The Wall Live - Two Concerts Review

A personal account of The Wall Live 2011 and 2013 shows in Zagreb and in Split.

Part 2 - where it gets really loud!

            In 2010, The Wall Tour was announced. And I felt dissapointed. The nearest show was in Budapest, 500 km away, and it was too expensive to travel that far just to see the concert. I examined every solution and eventually gave up. It was only few weeks later that I got the most wonderful news. The Wall was going to be performed in Zagreb, the capital city of my country, Croatia! I bought the tickets the first day they were put on market and then all I could do was wait.

            (There's a funny anecdote about me and my cousin waiting at 6 o'clock in the morning for the shop to open, when the tickets were to be put on sale. We believed there was going to be a rush for the tickets so we got there as soon was possible. Of course, it turned out we were the only ones and after an hour spent before the locked door we realised that even the true fans decided not to hurry and to sleep a little longer.)

             The concert took place on 13th April 2011. I had to wait for almost eight months but I was finally there: Arena Zagreb, concert venue and an ocassional hockey rink. Cardboard wall was half-built across the stage (it was meant to be completed during the show), the musical instruments were prepared and tuned and we could see the gigantic oval-shaped screen above the stage.

            At last, the lights were dimmed out and the show was about to begin. It commenced with the famous dialogue from the 1960' movie Spartacus („I am Spartacus!“,  „No! I am Spartacus!“…) roaring from the loudspeakers that made it seemed like the sound was coming from everywhere around. It silenced and wistful sound of trumpet began to play Outside the Wall melody. A few measures. And suddenly, it got loud!

            The first chord of In the Flesh? exploded sinchronizingly with the thunderous fireworks. Waters made his appearance during the instrumental introduction. Two men dressed like soldiers put on him a leather jacket and black glasses making him look like a fascist dictator, the scene that will be repeated much later in the storyline. He grabbed the microphone and fired up the audience!

So ya

Thought ya

Might like to go to the show.

To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow.

            I began shaking with excitement with the very first chord and when Waters came on stage I was incapable to move or to look away. It was a feeling that I would never forget, usually felt in the most rare moments of genuine excitement. I couldn't stop shaking until Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, almost half an hour into the show. And the highlights of concert were yet to come. 

            Mother gave a chance to an "experiment in time travel". It was performed in synchronization with Waters' 1980 live footage of the song at the Earls Court, screened on the wall. Very exciting rendition of Empty spaces was accompanied with Gerald Scarfe's animated sequences from the movie, followed by Young Lust, One of my Turns and Don't Leave Me Now before the wall was finally completed during the instrumental medley of Last Few Bricks. Waters peeped out the last empty space, singing Goodbye Cruel World and falling into isolation behind the wall while the last brick was being put into place, marking the end of the first part of the show.

"Mother, should I trust the government?  NO FUCKING WAY!"

            During the intermission, while we were ecstaticly retailing the experience, photographs of fallen soldiers in wars during the last and the current century appeared and exchanged on the wall. Waters invited people from all over the world to send the photographs of their ancestors or the fallen loved ones and he used them to accent the antiwar message of The Wall. Remember that he never met his father who died at Anzio in Italy in 1944, during the Second World War which is a recurring theme in his work and his certain obsession.

            Hey You opened the second part of the show. The band played behind the wall and therefore could not be seen. The show continued with Waters singing Is There Anybody Out There? and Nobody Home from inside the holes in the wall. Emotional peak was certainly achieved with songs Vera and Bring the Boys Back Home. They were accompanied with touching and heartbreaking videos of starving children in Africa and, the most notably, the video of young girl crying out of happiness while her father  unexpectably returned from the army.

Bring the boys back home.

            Comfortably Numb announced the final part of the concert. Whole audience was exhilarated when spotlight revealed guitarist on the top of the wall as he began playing the famous solo, originally conceived by David Gilmour. Waters ran from one side of the stage to the other greeting the audience. Solo ended with unanimous applause and wild approval.

            The band showed up in front of the wall with their instruments. They were dressed as soldiers and Waters wore the same leather jacket and black glasses as at the very beggining of the concert, turning into imaginary fascist dictator once again. The peak of the excitation was In The Flesh reprise when  „ soldiers“ handed Waters a machine gun and he began shooting the audience in every direction.  Run Like Hell and Waiting for the Worms followed the fascist narrative in the same direction when the show finally reached the climax with The Trial. Waters, now alone on the stage, sang passionately, now dramatizing the character's desperation while putting himself on the trial and accepting his guilt. The wall could be torn down at last! 

"Since my friend you have revealed your deepest fear

I sentence you to be exposed before your peers"

            The wall collapsed and the band walked out on the stage playing the last song with Waters on the trumpet. During the song, he introduced the members of the band as they were leaving the stage, waving to the audience. Waters left last with the greatest applause and the show was over. I left the arena with the precious memory and unforgettable experience. And with sadness in the heart because it was over and I was left again to the challenges of my ordinary life. For awhile, at least.

            Waters continued touring Europe and later Australia and South America. Insisting on that as many people as possible can see the show and heed its messages he announced another American and European tour with one, but great, difference. Previous shows were all performed indoors while the upcoming tour was going to be adjusted as a stadium, open-air event. It's the way Waters insisted was the best fitting for his creation.

            I was quite surprised when I saw another Croatian city on the list of proposed concerts. The show was due 23rd July 2013 at Poljud stadium in Split. Though tickets were much cheaper than they were for the show in Zagreb, the distance I would have to travel was three times greater. And maybe, I just didn't want to spoil the memory of the previous concert; it was an extraordinary experience and I felt that the part of the magic lies in seeing it only once. But resistance was in vain…

            While I was indecisive about whether to go or not to go, Croatia entered the European Union and in symbol of celebration all tickets for the international concerts were 50% off for a week. I bought a ticket for The Wall at the last minute. And I got a Fan Pit ticket which meant I was going to see the show from the one of the very first rows!

            And, indeed, the show was fabulous. It was pretty much the same, only the antiwar message was emphasised, especially by adding a new song to the setlist. The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes was written during the 2011 tour and performed from 11th July the same year onwards. It is a coda to Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 and it repeats its chorus in a slower tempo. Lyrically it covers a real story about a Brazilian tourist in London who was shot in the head eight times by the police because they had identified him as a terrorist. Nor the government nor the police has yet admitted their mistake and apologized. Waters explained the event with these mighty words: "Giving governments, and especially the police, too much power is a slippery slope to tyranny!"

            There were no other notable additions to the show which was equally impeccable and exciting as the first time. It lacked only those eight months of impatience and that shaking of an almost a childish excitement which made the Zagreb show so unique. Although I found a constant and blisfull smile on my face during Run Like Hell in Split while unanimously clapping with the audience rhythmicly with the song's beat; it is equally precious. And Roger Waters was not more than 10 meters before me! With the brimfull stadium behind and the wall right before me, the show surely had an unearthly quality. (Waters lauded the audience reporting that the band told him it was the first time they could hear the crowd singing through the wall.)

Poljud stadium before the concert.

            So, that's all for my The Wall exploits. I didn't retail it minutely as those who were present to any concert of the tour know what was it all about and they can relive it once again in their minds, with a sweet touch of nostalgia; for those who are yet to see it this is less than a slight portion of what they are going to experience, just an attempt to make their spines tingle while impatience's consuming them; for those who had no opportunity to attend the show this review was a stimulus to enjoy the music and to try to understand its messages. It isn't the concert what matters, it is how many people the music has changed or made them think about their lives and the world that's surrounding them.

            And for my sake, this was a gentle remembrance of a wonderful experience which may fade a bit, but the scale of its impact will not ever cease.

Hal

            If you want to find out more about The Wall and its live performances check out Part 1 of the article.

            And if you have never heard about The Wall but you got interested, go ahead and listen to it! It will certainly enrich your musical knowledge. Also, I suggest you watching Pink Floyd - The Wall movie for fuller experience. Maybe you even still have a chance to see the concert; Roger Waters is still touring and he may come somewhere near your hometown!