Back in 1987 I had the privilege of going to my first and only Pink Floyd concert. Floyd had come out with Momentary Lapse of Reason earlier that year and I had managed to acquire tickets that included a bus ride to see them at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. My only regret was that I did not get to see Roger Waters perform with the group. It is said that he officially left the group in 19 85.
June 8th, 2012, Chicago, Illinois. Roger Waters performs the wall! This is not meant to be a review of the show, for how could I say it was anything but great. It turned out to be the best show I’ll ever see. My sons, Nick and William took me to see this show. They are fans of Floyd and Roger Waters as much as I have ever been. This means a lot to me; that my children and I share in such things. With them last night, I felt that, not only was I a part of their lives, but they were a part of mine as well.
Roger Waters message with the Wall has always been a strong one. It is supposedly based on the loss of his own father during the second World War. I can’t say that I know this to be fact and I could probably find the truth somewhere online, but that could possibly only break something I have come to believe over the years. Because of this belief, I have learned from Roger that war not only takes the lives of those who fight in them, but also the lives of those left behind.
Roger has always struggled to get people to see the human condition. He is an activist and during his performance of the Wall, he utilizes the main prop to get the human condition out there in front of you. Plastered upon the wall he spends the first half of the show building, are images and faces of those who have suffered. Not just through atrocities of the distant past but also through wars taking part in our world today. One message that remains vivid in my mind is that Every dollar spent on weapons, designed to kill another human being, is a dollar not being spent feeding, clothing, and taking care of a child’s basic needs somewhere in this world.
A little girl breaking into tears when her father returned home from some foreign deployment was perhaps one of the most striking images that flashed across Roger’s Wall. Bring the Boys Back Home.
This isn’t all to say that Roger Waters, The Wall, was all about getting us to see the world for what it is, it was also about seeing one of the greatest artists of our time. The Wall was the second of two historical albums for Roger Waters and Pink Floyd. When Pink Floyd went on tour after the release of The Wall in 1979, I didn’t stand a chance of being able to see them perform it. So, 23 years later, I want to thank Mr. Waters for giving me the opportunity to see him perform The Wall with my sons. It was truly a great event in my life.
