MOST second generation fans such as myself have heard great and often hazy tales about the extravaganza that is a Pink Floyd concert.
Upon walking into the Burswood Dome on Friday night, it was immediately apparent Roger Waters’ The Wall would not disprove the reputation.
A wall of white bricks stretched from one side of the arena to the other, but what followed was sure to remain a remarkable memory for even the most seasoned concert-goer.
Waters emerged on stage and boomed into In the Flesh accompanied by pyrotechnic displays, uniformed men with flags, giant animations and finally a plane crashing into the wall then exploding.
Not to mention the music: surprisingly, Waters’ voice remains strong and held through the 90-odd minutes of tormented verses that comprise The Wall.
It was disappointing Waters was without former guitarist David Gilmour, but his tour guitarists Robbie Wyckoff and Dave Kilminster mimicked his solos to perfection in crowd favourites Comfortably Numb, Mother and The Wall II.
A group of children joined Waters on stage to sing the chorus of The Wall II then dramatically tear down a giant school master puppet – no expense was spared.
As the show progressed, the wall was incrementally built up until the band was completely hidden, only for Waters to reappear in the second set during Nobody Home.
Waters has updated the imagery that accompanies The Wall and hones in on the anti-war and ant-capitalist themes of the album, rather than Waters’ 1979 personal crisis.
While the modernised war theme was gratingly unsubtle at times, it showed Waters had moved on from the self-obsessed man of 30 years ago.
His response to the crowd was not that of a sullen rock star as he paraded around in dictatorial fashion, getting the diverse crowd clapping.
Huge gloomy puppets of a schoolmaster, wife and flying pig added to the show’s unparalleled visual brilliance and planning.
The band capped off the performance with a rocking Run Like Hell to great applause.
Ironically, most people left the performance of one of the most morose albums ever produced, with a smile.
What: Roger Waters
Where: Burswood Dome
When: Friday, January 27
Reviewed by: Joel Kelly
Photographed by: Andrew Ritchie
Click here to see an image gallery