Roger Waters - The Wall

Saturday, December 11th, I went to see my icon, Roger Waters, perform The Wall at the Tacoma Dome. This was my third time seeing him live in the past decade, always a monumental event for me, yet especially this time as The Wall (see the original movie below) is my favorite album of all time.



Conceptually, The Wall is centered on themes of alienation and the inability to connect; with a partner, parents, war, the world. The main character in the narrative ends up loosing his connection with a sane reality due to the distance between himself and everyone else and ultimately between himself and himself. These struggles through madness, lack of validation and a need for self-love and acceptance in a vast landscape of detachment to truth and empathy, have spoken to me on an almost subconsciously deep level since I first discovered Pink Floyd in 1995, at the Pacific Science Center's Laser Dome. A cliche perhaps, as I was 15 and struggling through adolescence, and subsequently introduced to psychedelics, but relevant all the same. 

The revelation that alternative thought and subculture existed in contrary to the "white picket fence" facade projected by the mainstream norm accompanied by the first of many spiritual awakenings, created a larger awareness of the discord I was experiencing in modern life; the "Wall", if you will, that I sensed around me everywhere. At the time, I connected with the emotion held within the music, the indelible beauty of each mindful detail; the almost inaudible breath and incredible soar of the crescendo in Mother, the humming harmonious vocals, the complexity of each creative, surprising turn. It wasn't until much later that I understood the more literal story Waters was telling. I was careful not to ruin my fascination with the music. I was afraid if I knew the band members' names and associated with the art on a superficial level, the magic would be lost or I would find some falseness in the message due to a crack in the soul of the performers or concept. I needed to keep the mystery alive or else, who knew? I might find out Santa Claus wasn't real. The sense of masterpiece for me now lies partially in the fact that the more I learn about Waters and his moral compass or spiritual grounding (as that is really what I'm talking about here), the safer I feel having devoted so much emotion toward his projects.

Water's discusses his reasoning on performing "The Wall" in 2010: http://www.rogerwaters.com/why 

30 Years ago when I wrote The Wall I was a frightened young man. Well not that young, I was 36 years old.
It took me a long time to get over my fears. Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss with it’s concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns.: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, Whatever!  All these issues and ‘isms are driven by the same fears that drove my young life.
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.

The Wall shines light on universal themes of unconsciousness, abandonment and fear through a tour de force of art, music and poetry. The songs themselves become the cry, the wail, the ache for connection in a disconnected world; a souring mission to address each listener, each instrument of human kind to, for God's sake, please wake up! At 15, I didn't need to be told this precisely. I knew it in my heartbeat, my footstep and through the story of the songs.

The stage show and performance of The Wall 2010 felt tangible and comprehensive. 30 years later, Waters delivers his points clearly by applying his messages to our current and continued situations in politics, media, world issues, war and the objectification of women, while visually keeping a vintage and artistic feel by use of animated clips from the film, black and white images and footage from his 1980 performance.

I insisted on covering Comfortably Numb with my band, Hallways. I was told it was a risky song to choose but our performance comes from a very personal place, in tribute to a band, a poet and concepts that have helped me to define my spirit, boundaries, personal strengths and a need to continue to create art that I hope in some small way inspires others. Pink Floyd's The Wall, both empowered and included me in an essential discussion. Thank you, Mr. Waters for letting me know I was never alone in my quest to "tear down The Wall".