ROGER WATERS at Rogers Centre, Saturday, June 23. Rating: NNNNN
The Wall has never been my favourite Pink Floyd record.
Songs like Hey You and Run Like Hell have always elicited feelings of isolation and paranoia, but others like The Trial has always been, well, a bit of a trial to slog through.
Despite the self-indulgence and pretense, or maybe because of it, Waters’ creation – as much musical theatre as rock concert – is an astonishing feat.
It takes audacity and plenty of cash to create a spectacle that includes a dive-bombing biplane, a floating wild boar (in a reworking of PF’s infamous pig) and numerous inflatable puppets, not to mention copious projections and the building of a wall that spanned the Rogers Centre.
The sound was pristine, with Robbie Wyckoff singing David Gilmour’s parts and guitars by Dave Kilminster, G.E. Smith and PF session player, Snowy White. Waters switched between bass, guitar and trumpet, as the song required.
Admitting that he’s not as grumpy towards the audience as he once was, Waters is still railing against the wars, corruption and fascism that prompted him to write the songs in the first place. Tributes to those killed in war, terrorist acts and at the hands of corrupt power were broadcast on the wall at various points throughout the night.
He may be a rich man, but he remains more politicized than most up-and-comers.
