Abandonment issues, isolation, love, teenage angst and giving everyone who was a teenager in the late 70’s a record to relate to (and no I don’t mean London Calling) are only a fraction of the ways it can be described.. The Wall by Pink Floyd sounded better Sunday October 3rd then it ever did in the 1982, when the band first performed it live. Roger Waters, recently turned 67, sneered out the lyrics from the many characters throughout the show—all based on himself. Much like The Who’s Quadraphenia, The Wall has a main character with many different personal spectrums; except the latter’s are much more realistic. The main character “Pink” ranges everything from a dictator ready to conquer the world to a man, wondering why he even bother anymore. The show started with Waters shouting out the lyrics to “In the Flesh?” as fireworks shot past him and his infamous crossed hammer logo draped out behind him like a tarp. Soon after, the event settled down for a stirring rendition of “The Thin Ice”, sung by David Gilmour’s vocal replacement Robbie Wyckoff. Wyckoff sounded impeccable the whole night, even rivaling Gilmour’s original lullaby tenor. What followed that was the slow build up of the first two parts of “Another Brick in the Wall”, which reached it’s climax when a choir of children came on the stage to sing and dance the second verse only to leave during the guitar solo--- right on cue. After this was Roger’s first formal out-of-character welcoming to the crowd. He spent a minute acknowledging Boston’s great musical past, seeming to be out of genuine respect rather then feeling as if he had to. This led up to a completely acoustic version of album highlight “Mother”, which I didn’t enjoy nearly as much until I heard this stirring rendition… What the album version failed to make me realize was that this song is song from a lost little boy, who after all the stress and all the pain, just wants a helping hand. Roger seemed truly vulnerable during this song and provided us with a laugh during the line “Mother should I trust the government” when on the wall appeared a great big No Fucking Way, which was met with thunderous applause by the clearly socialist audience. The Wall continued on with almost cartoony imagery (even including some pornographic images in “Young Lust”) as the stage hang built up the wall until it was almost complete. It should be noted that the band played “What Shall We Do Now”, a track not originally included on the album but played on the tours. Roger sang “Goodbye Cruel World” as the last brick was put in—cutting him off from the rest of the world.
After a short intermission everyone was requested to return to their seats, for the second half of the show was starting. Robbie Wyckoff and Waters sang “Hey You” from behind the wall which created quite a chilling effect. Following near-instrumental “Is There Anybody Out There” was another highlight. “Nobody Home”, a Waters’ attempt at a jazz song was sung from a hole in the wall manipulated to look like a hotel room. The sympathy was felt for this lonely man throughout the song, and another laugh was gained when everyone in the audience sang along to “I’ve got 13 channels of shit on the TV to choose from”. “Vera” and (obviously) “Bring the Boys Back Home” were both used as tributes to the soldiers in Iraq, which was a touchy subject--- but still necessary to address. Pink slowly starts to ponder about the necessity of the wall during “Comfortably Numb” an anthem for concert-goers intending to do more then listen to the music. Behind Roger on the wall were images of what appeared to super-novas during the chorus, and Gilmour’s replacements (vocal and guitar) truly shined on this one. “The Show Must Go On” was slowed down to create a more soulful effect and was sung by nearly everyone excluding Waters. The “In the Flesh” reprise preceded an energetic “Run Like Hell” which the Pink himself introduced as a “song for the paranoid in the audience”. Interestingly, it also featured call and response lead vocals between Wyckoff and Waters. Shortly after, the show appeared to be too much for “Pink” and he decided to abandon “go home and leave the show”. The resolution of the show (complete with imagery projected on the wall from the movie of the same name) was “The Trial” which featured a rock legend Roger Waters using every accent he could think of as the previously mentioned characters (Mother, Teacher, etc) for let’s say… Character authenticity? It seemed that the jury was convinced that the wall needed to go, and the show ended with the Roger Waters mariachi band playing a horn filled 5 piece of “Outside the Wall”. This concert--- event is definitely worth checking out… Or in other words “So I think ya, might like to, go to the show”.
What do you think, “is it just a waste of time”?
“Must the show go on”?
Comment below how you felt about the show!
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