Roger Waters - The Wall
Phones 4U Arena, Manchester (formerly the MEN)
Manchester, UK
16th September 2013

When "Pink Floyd" released The Wall (34 years ago...?!!) I wasn't much more than a boy. Whilst Floyd weren't renowned for churning out
happy-go-lucky pop songs, this album felt especially dark and cynical, an extention of Roger's then-disturbed ego. For me, it also spelled
(with due respect to Syd-era fans) the end of the "classic" line-up.

I skipped a couple of school exams to catch the show at Earls Court. Whilst mightily impressive, seeing the show didn't totally eliminate the
darkness I'd always associated with the work.

Success over time is often largely down to how well (or otherwise) something adapts over the interim period. A year or so ago I got the chance
to revisit the show when Roger last brought it to Manchester. Wow. An utterly amazing excitement of the senses. Roger's modern day adaptation
made what I'd seen all those years ago look like the set from a 70's episode of BBC's Dr Who. Whilst none of the "personal to Roger" side of
things had been lost, it had been adapted in such a way that it was so much more relevant to the issues today's world than was ever the case
at inception. It was both thought provoking and mind blowing, underpinned by a fabulous sound track.

Seeing Roger's modern-day rework the second time around was no less awe inspiring. Although I knew exactly what to expect, I still left the
arena totally blown away. Everything about this production is World Class, the sound, the lights, the props, the special effects, and not least
the presentation and musicianship. It's huge. It's awesome. There's nothing like it.

This time I sat out the interval and took in the array of interesting (and largely) World music that was the sound track to the varied stories
of those lost as a consequence of war. Brief biographies (with photo) were projected onto the now completed Wall throughout the set-break. Really
quite moving, and whilst their "fallings" were very varied (in terms of time and circumstance) I concluded that there was a common denominator
running throughout of "wrong".

Manchester Arena's a "typical" large, multi-purpose arena.
Ordinarily, with an end stage the seated capacity is between 13,500 and 15,800.
Given all the seating space required to house the equipment and "NASA-level"
sound and lighting technology I'd be surprised if more than 12,000 could have been
squeezed in. In any event, it appeared full.

Part One
01 Pre-show Spartacus!
02 In The Flesh?
03 The Thin Ice
04 Another Brick In The Wall Part 1
05 The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
06 Another Brick In The Wall Part 2
07 The Ballad Of Jean Charles de Menezes
08 Roger Speaks
09 Mother
10 Goodbye Blue Sky
11 Empty Spaces
12 What Shall We Do Now?
13 Young Lust
14 One Of My Turns
15 Don't Leave Me Now
16 Another Brick In The Wall Part 3
17 The Last Few Bricks
18 Goodbye Cruel World

Part Two
19 Hey You
20 Is There Anybody Out There?
21 Nobody Home
22 Vera
23 Bring The Boys Back Home
24 Comfortably Numb
25 The Show Must Go On
26 In The Flesh
27 Run Like Hell
28 Waiting For The Worms
29 Stop
30 The Trial
31 Outside The Wall
32 Band Intros And Outro



Recorded By Lesterferget
13 rows back, just left of centre on the floor.
A Rockin� Regimental Recording

Lineage :

SP-CMC-4U >
TASCAM DR-40 >
Sound Forge Pro 10 >
Trader's Little Helper (level 8) >
Torrent Site

Do what you will with it - except sell it :
You got it for nowt, you give it for nowt

Whether or not Roger takes this show out on the road again remains to be seen. If he does, I and countless others will be there. Should that happen,
and if you haven't yet experienced it, be sure not to pass up on the opportunity to experience this marvelous spectacle.