Capacity: 15,207
Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: 1 Panther Pkwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33323. MAP

Website: www.bankatlanticcenter.com

COMMENTS

Roger's tour of The Wall arrives in Florida for the first of two shows in the "sunshine state". A couple of days rest before the tour heads over to Tampa for the show there. The concert advert to the right was supplied by BD's very own Elliot Tayman, and the ticket scan from Tanya Philips.

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. Use of our links to Ticketmaster gives much needed assistance with site hosting costs without any additional cost to yourself - and we appreciate it!

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 thirty-five of the tour, with the first of two shows to be performed at the Bank Atlantic Center in Florida's Fort Lauderdale. If you went to this show, please let us know what you thought of the event, and if anything interesting or different happened if you've been to previous shows and can compare.

From the media, the Broward Palm Beach New Times was there, and were very enthusiastic about the show. "When, at the end, that wall came down, the audience, bathed in red confetti that showered down from the rafters, was absolutely in awe. Stunning in scope and brilliant to the point of genius, Waters and The Wall had clearly scaled new heights.

"Sadly, I never had opportunity to see the original Pink Floyd, but I feel confident that I've seen something comparable. David Gilmour was rumored to make a surprise appearance. Needless to say, he never showed.

"By the way: Three's a rare opportunity for those who missed Saturday's performance to catch it tonight. Tickets are still available for Sunday night's show. But hurry. If word of mouth spreads quickly enough, they won't last long. And The Wall ought not to be missed."

You can see a slideshow of 12 images from the concert here.

Allvoices.com were also there, and called it: "the best live rendition of this classic album to date. This concert certainly lived up to all of the pomp and circumstance that has been heard throughout the land via fan testimonials and reviews. The sound, the production, and the quality of the musicians that backed Waters made for a complete, well-rounded visual and auditory journey into the maniacal world of The Wall.

"The whole Roger Waters live experience was unbelievable and lived up to all that it could ever be. Truly a master of his craft, Waters did good this time around. I would recommend this concert to anyone."

CONCERT REVIEW, VIDEO and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Ayako Hasegawa

Last night's Roger Waters The Wall show surpassed any expectations I may have had. From the very first song – an energetic and powerful In The Flesh, where fireworks lit up the stage and the sound effects made me feel like a small aircraft was flying overhead – the atmosphere set was short of mesmerizing. You have to understand, I had only heard about these things, read an article here and there, or maybe seen photographs, but to experience it live and in color (and what colors) was incredible.

The show, being in such a large scale, was sure to please everyone. I hate to use clichés, but it really was a feast for the senses.

Visually, in addition to the fireworks and stage lighting, the images displayed on the building bricks of the wall – wonderful designs, vivid photographs, detailed drawings – became more and more intense and caused the crowd to break into cheers and applause. The controversy causing animation of the planes dropping “bombs” in the shape of different signs and symbols was poignant, but I really could not understand what the fuss was all about. I don't really think Roger purposely juxtaposed the Star of David and the dollar signs… Anyway, back to the show: the appearance of the giant puppets (school master, mother, wife) on stage drove the crowd wild. They were beautiful! Of course, the inflatable pig made a short appearance, but it hung over the other side of the venue. I couldn't really see what was written on it, since this time (as opposed to the Dark Side of the Moon tour), the pig was black and there was no spotlight on it. Mostly, I just saw its rear end, haha.

Roger and the “surrogate band” managed to do deliver a solid performance. Maybe it was the closed arena, but I thought, as far as vocals go, that Roger sounded great – much better than during the DSOTM tour a few years ago, where he did mostly amphitheaters. He was able to hit the notes, everything meshed well together. The whole sound effects production was clear and wasn't overbearing. I did not leave with a loud ringing in my ears. It was only at the very end, for Outside the Wall, when the whole band came to the front of the stage, that I could clearly see Jon Carin, Harry Waters, Snowy White, and the rest. They did an amazing job, and I hate to say this but, when Roger finished singing the first verse of Comfortably Numb, and it was time for the solo, and suddenly it was someone other than David Gilmour on top of the wall, I felt a little disappointed. Still, it was incredible to be there.

Run Like Hell prompted the whole crowd to start dancing and chanting. We were on our feet from beginning to end and nobody seemed to mind. The energy in the arena was electrifying. All the while, Roger seemed to be in great spirits and would talk to the audience in between songs. After the wall collapsed, the whole stage was illuminated and while the band made their way, a rain of confetti fell upon the audience.

The band took a final bow, Roger thanked the audience for coming out to the show and, one by one, they all departed. Roger waived one more time before leaving the stage and I was left wanting more, while feeling extremely satisfied. It was a wonderful experience.

Looking forward to seeing it again next Saturday in Houston!

Ayako has posted a collection of some 52 pictures from the concert, which you can see in this Facebook photo gallery. Thanks, Ayako! Here's a taster of what you can see there...

Ayako has also shot some video from the concert, which you can see here:

CONCERT REVIEW, VIDEO and PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Simon Wimpenny

After picking up tickets, getting into the venue we all headed down to take our seats. Lori and Ralph were in the rear section of the hall about 10 rows up from the floor, Greg and Mike were 7th row right and Mari and Jack were 3rd row stage left on the block off the floor.

A good friend of mine Hassan was also at tonight's show and we had been texting for the last couple of hours, he was running late for the meet up and even later for the show! He texted me at 8pm that he was just getting in the venue, I asked him where his seats were and lo and behold they were right next to my friend Gary and his wife Debbie where I was standing!! Amazing how these things happen! Gary and Hassan had never met but had posted on the Roger Waters message board I've run for the last few years.

With 5 minutes to go I walked over to see Maria and Jack before the show, they were amazed at how good their seats were and couldn't wait for the Nobody Home part of the show where Roger comes down in the hotel room set, it would be like Roger was performing just for them they were that close!

I was standing on the rail tonight next to Hassan and his brother and Gary and Debbie, I also said I would have a look round on the floor to see if there were any vacant seats during the first set that Ralph and Lori were able to use for the second set.

The instant that In The Flesh started I thought holy crap this is loud!! It was unbelievably loud - the bass was going right through my chest within the first few notes and that wasn't the loudest part of the show by far! It was fantastic to be on the rail with such great friends. I had spoke to Gary earlier about watching out for the plane crash at the end of ITF and tapped Gary on the shoulder just as a reminder. It's amazing how many people don't see this happen till its too late and I like the fact that when I turn around to watch the plane say 15 seconds before it's due to crash that a lot of people around me wonder what I'm looking at and turn around to see, it's only then that they see the plane and watch it as it comes down the wire and crashes into the wall.

The kids during Another Brick were fantastic, one came out right in front of Roger playing air guitar and really went for it, Roger was laughing to himself as he watched her writhe around on the floor mimicking the guitar actions of Dave as he played his solo. Two other kids right in front of me came out and did their own dance routine as did two other further down the line. At the first few shows I thought this show dance thing was a bit cheesy but I'm beginning to like this part of the show more and more.

It was great to see Hassan and Gary's face during the first half, it was pure delight, it was the first time they had seen the show and I know Gary had stayed away from any spoilers that had been put online and it was so paying off doing that now, he was having the time of his life.

There was so much energy coming off the stage tonight, it was a combination of the people I was with, the loudness of the show, the performance and the position I was in. It was turning out to be THE best show I've seen on the tour so far and I know I say this after every show but this was seriously the best so far!

I had noticed a couple of seats free dead centre second row, I kept an eye on these the whole first set and no one came and sat in them at all. I made a mental note and carried on watching and enjoying the show.

So at intermission I went up to find Ralph and Lori and bring them down to the two empty seats on the floor. They were outside smoking a cigarette and told me how bad the crowd were around them, they were not enjoying the show at all, everyone around them were sat there with their arms folded and just not into the show much at all. I knew when they got down to the floor things would be totally different.

Once sat in their seats another girl had spotted the empty 3rd seat next to Ralph and Lori and made her way there too. She was from Belgium, had seen the show in Washington DC and had brought a picture of Dave K and herself that she was hoping to get signed by Dave after the show.

Everyone sat down as usual for Hey You and then started to stand during Is There Anybody Out There. By the time to hotel room set had finished coming down from the wall and Roger was sat in his chair the whole floor were back to standing up and cheering.

Hassan and Amin were on the rail again with Gary and Debbie next to them and me stood slight behind them, again it was fantastic to see the second half of the show with us all together in one place. Only thing that could have made it better was if Greg and Mike were there along with Maria and Jack but we could see the four of them from where we were.

I know when I saw the Dark Side shows with Ralph that Bring The Boys Back Home is his favourite song, seeing this live on the Dark Side tour also gave it another dimension for me, I've never seen something as powerfully performed as it was them. Don't get me wrong, it's still good now but I think the Dark Side version was a lot more powerful. I looked over at Ralph as I knew he would be enjoying it so much and seeing how much he was enjoying it and getting into it nearly brought a tear to my eye!!

Roger was in fine form for the In The Flesh track and playing the fascist character just great tonight. The machine gun was on hand when he needed it along with the gunfire sounds which had been missing at a couple of previous shows.

I tried to position myself on the front rail for when Roger takes off his armband but he walked a bit further across the stage than he normally does and threw it a touch further into the crowd tonight so someone in the second or third row got to take it home tonight!

The security were really strict on moving people back in preparation for the wall falling at the end of the show. Lots of people who didn't know about the wall falling down couldn't understand what was going on, they had been lent on the rail all night and then all of a sudden security was telling them to move back and sit down!

The wall got a great wobble on tonight and must have wobbled for a good 30 seconds before the first brick fell from the centre on the top row. The first 4 rows fells forward which was great and we all felt the wall wind as if fell past us all, the next 5 or 6 rows all fell backwards and that left only 2 or 3 rows to fall forward. To be honest I think the crew have really got the wall fall down to an art now and it's way more controlled than it was in the first 10 to 15 shows. It's a shame but I guess that's what happens.

I get a bit embarrassed now when I'm stood along the rail for outside The Wall as usually Jon C, Harry, Marky, Robbie, Snowy and Dave all spot me stood there and laugh and smile however tonight as they all walked past each one of them pointed at me and smiled! At the last show Dave stood in front and posed with his banjo but I wasn't quick enough to take a pic, tonight I got him as he was waving though and laughed as he did.

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 PICTURES in VIDEO FORM by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Gianfranco Petrella

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!