching into the stands on each side is just incredible, some really cool stuff both familiar and new. Spectacular show, worth every penny.

[Muzzle of Dan]

After 3 shows I'm loving it more every night, sorry it's all over now for me until Buffalo. Think I'm gonna try and make Ottawa too although it's showing as completely sold out right now, and keep an eye on Auburn Hills and Cleveland if I can get the time off work. And Roger did utter the magic words at the end of the 3rd Toronto show, "we'll be back", so another North American leg would seem likely at some point. Don't miss it. He came back and ended the DSOTM tour here, would love if he did so again.

 

For all the pyro, flying pig, crashing plane, and giant puppets, the projections are the real visual stunner in this show. Using the wall as a giant screen stretching into the stands on each side is just incredible, some really cool stuff both familiar and new. Spectacular show, worth every penny.

 

Thanks for the reviews!!! I'm so excited to see this show. I'm going to the 2nd night in LA. It's great to start hearing some details about the show coming out.

[Vacant Horizon]

i'm going to the atlanta show. don't have a ticket, but i will get one outside cheap. i'm not looking forward to hearing vera though.

[Turnips]

some pics from Toronto, taken by some friends of mine (in different sections)

 

 

 

 

[Turnips]

more

 

 

 

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Wow.

I'm really looking forward to this. New Rolling Stone cover article mentions Waters working with a vocal coach, so I guess he's not doing any lip synching. I guess that old youtube link above had him adding his own vocal to the Roy Harper vocal?

[Vacant Horizon]

well put

at least those guys are up there singing and playing their hearts out

not sure the same can be said of roger waters at this point in his career

 

oh no. that is bad.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Yeah, he never could sing that song. I think that's why they had Roy Harper do it.

All right, it's got to be time for some Chicago people to deliver a review.

[embiggen]

I don't understand why people bash Roger Waters all the time. He wrote 25 of the 27 songs on The Wall; the other two he co-wrote. I saw the first full dress rehearsal before the tour and it was amazing, not to mention he sounded great. he's 67 years old for god's sake. he is an artist worthy of recognition and respect and I think it's bullshit that he gets such a bad rap. whatever.

[tinnitus photography]

Seeing anyone else this year is pointless. This is the greatest rock show I've ever seen. There is nothing that even begins to come close, and I mean *nothing*.

[embiggen]

he's right!

[Vacant Horizon]

I don't understand why people bash Roger Waters all the time. He wrote 25 of the 27 songs on The Wall; the other two he co-wrote. I saw the first full dress rehearsal before the tour and it was amazing, not to mention he sounded great. he's 67 years old for god's sake. he is an artist worthy of recognition and respect and I think it's bullshit that he gets such a bad rap. whatever.

 

i'm not sure he is getting a bad rap. his tours have been huge the last decade. my question is when is it time to hang it up? if he can't sing the wall, then why take it on the road? for the light show and he is just standing there? it's not just roger, it's kind of an issue that has plagued dylan and others of the classic rock generation. i'm wondering when it will all be over and what it will be like. will arenas be able to survive on coldplay and u2 shows for the next 20 years? just some thoughts. it's also amazing to me that lots of people, me included, still get super excited about anything the old classic rock guard does...for the last 30 years.

[Vacant Horizon]

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/09/concert-review-roger-waters-performs-the-wall-at-united-center.html

 

Greg Kot's review. Too bad he doesn't review the performance, but instead reviews The Wall.

[Sir Stewart]

i'm wondering when it will all be over and what it will be like.

 

You're blowing my mind.

[embiggen]

i'm not sure he is getting a bad rap. his tours have been huge the last decade. my question is when is it time to hang it up? if he can't sing the wall, then why take it on the road? for the light show and he is just standing there? it's not just roger, it's kind of an issue that has plagued dylan and others of the classic rock generation. i'm wondering when it will all be over and what it will be like. will arenas be able to survive on coldplay and u2 shows for the next 20 years? just some thoughts. it's also amazing to me that lots of people, me included, still get super excited about anything the old classic rock guard does...for the last 30 years.

 

 

umm...who said he couldn't sing The Wall? I SAW THE SHOW!! HE SANG AND HE SOUNDED AWESOME!!! he isn't just standing there. he is playing bass, participating fully in the show. he is not some crippled old man.

[embiggen]

umm...who said he couldn't sing The Wall? I SAW THE SHOW!! HE SANG AND HE SOUNDED AWESOME!!! he isn't just standing there. he is playing bass, participating fully in the show. he is not some crippled old man.

 

 

BTW, he also played the trumpet at the end!

[Sir Stewart]

BTW, he also played the trumpet at the end!

 

Did he also say "Isn't this where?..."

[embiggen]

Did he also say "Isn't this where?..."

 

 

wha?

 

 

shit bitch, you so crazy!