Roger Waters seeks to break down the wall in live show (photo by twi-ny/David Darmstadter)
Thursday, November 4, Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ, $69-$268.85, 8:00
Saturday, November 6, Madison Square Garden, $70.45-$277.40
www.thegarden.com
www.roger-waters.com
A lot of bands have been performing albums in their entirety this decade, but no one is doing it like Roger Waters. In 2007, he played the Pink Floyd masterpiece DARK SIDE OF THE MOON all over the world, incorporating multimedia elements and, of course, a flying pig. But the sixty-seven-year-old founding member of Floyd, who split from David Gilmour and the rest of the group in 1985, is now on the road re-creating the majestic 1979 concept album THE WALL, adding multimedia and theatrical flourishes and bringing back, of course, the pig. The story of isolation and stardom, loneliness and fame, which was turned into a 1982 film, features such classic rock songs as “Another Brick in the Wall,” “Mother,” “Hey You,” “Is There Anybody Out There?” and “Comfortably Numb.” On his website, Waters explains what drew him toward revisiting THE WALL: “Thirty years ago when I wrote THE WALL I was a frightened young man. Well, not that young, I was thirty-six years old. It took me a long time to get over my fears. Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss, with its concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame, and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, whatever! All these issues and ’isms are driven by the same fears that drove my young life. This new production of THE WALL is an attempt to draw some comparisons, to illuminate our current predicament, and is dedicated to all the innocent lost in the intervening years.” His performance of THE WALL LIVE at Nassau Coliseum last month (catch some video by twi-ny spy Ben Rossen here) drew raves that are still reverberating across the tristate area; you have two more chances to catch this remarkable show, tonight at the Izod Center in East Rutherford and Saturday at the Garden.
When we caught U2’s Vertigo Tour at the Garden in June 2006, we were up in the rafters, looking down at tiny dots that just happened to be drummer Larry Mullen Jr., bass player Adam Clayton, guitarist the Edge, and singer Bono. But the World’s Most Important Band is front and center for everyone to see in U2 3D, the first-ever full-length film shot in Digital 3-D, directed by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington. Using as many as eighteen specially equipped digital cameras and recording decks, Owens, who has been U2’s visual content director since ZooTV, captures the Irish band during stadium shows in South America and Mexico, focusing on the March 1-2 concerts at Estadio la Plata in Buenos Aires. The new technology, previously used for sporting events, has a fascinating layered effect that sucks in viewers — yes, who are wearing special glasses (not unlike the specs Bono used to wear as the Fly) — placing them right in the middle of the action as the band powers through an exultant setlist that, if not quite ideal, includes “Vertigo,” “New Year’s Day,” and “Pride (In the Name of Love).” You can’t help but reach out for Bono as he seemingly jumps out of the screen while singing “Touch me” during “Beautiful Day,” and then you’ll swear he’s reaching out only to you when he stares into the camera during “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and promises to “wipe your tears away.” And when tens of thousands of fans all bop up and down in unison to “Where the Streets Have No Name,” forming a propulsive wave, you’ll feel a rush beneath your seat that moves up into your gut. Owens and Pellington (ARLINGTON ROAD) incorporate the band’s hypertextual stage show into the new format, as digitized figures, words, symbols, and letters from the large screens behind the band seem to float right in front of your face. The concert footage is supplemented with extreme close-ups shot onstage without an audience, and the energy level severely drops at these times, although Mullen’s drum kit looks amazing in 3-D. As straight-ahead concert movies go, U2 3D is among the best ever made, a unique theatrical experience that will blow you away. The film is part of the Midnight Rock Docs section of the DOC NYC festival, which also includes D. A. Pennebaker’s ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS: THE MOTION PICTURE, screening at 11:59 on Saturday night.
