Anything Else Forum

Anything Else Forum

Offtopicland. Remember: no politics, religion, or hot-button social issues.

PINK FLOYD’S THE “WALL” TOUR DEBUTS (2/7/80) – TIMH

+3 HS
Whoa Nellie's picture
February 7, 2016 at 6:31am
30 Comments

On February 7, 1980, Pink Floyd kicked off its legendary “Wall” tour with the first of 7 shows at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The tour has a well-deserved place in rock and roll history. It was an incredibly elaborate production that saw a huge wall constructed piece by piece in front of the band leading up to intermission, followed by the destruction of the wall during the songs after intermission.

The New York Times stated in its March 2, 1980 edition that: “The 'Wall' show remains a milestone in rock history though and there's no point in denying it. Never again will one be able to accept the technical clumsiness, distorted sound and meagre visuals of most arena rock concerts as inevitable" and concluded that "the 'Wall' show will be the touchstone against which all future rock spectacles must be measured.”

The show also featured a huge inflatable “teacher” that loomed over the wall and walked the stage, an even larger "mother" inflatable, a round video screen, state of the art sound system. The tour was only 31 shows in 4 cities (L.A.; Uniondale, NY; London; and Dortmund, FRG), owing to its complexity and expense. The tour cost an estimated $1.5 million before the first show was mounted.

The “Wall” tour is also notable for being the last performed by the lineup of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason. Wright appeared as a salaried musician after Waters fired him during the studio sessions for the album, and Waters left the band after that tour and a court battle between him and the band.

Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81 is an album of the London shows at Earls Court. The London shows were supposed to be filmed for inclusion in a planned movie. Unfortunately, the film was deemed technically inadequate. Waters has said he has film of the show that will be released at some point, but it has yet to happen.

More pics from this and other Pink Floyd tours can be found at this great website: http://www.pinkfloydz.com

So, we are left with only memories, and a few youtube clips (some of the best subtitled in Spanish). Who among us was lucky enough to catch this historic concert? C'mon, share!

This youtube embed runs 13 segments and the entire concert.

 

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

View 30 Comments