Best live version of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'

[Willie G. Moseley]

Call it karma: Earlier this week I was listening to Is Anybody Out There?, the live version of The Wall recorded '80-'81, released in 2000. Didn't know that the AXS channel had a Floyd marathon going on today, and tonight it included the Roger Waters version from his 2010-2013 tours.

A 1990 live in Berlin version was also released some time back (and didn't that one have a buncha guest vocalists?)

It's kind of an apples-and-oranges comparison on accounta the '80-'81 album is audio only (unless they put out a DVD that I didn't know about). This earliest presentation is raw and gutsy, with some extra lyrics and a couple of new tunes.

Waters' recent presentation has spectacular effects, particularly at the outset, and when Waters slipped on that leather coast with the red and white armband, I briefly wondered if Leni Riefenstahl was filming the production.

The musicianship on the new effort is fine (G.E. Smith shows up at one point), and Waters updates his socio-political commentaries/rants (depends on your p.o.v.) with names and images of selected modern-day casualties of violence and war. The reflective quiet moments like re-reading a letter to his mother regarding his father's death in WWII might strike some viewers as pretentious. (YMMV)

The crowd at the recent show seemed to be surprisingly younger than I might have thought; didn't catch where it was filmed, and Waters addresses the crowd in French at one point.

One wonders which version would be preferable, considering the historical perspective--the original Real McCoy, Berlin '90, or a hi-tech, impressive production that's also available on video?

[RobB]

I had a VHS copy of "Berlin" and viewed it many times. It was a very creative take on the theatrical aspect of the live show, and using guest vocalists for various songs was brilliant.

Scorpions were the "Surrogate Band" ("In the Flesh"), Cyndi Lauper sang, "Another Brick...Pt.1", and the climactic guitar duel between SNOWY WHITE and the other guy, standing atop opposite sides of the wall was killer.

That said, I am so sick to my guts of Waters milking this cash cow for the last 40 years or so. Enough. I get it, Rog: Your dad died in the war and you were raised by a domineering, cold mother and you're sad. Sucks to be you. Get some therapy or put out some new music for a change...

[geoff_hartwell]

Paging burningyen...

Apples and bowling balls.

There are several bootlegs of the original Wall shows at Nassau Coliseum on the original tour- very worth watching. I suggest further reading on the subject for context, but a mammoth show by any standard.

The Wall in Berlin in 90 was Roger Waters' Hail Mary move after years of whining and litigating- being very public about his scorn for the band - pissing on them in the press while suing them unsuccessfully- then continuing to cry while he was half empty on the road (see figures for 'A momentary Lapse of Reason' versus RW solo effort). For Berlin in 90- He needed his name, and only his name, re-established. It comes off, to me, like a musical revue with a political bent rather than a musical statement. Vegas does politics.

And while I truly loved Pink Floyd at Yankee Stadium in 94 on the Division Bell tour, I have always preferred the collaborations to the separations.

I saw Roger Waters do The Wall at Nassau on the last tour and it was quite a spectacle.  But- This time just an overtly political statement. Hammering you over the head from note one. While the work has always had a political backdrop, the initial recording, as I understood it, was the story of a little boy whose father died in a war and his journey through school and family to his ill-fated "Rock star" existence and retreat behind a wall. A personal story. Roger's, in fact. This has a tragic end, obviously, but they're all just "bricks in the wall". The relatable aspects to me are struggles and choices, not necessarily one defining thing to blame. As I witnessed on the last run, it became RW's torch for his various causes, but unified by the blame on the horror of war, complete with a multi-cultural chorus line of children. I get it, but the bent broke it for me.

In contrast, Gilmour with his solo band (including Rick Wright) on the On an Island tour at Radio City was a masterpiece. Doing "Find The Cost of Freedom" with Graham Nash and David Crosby had far more impact on me, while keeping the focus musical.

YMMV

 

[Biz Prof]

14 hours ago, RobB said:

That said, I am so sick to my guts of Waters milking this cash cow for the last 40 years or so. Enough. I get it, Rog: Your dad died in the war and you were raised by a domineering, cold mother and you're sad. Sucks to be you. Get some therapy or put out some new music for a change...

You speak for many, many people, including a certain David Gilmour.

[burningyen]

I'm not old enough to have seen the original tour, but the recent production was pretty incredible. You can call it milking something to death, but for the most part the themes and the songs are timeless IMHO. I was a little disappointed that the lip sync accusations seemed credible, though.

I was lucky enough to win tix to the 2015 premiere of the concert film in NYC. If you're a fan, it's worth seeing and adds quite a bit of good material that straddles the line between documentary and art film. If you're not a fan, it's not going to convert you. Waters was gracious during the Q&A afterwards.

[LucSulla]

I saw it live in Orlando in 2012, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen, and that's coming from someone firmly in Camp Gilmour who apparently shares very little in common with Roger's politics. 

I went mostly out of curiosity - my experience with legacy acts to that point was almost never good.  But tickets were cheap-ish, and I knew even "nosebleed" in a basketball arena wouldn't be that bad. Plus, it's such a big stage production, that there were some advantages to being further back.  I figured why not?  

One minute into "In the Flesh,"  I looked at the stranger next to me and said, "This is going to be the best show I've ever seen."   

[gorch]

I have a live version from restorated tapes from the original concert series at Earls Court, London. It's a booklet double CD called Is There Anybody Out There?