Growing up in a working class family with strong European ideals of family, my maternal Grandparents contributed a lot to me and my brother's upbringing and we would often spend months upon months living with them. My Nan was an archivist at the local Wandle Industrial Museum and so she instilled within me a desire to know everything there is to know about our heritage and past. Therefore my most frequent request was 'Nan, Grandad, tell me all about the war.' I used to sit next to my Grandad on the sofa as he would tell me all about war torn Budapest and what daily life was under the Nazi invaders. I didn't know what Fascism was, but I knew the Nazis believed in it and that Hitler was the most evil man in all of History. My child-like innocence never quite grasped how scary it must have been for my Grandad to walk to school everyday with the streets lined by the Nazi patrol, his family having his house raided on a daily basis for any valuables (which my Nagymama hid in my Uncle's nappies) and the risk that his Mum took when she punched a Nazi soldier in the face when he tried to kidnap my Uncle. My Grandad, Uncle and their parents managed to flee to England within the very short gap between the Nazi occupation and the Soviet takeover. Unfortunately everyone else in the family got left behind and all communication became difficult as letters would struggle to be sent through the iron curtain.
You may wonder why I'm talking about my heritage and family history, but it is the reason why Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' means so much to me. Not only were my family literally divided by a wall, but the theme of Totalitarianism had a huge effect upon my family, having witnessed it from both the far left and far right. My Grandad always told me that the far left and the far right are basically meeting points in a circle and so there is not much difference between the two. Walking into the Wembley Arena yesterday to see Roger Waters perform The Wall live, I knew exactly what he had meant. I wasn't sure if the mannequin on stage in a leather trench coat and a Hammer logo armband was a nod to the horrors of Nazism, or Soviet occupied Eastern Europe. As the stadium lights dimmed, soldiers marched onto stage in full black and red military regalia. Roger Waters was their glorious leader, their dictator and as he declared 'are there any queers in the theater tonight? Get them up against the wall' I had to double check I hadn't just stepped into the pages of Orwell's '1984'. It was terrifying. As the red flares shot up and the soldiers marched on by with the Hammer logo flags, I realized just how all it takes is one charismatic leader to install fear and terror into the people. Following the intro, Roger Waters dedicated the whole performance to every victim of state terrorism from the trenches of WW1 to the controversial Guantanamo Bay. This added not only poignancy, but a horrifying realization of the consequences of modern warfare.
The Wall has always been a musical extravaganza full of grotesque imagery and over the top effects but it seemed that this particular performance went beyond that. The choir of children who stormed the stage for 'Another Brick In The Wall Part 1' were telling a 10ft puppet resembling 'Teacher' to leave them alone as their t shirts read 'Fear Builds Walls'.
'Mother' returned the crowd to state of memory and sadness. Waters spoke to us of the tragedy of Jean Charles De Menezes and how his family would never be able to find justice or the answers that they seek. When I was 16, I was visiting a theater in Stockwell. To get through to the room where the performance was being held, I had to walk through the room where a Press Conference was being held by De Menezes' family. I saw for myself the pain etched on to their faces and I understood that it would never go away for them. Having a thousand strong crowd sing 'Mother am I really dying?' was singly the most emotional experience I've ever had. 'Goodbye Blue Sky' made me realize that Waters was not pinpointing one particular regime, but every form of government as the plane projected onto the wall was dropping bombs in the shape of symbols representing religion, capitalism and communism.
'Young Lust' a bit further down the line did much to change the mood however. Throughout the performance so far, stage hands were adding blocks to the wall and so by this point the orchestra were slowly being hidden away, only being peeked into by a few gaps. 'Young Lust' has always been a favourite of mine due to its aggressive nature and as it was being played, projections of strippers were being cast onto the wall which although a bit cheeky, was perfect imagery for such a track.
The first half ended on a poignant note with Waters disappearing behind the wall on the ending note of 'Goodbye Cruel World'. During the 20 minute intermission (I don't think anyone would have the energy to perform, or even watch, The Wall all the way through!) profiles of those who had suffered and died as a result of corrupt governments were projected onto the now completed wall. What makes this even more poignant is that prior to the tour family members were invited to send in these pictures of their loved ones, which ranged from Sophie Scholl to Salvador Allende.
The second half of the show opened with 'Hey You' but with The Wall fully erect, where was Roger Waters? Where were the musicians? Maybe they chose to do it this way for the line 'hey you, out there beyond the wall' and to emphasize the separation. 'Vera' and 'Bring The Boys Back Home' placed us back upon the emotional rollercoaster while video footage showed children being reunited with their parents as they returned from war. I'm not going to lie, I did get my hopes up during the opening verse for 'Comfortably Numb' as I was holding my breath for David Gilmour to appear on top of The Wall for the chorus, but I was left sadly disappointed. Maybe it was bit of a long shot?
'The Trial' is when the full horror became real for me, when the audience became spectators of a totalitarian regime, deemed helpless as we watched The Prisoner be placed on trial for showing feelings, showing feelings of an almost human nature. I was very much impressed that Waters managed to not sing 'The Trial' but act it. His body language against the backdrop of the monstrosity of the injustice of 'The Trial' video being projected onto the wall overwhelmed me. It was powerful and majestic. This was Waters trying to change the world via music. However the rest of the concert saw him take a personality switch where he was still changing the world, but changing the world as a power-hungry dictator, even 'shooting' a gun furiously into the crowd. The intense energy and the presence of the leather clad army sent rippling fear throughout the stadium.
The fear and energy was so full on that the conclusion of the show was made even more celebratory given the turn in mood. An inflatable, floating hog (Animal Farm anyone?) covered in symbols of capitalist repression bearing the slogan 'TRUST US', which was previously floating above our heads, came rapidly, deflating down but the real crowning glory was that The Wall came tumbling down. Although I'm neither German, nor old enough to have been there, I can only imagine that the cheers resembled those of the German citizens as the Berlin Wall fell, and I felt that this was my moment to cheer for those who were on either side in 1989.
What made this particular performance of 'The Wall' so special was that it was adapted to represent modern warfare, current affairs and the interactions of countries with one another in this very day. The most beautiful piece of projection was as the 'Capitalist Hog' was deflating, a cartoon of a young woman, perhaps Iranian, removed her earphones, thus liberating herself from her own generation, smiled and raised her hands in the air. The very tip to a most emotional musical spectacular with the strongest message I have ever experienced at any concert.
So go speak to your parents, your grandparents, people from other cultures. Listen to their story because I promise that you will regret it if you don't.
