Mick Lynch posted on May 26, 2011 06:26
Review Snapshot: The legendary 1979 album performed in its entirety, coupled with a visual display to rival anything seen in a science fiction movie. This is as good as it gets.
The Cluas Verdict? 10 out of 10
Full Review: Roger Waters show at the O2 in Dublin was a visual spectacle from the opening. The half constructed wall, with so many fantastic images projected onto it, dominated from the start of ‘In The Flesh’ and ‘The Thin Ice’.
The sound for ‘Another Brick In The Wall (parts 1-3)' was crystal clear, during which the group of young school kids singing the chorus had hair standing on the back on my neck, while the huge Gerald Scarfe school teacher puppet with the large cane in his hand, moved eerily above the children as they sang “Hey Teacher, leave those kids alone”.
The tracks were performed in the order they appeared on the album, as the bricks continued to be put in place during ‘Mother’ and ‘Goodbye Blue Sky’, with the last bricks slotted in place as Waters peered out through the one remaining space to deliver ‘Goodbye Cruel World’.
The animation and 3D effects were a show in themselves, and numerous tributes of people who died unnecessarily appeared in the form of pictures, with Roger posting the following message on the wall at the interval; "I Would Like To Thank All Of You Who Have Sent In Photos Of Fallen Loved Ones – We Will Remember Them – Roger".
The second part of the show began with ‘Hey You’ and ‘Is Anybody out There’ from behind the wall, before he appeared in his sitting room watching TV to ‘Nobody Home’.
One of my favourite pieces ‘Vera’ was brief, before the crowd sang along to ‘Comfortably Numb’ which portrayed some colourful images of explosions on the wall behind him, and even the flying pig appeared several times above the crowd.
His military uniformed band appeared for ‘The Show Must Go On’ with the two crossed hammers image draped behind them, while Waters appeared for ‘Run Like Hell’ wearing a long leather coat and shades complete with machine gun which he activated on several occasions to great sound effect.
As the show reached its conclusion with numbers like ‘Waiting For The Worms’ and ‘The Trial’, the images continued to be very effective with the marching hammers behind him again while as he shouted through a megaphone, and the explosion to bring the wall down was very effective and dramatic.
For the final number, obviously titled ‘Outside The Wall’, the complete band appeared at front of stage as Waters named checked all 11 members (which included his son on Accordion and the legendary Snowy White on guitar). He thanked the crowd for making his appearance here in 2002 the reason he came back again, and then he was gone.
Even without the music, this was a theatrical orgasm from the beginning, a production of gigantic proportions, including a satisfying climax. Unmissable.
Bet you wish you were here.
Mick Lynch