Bangin’ your heart against some mad bugger’s Wall

For those of us die-hard Pink Floyd fans, it’s getting less and less likely as the years go on that a Roger Waters/David Gilmour reconciliation will occur, and more importantly, that they will play together again (with Nick Mason) as Pink Floyd.  But an opportunity to see something that could be quite special has come up – Roger Waters will be doing a North American tour, and will be playing the Pink Floyd masterpiece “The Wall” album in its entirety.  He has not played this album in the U.S. in 30 years, and last played it in Berlin in 1990, following the destruction of the Berlin Wall. 

You can read all about it and see the tour dates here.

It looks like Waters will be keeping the general feel of the original “Wall” tour, utilizing the enormous stage show, building a 200+-foot wall and then breaking it down.  It would be pretty amazing to see this spectacle, I’m sure…but I’m also sure that tickets will be ridiculously expensive, which would be par for the course for all the baby-boomer artists still performing (McCartney, Springsteen, etc.)  But as this may be the last chance to see these songs live – it doesn’t look like Gilmour and Mason will be touring any time soon – it may be worth the price. 

P.S.  When is someone going to make “The Roger Waters Story” starring Richard Gere?

     

Dub Side of the Moon

As I think I’ve alluded to in previous comments, I’m not big on cover bands or tribute albums, unless the band takes the original material and makes it their own, as opposed to simply playing someone else’s song note for note off the sheet music.  I have recently found an album that does the former – “Dub Side of the Moon” by the Easy Star All-Stars, a reggae group based in New York City.  As the title suggests, this is a reggae/dub version of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album.

The Floyd is my favorite band of all time, and I am always skeptical when bands cover their songs.  And I’m not a huge fan of reggae – most of it is a little slow and repetitive for my taste.  But “Dark Side” is a pretty mellow album as it is, and so the songs work fantastically as reggae/dub versions – “Dub Side” is a truly enjoyable album.  The Easy Star All-Stars added a few of their own touches, like instead of the cash register sound effects at the beginning of “Money,” we hear a bong being lit, ripped, and then a man coughing.  Several of the songs also feature some additional lyrics during the instrumental portions.  But some amount of the original recording is also retained in the songs, so it’s almost like some songs are remixes rather than brand new recordings…but this only adds to the charisma of the record.  In all, it’s a loving tribute to a landmark album, redone in a way that keeps the charm of the original but presents it in a new light.

The Easy Star All-Stars have also released two other cover albums which I am eager to try out – Radiohead’s “OK Computer” (released as “Radiodread”) and the Beatle’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” (released as “Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band”).  I’ll let you know the result.

“Dub Side of the Moon” gets 4.5 out of 5 stars!