Monstrous inflatable marionettes, a flying pig with party slogans, a flock of children singing something about education and wearing shirts bearing the message "Fear builds walls," the crash and din of music interspersed with babies and bombs and erratic television crackles, and a wall, so imperceptibly constructed steadily over the course of the album's tense first half that I here and now must raucously applaud whomever created the set design and those in the stage crew who seamlessly metastasized such a wonderful visual spectacle for me -- and everyone else, too. Yet the "bricks" in the wall were not just to physically isolate the band from the rest of the audience, but also to function as an enormous video screen (enormous being too understated, really) to showcase the various themes surrounding the album: animations of scenes from the film, photos of deceased military members from all wars, visuals of planes dropping bombs shaped as crucifixes, crescents and stars (which has garnered some controversy; Google it), as well as Shell and Mercedes logos and some good old-fashioned dollar signs. For those expecting Mr. Waters to sing like he was thirty years younger, he does, actually, on the screen from some footage of "Mother" from the 1980 tour; the current version sings along with him. Basically, go see this if you can. I am. Again. In five days. Try to not buy seats on the extreme left or right sides of whatever venue, and comfort yourself to the fact that, while this is not Pink Floyd, it's the closest thing you're going to get to see them ever again anyway. A- (the minus is for lack of Gilmour, the standard for anything involving Floyd).
7 comments:
I'm happy you reviewed this because I've been on the fence regarding whether or not to see it. How were your seats for the show? Because I don't know if I need to pay $300 for great seats or if some decent upper deck seats will suffice. I know the stage show will be incredible, so I don't want to cheapen the experience with crappy seats.
Facing the stage, I was on the right side of MSG almost at a 45 degree angle towards the stage. I wasn't in the upper deck, but also wasn't in the lower deck. Aside from wishing I was more towards the back of the arena to get a better view, I think if you stay to the left or right of the stage, but recessed back a bit to see the whole thing, there really isn't a bad seat other than the ones parallel with the stage. If you can get something on the floor somehow, get close to the stage; I can't see how the seats on the floor way in the back are good. The seats all the way at the top of the upper deck may not be bad, but I think you can snag something a little lower. For the MSG show, I paid $90 for my ticket (service fees included) and the show I'm seeing next Tuesday at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island were $111, and much better seats too.
Thanks for the heads up. I plan on going to the show at the ummm Izod Center / Meadowlands / Continental Airlines Arena (whatever you want to call it.) I have a friend going to the Nassau show. You made me a little more tempted to go.
If you don't go but were able, you'll regret it. This is such a refreshing thing to experience compared to other concerts nowadays. Plus, it's the closest thing we'll get to our favorite band man.
You convinced me, I ended up buying tickets. I'll be going to the show in NJ.
WOW. Sounds almost as good (and in some ways better) than it was back in the 70's.
I wouldn't know, but it was still awesome!
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