Live: Roger Water – The Wall – Wembley Stadium – 14/09/2013

When Pink Floyd first released ‘The Wall’ back in 1979, it was born of Roger Waters’ frustration and ever increasing sense of alienation from the stadium crowds that Floyd were regularly performing to. A sense of frustration which led to the now infamous spitting incident on the 1977 “In The Flesh” tour.  The Wall is Waters’ tale of the drug addled Rock star’s attempt to isolate himself within his own mind and the cause and effect of doing so. It’s fitting then, that at the ripe old age of 70, the bassist / frontman has chosen to bring the full stage production of the album back to a stadium audience.

Wembley is packed almost to capacity tonight with an estimated 70,000 in attendance. Young and old, dads bringing their kids to see the spectacle, twenty-somethings who grew up with the music but were too young to see the show the first time around. There’s a real sense of anticipation and wonder on the faces of those entering as they catch their first glimpses of the partially built wall. A 40 foot high metaphor which stretches the entire width of the national football ground.  The house lights go down and the excited chatter is instantly replaced by a few moments of intense silence. Faces begin to appear on the already constructed sections of the wall, which tonight will act as a huge projection screen. A brief snippet from Spartacus accompanies. Then it begins. Those first few unmistakable bars of ‘In The Flesh’ ring out as Waters and his backing band take to this spectacular stage amid fireworks and flag bearers. As the opener reaches it’s climax, a German Stuka Bomber flies the length of the stadium and disappears behind the wall in a huge fireball. Now THAT is how you open a concert.

“If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding!”

The first half of the show continues in much the same vein, all the staples are present including the child choir and giant schoolteacher puppet during “Brick 2”. All the while, ultra-HD projections appear on the ever growing edifice which has the startling effect of making a venue this vast feel as intimate as your front room. It’s clear from the manner of these animations, that Roger Waters has injected new meaning into these immortal songs.

Mother should I trust the government?

Once a spoiled rock star’s attempt to lash out at the world, The Wall has been transformed into a political statement. An anti-establishment, anti-war protest set to the soundtrack of someone’s mental breakdown. The clearest example of this occurs when Waters sings the line “Mother should I trust the Government?” and behind him, in bloody red script appear the words “NO FUCKING WAY”.

Waters only halts the flow of the album to interact with the audience on a couple of occasions, one of which being to explain the inclusion of a new song, a haunting acoustic number dedicated to Jean Charles De Menezes – the young Brazilian man mistakenly shot by police on the London Underground in the wake of the 7/7 bombings. An act which the Ex-Floyd man refers to as an act of “State Terrorism”. Too fucking right.

‘Goodbye Cruel World’ signals the end of the first half as Roger and band are sealed behind the final brick and the Wall is complete. A brief intermission follows, presumably to give the enthralled crowd a chance to take in the pure magnificence of what they are witnessing. The 2nd half begins with an eerie rendition of ‘Hey You’ being emitted from behind the blank wall. It’s simplistic, but very effective in conveying the feeling of isolation intended by the artist. It’s from this point onwards that the huge collection of white blocks really comes into its own as a jumbo cinema screen. One particular sequence played during ‘Bring the Boys Back Home’ and ‘Vera’ of a child being re-united with her soldier father, has even the most uncaring bastard in the audience reaching for the Kleenex.

Comfortably Numb – Epic

The word epic is tossed about a lot thesedays, often to describe the most mundane of things, but when used in a sentence alongside the words “Comfortably” and “Numb” it is entirely justifiable. Arguably the highlight of the set, it sees Waters perform the verses from the bottom of the wall while two other members of the band perform the chorus and solos from the top. And that solo, you know the one. When it kicks in Waters beats both fists against the wall which erupts into on ocean of swirling colours. It is staggeringly beautiful. Following this, the frontman dons his Dictator uniform and a huge inflatable pig adorned with capitalist logos and slogans emerges from behind the wall. As the rest of the set passes the pig gradually makes it’s way to the centre of the crowd where it decends to be torn apart by the eagerly obliging audience below.

The finalé arrives, and what a finalé it is. Gerald Sarfe’s iconic animations appear and ‘The Trial’ takes it’s course ending with the inevitable chorus of “TEAR DOWN THE WALL”. And down it comes, all forty feet tumbling down rendering the protagonist of the story free. Waters and his musicians return for an upbeat version of outro track ‘Outside The Wall’ which gives the prog legend chance to introduce his band as they exit one by one. It’s obvious from his general demeanor and the gigantic grin plastered across his face that Waters has excorcised the demons of his past and now lives for occasions such as this.

In summary as an audio and visual spectacle; The Wall is simply unrivalled. The crystal clear surround sound absolutely fills the vast space inside Wembley Stadium, and the show in general is unlike anything any other band has ever done or is ever likely to do again.

10 out of 10

Words: Alex Loach

Photos: Jane Driver