The following review takes a look back to early 1980, and one of the first Wall concerts to be performed by Pink Floyd...

I fell in love Floyd one day in 1979 while on my way to the Colorado River in Arizona. The driver was playing this "tape" by a group called Pink Floyd. The tape was Dark Side of the Moon. That was my introduction to The Floyd and it has been sonic love ever since.

In the fall of 1979 The Wall was released and I was given a first printing of the album as a gift. When the tour was announced I told my friends we had to go.

February 8, 1980 was a special day indeed. That was the second day of The Wall tour in Los Angeles and we had tickets. We arrived early enough to park within sight of the doors and were even treated to hear the sound check through the doors. People were arriving from all over the US and guys from Arizona were sitting next to us munching mushrooms and beer getting ready for the concert.

We found our seats and were already amazed at the sight. We saw the partially built wall with the signature Floyd round screen in the back. We found our seats on the first risers of the LA Sports Arena and noticed we were right under the plane that crashes at the beginning of the show. We even noticed the plane had a Red Baron Snoopy on the nose.

The lights went out and we readied ourselves. The first song began and so did our experience...

The first chords of In the Flesh? blared through the noticeable true quadraphonic sound. The song reached its end and the plane made its dive behind the wall. At my young age I'd been already been to several shows but those shows had the traditional speakers. The Floyd had quad concert sound and it was noticeable. The background sounds were crisp and very audible.

We couldn't believe our eyes. The projections, the puppets, the performance. We knew we were but a few who were privileged enough to see this Opus performed live.

The group played Empty Spaces and the flower animation did their thing, morphing into what finally became Pink falling through the sky. And we noticed an additional song, What Shall We Do??. Another Floyd Wall song? During this visual and audio treat we saw the wall building brick by brick until only one brick was left out of place. Roger sang Goodbye Cruel World and at the final word the last brick goes into place and the lights went up. The crowd cheered for what seemed to be several minutes. We didn't know what to say so we just laughed and marveled at The Wall and what we had just witnessed.

At the end of intermission the lights went out again and the chords of Hey You rung out. To our amazement the entire song was sung without seeing the group performing the song. Our amazement continued to Nobody Home when Roger sat in a mock apartment and sang. The apartment even had a TV in it. Comfortably Numb concluded this part of the set and Roger walked out in a doctor’s overcoat when his part of the song was done Gilmour’s part began and the entire crowd literally flipped out when he appeared above the wall to sing and perform his part of the song. The solo was EPIC. Did I say EPIC?

The group, along with the back up musicians re appeared all dressed in black with the hammer arm bands for The Show Must Go On and at the end of the song, the performance briefly stopped. Roger said a few words and the beginning chords of In the Flesh began with a picture of the Hammers plastered on the wall to the right and left of the group. It was, as I remembered breathtaking. The Hammers on the wall, the music and the black pig floating above the audience. It was for me the high point of the concert.

Run Like Hell was next and it thumped through the arena. Again, yet another highlight. Breathtaking, hammers marching and the footsteps very audible in the quad sound literally going from one side of your head to the next.

They played through to The Trial and the band disappeared again. And The Wall became a movie screen again with Roger walking along the bottom singing the parts. WOW!

At the end of The Trial the arena shuddered because of the sound, Roger disappeared and The Wall came crashing down. The crowd cheered on and on and then we heard the familiar chords to Outside The Wall. The entire musical ensemble walked along the front of the broken Wall.

Roger sang the song and they all walked out to the other side of the stage.

The core group, Pink Floyd, came out for a curtain call and it was over. No encore but how could you beat that? I know, wait 32 years and revamp the performance. My review for that show is under The Seattle Concert.

It's been a long time but some things you cannot forget. This Opus was and is the highlight of my concert experiences. Of course there was the 2012 Tour.

The Show Must and will Go On.

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