As Roger Waters brings his solo tour of The Wall to Europe this summer, the inevitable comparisons arise with his gala presentation of the Pink Floyd classic in 1990 in Berlin.
The show, held on some eight months after the Berlin Wall fell, featured guest appearances by the Band, Van Morrison, the Scorpions, Paul Carrack and Thomas Dolby, among others. But even as outsized as that presentation once seemed, Waters says it’s nothing compared to the new stadium setup.
“This one will be 800 feet wide, to make it the widest wall ever,” Waters says in the new video below. “When we did it in Berlin, the end of the wall tailed off. Here, it’s going to look as if it disappears into that military base, on stage left — and through the trees, over there on the right. We get a Great Wall of China effect.”
The original full-band tour of The Wall lasted through just 29 stops. It would be the last Pink Floyd album and tour to feature Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright. As the decades passed, however, Waters never gave up on the concept — even as its meaning to him began to evolve.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, outdoors, theatrically,” Waters says. “The wall has become a more universal metaphor for the human condition. It is a universal predicament that we find ourselves in, with the walls of media and commerce and corporate strategy. They separate us from the reality of our potential lives. It has to do with the potential that we human beings have to connect with one another. That’s what The Wall is about.”
Since reviving The Wall as a solo show, Waters has presented it more than 190 times, playing to some three million fans across the globe. This new European leg will include shows in Germany, of course, as well as England, France, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Croatia and others.
“If you don’t come,” Waters adds, “there’s something fucking wrong with you.”
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Southside Johnny mentioned that G.E. Smith was going out on tour with Waters. good for G.E.
personally, i just can’t believe that Waters is still touring this thing. sure, the meaning has evolved but dang…enough!
Roger Waters says: “If you don’t come, there’s something fucking wrong with you.”
Perhaps there is nothing wrong with me. Some of us are burned-out on the show and your EGO as well!
Roger Waters is an angry anachronism.
How grandiose is he to think that “everyone ” should come to listen to him sing the same music that he has been playing for years?
His political diatribes are also tiring.
Time to retire Roger……or get some therapy.
I was a huge fan of Roger Waters, but now that he’s an extremist and a bigot who promotes discrimination while pretending to care about peace, I think he’s garbage now.