Live review: Roger Waters and 'The Wall' at Staples Center

 
Everyone else in the music business may be content to think smaller these days.

Not Roger Waters.

Pink Floyd’s erstwhile lead singer and songwriter not only remembers when rock music could also function as grand-scale theater, he helped arrange that whole marriage.

In an era in which grand-scale ambition at times seems to be diminishing hand in hand with record sales, Waters wants to perpetuate the notion that rock can offer not just eye-boggling spectacle, which has become the alpha and omega of so many of today’s big-budget pop-R&B concert tours, but spectacle coupled with equally big ideas.

So Waters, 66, has resurrected his old band’s 1979 opus in excelsis “The Wall” for a new generation, and Monday at Staples Center, at the first of five Southland performances over the next few weeks, he made it bigger, broader, harder, louder and more dazzling than ever. And that was just the first two pyrotechnics-heavy minutes.

But neither Waters nor “The Wall” offered much in the way of nuance to begin with.

It’s a brooding, blaring, fiercely proud wallow through the roots of youthful fear, anger and alienation,  one that touched a deep nerve with legions of listeners. You have to believe most of them let its dark themes unfurl in the privacy of their bedrooms where they sat alone, late at night, probably in the dark.

All the lonely people, however, ultimately formed a global nation of their own, pushing “The Wall” over the last three decades into a tie for third place (with “Led Zeppelin IV”) on the Recording Industry Assn. of America’s list of the biggest selling albums of all time, logging a comfortably mind-numbing 23 million copies in the U.S. alone. (Only Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the Eagles’ “Their Greatest Hits/1971-1975” have outsold it, with 29 million copies each according to the RIAA.)

Waters has said in recent interviews that he’s come a long way from the fearful 36-year-old he was when he wrote most of the songs for the album. But whatever he’s gained in the way of self-understanding hasn’t softened his hammer-over-the-head way of putting a message across.

As an idea man, Waters is as subtle as a goose-stepping mallet, one of many blatant images of a monolithic and militaristic society that flashed on the literal wall that was erected out of what looked like giant cardboard Duplos across the broad Staples stage as the performance unfolded.
“The Wall,” then and now, is the Who’s “Tommy” without Pete Townshend’s poetry, or most significantly, his wicked sense of humor.

But it was obvious long ago that Waters will embrace subtlety and ambiguity when pigs fly -- and yes,  the flying pig is back, this time painted black and decorated with slogans suggesting Russian propaganda as it floated ominously by remote control through the arena.

There’s no denying that this staging of “The Wall” is as visually striking, especially the two-story tall inflated marionettes representing three key characters in the story, as it is musically lush. Indeed, Waters’ saving grace is his hauntingly melodic, often elegant, periodically funky rock music, which he delivered on Monday with precision and chest-rattling force with backing from a committed squadron of six instrumentalists and five singers. Absent that music, “The Wall” would simply be a screed of left-wing agitprop that rounds up the usual suspects to rail against: rampant commercialism, militarism and societal indifference to the suffering of its least powerful members.

But the narrative of the rock opera, in being expanded to further point up the connection Waters wants to make between individual fear and societal dysfunction, periodically gets lost in the shuffle.

The strong autobiographical elements of the original concept album -- tracing Waters’ birth in England at the tail end of World War II and the death of his father in Italy during the war, which resulted in all sorts of psychological trauma for the fatherless boy-turned-tortured-rock-titan -- are muddied in the playing out of Waters' understandable antiwar position.

In the new production, that takes the form of names and biographical details of dozens upon dozens of people killed in various wars around the world, also projected onto the titular wall. He also employs footage of children being reunited with their soldier parents, a tact both moving and manipulative. The destruction of the wall that symbolizes an emotional breakthrough, brings the whole thing to an undeniably impressive climax.

Few would argue with Waters’ overarching message that war and fear are quagmires that are best avoided. But he makes it hard for a thinking person to get past the ham-fisted way he often expresses that message.

And yet. And yet. Despite the sometimes awkward and bellicose tone of “The Wall,” as the godfather of rock critics Robert Christgau once so aptly wrote, “For a dumb tribulations-of-a-rock-star epic, this isn't bad.”

That was then. Now it’s the tribulations of a war-weary, corporate greed-despising member of what Mark Twain gleefully called “the damned human race.” And still, it’s not bad.

"The Wall" continues Tuesday and Sunday at Staples and concludes its U.S. tour leg on Dec. 13 and 14 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Roger Waters at the Staples Center. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Comments

[Gunnar]

"...in the suitcase on the left, you'll find my favorite axe..."

Those that were lucky enough to see the Dark Side of the Moon tour at the Hollywood Bowl got a taste of this show in the first set. I recall thinking "he should do The Wall..."

And Monday night he did. Effin' amazing show. I recall pulling the plastic off the double vinyl set and listening to it from beginning to end, with 4 friends in 1979. Missed the limited tour, and jumped at the chance to see it here in LA.

Did the reviewer even see it? Jaded much? ;)

Roger Waters at 66 is still the force he was at 36, no doubt. We are lucky and better for him...

Oh, and... I'm a father, ex-military, with kids. You felt manipulated, mr reviewer? Not until you been in either of those shoes can you even remotely possibly grok that scene... and if you felt anything at all, look inside, not out for some manipulative locus...

[Duff Moses]

Throughout the Water's-led Pink Floyd period and on into his solo career, an underlying sardonic humor has permeated the work. The tongue-in-cheek pentimento has not always been evident to all listeners but is clear to me and harkens to a certain British manner of humor evident in Monty Python and other like comedy acts beloved by the Beatles and Pink Floyd. I think Randy Lewis' suggestion The Wall lacks a wicked sense of humor displays a typically American cluelessness about sarcasm. The Wall, as I see it, is all about exaggeration. It is about a closed off person who has allowed the demons of his psyche to grow to fantastic proportions. Get it?

[No agenga here]

With all due respect to 67 year old Roger Waters, singing along to a pre-recorded vocal is not acceptable for a musician, writer, and artist of his stature. Obviously he is too narcissistic to have a talented vocalist sing his parts. Although, it's apparently okay for Robbie Wyckoff to sing David Gilmour's "old bits".

[Patrick Ziegler]

A fabulous Waters show, and truly one of the best albums every written. The show is just as amazing as I remember it in the 80s. For Pink Floyd fans in the LA area, check out Which Ones Pink. They are an excellent cover band who have been together for ten years, they play all over So Cal, www.whichonespink.com.

[Ira Cord Rubnitz]

Uh, Randy..."just the basic facts!" to quote The Wall.
Roger NEVER was Pink Floyd's "lead singer"!!!
That honor was the job of Syd Barrett originally, and then David Gilmour,
and sometimes Richard Wright!
Roger screams very well, whispers quite well, and is a HORRIBLE singer!!! Great writer and conceptualist though...pretty good bass player!

As usual, the LA Times...NOT the news for music!
LA Times-PLEASE hire a decent music reviewer!!!
Hillburn on-you guys reaaaallly suck!

Most sincerely,

Ira

[Ira Cord Rubnitz]

--->OC Jimi:
It's utterly selfish pigs like you that make me stay home these days and enjoy great song/picture with NOONE standing up in front of me drunk/shouting & ruining the show! You and your disgusting kind is THE REASON ROGER WROTE "The Wall"!!!
and make no mistake...if I was there at a pseudo-pink floyd show-(I've seen real PINK FLOYD 15 times since 1970), you'd be in no condition to stand up if you refused to sit down. As was the case 1n 1975 at a Floyd show when someone threw a beer can at me! His arm was never the same!!! You're just a bully who will piss off a bigger one some day-hopefully soon!!!

[ExSinger]

@ Nathan -- Thanks for your comments. Going to see the show tonight with my wife, having missed the original in 1979. I can't agree that Floyd is better than any contemporary band. I saw Radiohead during the OK Computer tour (OK, not totally contemporary, but way more so than The Wall or Dark Side), and was absolutely transfixed. But I agree with the sentiment that spectacle has been done away with except perhaps at mega-pop shows that feature dancers, smoke, etc. I pine for the days of Jethro Tull, Todd Rundgren/Utopia, David Bowie, The Who, Genesis (pre-Collins), and even Motley Crue.

[erc gef]

I sold my ticket before the show and did not attend. I was at the 1980 show and met the band after, even got my program signed. As a 15 year old boy this LP was essential, it spoke to me. I was so excited to go again after so many years and got an amazing seat. But when I saw the footage of the Star of David followed by dollar signs (quickly removed from the show from what I understand) and then read that Mr. Waters states he is not in any way anti-Semitic (which I fully believe) but that he holds strong views against Israel, I gladly sold my ticket at a loss. I certainly don't agree with much of the Israeli govement's actions, but living there for a year and having buses blowing up and places I went for coffee bombed I can understand one thing. If you don't live there you can not possibly understand what it is like. And to show the Star of David followed by dollar signs, is as racist as showing... well, I will skip the examples but you can guess them for yourselves. Mr. Waters, for me, you build up a new wall, one that I can no longer enjoy.

[Dennis]

We saw the Tacoma show 12/11...I thought Waters' warning of what will happen to us if we don't pay attention to the globalist corporate-facist regime-it may be too late for us already-I would've loved to have seen something about Julian Assange who should be canonized for Wikileaks...
I and my wife and friends were all in agreement that The Wall 2010-11 was the best show we've seen. I saw PF do Dark Side in 1972 and to me,at age 16,that was damned impressive and i've never forgotten it,same for Bob Marley in 11/79 (portland,or),but maybe due to age and experience,my wife and I appreciated what the "New" Wall told us.I would've loved to have seen it a few more times. I saw Waters "in the flesh" syd barrett show and it was great. The Wall 2010 was in a class by itself. I found myself asking the Lord to forgive us for what we have done;and still are doing to each other;the images of the suffering children,soldiers-all because of greed and ignorance was like a punch in the face.We live in a world in which we're being brutalized by the System.Waters was telling us this and yelling "WAKE UP,SHEEP!!!!!

[Patti]

@erc gef - It really is too bad that you missed the show for that reason. There were all manner of symbols used in that segment representing various religions, nations, and corporate interests. Very equal opportunity.