Uncomfortably numb

You'd know about Floyd from the clothing of those around you, the other rock-kids wearing their denim cut-offs over a leather jacket. The cut-offs were always decorated with elaborate embroidery, that seemed as if it could belong to a different era, and the dominant imagery was for Rush & Floyd. The prog rock bands clearly had more artistic leanings, art that dominated their album sleeves but was perhaps never likely to make a showing at the gigs - unless worn by the flock.

I did buy The Wall though, I think we all did. Back then it's what you had to do if you wanted to hear something, Floyd may have been one of Britain's biggest global-selling acts but it didn't mean you'd get to hear much of their double-album on radio. So I bought The Wall, I didn't get it though - I found it a bit depressing.

Of course it was technically excellent, played superbly by a band on top of their game but to me (raised then on a diet of Kiss and AC/DC amongst others) it was a bit clinical and probably somewhat mystifying. It went into a vinyl record collection that would eventually outgrow my bedroom and rarely came out of its excellently designed sleeve.

In retrospect I can see that I wasn't mature enough for the content and probably never became so, I could never warm to Floyd even if I eventually developed a general appreciation for what they do. I saw Roger Waters doing 'Dark Side of the Moon' in Hyde Park a few years back and still wasn't overwhelmed by what was clearly an accomplished performance of one of the best-selling albums of all-time.

When plans for this tour was announced and the scale of the production began to be unveiled, my interest was re-awakened. I knew from the scale and the ambition described that I would have to see it for myself. Initially in the UK the plan was to play London and Manchester only - they weren't sure that it would fit into either of the Birmingham venues on the schedule available. I planned to go to Manchester and was pleasantly surprised when a Birmingham show was confirmed.

Initially it didn't sell well here (a pattern exhibited by a number of other shows, worrying so for the second City) - I figured that it may be an issue with the ticket price and because the die-hards had already booked for other venues before Birmingham was announced. On reflection perhaps the locals were not sufficiently interested; maybe they were as baffled by the album as me?

The album is one thing though, the show almost completely another. The songs and theme of The Wall portray an isolation, paranoia, assorted psychoses and deep-seated resentments. Auto-biographical in most places it can be an oppressive listening experience - but one that benefits from some knowledge of the subject matter.

In The Wall Waters was recounting his own 'growing-up' experiences, losing a father in the war, being haunted by the concept of warfare itself, enduring a childhood dominated by women and bullying teachers before joining a rock band and experiencing different pressures of adulthood and fame. In fairness you wouldn't necessarily think that it's a set of subjects that lend themselves to an audio-visual spectacular - for this I guess we have to thank the vision and imagination of Roger Waters and realise that the initial concept was too far ahead of it's time and could only be properly realised now.

Within the NIA the wall itself spanned the entire width of the arena; projections decorated it throughout - both large and small. Initially victims of war (of all sides) but then images of all kinds from slogans to artwork, graffiti and the themes of the album played out in a visual extravaganza. All the time the band played on, actors marched across the stage and eventually atop the wall as it built to its full height.

Visually extravagant it was also a triumph of sound with the effects (airplane engines, rattle of gunfire, voices) coming from all ends of the arena almost making you wonder why this technology is so rarely used in a concert format. It was astounding to not know where to look, or listen.

Throughout this I confess to some kind of awe, I know what goes into a production like this and it was a feat of technical wizardry. What I can't be sure of is whether the audience around me felt the same; their lack of response/reaction was something of a mystery. Pockets of enthusiasm sprang up around the venue but not sufficient in recognition of what was being delivered.

I don't know what people expect from live, I do know (from over 30 years of gig-going) that experiences like this one are incredibly rare. As a show I fear we may not see its equal, not because it can't be done but because it's so expensive to try and do it.

Are people perhaps overwhelmed by choice, swamped by entertainment, de-sensitised by their large-screen TVs or 3D films, CGI, IMAX and the like? Can they really be this blasé?

We have stopped experiencing and started collecting - whether that's Facebook friends instead of real friends or photos and recordings of gigs instead of just enjoying the real thing. We can sit back and wait for entertainment to come to us but should be wary; it won't always come so easily.

In live you often get out what you put in, a band feeds off the enthusiasm of the audience. In Manchester on this tour I'm told they stood and sang from start to finish, if this was to tour again where do you think the band would prefer to play? Perhaps people treated it like the theatre it was and waited until the end to applaud, perhaps they didn't find the space between songs to celebrate, perhaps they were blitzed by the relentless nature of the event but surely they could at least have clapped when indicated to do so and at the very least have chanted 'tear down the wall' with vigour and volume. Do people really need to be told when to engage?

The Wall will inevitably go down as one of the gigs of all time. To call it a gig though is to demean the experience; it was more like a cinematic, theatrical multi-media art-installation as anti-war rally, with music. Don't expect to see it or its like around here again any time soon or (given that reaction) ever.