Roger Waters has announced his next live tour will be to perform Pink Floyd’s the Wall in its entirety, in celebration of its 30th anniversary. On his blog, he stated:
“I recently came across this quote of mine from 22 years ago:
‘What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us to understand one another better, or will they deceive us and keep us apart?’
I believe this is still a supremely relevant question and the jury is out. There is a lot of commercial clutter on the net, and a lot of propaganda, but I have a sense that just beneath the surface understanding is gaining ground. We just have to keep blogging, keep twittering, keep communicating, keep sharing ideas.
30 Years ago when I wrote The Wall I was a frightened young man. Well not that young, I was 36 years old.
It took me a long time to get over my fears. Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss with it’s concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns.: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, Whatever! All these issues and ‘isms are driven by the same fears that drove my young life.
This new production of The Wall is an attempt to draw some comparisons, to illuminate our current predicament, and is dedicated to all the innocent lost in the intervening years.
In some quarters, among the chattering classes, there exists a cynical view that human beings as a collective are incapable of developing more ‘humane’ ie, kinder, more generous, more cooperative, more empathetic relationships with one another.
I disagree.
In my view it is too early in our story to leap to such a conclusion, we are after all a very young species.
I believe we have at least a chance to aspire to something better than the dog eat dog ritual slaughter that is our current response to our institutionalized fear of each other.
I feel it is my responsibility as an artist to express my, albeit guarded, optimism, and encourage others to do the same. To quote the great man, ” You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
OK, nice, profound sentiment. But let’s face it, it’s a great money-making venture. Tickets are bound to be dang expensive, but seeing as I have shelled out good money to see the Australian Pink Floyd put on a pretty good theatrical imitation of the Wall, I’m willing to pay 10 times that to see the mastermind of the work perform it live.
I’ve quite grown to love this album. When it came out I was just a fourth grade kid, and the graphics around it and the movie trailer for the Alan Parker movie freaked me out. Then, at age 12, when I first heard the album all the way through, it gave me nightmares. I wouldn’t revisit it for years on, but have grown to love the film, as well as the concept album, which dwelt on themes of mental instability and parental issues.
I imagine this will be effects-laden show worth the price of admission. For me, Pink Floyd has only ever been defined by the work of Roger Waters, who so fittingly took the helm after its previous singer, Syd Barret, lost his mind to acid. Waters left the band soon after completing a sort of sequel to the Wall called the Final Cut. Since then David Gilmour has taken the spotlight as frontman, and, in my opinion, the Floyd lost its thematic and musical levity. It became a self-conscious all-too-comfortable machine meant to sell records.
You can go to his website to see the dates, or just check them out here (his site is very unstable with the news). Looks like Fort Lauderdale is my show, at the quite decent-sized Bank Atlantic Center:
“The Wall” 2010 Tour Dates
Sept. 15: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Sept. 20: Chicago (United Center)
Sept. 21: Chicago (United Center)
Sept. 26: Pittsburgh (Consol Energy Center)
Sept. 28: Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena)
Sept. 30: Boston (TD Garden)
Oct. 5: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Oct. 8: Buffalo (HSBC Arena)
Oct. 10: Washington DC (Verizon Center)
Oct. 12: Uniondale (Nassau Coliseum)
Oct. 15: Hartford (XL Center)
Oct. 17: Ottawa (ScotiaBank Place)
Oct. 19: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Oct. 22: Columbus (Schottenstein Center)
Oct. 24: Detroit (Palace of Auburn Hills)
Oct. 26: Omaha (Qwest Center)
Oct. 27: St Paul (Xcel Energy Center)
Oct. 29: St. Louis (ScotTrade Center)
Oct. 30: Kansas City (Sprint Center)
Nov. 3: New York (Izod Center)
Nov. 8: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Nov. 9: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Nov. 13: Fort Lauderdale (Bank Atlantic Center)
Nov. 16: Tampa (St. Pete Times Forum)
Nov. 18: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
Nov. 20: Houston (Toyota Center)
Nov. 21: Dallas (American Airlines Center)
Nov. 23: Denver (Pepsi Center Arena)
Nov. 26: Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden Arena)
Nov. 27: Phoenix (US Airways Center)
Nov. 29: Los Angeles (The Forum)
Dec. 1: Los Angeles (The Forum)
Dec. 6: San Jose (HP Pavilion)
Dec. 10: Vancouver (General Motors Place)
Dec. 11: Tacoma (Tacoma Dome)
Dec. 13: Anaheim (Honda Center)
Tickets to the NY and NJ dates are the first slated to go on sale: May 3, at 10 am via Ticketmaster.
