Capacity: 16,606
Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: 220 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT 06103-3423. MAP

Website: www.xlcenter.com

COMMENTS

Roger's tour of The Wall arrives in Hartford, for the sole concert in Conneticut. He last performed at this venue in October 2010, presenting The Wall for the fans entertainment, and is back for this repeat appearance.

The RogerWaters.com presales have taken place, with advance tickets available to those who had registered their interest in particular cities. General sale tickets went on sale on November 14th at 10am through this link to Ticketmaster.com. Exact dates and outlets can be found via Roger's website. The public sale will also see a limited number of VIP packages made available for each show on the tour. Our thanks to Elliot Tayman for the concert poster shown to the right, and to Simon Myers for the ticket scan.

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 sixty-three of the tour, and the crown for the best "kids choir" performance from all the 2010, 2011 and 2012 shows so far surely has to go to the children who hit the stage in Hartford. What a performance - they had clearly thought about it, worked out an elaborate routine, practiced thoroughly, and most of all, obviously had a great time on the night! The following footage shows just how good they were...

CONCERT PICTURES and REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Sarah W

Introspective Retrospective

I attended the Wall Live show in Hartford, CT. I almost went to the Boston show, but when I bought my tickets, the dates had not been announced and I feared that it would be at the TD Banknorth Garden again, like it was in 2010. I strongly dislike that venue for concerts. Anyway, Hartford worked out well, it was easier to get to, and the crowd was not as rude as the crowd at the Dark Side of The Moon tour show I attended in Mansfield, MA. Hooray!

I first discovered the Wall when I was in junior high while attending an Orwellian parochial school - I was instantly hooked! Ironically, a local friend dropped me off, which made it seem even more like the days of my youth. To continue the theme, a group of religious people were gathered holding signs on the street corner. I first thought they might be your garden variety doomsayers, but as I got closer to the entrance, I realized that they were specifically targeting us. I wish I could remember exactly what they said, but it was something about Pink Floyd being the “gateway to hell.”

Despite cringing at the fact that this was going to be a stadium show, the venue was a lot better than I had expected. The entryway was a little confusing but once I got past the entrance my seat was easy to find. Even though it was a stadium, it was smaller than I thought it would be. I’m not a stadium connoisseur, but it felt a little smaller than the old Mile High Stadium in Denver, CO (where I saw the Gilmour Floyd in 1994.) Someone told me that it holds about 12,000 people, about the same number of people. It still felt smaller, likely due to the fact that it has a smaller diameter but is taller.

The wall was partially set up beforehand. I had a nice chat with the people sitting near me while we waited for the show to begin. A young girl, maybe about 10 or 11 years old was there and I was impressed that her father brought her to the show. I also saw a boy of about the same age at the merchandise stand wearing a Syd Barrett shirt. There is hope for the next generation after all...

From what I’ve seen and read about the other shows we had the same playlist and graphics. We had the pyrotechnics at the beginning, red light that looked like moving water, the bit with the wall where it looks like it’s spinning and disappearing, the fallen heroes tribute, the hammers (complete with flags and wind effects!) etc. We also had points where different bricks were missing and the part with Roger in the hotel room set, Roger with the machine gun, and of course the part where the wall comes crashing down near the end!

During Another Brick, the local students who danced on stage did more of a hip-hop routine. It reminded me of the running man from the 90’s. They had a bit where the dancers leaned back until they were lying flat and then the lead dancer waved his hand as they rose back up, as though he was raising them from the dead. After the song Roger informed us that each city had a local group, but in our case this group chose to create their own routine rather than just go by the video they were sent, as groups in other cities had done.

We did not get another encore after “Outside the Wall,” similar to the other shows. I stayed around for a bit to watch some of the bricks get folded, stacked up and put away. Roger thanked everyone several times throughout the show. It felt like he really is trying to make amends for his past and the incident that inspired the Wall. He was having a great time and was really into the character of Pink when he was wearing the trenchcoat and sunglasses.

After the show, my friend picked me up and we went out to a local diner for appetizers, just like old times. I had a fabulous time at the show and was really impressed with the entire experience, both musically and technically.

CONCERT PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Ed Green

CONCERT REVIEW and PICTURE by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Mark LaPointe

I've the time now to discuss my whirlwind tour following Roger and his FANTASTIC band. I'll try to make it short, but my memories of these truly incredible shows are not.

1st show: Hartford, Ct
Well, I can honestly say that I have never had better seats at a show, 4th row with Roger directly in front of me. A surreal experience indeed. My friend took a pic of me [seen to the right - click the thumbnail] with Rog in the background singing Mother (and even in the circular screen). This will be on my wall very soon. To boot, we even had the most attractive identicle twins I have ever seen directly behind us. Felt like I was in a Bud-Light beer commercial. One of them had the hots for David K and he noticed them at the end - ha.

Anyways the show was fantastic and the house cheer for Rog at the end was louder than Fenway and Philly combinded. Seriously - that loud. The only crowd to match was when I saw him in Providence, RI in 1999. Roger was touched, I could tell.

2nd: Fenway
Sound was fantastic, crowd was a bit meat-headishy. Everyone should have drank maybe three less beers (that cost $9.50 a pop) than they did. Roger was happier than I'd ever seen him. You should have seen GE Smith beaming with Rog at the end. Roger hugged him when he sang "some gather together in bands". I think GE is the new Andy Fairweather Low in Roger's life.

3rd show: Philly
Certainly the best show of the three. The band was ON that night and the sound was out of this world incredible. The night before I met a few of the roadies, at the Holiday Inn, and we drank together all night. They shared some fantastic stories (that I will not share for obvious reasons) and said the tour was nothing they've ever witnessed. One guy said he was to tour with Springsteen after Quebec - which he called a vacation compared to this tour - haha.. 23 trucks carry the load each night with 24 hour work-in two shifts. The guys I talk to were carpenters by trade and one a long journey man that worked for the tour company Roger employed. I saw the tour booklet they carried around. It has nine pages of credits at the begining! Over 200 people employed!

Anyways, the most important thing I heard was that Roger was a gentleman and he treated them all very well. He would even stop in and have lunch with a few of them he liked, and he talked to EVERYONE. That was certainly nice to hear. Way to go Rog, or was it Reg?

I certainly hope they filmed Philly because it blew us all away - especially the people that have seen the show before. The highlight for me was...everything. It was that good. Just an amazing show. So sad to see it all end. I think there is a slim chance Roger will tour his next album, but of course I will be there if he does. Haven't missed a tour since 1984. The best of the shows I've witnessed over the years was the 84 show with Clapton and Kamen and this Philly show.

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Andrew Marrapese

After what seemed to be the longest day of work this year, my friend Steve and I made the journey out to Hartford to see...no...*experience* The Wall. Having heard some horror stories about StubHub, we were a little anxious that our tickets would be invalid but thankfully they were just fine. We were seated about 10-15 rows above the floor, in the back left corner of the arena; this seemed to be a great seat as we could visibly see the band while still being able to absorb what was happening with the wall.

I'll admit I had watched the iShoot iEdit video of one of the 2010 concerts a few months before the show when I wasn't sure if I would go. I thought it would've ruined all the surprises but thankfully the updates Roger made to this leg of the tour kept it a fresh and amazing experience. And plus, no Youtube video can do justice to the sound and visual quality of actually being there. The surround setup really made it a unique concert audio-wise, a few times I found myself looking over my shoulder wondering if something I heard was a sound effect or from someone sitting above me.

The show went without a hitch, didn't catch a single mistake from any of the band. Rogers voice seemed to be in pretty good condition this night. After almost 200 shows the power and emotion were still there. I know there's accusations and evidence of some lip syncing on this tour, but honestly if you were sitting there in the midst of the spectacle trying to find something to complain about, you clearly shouldn't have been there. It's rock theater after all, on a tour of this magnitude there's nothing wrong with a bit of smoke and mirrors. Lip syncing or not, the show still grabs you by the neck and throttles you til the end. I still haven't talked to anyone who saw it who didn't at least choke up during Vera during the footage of the kids being reunited with their military parents. There aren't many rock shows that can cause such an emotional response among the audience, which is why I say you don't see The Wall but rather you experience The Wall.

I do wish I could've seen it twice, as I did find myself somewhat glued to my camera for most of it. It would've been nice to sit and completely focus on it but I'm glad I took as many photos and videos as I could've fit on my memory card. We almost got a piece of cardboard brick after the show, but the roadie threw the last piece to some kids who got there before us. Not disappointing though, I figured just having witnessed this amazing show was good enough and anything else was just being greedy.

The band seemed to be in awe from our response after "Outside the Wall". They received quite a long standing ovation and it even sounded like Roger choked up a bit during his many thank-yous. So all in all, this was absolutely a show worth seeing. Everything was amazing, the music, the talent of everyone in the band, the visuals, the puppets, the wall's construction and collapse, and all the little behind the scenes stuff that goes into putting it together. It was the type of show you walk away from in a daze as you need a moment to reflect on the sensory overload you just witnessed, but that's what makes it stick with you forever.

Completely unforgettable.

CONCERT REVIEWS and PICTURES by other BD CONTRIBUTORS

Hopefully coming soon - we welcome all contributions!

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!