Roger's tour of The Wall moves to the US, with the first of four shows in the Windy City - Chicago. The ticket scan to the right, and the tour advert (click thumbnail) comes courtesy of BD's own Elliot Tayman.
The RogerWaters.com presales
began starting Wednesday, May 5th. Starting May 3rd, American Express
Cardmembers could get advance tickets, with seating available to Gold
Card, Platinum Card and Centurion members. US fans could also get early
access to tickets via iTunes beginning Thursday, May 6th, by purchasing
the 1982 film The Wall from iTunes by April 26th. For both the American
Express and iTunes presales, please note that the presale offers were
available in select markets and ticket quantities were limited.
General sale tickets went on sale on Monday, May 10, via Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. The public
sale also saw a limited number of VIP packages made available for each
show on the tour.
SET LIST - highlight the following with your mouse to read...
FIRST HALF: In the Flesh, The Thin Ice, Another Brick in the Wall Part 1, The Happiest Days of our Lives, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Empty Spaces, What Shall We Do Now, Young Lust, One of My Turns, Don't Leave Me Now, Another Brick in the Wall Part 3, The Last Few Bricks, Goodbye Cruel World
SECOND HALF: Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?, Nobody Home, Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home, Comfortably Numb, The Show Must Go On, In The Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting for the Worms, Stop, The Trial, Outside the Wall.
WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!
Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played, and what happened as the night unfolded!
Night four of the tour, and the first of a quartet of shows in Chicago.
The "children's choir" that accompanies the band during Another Brick In The Wall (part 2) was this time supplied by Endure Productions, a Matteson-based song-and-dance group, and will be taking part in all four shows in Chicago.
As the South Town Star reports, the nonprofit Endure Productions was launched out of a church in Harvey in 2004 to keep underprivileged children off the streets. Chief executive officer and president of the group,
Kim Tyler, said about the opportunity: "For us, it was amazing and the kids are on cloud nine and they can't believe it". Tyler said they got the news on September 16th and her group viewed YouTube videos to study basic choir choreography from prior Waters shows. After meeting Waters and showing him a new hip-hop dance created for the show, Waters told them to use it.
"We don't feel like we're hired help," Tyler said. "We feel like we're part of this concert."
Because of the gig, Tyler said many of her student performers have suddenly grown fond of the famous band. "It's funny because most of the families of the kids, the mother and fathers, wanted to be backstage," she said. "Some of the kids are now airbrushing their jeans and having 'Pink Floyd,' written down the legs."
US press were at the show, and a full review of the event can already be read at the Chicago Tribune, where they note that "Roger Waters showed up Monday to begin a four-night residency at the United Center, but the lean, silver-haired former Pink Floyd mastermind was no match for the spectacle he created. Waters took second billing to 'The Wall,' the soundtrack, and the wall, the edifice that was built fabricated brick by fabricated brick until it towered over the performance, sealed off the performers, and then – spoiler alert! -- collapsed during the finale. Who needs 'Wicked'? This was Broadway-sized spectacle with a stadium-rock score."
As a side note, the show was the first not to feature the spectacular plane crash at the end of In The Flesh? which we can only presume was down to a specific, logistical or technical problem. We really hope it hasn't been removed from the show, as it was a great, and pretty explosive, start to the show! The video below bears witness to the lack of plane and explosion...
CONCERT COMMENTS by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Paul Sparkes
As you stated I'm sure it was just a technical problem, the plane could be seen in the ceiling of the arena. We also noticed that only Mr. Kilminster did the guitar solo on Comfortably Numb.
CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Jens Dam-Libach
What a show last night. Was sat on the floor row 13. It just felt like the perfect spot to be.
Band is definately getting tighter. This was my 4th of 11 shows (this year) and you still get totally blown away by the rawness and explosive way the band keeps on delivering. Graham Broad was on fire last night, killer drumming.
Roger's dual Mother vocals just works so good. Mother is such a treat. Another Brick 2 was definately a highlight especially due to the kids there. They really got the crowd going with their energetic dancing.
Couldn't help crying during Vera, it's just so intense and very very moving to sit through.
It is such a nice feeling to see Roger moving about on stage. He's so much into it and enjoying himself. It's contageous. His bass playing especially up until Mother's on, is just so good I don't have words to describe it. He's just so bloody intense!!!
If you don't have a ticket for this show you should make sure to get one right away. Thing is, whether you're seated up under the roof the furthest away it'll still be a killer show.
Can't wait for the next show and the next and the next.................
TEAR DOWN THE FUCKING WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Nikhil
This was my 2nd time seeing Roger Waters, the last time being In the Flesh tour in Bangalore, India in 2002. And what a show it was! I have been to my fair share of concerts but the sheer scale of this concert needs to be seen to be believed.
The concert had a couple of glitches, like the aero plane fiasco and some of Robbie's vocals, especially on Thin Ice sounded a little pitchy. But the Lennons did a fantastic job as the backing vocalists. I wish Snowy White had a few more solo's because the one's he did play were amazing. The 360 degrees quadraphonic sound was so good, one could hear every note crystal clear. Highlights for me were last few bricks and goodbye cruel world, especially when the last brick is about to be put into place and there's a blue light shining through the wall. I had goosebumps!!!
Roger sounded fantastic even though a couple of songs (like one of my turns) were played in a lower key. Bring the boys back home sounded great as well, with images of soldiers and war. Loved comfortably numb and I can only imagine what it will be like to see the guitar god, David Gilmour on top of the wall at one of the wall shows.
CONCERT REPORT by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Eric
All I can say is WOW! this show is a master piece I will never forget. There were a couple miscues, plane didn't release & one part Roger's mic cut out then came back as you could hear him giving directions. The buzz leading into Comfortably Numb was epic but it was not meant to be. I was with a group from AFG website (Brain Damage's sister site) which made the experience more enjoyable, thanks guys!
CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Simon Wimpenny
We arrived at the venue around 7:15 with enough time to wander around and take in the atmosphere.
I eventually went back to my seat and I watched peoples faces who hadn't seen the show as they were watching the “homeless guy” wander around the venue and have his picture taken with people who really think there's a homeless guy who got in! He even has a paper cup to put money in that people hand him as he goes up and down the aisles with security getting into the whole theatrical event and pretending to move him along and get him out of the venue. Only Roger could come up with something like this for pre show entertainment!!
A lot of the people at the first Chicago show had not been in Toronto so this was their first experience of seeing the show, at the dinner we all had the night before it was so difficult for all of us that had been in Toronto to not talk about the show and spoil it for the others. A lot of people had not looked at pictures, videos, audio recordings or read the message boards so to them it was just like an opening nights show!
It was fantastic to watch my friend Greg's (whom I was sat next to) face as the show opened, the whole opening track is full of lights, smoke, pyros, sparks and fireworks, it's kind of 3 minute BRAIN overload that takes a while to sink in after the track (In The Flesh) and just leaves everyone on their feet wanting more.
There were a few technical problems during the show that someone who hasn't seen the show wouldn't really notice at all; the plane at the end of In The Flesh wasn't released on the wire that sends it crashing down into the wall, for some reason. There were a few projections on the wall when they shouldn't have been and a couple of real small audio glitches along the way.
The place was buzzing with excitement when we got back, EVERYONE was now able to talk about the show and not worry about spoiling it for the others. I think I heard every superlative possible, Amazing, Fantastic, Superb, unreal!! I myself thought the only word to describe is was OUTSTANDING!!
Make sure you check out Simon's blog at SimonWimpenny.blogspot.com where you'll find full details of all his travels, along with more pictures and videos.
CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Vassi
It was a rare chance to see this show and it was absolutely amazing! Everything worked fine, the crowd was full of excitement and there were different generations enjoying the magic of Roger Waters/Pink Floyd. One of my favorite moments was the "duet" of 1980 Roger and 2010 Roger singing "Mother"(Roger sang with a projection of himself on the screen behind him)and all of the other visuals were so appealing and poignant. A definitive MUST SEE for every Floyd fan, considering the fact that this could be well one of the last opportunities to breathe and experience in person the Floyd music...
Can't wait for the DVD with the combined concerts from the 80-es and today!
CONCERT REVIEW, VIDEO and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, RickHap
Tagged along with some out of town friends to the United Center on Monday. Grabbed a single seat in the 200 level from a scalper for $60 one hour before the show. Small digital cameras allowed inside at the Artist's Request. Sat in a section close to, but not on, the right edge of The Wall. There were about 7 people in the section for the first half of the show, very enjoyable, no whistlers within earshot. Visuals were stunning. The Wall of images during the intermission
was moving. Sound system was perfect.
RickHap has posted a large number of pictures from the concert which you can view through this link.
CONCERT VIDEOS by BD CONTRIBUTOR, William Taber
YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover Roger's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, tickets scans, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!
2010 WALL TOUR 
