Pink Floyd 7/8/80

This was The Wall gig. I was surprised when checking that they only ever played the Wall five times in the UK, all in early August 1980 and played it around 20 times in total. When you think about the cost and effort in creating the show then I suppose I assumed that they had endlessly toured it to vast audiences. Floyd shows often featured stage effects of one sort or another. This one had both a parallel band who played the show for a number or two before the real Floyd came on but also had the relentless building of the vast wall during the gig. Building a wall across the Earls Court stage is some task even if the bricks are made of foam.

For the gig Floyd basically just played the whole double album cover to cover. The music was flawlessly executed, if not improvised, and the album has some classic tracks on it. "Comfortably Numb" is an all-time favourite for me, but "Mother", "Hey You", "Is There Anybody Out There?" and "Another Brick in the Wall" also resonate. I maybe didn't buy into the whole Roger Waters concept that is 'The Wall' or the prominence of the stage effects but this was another Floyd experience where they pushed the traditions of a gig, Dave Gilmour was playing guitar and all was well with the world.