This post will be heavy on the visual 'cause, damn, words can barely describe the spectacle of visually experiencing
The Wall live, front to back. But I'll give it my best. It started with a startle. Myself and everyone around me simultaneously jumped at the first bursting note of "In the Flesh?" The bright and flashy pyro complimented the initial shock perfectly. The partially built wall on stage was used as a huge screen for the jaw-dropping visual effects and was slowly built to completion, brick by brick, by the intermission after the first set of songs on the first disc of the best selling double-album of all time,
The Wall. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first tune came to a close with a WWII style miniature plane flying from the back of Philips Arena and crashing into part of the top of the wall in a fiery explosion. Wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch it for yall. The band was joined by a local children's choir for "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" and the humongous inflatable teacher from the movie of the same name as the album. Follow that with the inflatable mother character during "Mother." Production value of the show was just through the roof, which it needed to be with a $150 ticket. Roger wasn't without his political opinion in art form during the whole show, especially during "Goodbye Blue Sky" when the animated planes on the wall were dropping corporate symbols (Shell, Mercedes-Benz, McDonalds), religious symbols (Christian Cross, Star of David), and political symbols (swastika, crescent moon and star, scythe and hammer) instead of bombs. Symbolism through the roof as well. But the mood was lightened a little when there was video of a completely nude, smokin' hot chick dancing on the at least 50 foot wall, that was now near completion, during "Young Lust." God damn, I fuckin' love rock 'n' roll! Not that I'm familiar at all with new technology, but they had some kind of camera that was capturing Roger, and nothing in the background behind him, and projecting it on the wall throughout the performance.
When the wall was completed at the finish of "Goodbye Cruel World", intermission started and the wall had pictures and short bios of not only KIA veterans, but also civilians of many nationalities whose lives were taken during militant strife, apparently sent to Roger which he then used in the production.
When they came back from the break, it was just Roger in front of the completed wall to sing "Hey You" followed by scenes from the movie,
The Wall, magnified on the huge surface during the next songs. Not for nothin, but I like watching the musicians do their thang, but they were all still hid behind the wall jammin. Especially for the gut bustin solo in "Comfortably Numb". About that time, half way through the solo, I saw the guitarist at the very top of the wall with a spot light on him just tearin it up. I didn't notice him initially because there was this large group of cables hanging from the ceiling down to the ground out in front of me that was right in my line of sight for him. No where on my expensive-ass ticket did it say "obs-vu." (that's venue speak for obstructed view) But, oh well, what can you do, at least I noticed him in time to witness half the solo. The band eventually joined him in front of the wall and the floating inflatable pig made his expected appearance.
The night came to a close with the wall tumbling to the ground and the band gathered for a group bow and the musically versatile bassist Mr. Waters busted out a little trumpet for us. I almost didn't get a ticket because of the exuberant price but, no regrets here.
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| Roger playing "Mother" along with footage of him performing it as a much younger man |
Comedy rock lives on. And with quality music, unlike Adam "3 chord" Sandler. Breaks, bridges, fills, solos, the D brings it all. Not to mention the rock star range of Jack Black's vocals. I hadn't listened to the latest third album, Rize of the Fenix, but its worth going just to hear anything from their self titled debut album that was released 11 years ago. A huge, inflatable "Fenix" made the stage decor hilarious and set the tone perfectly. During "Deth Starr" they were joined by an inflatable alien squid which Jack shot off stage with a Nerf dart gun toward the end of the song. Kyle Gass briefly quit the band in a skit in the middle of the show and then came back to jam on some classics like "Wonderboy," "Kielbasa," and "Tribute." Couldn't help but mention how they loved Fat Matt's Rib Shack, truly the best ribs in all of ATL, and I couldn't agree more. After the "Fenix" spurted its load of confetti, the duo ended the night with "F@#k Her Gently." By then, my face was hurting from the inevitable perma-grin I endured from the banter and over-all demeanor of the band.
