Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
September 15, 2010

Review: Mike Forbes
Photos: Declan Goodall, Lee-Ann Wylie, Deb Robinson, Mike Forbes

Back in 94 I saw Pink Floyd’s “Division Bell” tour and thought it was definitely one of the best shows I’d ever seen.  The venue was incredible in itself.. the massive Pontiac Silverdome.  The place seats 80,000+ and it was packed.  The highlight of the night, aside from the over the top show itself, was that Floyd played the “Dark Side of the Moon” album in it’s entirety.

No matter how much Pink Floyd you throw at me, nothing epitomizes the Pink Floyd experience more than that of “The Wall.”  Right from beginning to end, this masterpiece still holds strong after 30 years.  Each song builds the story of “Pink”, a sad and confused kid who grows up to find that he’s built himself a wall amidst the chaos of his upbringing and his rock n roll lifestyle.

I must have watched the movie “the Wall” at least once for every year it’s been out.  It’s still one of my favourite movies.  I always thought to myself, I wished I could have seen this tour.  Seeing Pink Floyd and all their bells n whistles was pretty cool but to see them actually build the giant wall across an arena is by and far one of the most awesome spectacles of a theatrical rock concert as you’re gonna find.  As each tune carries you closer and closer to “The Trial” where Pink finally has lost it and is being confronted by all his peers, the wall gets bigger and bigger til the last brick is put into place completely shutting Pink out from the world.

The anticipation was killing me.  I was so hoping to see the Wall’s show re-enacted and it was EXACTLY what I got.  From beginning to end, the album was perfectly recreated aside from a few sonic glitches here and there.  I expected many more multimedia fuck ups with this tour being such a huge production paired with the fact that it was opening night of the tour.  Normally if something is gonna go wrong it would be on that first night… or so you’d think.

The whole show was a highlight.  Right from the start, at the end of “In The Flesh?” a bomber on a zip line came flying down crashing into part of the wall and knocking off a few pieces.  I’d JUST taken my seat as the show started and I was looking for the plane but couldn’t see it from the angle I was sitting so I didn’t bother pulling out the camera yet… before I knew it, the bomber replica slammed into the wall signifying the kick off to “The Thin Ice”.

Singer Robbie Wyckoff performed brilliantly as I found myself wondering if David Gilmour had stepped up for a guest appearance on opening night.  His voice totally nailed Gilmour to the Wall, all puns intended, while he effortlessly duped the Gilmour classics like “The Thin Ice”, “Goodbye Blue Sky”, “Young Lust” and “The Show Must Go On” Whoever manned lead guitar also nailed down the album to a ‘T’ allowing me to just close my eyes and fly with the soaring sustain perfect enough to create a comfortable numbness that all stoners in the audience could cuddle up to.

If you have a chance to hit the Wall this time around DO IT.  You may never get the opportunity again.

Roger Waters Official Web Site

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