Monday, April 12, 2010
Roger Waters taking The Wall on tour this fall
From ew, Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters has announced that he will embark on a fall tour to mark the 30th anniversary of the band’s album The Wall, during which he will play the double set in its entirety. According to Rolling Stone, Waters’ official website will relaunch today at 2 p.m. ET, possibly with ticket info.
This is big news for Floyd fans. The Wall is a huge milestone in the band’s post-Syd Barrett canon, as well as being one of the best-selling albums of all time. The band itself played the album on their 1980-81 tour, and Waters organized an all-star performance in Germany in 1990 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. But since then, the work has been left to gather dust, touring-wise. Moreover, The Wall features a clutch of the Floyd’s best tracks, including “Comfortably Numb,” and Waters is, of course, a master of the epic rock spectacle.
So are there any reasons not to buy a ticket? Well, maybe. This is just a tour by Waters, not the Floyd as a whole. And though the Wall is in many ways a Waters solo album, there are several moments it would be hard to watch live without pondering the absence of, say, Dave Gilmour—not least the aforementioned “Comfortably Numb.” It is perhaps also worth pointing out that, even by the Floyd’s often less than cheery standards, Waters’ opus is one pretty depressing piece of work that, in its lengthy span, tackles madness, mother issues, and the fascistic nature of rock stardom. Justin Bieber, this most definitely ain’t.
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13 comments:
the last time he took the Wall out for a spin, he had Steve Miller do one of the lamest versions of Comfortably Numb I've ever heard.
Bryan Adams was inexplicably invited to perform Young Lust -- he didn't shit on it the way Steve Miller shat on CN.
Cyndi Lauper did Another Brick in the Wall, which was pretty good.
I'll cotton to Roger Waters being the most talented member of Pink Floyd the moment he cottons to those songs sounding way better when the rest of the band is involved.
i'll risk it!
AC, you in?
hell yeah jpx!!!
september 30th boston garden. perfect.
Woo-hoo!
I'm sure I would really regret not going to this.
... cold as a razor blade, tight as a tourniquet, dry as a funeral drum.
umm, we're all talking about justin bieber, right?
Tony & I are in!!!
When do tickets go on sale?
Desroc and I are also in!!
Woo Hoo east coast Horrorthon concert trek!
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Roger Waters is rebuilding The Wall— and he wants fans to help.
The British rock veteran will launch a North American tour this fall — kicking off Sept. 15 in Toronto, with shows in the USA scheduled through Dec. 13 — revisiting the epic concept album that he introduced in 1979 as principal songwriter of Pink Floyd.
It has been 30 years since that group launched a string of visually ambitious live performances of the songs and 20 since Waters performed them solo in Berlin.
After showcasing another Floyd classic, The Dark Side of the Moon, on a 2006 trek, Waters "realized that the story in The Wall— of a young man who is alienated and defensive, because he's fearful — could be an allegory for a more universal story. We're all frightened of each other, and that makes us behave in ways that are sadly inhumane, like engaging in wars. I wanted to make this show more political."
To do that, Waters, 66, is posting an appeal on roger-waters.com to relatives of those lost in war. He's asking for their photographs to project onto arena surfaces representing the title's metaphorical wall — so that each victim becomes, in effect, another brick.
"I get slight shivers talking about this," says Waters, who lost his father in World War II. "I want people to remember their loved ones as I remember mine, as part of a show that has a strongly anti-war message."
Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis doesn't expect Waters' approach will prove too controversial. The Wall's songs have always had "a generalized anti-war message," he says. "People are going to go for the spectacle."
They shouldn't be disappointed. Waters says video technology allows for projections twice the size of those in the original Wall dates, in which a huge wall was constructed between the band and the audience. Album illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who worked on the tour and 1982 film, is providing new art and redesigning puppets and inflatable objects.
Waters also is developing The Wall into a stage musical with Billy Elliot librettist Lee Hall. He doesn't plan to collaborate again with surviving Floyd members Nick Mason and David Gilmour, despite fond memories of the band's reunion at Live 8 in 2005.
"But Nick and I have become great friends again," he says. "We had a bad 15 years, so to come back together is fantastic."
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