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| This is the t-shirt I got myself |
WOW! It was amazing. Our tickets for the show were $170 just for level two. I can only imagine the price some people paid for on the floor/level one area. The place was packed. It was intense. You could feel the vibe in the place. People were waiting for the show to start. Everyone in my group was sitting on the edge of their seats hoping for it to start soon. They had high hopes for this concert and I can say with complete certainty that they were not disappointed!
To be honest I really didn't want to go to the concert. The tickets were pricey and as much as I enjoy Pink Floyd music it is not the style of music I prefer. Dan was so excited about going and having me there with him that I relented and said yes. He quickly phoned his sister to get a ticket for me as well. Pink Floyd/Roger Waters is Dan's kind of music. He was introduced to it at a younger age via his brother-in-law and it had always resonated with him. He also finds that the music is one of the best ways for him to relax after a stressful day. He owns most of the CDs and knows pretty much all the songs off by heart.
The night before we left I worked an afternoon shift. I was done by 11pm and home by midnight. It was a busy shift so a co-worker and I went for drinks at a pub down the street from home. The pub closed at 12am so I was home 5 minutes later. Before I popped into bed I still had to set out some clothes for the trip; I had not even packed yet. The next morning I was up at 7am to get ready. Our plan was to pick up our friends and be at the ferry terminal for the 11am sailing. Because I had not packed anything yet I made sure I was awake early enough to pick out what I wanted for the weekend in Vancouver. I packed only the essentials as there would be five of us in the car and only so much trunk space to hold all our bags, plus were only there for 3 days. I think all of us kept that in mind when we prepped for the time away as each of us only brought one pack and the trunk fit them all. The ferry trip over was like any other trip across that I have made; one and half hours long and boring.
Once over there we wandered around downtown and had lunch. Dan and I are addicted to Shawarmas. They are a pita wrap type sandwich that has marinated chicken, hummus, tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce and a little bit of tabbouleh. Sometimes hot sauce as well. They are so tasty and satisfying that whenever we go to Vancouver we have to stop by the "Falafel King" to get one to serve our addiction! So after a lunch of shawarmas we checkout some of the local shops. The 'straight' couple in the group had this need to stop by every sex shop in the area to check out ways to spice up their lives! It was fun at first but got quickly boring after the third one and by the time they had made it to the 5th one I was outside window shopping elsewhere.
Before the show we all congregated at the hotel in the largest suite we had booked for some drinks and socializing. We all needed the time to get mentally ready for a show that we were hoping would blow our minds. Believe me it did!
The line ups at the arena/stadium were long for everything and the prices were high!! A bottle of water (500ml) cost me $4.50 and the other beverages/food cost even more! Thankfully we ate a light dinner before hand. The t-shirt I bought myself I got at a local Rock 'N' Roll shop for $30. The shirts at the concert started at 40 dollars! I was so thirsty that I got myself a bottle of water and just refilled it in the bathroom when necessary.
The place was packed. At one point during the intermission the line up for the men's washroom was 4x longer than the ladies! I was amazed. That to me is a rare occurrence! Of course us being guys we were in/out of the washroom much faster than the ladies.
The show went from 9:30pm to 12 midnight and it was all Roger Waters and the Wall! No opening acts of any kind! The show was intense for me. So much to see and take in. For someone like me who is not overly familiar with Roger Waters/Pink Floyd there was a lot of subtext that I was missing. I am not one for subtly or subtext. I am a straightforward up front kind of person. If you are not blunt with me then I often don't get it. I am tend to be oblivious to the subtle stuff. Over all I did understand that much of what he was singing had strong political messages. The images definitely had that message. What was amazing to me as well is the fact that much of what he sang was his old material expressing his 'views' from back in the earlier time of his music career but it all could that easily fit the political arena of today. Much of the images he used were made to invoke such thoughts.
One image that I found interesting was one of planes dropping bombs but instead of actual bombs the planes were dropping symbols that are easily recognizable in today's culture. Symbols that brought to mind religion and faith, money and corporate America, wars and civil unrest and so much more. He was showing us images of what he believes is contributing to the destruction of our societies. Things that Pink Floyd was singing about 30 years ago; things that today still make sense. I was definitely not expecting the strong political undertone. It did not stop me from enjoying the show and the music.
Below are some pictures showing what I experienced before, during and after the wall was built and then knocked down. If you ever get the chance to see Pink Floyd or Roger Waters in concert then you should go. It is worth it!
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