More Than Just Another Brick In The Wall
Via Business Week -
It’s been 30 years, but Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” still means a great deal in the rock world — and to its co-creator Roger Waters.
So to commemorate the groundbreaking album’s anniversary, Waters plans a tour this fall of the music from the concept album, with new staging that will bring the story — loosely inspired by his life — to a new generation.
“In the 30-odd years since I first performed this piece, it’s taken on some new meanings for me,” Waters, co-founder, bassist and main lyricist for Pink Floyd, said in an interview last week.
“Thirty years ago when I was kind of an angry and not very young lad, I found myself driven into defensive positions because I was scared of stuff, and I’ve come to realize that in that personal story, maybe somewhere hidden in there exists an allegory for more general and universal themes, political and social themes,” he said. “It’s really for that reason that I decided that I’d try and create a new performance of this piece using a lot of the same things that we did all those years ago.”
But Waters said he won’t just be dusting off the show that the now-defunct Pink Floyd performed decades ago. In fact, Waters said part of the excitement surrounding his new staging of “The Wall” involves new technology that allows him to do things he could only dream about in the 1980s and ’90s.
This time thirty years ago, I was a senior in High School counting down the days until June. And, as you can imagine, back in those days, Pink Floyd’s newly released “The Wall” was a huge deal to me and many of my classmates.
Somehow, my buddy Gary scored tickets to go see “The Wall” tour in February 1980 at the Nassau Coliseum. He got orchestra seats. Something obscene like the twelfth row. It was me, him, his brother Danny and someone else (who I can’t remember – though it was probably our buddy Dave). It was – and still is – the most incredible concert experience of my life. I was barely 17-years old.
Later, I found out that the Nassau Coliseum was one of only two arenas in 1980 to host “The Wall” tour. How I managed to luck into that one, I have no idea? Talk about really stepping into it. Got an awesome three-quartered sleeve baseball-style concert shirt at that one. It’s long since gone. Wore that puppy until it was a rag.
I can’t believe that was thirty years ago.
It is a brilliant album, conceptually, musically and lyrically.
But as a high school math teacher, I can live without that “We don’t need no education” crap.
I still like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here better, but The Wall is outstanding, on its own merits.
Time flies when you’re having fun…
Evan3457 wrote:
I remember buying the Wall back in the day, that was an album you couldn’t get away from! I remember learning how to play Young Lust on guitar and jamming Another Brick In The Wall woth a good friend of mine.
Evan , I actually prefer Wish You Were Here to both DSOTM and The Wall BUT The Wall is my second favorite in the post Syd Barret era. Bob Ezrin who produced Alice cooper and Kiss came on to produce this album and he added an interesting texture to it that was striking compared to their previous effort ,animals.
If I remember correctly The Floyd only played LA,London and the NYC area because of the expense involved. I’m from Long Island(and still live there) and wanted to go BUT didn’t. How I wish I could have been there,ah the regrets of youth…….
I was also at one of the Nassau shows, along with 7 friends, somebody’s mom’s station wagon and some errr, shall we say, substances. Truly a rare pleasure, just astounding to watch.