-Sean Spillane, Tribune Business News
The Tour
Roger Waters ran onto stage wearing a black hoddie to kick off his 2010 “The Wall” tour September 15 at the Air Canada Theatre in Toronto, including “new projections, ranging from combat footage in Iraq to slick animation, an astounding light show and 360-degree acoustics” (Sheffield.) There is no doubt the current tour has brought a brand new front to the otherwise deeply adapted Pink Floyd album. However, the band's original tour was relatively small and monetarily unsuccessful, performing for 29 locations in only four different cities to an estimated crowd of 300,000. (Whitlock)
Effects from the 1979-1980’s tour are consistent with Water’s current global tour, including back-lit screens, puppeteers and “technical wizardry” that was used in similar thematic displays (Whitlock). Though, there are notable differences “as stage director Mark Fisher has admitted, technology has made the task of recreating the 1980 tour much easier” (Sheffield.) The Wall is now being seen like never before, with a new visual component to aid interpretation of the music. Pink Floyd fans will be experiencing a different side to the continually successful concept of The Wall’s many metaphors. The aid of detailed stage design displays the availability of alternative entertainment landscapes. With the development of new technology, visual guides will become richer with character and context, expanding the horizons of digital ability.
Waters offers an explanation for the recreated tour, saying, “This new production of The Wall is an attempt to draw some comparisons, to illuminate our current predicament, and is dedicated to all the innocent lost in the intervening years” (rogerwaters.com).
He adds that technology is pivotal to productive communication in understanding and providing a healthier environment for those whom the album speaks for (Soldiers lost in war and the emotionally isolated (rogerwaters.com).) The lines, “Hey, Teacher! Leave them kids alone!” from the single "Another Brick In The Wall pt.2," have served as an anthem for students everywhere, (though recently Waters had said the line wasn't mean to degrade all teachers (Toronto)), culminating the passionate, rioting theme in the album. As a semi-autobiographical album of Waters, The Wall will continue to be a fascinating platform open for infinite interpretation through many different media formats.
Effects from the 1979-1980’s tour are consistent with Water’s current global tour, including back-lit screens, puppeteers and “technical wizardry” that was used in similar thematic displays (Whitlock). Though, there are notable differences “as stage director Mark Fisher has admitted, technology has made the task of recreating the 1980 tour much easier” (Sheffield.) The Wall is now being seen like never before, with a new visual component to aid interpretation of the music. Pink Floyd fans will be experiencing a different side to the continually successful concept of The Wall’s many metaphors. The aid of detailed stage design displays the availability of alternative entertainment landscapes. With the development of new technology, visual guides will become richer with character and context, expanding the horizons of digital ability.
Waters offers an explanation for the recreated tour, saying, “This new production of The Wall is an attempt to draw some comparisons, to illuminate our current predicament, and is dedicated to all the innocent lost in the intervening years” (rogerwaters.com).
He adds that technology is pivotal to productive communication in understanding and providing a healthier environment for those whom the album speaks for (Soldiers lost in war and the emotionally isolated (rogerwaters.com).) The lines, “Hey, Teacher! Leave them kids alone!” from the single "Another Brick In The Wall pt.2," have served as an anthem for students everywhere, (though recently Waters had said the line wasn't mean to degrade all teachers (Toronto)), culminating the passionate, rioting theme in the album. As a semi-autobiographical album of Waters, The Wall will continue to be a fascinating platform open for infinite interpretation through many different media formats.
"The [Wall Tour] shows lost money at every date - tickets were around $12 - and the band was falling apart."
-Brian Hiatt, Back To The Wall
-Brian Hiatt, Back To The Wall
Video: "The Wall" 2010 Tour Opening
Air Canada Theatre, Toronto
September 27
Sources/Links
Hiatt, Brian. "Back To The Wall." Rolling Stone, 2010. <http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/pqdweb?index=19&did=2149620691&>
Parker, Alan. "Pink Floyd The Wall." Goldcrest Films International, 1982.
Pink Floyd. "The Wall." Electric & Musical Industries Ltd.1979
SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1287962340&clientId=3552>
Sheffield, Hazel. "Roger Waters: The Wall, Air Canada Theatre, Toronto, review." Telegraph, 2010. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music /rockandpopreviews/8006385/Roger-Waters-The-Wall-Air-Canada-Theatre-Toronto-review.html>
Saturday Night. "Pink Floyd Gets A Country Cousin [The Wall]." Toronto. 2001. <http://proquest.umi.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/pqdweb?index=9&did=372332071&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1287961639&clientId=3552#indexing>
Whitlock, Kevin. "Pink Floyd - Behind The Wall. Record Collector, March 2000. <http://www.pink-floyd.org/artint/rc032000.htm>
Waters, Roger. "Why Am I Doing The Wall Again Now?" Tour Blog, 2010. <http://www.rogerwaters.com/why>
Parker, Alan. "Pink Floyd The Wall." Goldcrest Films International, 1982.
Pink Floyd. "The Wall." Electric & Musical Industries Ltd.1979
SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1287962340&clientId=3552>
Sheffield, Hazel. "Roger Waters: The Wall, Air Canada Theatre, Toronto, review." Telegraph, 2010. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music /rockandpopreviews/8006385/Roger-Waters-The-Wall-Air-Canada-Theatre-Toronto-review.html>
Saturday Night. "Pink Floyd Gets A Country Cousin [The Wall]." Toronto. 2001. <http://proquest.umi.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/pqdweb?index=9&did=372332071&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1287961639&clientId=3552#indexing>
Whitlock, Kevin. "Pink Floyd - Behind The Wall. Record Collector, March 2000. <http://www.pink-floyd.org/artint/rc032000.htm>
Waters, Roger. "Why Am I Doing The Wall Again Now?" Tour Blog, 2010. <http://www.rogerwaters.com/why>
