The Wall Live
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd doesn’t look 67 years old. Maybe it’s the drugs; maybe it’s his weird twisted mind. Who knows. He can still put up a show and his songs are still oddly relevant today.
On Sunday night, Feng and I went to see The Wall Live in Ottawa. I’m too young to be a child of the seventies, I grew up with Pink Floyd music as my dad loves them. I first listened to his vinyls and then eventually bought my own CDs of the band’s main album. The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, the Division Bell… I love the fact the lyrics are open to interpretation while songs like Money, Time or Run Like Hell speak for themselves.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Wall. While I love the CD, the 1979 movie is a bit too weird for me. We stepped into Scotiabank Place and found the place packed—the concert was sold out. On the stage, half a wall was built with white bricks.
Roger Waters came on scene at 8 pm sharp. Fireworks lit up the place and he began singing. “So ya
Thought ya/ Might like to go to the show/ To feel the warm thrill of confusion and/ That space cadet glow”.
He went on with The Thin Ice and the huge screen behind him started showing videos of soldiers killed on duty during WWII, the Gulf War and more recently, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Slowly and inconspicuously, crew members added bricks to the wall as the show progressed. Eventually, the wall was completed and Roger Water sang “Hey You” from behind it, before reappearing again at the front of the stage. Various giant puppets were used: the teacher (“hey, teacher, leave the kids alone! All in all you’re just another brick in the wall…”), the mother and the wife, lurking at the audience, appearing and disappearing from behind the wall.
The wall served as a screen to project messages, quotes and elaborated animations towards the end of the show. “Are there any paranoid people in Ottawa?,” asked Roger before starting Run Like Hell, during which were displayed logo of the major car and oil companies, as well as the dollar sign. During Mother, the question “Mother, should I trust the government?” was answer by a three word sentence—“no fucking way”, displayed on the wall in the Pink Floyd’s signature font.
Eventually, the room started to chant “tear down the wall!” and the music grew louder during The Trial. The wall was destroyed in a matter of seconds and the musicians all played an acoustic version of Outside The Wall.
All apologies if the pictures aren’t the best… We had great seats and I enjoyed the show. This is not the kind of concert where you focus on taking picture of the band.
 Roger Waters |
 Roger Waters |
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Young Lust
Mother
Mother
Is There Anybody Out There?
The Show Must Go On
In the Flesh
Comfortably Numb
Run Like hell
Run Like hell
Half-way Through The Show, the wall is Built
Tear Down The Wall!
End of the Show
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Carnival of Rock and Roll–January 2011…
And rising from the ashes of an… let’s say interesting… year of 2010, we have the first Carnival of Rock ‘n’ Roll of 2011. In fact this is more than just the first carnival of 2011, but the first of what I am hoping is a bit of a rebirth for the…
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[…] when, last October, I read Zhu’s post about her going to see Roger Waters performing The Wall in Ottawa, I was extremely jealous (have a […]
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Wow. The concert pictures look so crisp! And it looks like one would have a good time in that concert!
how’d you dodge the security? I can’t imagine they’d sanction your photos! Are you using a Spy camera? Tell us your secrets!
@Em — No worries, I got your comment back from the spam. Sorry about that, not sure why it was flagged… happens. I know how frustrating it is when comments get lost in the cyberspace!
@Richard Wright — Picasso a appelé. Il vaut que tu lui rendes ses pinceaux.
@Sidney — Thank you!
@shionge — I lost my hearing, for sure
@Cynthia — It was one of my favorite part of the concert, the animations were awesome.
@Pauline — We must be about the same age (I was born 1983) and even though I grew up in the 80s and 90s I love them.
@Em — Awesome! I know tickets are expensive (and this is true for most shows these days, sadly) but I can guarantee you you will enjoy the show. Report back after the concert!
@Priyank — Mmmm… should we trust the government… well, we can definitely pretend too and take the pay cheque home, can’t we!
@Linguist-in-Waiting — They are not that great, really. But good memories anyway!
@rich b — Oh don’t tell me about it… it was hell! I sneaked the DSLR in, hiding the lens in my bag and the body on me. The bags weren’t search and when we entered, they said “no flash but cameras are okay”. I was super relieved and proceed to attach the lens to my camera. And right before the show, security came to see me to say my camera was too professional and wasn’t allowed. I was so mad! I took a lens that doesn’t zoom just to be fair and still, these idiot wouldn’t understand that it,s just a regular camera. Anyway, we also had a pocket camera so I use it for most of the show. And I took a few pictures with the DSLR as well when security wasn’t looking.
Drugs? Ha ha… I need some that can me look forever young too!
Maybe I need to speak to Cher to find out where she got hers!
Hey Zhu,
LOL yeah, the drugs must keep him young LOL (you kill me)! Now seriously, old boyo does look nice for his age.
What on earth is he wearing on his arm? It seems so Nazish of him lol *nodding*…
Anyway, I am not much of a fan of this band, never been (I started listening to them when I was 3 years old — my mom loved them); however they know how to entertain: look at that stage design…only Michael Jackson could beat this.
I hope you had fun, girl.
Cheers