Concert Review - Roger Waters "The Wall" @ the Los Angeles Coliseum

"...we came in?"

Declaring something to be "the best" of anything is highly subjective. Doubly so when describing a concert, with many factors needing to be weighed to truthfully arrive at such a statement. Indeed, saying "(fill in the blank) is/was the best thing ever" has achieved meme status, thus cheapening best's impact. That being said, and with a modicum of respect for the definition of "best", I feel comfortable in saying I've witnessed one of the greatest live concerts ever staged. The notes still ring in my ears and the visuals continue to flash in my mind's eye. It's taken the better of a week to write this review, because one does not simply review The Wall.

This latest staging of Roger Waters' The Wall Live tour more than earned legendary status in the annals of Los Angeles concert history. On this encore leg of the tour, Waters has expanded everything about The Wall, including the Wall itself. This time, the imposing white bricks were erected across the playing field of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Even more impressively, Waters has expanded upon the core meaning of his magnum opus, building it into a staggering presentation befitting the decade-plus War On Terror/99% movment/government distrust world of 2K12.

There was no opening band, which was a welcome thing since this concert wasn't about pairing up a record label darling to get exposure in front of a legend. And after a 45 minute delay (ostensibly because of LA's penchant to arrive in the third inning and leave in the seventh) the lights dropped and the stage was taken by a pair of black-uniformed soldiers dragging the rag doll effigy of the character "Pink Floyd". The audio of the climactic moment of the film Spartacus plays as an aural symbol of everyman unity between Pink and the audience, whether they realized it or not.

Pyrotechnics of this caliber only happen at outdoor arenas

The stage then explodes in a red glare pyrotechnic display which can only be achieved at an outdoor venue as the band launches into "In The Flesh?". Waters maniacally calls for "Lights!" and to "Roll the sound effects!" On the command to "Drop it on them!", a WWII plane flies over the Coliseum audience and crashes into the stage. Anyone not in their seats at this point should have been prevented from entering the stadium. Then things went wrong.

The resulting explosion of the WWII plane crashing into the stage

The band began playing "The Thin Ice", with Robbie Wyckoff singing David Gilmour's opening lines, but as the song progressed past the one minute mark and the piano line began, there was no Roger Waters. The band kept playing and while at first it almost felt like this was a new arrangement, it was in fact not. Just before the band were to break into the heavy guitar bridge, Waters took to another microphone screaming to "Stop, stop, STOP!"

A few well placed expletives were directed to the sound team followed by Waters sincerely apologizing to the audience, declaring that they are going to fix this because he came to Los Angeles to sing the song and he bloody well was going to sing it. After the longest three minutes I've ever witnessed at a concert, the sound issues were worked out and Waters declared they were going back to the top of "The Thin Ice", issued out of respect to the audience and as a command to the massive production crew, who had to quickly reset everything from lights to sound to the projects across the massive wall. The concert proceeded flawlessly throughout the rest of the performance.

"Mother" performed live at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The familiar set pieces were all there, from the inflatable puppet of The School Master during "Another Brick in the The Wall (Part 2)" to Gerald Scarfe's disturbing and beautiful animations to the stage crew slowly filling in the pieces of the Wall throughout the first half of the performance. But it was the additions and updates to the visual presentation which were most interesting and gave the story of The Wall significantly greater meaning.

"What Shall We Do?" Animation by Gerald Scarfe

The most notable of these additions were the acoustic reprise of "Another Brick in the The Wall (Part 2)" coupled with the story the murder of Jean Charles de Menzes which Waters tells from the stage with genuine fervor, and the overarching themes of questioning authority and anti-consumerism interlaced throughout the concert. The change with the second most powerful impact came with the updating of the animation to "Goodbye Blue Sky".

Bombs of symbology rain down upon the audience

Where the original animation by Gerald Scarfe depicted a nightmare interpretation of the World War II bombing of England, the new animation featured waves of strategic bombers dropping payloads of corporate, religious and government symbols across the audience, resulting in an utterly thought provoking moment that made you forget for a moment that The Wall was born out of Waters' alienation from disrespectful Pink Floyd fans and a desire to wall off the band from its live audience. Of course the irony of an anti-consumerism message after dropping triple digits on tickets to the concert was not lost on this reviewer.

"If I had my way, I'd have all of you shot!"

The most powerful moment of the concert came during the build up to its jaw dropping finale, as Roger Waters, decked out as a modern fascist dictator and his Surrogate Band stormed through the song cycle of "The Show Must Go On", "In The Flesh" and "Run Like Hell". Waters and the band, wearing Marching Hammers emblazoned armbands were flanked by similarly dressed flag wavers as a great inflatable warthog, covered in graffiti and iconography floated above the audience. The audience chanted "Hammers!" with their arms crossed, worshiping the character Waters was portraying. The projections on the wall were chilling as Waters simultaneously interrogated the audience while whipping them into what amounted to the rock concert equivalent of a Lustgarten rally. The climax came at the end of "In The Flesh" as the Waters/Dictator pulled out a machine gun and summarily executed the audience with repeated bursts of fire into all sections of the stadium. The accompanying over-sized Wall projections of Waters gunning down the audience is a moment which should be permanently seared into the collective conscious and memories of those in attendance. The message was clear to those sober enough to realize it and was undoubtedly an epochal moment in the concert going experiences of many of those who witnessed it.

Pigs, or rather warthog, on the wing

The concert could have ended right then and there and I would have been satisfied that I'd seen a spectacular performance, but the true finale was just beginning. Gerald Scarfe's animations covered the Wall as Pink is tried before the crowd and following tens of thousand of voices screaming "Tear down the Wall!" right on cue, the massive structure collapses in a cloud of theatrical smoke, lights and a cacophonous roar.

Waters and the band emerged from the destruction, playing an extended version of "Outside the Wall" as Waters thanked each member, along with the 100-plus member crew and the audience. Waters seemed genuinely humbled by and appreciative of the reception they received. Then lights up, and the audience was left to ponder just how extensively their minds had been blown by the experience.

The Wall Live was not so much a concert really, as much as a full sensory experience. The combination of music, visuals, well-timed theatricality and it's underlying message will forever be ingrained in my mind.

"Isn't this where..."

For furthering reading, I encourage you to check out Roger Waters' own words in his essay, "Why The Wall Now?" as they put forth his reasoning behind touring The Wall and the deeper meaning he has tried to convey with its message. Also, please check out this photo gallery of The Wall Live featuring 68 images from the concert.

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