Roger Waters’ The Wall tour had already smashed through Holland, Germany, Greece, Denmark and Italy this year before Saturday night's extravaganza that marked the end of Wembley Stadium's concerts for the year.
Wembley has seen some amazing concerts in 2013 - Bruce Springsteen, The Killers and Robbie Williams spring to mind - but Waters’ performance of Pink Floyd’s seminal album topped off an incredible year.
Waters has been touring The Wall again for the last three years and has performed the rock opera over 200 times to nearly to four million people in arenas and stadiums worldwide. It shows, as despite the incredible size and complexity of the production involved it ran like clockwork.
Some stadium rock shows can get a bit lost, dwarfed by the size of the surroundings but not The Wall. Roger Waters made Wembley feel like a small club with huge Gerald Scarfe puppets, state-of-the-art animation, a giant inflatable pig, fireworks and, of course, the huge white wall that gets built as the show progresses and knocked down at its climax. Even if you don’t like the music it’s hard not to leave a performance of The Wall and not be impressed - there are so many levels to the sensory experience.
The sound was loud and crisp, the best I’ve ever heard at Wembley, and the surround-sound special effects were incredible, particularly when a model Stuka plane flew from Wembley’s rafters and crashed into the wall in flames.
But what about the music? It’s a legendary album with so many great tracks but highlights on the night included Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) complete with school choir, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell.
Waters didn’t say much to the crowd during the performance but when he did it mattered. He dedicated the show to all the victims of state terrorism, apologised for appearing narcissistic when duetting with a 50 ft high video of himself filmed over 30 years ago and, at the very end, emotionally revealing that the crowd was the best he's ever had in London. Some accolade.
The Thin Ice
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes
Mother
Goodbye Blue Sky
Empty Spaces
What Shall We Do Now?
Young Lust
One of My Turns
Don’t Leave Me Now
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)
The Last Few Bricks
Goodbye Cruel World
Hey You
Is There Anybody Out There?
Nobody Home
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb
The Show Must Go On
In the Flesh
Run Like Hell
Waiting for the Worms
Stop
The Trial
Outside the Wall
Wembley has seen some amazing concerts in 2013 - Bruce Springsteen, The Killers and Robbie Williams spring to mind - but Waters’ performance of Pink Floyd’s seminal album topped off an incredible year.
Waters has been touring The Wall again for the last three years and has performed the rock opera over 200 times to nearly to four million people in arenas and stadiums worldwide. It shows, as despite the incredible size and complexity of the production involved it ran like clockwork.
Some stadium rock shows can get a bit lost, dwarfed by the size of the surroundings but not The Wall. Roger Waters made Wembley feel like a small club with huge Gerald Scarfe puppets, state-of-the-art animation, a giant inflatable pig, fireworks and, of course, the huge white wall that gets built as the show progresses and knocked down at its climax. Even if you don’t like the music it’s hard not to leave a performance of The Wall and not be impressed - there are so many levels to the sensory experience.
The sound was loud and crisp, the best I’ve ever heard at Wembley, and the surround-sound special effects were incredible, particularly when a model Stuka plane flew from Wembley’s rafters and crashed into the wall in flames.
But what about the music? It’s a legendary album with so many great tracks but highlights on the night included Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) complete with school choir, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell.
Waters didn’t say much to the crowd during the performance but when he did it mattered. He dedicated the show to all the victims of state terrorism, apologised for appearing narcissistic when duetting with a 50 ft high video of himself filmed over 30 years ago and, at the very end, emotionally revealing that the crowd was the best he's ever had in London. Some accolade.
Set List:
In the Flesh?The Thin Ice
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes
Mother
Goodbye Blue Sky
Empty Spaces
What Shall We Do Now?
Young Lust
One of My Turns
Don’t Leave Me Now
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)
The Last Few Bricks
Goodbye Cruel World
Hey You
Is There Anybody Out There?
Nobody Home
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb
The Show Must Go On
In the Flesh
Run Like Hell
Waiting for the Worms
Stop
The Trial
Outside the Wall