All in all – thoughts of Roger Waters The Wall

A slow, winding blade of green weaves across the ever-growing familiar white brickwork from the left side of the stage. Then another from the right. They wind slowly across the length of the wall – both to the centre and up – until they blend seamlessly into one of the most iconic animations from The Wall – the flower scene over Empty Spaces.There are a few albums that have moved me in ways I can still feel: Radiohead’s The Bends, Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence. But the one that has had the greatest effect on me – and still continues to do so – is Pink Floyd’s The Wall.Tonight I went to see the one-off showing of the new film by Waters which was about 80% concert show and 20% pilgrimage by Waters to visit the resting places of his father and grandfather. The thing as a whole went together beautifully.One of the songs that continues to get me each time I hear it is Vera – and this time was no exception. I was suprised to hear, in the discussion that followed, that this was Waters’ favourite song off the album.The songs I were looking forward to the most were Comfortably Numb, The Trial and Empty Spaces. I love how the full version of Empty Spaces gets used when performed live.The usage of some of the animations from the 1980s film of the wall were a nice touch too.All in all it was a great performance of The Wall.

Author: David Peach

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