Took my younger son Sam (the other Pink Floyd fan of the family) to see The Wall. This was my second time, as I was a part of promoting the original Wall album and performance.
It was terrific as ever, and now ramped up with 21st Century sound and lighting effects. It also boasts an even larger message. I don’t want to give too much away for those yet to see it—just, DON’T MISS IT!
The prices are a bit steep, and audiences have rightly balked at some of this summer’s concert ticket prices. For sure, some acts have become too greedy and there are added fees from the venues and everyone else who have now got their fingers in the pie. But, you need to understand that to mount a theatrical piece as big as The Wall, it takes an awful lot of dough. So, don’t slag Roger or the promoters for this one—it just costs a lot to tour this show.
Walls, flying pigs, 40 feet marionettes, and airplanes that crash and blow up indoors aren’t sold in your local shops. These are one-of-a-kind spectacles that are built custom, from scratch! And, in some cases there has to be doubles of effects built in case one breaks.
I remember back in the day, the Pink Floyd shows were so enormous that the band didn’t even break even until the first half of the tour was over! And talk about a work ethic; if any part broke during their time on the road, no expense was spared flying new parts into to ensure that every fan saw the exact same show.
The Wall is a total sensory experience with surround sound and an onslaught of visual effects and projections that will make your mind melt. And you will also walk away transformed by the messages offered.
Sam (now 25 years old), and I were so moved by the show that we even bought a T-shirt and a hoody on the way out!
It was also great to be able to take Sam to a show like this now that he is older and can appreciate it more.
On the Division Bell tour, I took both kids (Sam and his 3 year older brother Adam) to see a couple of shows. So, they were like 9 and 12 years old at the time. They found themselves backstage at a lot of shows not really quite understanding where they were.
We were having dinner with the crew (there are so many people on a Pink Floyd tour it’s like a floating city!), and I brought David and Nick over to meet them. I remember Adam looking up, having very little clue to the importance of these two men. His head popped up, he smiled, and said, “Hey guys, nice to meet ya, thanks for the ribs they’re awesome!! Everyone had a good chuckle.
Sam, the quiet one, said nothing but was invited by Pink Floyd’s long time visual genius Storm Thorgerson, to sit behind and under the big round screen on stage for the end of the show where it was set to explode. Seems this was a nightly ritual for some members of the crew and management.
So, we’re sitting under the big screen, the cue comes and someone yells, “close your eyes!” The blast of light and heat was positively nuclear! I swear it singed my eyebrows. Of course, it had to be big, it had to “play” big for the 60,000 people at Yankee Stadium—and we were sitting right below it!!!
Well, that’s enough for now. Just want to give a shout-out to everyone sending in their Neil Young, biggest fan stories. There’s still time to enter this great contest—send us yours!
Keep Rockin’!
Rap~
