Monday, April 12, 2010

Roger Waters announces The Wall Live tour

Roger Waters announced his fall 2010 tour today.

“The Wall Live” will kick off in Toronto on September 15 at the Air Canada Centre, before hitting three dozen cities across North America.

The tour celebrates the 30th Anniversary of one of rock’s biggest concept albums. Due to the size of the original production, Pink Floyd played the album in a 1980-81 special series of dates in Los Angeles, Uniondale New York, London and Dortmund, West Germany.

The last time Waters performed the album in its entirety was as a solo artist in Germany in 1990, to mark the recent fall of the Berlin Wall.

Roger has posted the following comment on his website:

I recently came across this quote of mine from 22 years ago:

” What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us to understand one another better, or will they deceive us and keep us apart?"

I believe this is still a supremely relevant question and the jury is out. There is a lot of commercial clutter on the net, and a lot of propaganda, but I have a sense that just beneath the surface understanding is gaining ground. We just have to keep blogging, keep twittering, keep communicating, keep sharing ideas.

30 Years ago when I wrote The Wall I was a frightened young man. Well not that young, I was 36 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 it’s 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.

In some quarters, among the chattering classes, there exists a cynical view that human beings as a collective are incapable of developing more ‘humane’ ie, kinder, more generous, more cooperative, more empathetic relationships with one another.

I disagree.

In my view it is too early in our story to leap to such a conclusion, we are after all a very young species.

I believe we have at least a chance to aspire to something better than the dog eat dog ritual slaughter that is our current response to our institutionalized fear of each other.

I feel it is my responsibility as an artist to express my, albeit guarded, optimism, and encourage others to do the same. To quote the great man, ” You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”

- Roger Waters, 2010

Roger Waters – The Wall Live 2010

Sept. 15 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
Sept. 20 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Sept. 21 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Sept. 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Consol Energy Center
Sept. 28 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
Sept. 30 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
Oct. 5 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Oct. 8 – Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena
Oct. 10 – Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
Oct. 12 – Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
Oct. 15 – Hartford, CT @ XL Center
Oct. 17 – Ottawa, ON @ ScotiaBank Place
Oct. 19 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
Oct. 22 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
Oct. 24 – Detroit, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills
Oct. 26 – Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center
Oct. 27 – St Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
Oct. 29 – St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
Oct. 30 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
Nov. 3 – New York, NY @ Izod Center
Nov. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center
Nov. 9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center
Nov. 13 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Bank Atlantic Center
Nov. 16 – Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum
Nov. 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
Nov. 20 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
Nov. 21 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
Nov. 23 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Nov. 26 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Nov. 27 – Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center
Nov. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
Dec. 6 – San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion
Dec. 10 – Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
Dec. 11 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
Dec. 13 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center


Pink Floyd - The Wall - Comfortably NumbPink Floyd - The Wall - Comfortably Numb

Roger Waters and guests – Comfortably Numb
The Wall Live in Berlin – July 21, 1990