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I’m not a big fan of artists playing entire albums at their shows. There are obvious benefits, but it really takes away the surprise element and certain songs can seem almost grudgingly forced into the set, either by placement or selection. Overall it tends to mess with the natural order of live music, which is to be free of the rigours of following the natural order of albums, but with the overcommercialisation of nostalgia (of which I am often a marketer’s dream) I don’t see the trend going away anytime soon.
Now, all of that falls to the wayside when we talk about The Wall. Those eight sides of vinyl are such a masterpiece of continuity it’s almost blasphemy to hear a single track out of context. The Wall is a musical; a true rock opera. The whole thing is connected both thematically and musically, with that root-root-second-minor third motif lurking above or below every scene and every character in a story that is simultaneously translucent and opaque.
The Wall is basically one song, and I was thrilled for the opportunity to hear Roger Waters perform this great song live in Ottawa on October 17th, 2010.
We’re talking about one of my favourite albums of all time here, and I did it up right. To this day this is the only time I went to a concert in a limousine; I had booked it immediately after securing tickets. I figured this way I’d be living the parts in The Wall where Pinky (played quite brilliantly by Sir Bob Geldof) was being shuttled to and from “the show” in his own limo. Overall it was a pretty fun experience, but I was not served with the greatest of professionalism – can you believe the young limo driver didn’t know how to get to Scotiabank Place?!? Anyway, we did a bit of a drive-around, which was fine as it allowed for more drinking in the limo, and we got to the show on time.
And what a show!!! They built the wall, they played above, below, behind and in front of said wall, they flew an airplane into the stage, they had huge inflatables and giant projections, and the music was just so, so good. It really was like watching the movie unfold before my eyes in live 3D, and it was just a really, really great night of music, nostalgia, and entertainment.
After the show I found the limo guy sheepishly waiting dead-last at the end of the limo line. I guess there is seniority in the culture of the limo driver and my guy obviously had none. At least the poor service offered me an excuse for acting like a snooty, drunken and overdrugged rock star for the entire ride home. Just like Pinky.
Todd Man Out 