Roger Waters The Wall

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Going tonight. Anyone been to the concert?

[Gogar]

I saw G.E. Smith at the rock and roll hall of fame on Monday, he said it is a cool show. That's my weekly "I'm cool" brag.

[craigster59]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I saw G.E. Smith at the rock and roll hall of fame on Monday, he said it is a cool show. That's my weekly "I'm cool" brag.

Have you seen Moonalice yet?

[M.D. Holloway]

Saw PF in 78 - still have flashbacks from the acid!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I saw G.E. Smith at the rock and roll hall of fame on Monday, he said it is a cool show. That's my weekly "I'm cool" brag.

this guy?




this guy was pretty good.





Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever gone to. Singing Comfortably Numb along with Roger Waters not 10 feet away was transcendental.

[ErVikingo]

Im there in Nov 2nd

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

this guy?


this guy was pretty good.

Looks kinda like Richard Gere?

[MattKellett]

So how was it Shaun? I'll be going on Dec 7th, can't wait.

[deanp]

I was fortunate to have seen two of the Boston shows - one from the 2nd row floor, dead center with Shaun on Friday night(THANKS SHAUN!!!!) and one from the 2nd row center upper balcony on Sunday.

The band and RW are firing on all cylinders, so to speak. The visuals were unbelievable, the sound was amazing. Just simply over the top and exceeded all my expectations. RW looks like he is having the time of his life.

Could easily sit through the same show at least a dozen times without hesitation.

In fact, it is hitting Hartford in a couple weeks and if I weren't going to be out of town I would've picked up tickets to go there as well.

[nineball]

i just missed the show here in cleveland. a friend went and had the same review - excellent show ans sound.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

anyone going to the show should seriously consider going twice. Dean nailed it, you could go to this concert over and over and find something new and exciting every time. I think you should go at least twice, wish I could, I know I missed a lot the other night. In some ways the show was actually inferior to RW past concerts (visuals were good, but I thought Radio KAOS was better), but it was probably best concert I've ever been to in terms of sound and more importantly, the music. It went right through you. Like I said, Comfortably Numb was transcendental. It really was.

Viking and Matt, let us know what you thought.

[MRM]

Shaun, you're killing me! How did you score those tickets? I've been a Pink Floyd fan as long as I can remember. I can believe that watching it twice is the way to go.

The first time I saw The Wall as a movie in high school I was about a sophomore in high school. It was way over my head. A few years later a bunch of us went to it as a midnight movie when we were high school seniors, in fact it was the night of our senior banquet. I understood a little more. Over the years I've learned more every time I've seen it. I can't imagine what the concert must be like.

Singing Comfortably Numb with Roger Waters . . . I sang Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner with Warren Zevon, but I was farther away.

How are you doing?

[McLovin]

I'm going later this year. Given the ticket prices, only once! Very expensive.

I never saw the full PF, but did see PF without roger waters in around 95, and then roger waters solo a few years later. Both were good shows. Wish they could get back all together again. Would be great to see the full group one more time. The $$$ they could make if they did that would be beyond comprehension, I would think.

Anyways, I've heard nothing but great reviews for The Wall, can't wait to see it.

I read the Rolling Stone article about this tour. Amazingly, The Wall was only played in its entirety something like 6 times prior to this tour. Given his age, I'd imagine this tour will be the last. So in addition to a great show, it's a piece of rock history too.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by MRM

Shaun, you're killing me! How did you score those tickets? I've been a Pink Floyd fan as long as I can remember. I can believe that watching it twice is the way to go.

The first time I saw The Wall as a movie in high school I was about a sophomore in high school. It was way over my head. A few years later a bunch of us went to it as a midnight movie when we were high school seniors, in fact it was the night of our senior banquet. I understood a little more. Over the years I've learned more every time I've seen it. I can't imagine what the concert must be like.

Singing Comfortably Numb with Roger Waters . . . I sang Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner with Warren Zevon, but I was farther away.

How are you doing?

I'm working my a$$ off but doing OK. Will be out for Thanksgiving, should be taking the new car out. Will bring tools and shifter bushings if I do.

I have no idea how I got these tickets. karma? I went online the morning they went on sale back in April and ran through the purchase process a few times until I got "good seats" sort of close but off to the side. Then in June I got an email: center floor, second row. Odd, but in a good way.

He'll be in MN on the 27th, you should definitely go!

[Hugh R]

Sort of a Nazi uniform? I saw him at the Hollywood bowl a few years ago. He spent a lot of time running down GWB. I wish performers would stick to their music and leave the political crap out of it. Did he praise or run down Obama? Sorry, not PARF, please ignore if you don't have 1st hand knowledge.

[MRM]

Roger Water's father was killed at Anzio in WWII when he was an infant or toddler. He never knew his father and his mother was scarred by the loss and found it hard to deal with Waters. The scene in the movie where the Pink character as a kid is going through his mom's dresser drawers and finds a box full of medals happened the same way in real life. The mom caught Waters looking through the medals, that he had never heard of or suspected because the father's memory was banished from the home, and she whopped him over the head when she found him looking at the medals. There was indeed a handwritten note from the King included.

Losing his father and seeing what wreckage that left behind, and then finding out what a screwup Anzio was, and that his father probably didn't have to die, wore heavilly on Waters. He wrote a song about it that as far as I know doesn't appear on any album indexes, but I think is a hidden track on one of the albums that came right after Dark Side of the Moon, maybe Wish You Were Here. The song describes how his father's regiment was ordered to stay behind to cover the withdrawal of other units and that there were no survivors. It ends with "And that's how the High Command took Daddy from me."

He became very oposed to all war as a reaction to losing his father. He created the Pink character as an alter-ego and created the faux WWII dictator setup to demonstrate the futility of all war and that following anyone blindly is wrong. He did not create the character to glorify Nazis or war. The point he was trying to make was the opposite.

[Seahawk]

It is my opinion that "Us and Them" is the most poignant song about war ever written.

Us and Them
(Waters, Wright)

Us, and them
And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
God only knows it's noz what we would choose to do.
Forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside.

"I mean, they're not gunna kill ya, so if you give 'em a quick short,
sharp, shock, they won't do it again. Dig it? I mean he get off
lightly, 'cos I would've given him a thrashing - I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion, but really...I mean good manners
don't cost nothing do they, eh?"

Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about.
With, without.
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind.
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died.

Originally Posted by MRM

Losing his father and seeing what wreckage that left behind, and then finding out what a screwup Anzio was, and that his father probably didn't have to die, wore heavilly on Waters. He wrote a song about it that as far as I know doesn't appear on any album indexes, but I think is a hidden track on one of the albums that came right after Dark Side of the Moon, maybe Wish You Were Here. The song describes how his father's regiment was ordered to stay behind to cover the withdrawal of other units and that there were no survivors. It ends with "And that's how the High Command took Daddy from me."

[MRM]

Very nice, Paul. I found the song I was thinking of. It's called When the Tigers Broke Free. Completely unrelated to Pink Floyd I have read about what a monumental screw up Anzio was. If the Allies had attacked in force when they first got there, they would have overrun the Axis and probably ended fighting in that theater in a matter of months at a nominal cost of life. Instead, the Allied High Command dithered until the Germans dug in and reinforced. The war ground on, inch by bloody inch for another year, costing countless lives, both in the Battle of Anzio and in the following campaign for no reason better than the High Comand's stupidity.

I don't agree with Waters' political leanings, but I have a hard time criticizing him for them and I appreciate that they are sincere and firmly held. His feelings are probably not much different than the average grunt's who distrusts all authority higher than he can see, because of their propensity toward getting common people killed.

When The Tigers Broke Free

It was just before dawn
One miserable morning in black 'forty four.
When the forward commander
Was told to sit tight
When he asked that his men be withdrawn.
And the Generals gave thanks
As the other ranks held back
The enemy tanks for a while.
And the Anzio bridgehead
Was held for the price
Of a few hundred ordinary lives.

And old King George
Sent Mother a note
When he heard that father was gone.
It was, I recall,
In the form of a scroll,
With gold leaf and all.
And I found it one day
In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.
And my eyes still grow damp to remember
His Majesty signed
With his own rubber stamp.

It was dark all around.
There was frost in the ground
When the tigers broke free.
And no one survived
From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.
They were all left behind,
Most of them dead,
The rest of them dying.
And that's how the High Command
Took my daddy from me.

[Hugh R]

MRM, I didn't know any of that and its very interesting. It gives me a different perspective and opinion of him.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

MRM, I didn't know any of that and its very interesting. It gives me a different perspective and opinion of him.

Let me echo that, Hugh.

All I knew was the music...the Anzio discussion brought context, which is always welcomed.

Thanks.