The Wall Story:

A good 40 years ago, The Wall, one of Pink Floyd's most legendary albums, was released. With The Wall 40 Years, we are playing our biggest and most ambitious show yet. A performance that is directly inspired by the live concerts that Pink Floyd gave in 1980 and 1981 in honor of the album.

The Wall is easily Pink Floyd's crowning achievement. Although the band has many more well-known hits, The Wall is a powerful rock opera, largely written by bassist and singer Roger Waters. It is a story of isolation and the abuse of power. The Wall was released on November 30, 1979 as a double LP and was subsequently performed live on stage.

The Wall has also appeared on the big screen as a film, but everyone still remembers the live performances best. It was grand and unprecedented in its time, with gigantic decorations, projections, quadraphonic sound and a children's choir. Now you can relive some of that atmosphere, just like 40 years ago!

Building Blocks of the Wall

Prologue

After the "In the Flesh" tour in the fall of 1977, Roger Waters was thinking about a work in which he would deal not only with the death of his father, but also with the great distance that had arisen between him and the concert audience. Waters no longer saw himself as the working socialist of his past. He became someone who expressed his opposition to capitalism and materialism while making a lot of money from it. Waters had everything in his power, but did it make him happy?

These elements have been increasingly infiltrating Waters' lyrics since "The Dark Side of the Moon". While the lyrics of this album are not specifically focused on a specific era, but on a generation, the opposite is true for "Animals". At the same time, Waters is still haunted by the demise of Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett; a creative genius who died under the influence of drugs, increasing workload and high expectations. Barrett was left a hollowed-out man; the concept of the album “Wish You Were Here” is strongly influenced by this. Now, along with the aforementioned themes, these are the building blocks that Waters uses for his magnum opus.

Building Blocks of The Wall Part 1 The story of “The Wall” takes place over the course of a single day in three locations: a hotel room, a concert hall and the mind of the main character, a character named Pink.

“The Wall” begins with Pink burning out while on tour with his band (“In the Flesh?”). He is aggressive and at the same time reflecting on his youth. His father died during World War II and his mother subsequently raises him in a strict and very protective manner (“Mother”), while elementary school has a “brainwashing” effect on him.

Pink's misunderstood and unprocessed grief and accompanying emotions are depicted through the metaphor of a brick. Together they form a wall: a symbol of isolation and a means of communication.

As the tour progresses, Pink begins to feel increasingly lonely. This loneliness is further compounded by the distance from his somewhat possessive wife, who is apparently at home in bed with another man. Pink himself is seduced by a fan ("Young Lust"), but when she is in his room, he goes completely crazy.

He destroys everything in his path ("One of My Turns"), including the television. After all, it was a rock cliché for a 1970s artist to throw the television out the window! He ends up in a downward spiral, even projecting his aggression onto his own wife ("Don't Leave Me Now"). He is finally completely isolated from the world: the wall is up ("Goodbye Cruel World").

Building Blocks of Part 2 of “The Wall” The second half of “The Wall” is partly made up of flashbacks. It deals with the consequences of Pink’s isolation (“Hey You”), but Roger Waters also mentions Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett in the lyrics (“Nobody Home”), an element that the author only adds to the story in the final stages of recording.

Pink keeps thinking about his father while watching war footage on television (“Vera,” “Bring the Boys Back Home”). Suddenly, he has to leave his room when a desperate manager and concert promoter knocks on his door and takes him to a crowded venue.

The concert is about to start, but Pink feels completely listless (“Comfortably Numb”). An experience that Waters himself had during the “In the Flesh” tour in 1977. In Philadelphia, he was told he had hepatitis, but “The Show Must Go on”: thanks to an injection, he can simply go on stage.

Under the influence of all means, Pink's creation transforms into a fascist frontman. Through his violent fantasies and subconscious inferiority complex, he believes he has the audience completely under his control. At that point, another element enters the story of The Wall: fascism.

Waters was strongly influenced by the rise of the National Front. The line "Would you like to send our colored cousins ​​home, friend?" in the song "Waiting for the Worms" is a direct reference to this far-right movement, which won almost 200,000 votes in the UK in 1979. The song describes a march to a National Front rally in Hyde Park, London.

Completely detached from the real world, he feels like a soldier in a bunker at one point, and then realizes he has gone too far ("Stop"). He stops playing, takes stock, and stands trial ("The Trial"). It features his strict teacher, protective mother, and