It was a busy weekend for us. We had a little roadtrip to Toronto on Saturday and Ottawa on Monday to see Roger Waters on his final leg of the Wall Tour.
Mark saw the first two shows of the tour in Toronto back in the fall of 2010 and then he and I saw shows together in Ottawa and Montreal.
The versions of the show we saw over the weekend were both different from those we saw in 2010. Roger has changed up some of the animation and wall projections to accommodate a much wider wall. The wider wall is used in outdoor parks and stadiums and it was used at the Rogers Centre on Saturday evening.
We got our tickets through Roger`s online fanclub, in a presale special. In Toronto, we were in the front, centre section, row 23, in the centre of the row. My seat was actually partially over the big cable which goes from the mixing board to the stage. Funny thing about the board in Toronto, it was so big, and the floor of the old Skydome so expansive, they put a portajohn in the enclosed area for the crew.
In Ottawa, the smaller wall was used inside the ScotiaBank Place. Incredibly, Mark and I sat in the front row, of the centre section, in centre seats. I say sat but we actually stood for the entire show. Front row is an amazing place to see the show from.
I have put up two sets of photos on flickr (you can find them if you click on the image here). During each performance, Roger has local students come on stage with him during Another Brick in the Wall, Part Two. It was very neat to see the kids up close last night. There were three teachers who were in the pit, in front of us, while the kids were performing. The teachers were all very vigourously doing the choreography and singing along with the kids. As we were leaving, I recognized one of the teachers and hollered at them to get their attention. I had taken quite a few photos of the kids and gave them my card so they could find them online. While I was doing that, the show promoter was nearby and gave me his card so I sent him a link today. Everyone was so friendly and lovely in Ottawa last night, it was a terrific experience.
There was one big change to the show, both nights. After the children go off stage, Roger sings a new part to Another Brick in the Wall. He`s singing about Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian engineering student who was murdered by the London Police in a tube station in 2005. He was mistaken for a terror suspect and shot in the back of the head several times.
The show is very powerful and if you have a chance to see one of these final shows, I would go. Mark is going to be at the final show of the tour, in Quebec City next month. He saw the original show in New York in 1980 so it`s a nice way for him to close this circle with Roger.
