Take one huge wall. Add a psychedelic light show, an unlikely assembly of musicians, the military orchestra of the Soviet army, gigantic blow-up dolls and close to half a million spectators and what do you get? "The Wall" live at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Roger Waters' mega-spectacle-cum-benefit-cum-socio-political-commentary. Only a Pink Floydian could pull off something of this magnitude. Only a Pink Floydian should.
Not everything about the show was perfect. The motley assortment of guest singers was surprising to say the least. Cyndi Lauper? Bryan Adams?? Dave Gilmour and the rest of the megaband were conspicuous by their absence. And it was Waters' show all the way, whether he was throwing furniture out of a "room" perched high up in the symbolic wall that was constructed on-stage during the show or singing in full Soviet military regalia complete with de rigeur dark glasses.
But that's how it should be. No rock concert is, or should ever be, perfect, musically or otherwise. A rock concert is about the experience. The crazy extended jams that nearly-but-not-quite snap a guitar string, the shrieking vocals that nearly-but-not-quite crack, the flashing, spinning, sparkling lights that nearly-but-not-quite blind you and the solid wall of sound that nearly-but-not-quite deafens you. Which is why, as rock concerts go, this one's as big an event as I've seen, because it was about all of those things, but also managed to be nearly-but-not-quite all about the music.
The only band that could even begin to compete is The Beatles. My personal favourite, Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same" is spectacular, but only because it's mindblowing to watch Jimmy Page shred a violin bow to bits during a super-extended version of "Dazed and Confused." The Who, The Rolling Stones, Rush - all the greatest rock acts through the years have been about the music. It took a Roger Waters to top that.
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