It was circa 1981 and L.A. was a hot bed of musical influences.
The Boss was filling stadiums and Van Halen was blowing up. The Police were arguably the biggest band in the world. The Stones were pre-geriatric and there was an entire new-wave punk-thing happening.
The L.A. Music scene was alive.
And then the Wall dropped.
I remember hearing it for the first time on KMET 94.7 FM
It was unlike anything I had ever heard.
It was a rock and roll opera, a musical story, about walls between generations and people and countries.
It was mind blowing and trust me, it blew a lot of minds.
And now it is coming back to a stadium near you.
I am watching 60 Minutes and they are profiling 68 year old Roger Waters who was the glue of the original Pink Floyd 33 years ago.
He was the lyricist, the bass player and as the reporter will say, the “visionary creative force” of Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
Waters left Pink Floy 30 plus years ago. So he is flying solo, on the stage himself, but he is hardly alone.
WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION, WE DON’T NEED NO THOUGHT CONTROL.
400,000 people in Buenos Aires can’t be wrong. They are singing in unison, united, screaming “Tear down the wall.”
Waters describes the show that is now sweeping the globe as one of the most complicated shows ever produced.
“It strikes a chord that is beneath the surface,” he says, adding, “There are walls between human beings. There are walls between families and on a global level.”
The show features 42 high definition projectors that beam dreamy imagery onto a wall 3 stories tall and longer than a football field.
“Has anyone tried this before?” the reporter asks.
“Nothing even close,” Waters answers.
The stage is surreal. It almost makes the U-2 tour look like a postage stamp.
There is a full orchestra. The wall, full of lasers and projections, is so visually powerful it is hypnotic.
Soldiers marching, and bricks falling and angry visuals 50 yards wide.
Waters says, for him, the Wall has a deep connection to his dad who was killed in WWII.
Waters wrote the wall as biographical reflection. It focuses on themes ranging from alienation to isolation and redemption.
HELLO, IS THERE ANYBODY IN THERE?
JUST NOD IF YOU CAN HEAR ME.
IS THERE ANYONE AT HOME?
I wasn’t thinking of going to this show prior to the 60 minutes broadcast.
But then I saw the imagery and heard the music that is so iconic, so interwoven with my youth, it made me want to reach into my wallet and spend upwards of $350 dollars.
I remember when the Pink Floyd played L.A. 30 years ago.
It was at the L.A. Coliseum. There were 90,000 people transfixed, tripping on something.
I remember huge puppets on cables flying over the audience from the top of the stadium.
It was the mid 80’s and it was ahead of its time then.
Later the Group would actually play the entire Wall album and build the wall brick by brick while the concert played.
I had Friends who went said it was unlike anything they had ever experienced.
But this show is going to be so much more. It’s going to be Avatar meets U2 meets the Avengers meets the Superbowl.
Someone in my office asked why I wanted to see a 70 year old man play bass?
“He’ll probably have a heart attack,” the man jokes.
I chuckle thinking that a rather myopic statement. Would it matter if Shakespeare got on stage to recite Hamlet? Would his age dissuade you from going? Or would Shakespeare’s seniority add to your experience and the magnificence of his story telling prowess?
All I know is that it’s a pricey ticket, but if I can figure out how not to pay the power bill for a few weeks, I might just go and Feel Comfortably Numb.
Life’s Crazy™