Roger Waters' The Wall@Burswood, Perth (27/01/12)

Mon 30th Jan, 2012 in Gig Reviews

The hype prior to the start of Roger Waters’ The Wall Australian Tour has been unprecedented and on Friday night, Perth was the first to behold the arena spectacular in the flesh.

What a spectacle it was. In the Flesh literally blew the sold-out Burswood Dome away with over 1000 pyrotechnics and a roaring PA delivering a perfect sound balance, topped off with aeroplane engines seemingly flying themselves through the surround sound. A large reminder for the crowd that this was a Pink Floyd affiliated show.

As the rendition of the album wove its way through its various paces and themes of alienation and political motive, each track was assisted with astonishing projection effects making full use of the circular screen and ever-growing wall.

The 12-piece band became partially obstructed rather early in the show and depending on seating; some sections of the audience would have experienced difficulties viewing the musicians at all. This production however was not so much about the musicians but more so the feast of visual goodies on offer. Massive inflatables were in attendance, based on the original film’s characters by Gerald Scarfe and added a somewhat eerie presence.

A group of children on-stage during Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) for the ‘We don’t need no education….’ refrain walked a fine line. Attempting some odd staged moves whilst wagging their fingers at a 10 metre high school master, they brought the overall effect of the most well know track to a cringing level. This completely overshadowed the excellent guitar solos from Dave Kilminster and Snowy White.

This was soon forgotten however, as Waters launched into Mother, playing in sync with a filmed version of the same song from one of the few Wall concerts performed in the 80s. This simple yet breathtaking effect of a boyish-looking Waters projected over the same man 30+ years later proved one of the stand out performances of the evening.

Brick by brick, the ‘3D’ element of The Wall started to permeate its way into the show with subtle doses of the multi-projector mapping through to the placement of the final brick at the sudden end of Goodbye Cruel World and the end of Act 1.

Hello intermission. Whilst the Dome amenities struggled to keep up with a thirsty throng, a series of projections of persons victim to war and unrest rotated over the Wall, displaying Waters’ deeply passionate political views, which don’t necessarily warrant a detailed explanation in this review.

Act 2 was all about The Wall and how 15 projectors perfectly aligned to beam seamless 3D rendered footage took over the evening. Comfortably Numb appeared to be the tilting point for the show and with good reason. Considered by many to be one of the definitive Floyd ‘classics’; Waters delivered his vocals from the second stage in front of the wall. Robbie Wyckoff (assigned to David Gilmour’s vocal duties) and Dave Kilminster were given the task of playing ‘those’ solos 10 metres up – on top of The Wall – and was a stunning use of its spatial characteristics. When Waters laid a fist into the Wall during the second guitar solo, projections shattered into a 3D rainbow kaleidoscopic explosion that ramped the show to a feverish level and raised the crowd to its feet in rapture.

As the ‘surrogate band’ appeared on the smaller stage donned in the Hammers military attire, the oppressive trilogy of In the flesh (Pt 2), Run like Hell and Waiting for the Worms started herding the Dome into an anarchistic atmosphere. A rather evil looking pig hovered its way over the crowd adding a sense of uncertainty (as well as slight distraction for some persons in the main floor area) whilst striding repeated sequences of walking hammers (the same that appear in the film from the 1980s) nailed home the militaristic charge of the music.

With what seemed to be some very savvy smoke and mirrors, the surrogate band and stage disappeared with Waters left alone to address The Trial. This orchestra-fuelled finale used the 3D effects with a degree of poignancy with Waters addressing the Trial of animations before the chants of ‘tear down the wall’ boomed around the auditorium and with a great boom the mighty structure toppled to a wild reception.

The reprise of the band on-stage to perform Outside the Wall gave Waters the opportunity to thank the crowd, introduce the band individually and admit his ‘grumpiness’ in the past whilst heartedly thanking the audience for their applause.

The Wall is about as good as it gets when it comes to arena spectacles. The technology bar has been raised a notch once again. A clinically executed piece of rock theatre that is unlikely to be surpassed in the near future. The production is worth every dollar spent on it!