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Home arrow 2012 WALL TOUR arrow February 15th - ALLPHONES (was ACER) ARENA, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
February 15th - ALLPHONES (was ACER) ARENA, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Print E-mail
Acer Arena
Roger Waters - Sydney ticket 2012

Capacity: 21,000
Concert starts: 8pm

Address of venue: Olympic Boulevard, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW 2127, Australia. MAP

Website: www.allphonesarena.com.au

 

COMMENTS

Due to exceptional demand during the presale period, Roger now appears for two nights at Sydney's Acer Arena. Our thanks to Martin Geyer for sending in the ticket scan to the right. UPDATE: Since the show was announced, naming rights have changed for the venue and it is now known as the Allphones Arena. Tickets still show Acer Arena, and are valid in the newly named location.

The Visa pre-sale ran from Monday July 4th at 3pm through to Thursday July 7th at 9am (closing sooner if the allocation runs out). An additional fee was added to tickets bought during the pre-sale period. The general sale of tickets through Ticketek began on Monday, July 11th at 9am. The public sale will also see a limited number of VIP packages made available for each show on the tour.

SET LIST - highlight the following with your mouse to read...
FIRST HALF: In the Flesh, The Thin Ice, Another Brick in the Wall Part 1, The Happiest Days of our Lives, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Empty Spaces, What Shall We Do Now, Young Lust, One of My Turns, Don't Leave Me Now, Another Brick in the Wall Part 3, The Last Few Bricks, Goodbye Cruel World
SECOND HALF:
Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?, Nobody Home, Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home, Comfortably Numb, The Show Must Go On, In The Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting for the Worms, Stop, The Trial, Outside the Wall, Waltzing Matilda.

 

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do not read on if you don't want surprises to be spoilt, regarding what the band played, and what happened as the night unfolded!

Night eleven of the tour, and the second of the pair of nights in Sydney.

MaxTV sent a reporter along to the show, who was very much not a Floyd fan. His review, though, shows just how good The Wall is live, with his comments saying it all...

"When I arrived at Allphones Arena for the Roger Waters The Wall show, I had no expectations. I'd heard a couple of good things, but I didn't really know what I was in for. And weaving my way through hoards of baby boomers and ageing hippies (looking like they hadn't been this excited since Australia won the America's Cup), I wasn't sure it was gonna be my bag. Man, was I wrong.

"Firstly, the scale of the production was enormous. I mean freakishly gigantic. The only thing I could compare it to is an IMAX movie – so wide and chaotic, you're trying to take it all in but there's so much occurring in front of you that it's impossible. Then the sound - there's nothing I hate more than going to a gig and the sound being out. But the sound at this show was so intense, crisp and clear I felt like I was trapped in the testing lab at Dolby.

"Then there was the set design, which was beyond ridiculous – mammoth puppets towering above the crowd, hydraulic platforms elevating band members and stage crew to incredible heights, perfectly timed fireworks sending shockwaves through the arena, the infamous pig remotely flown above the audience, and even a WW2 fighter plane crashing into the stage. That's right – LIVE FRIGGIN' PLANE CRASHES!

"As far as light shows go – well I don't think I've ever seen a light show. Not a real light show. Not like this. This was something that other light shows should hang their bulb in shame about. The digital projections alone convinced me that those couple of Nurofen I'd taken for a headache earlier had actually been switched out for LSD tabs - my brain fizzed, popped and whirled at the sheer insanity of the mind-bending images projected against The Wall. The images also heavily contributed to establishing the overall anti-war and political undertone of the show – including images of victims of war, terror attacks, police brutality as well as a stream of other confronting and brutal scenes.

"However, despite the scale of the production and the heavy themes and pictures contained in its imagery, nothing could distract attention from the main focus of the show - Roger Waters. Clearly a man well past his middle years (and, in my only criticism of the night, not in the kind of physical shape that warrants the tight black T-shirt he was sporting), he still possesses seemingly endless reserves of energy. Running around pumping up the crowd, throwing his fists in the air and rocking out with the energy of a man a quarter of his 68 years, it was a joy to see someone that could easily be kicking up his heels and sipping margaritas on a beach somewhere while living off endless royalty cheques, is instead out there on the road, entertaining his loyal fans and performing with passion and ferocity.

"The audience responded in kind. Applauses rung out strong and proud with several standing ovations, flurries of fist pumping and overzealous, uncontrollable cheers ringing out from the back of the arena – including some particularly disturbing cries during the more quiet moments during the performance - "Bed me Roger!"

"Waters didn't stand alone though, his backing band were flawless in their performance and played his legendary composition to perfection. I'm not a guitar solo enthusiast – but watching some of these dudes shred was awe inspiring. Not to mention the fact that they coordinated their skilled playing around a constantly moving and shrinking set.

I don't think I can even rate this show in terms of a rock concert. It was too theatrical and so radically different from any other rock concert I've ever seen, that it must be seen as an extravaganza. The Wall is more Broadway than Black Sabbath, more Cirque Du Soleil than Soundgarden. James Cameron said he planned to make Avatar years before its eventual release but lacked the technological capabilities. I can only imagine that the same rule applies to Waters' vision for The Wall.

"I'm not gonna lie – I can't give you a set list of the songs the band played 'cos I don't know them. And I'm still probably not going to become a mega Pink Floyd fan anytime soon. But from now on if anyone asks, "What's the greatest show you've ever seen?" I'll always answer, "Roger Waters The Wall... LIVE FRIGGIN' PLANE CRASHES!""

If you went to this show, please let us know what you thought of the event, and if anything interesting or different happened if you've been to previous shows and can compare.

CONCERT REVIEW by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Alison Chapple

I attended four of Roger Water's Dark Side of the Moon concerts in Australia and Canada and was so blown away by the standard of reliving this sensational album, I didn't think it could be bettered by any other live performance.

However, "The Wall's" performance by Roger Waters and his band of fabulous musicians (Kilminster, Snowy White, Carin and male vocals) may have just done that. This was more than reliving those memories when we would play "The Wall" time and time again as teenagers growing up in Australia, it was a complete experience.

Each song with its haunting lyrics played live to perfection and the spectacle with the building of The Wall, the projections of the stories played upon it, the school master, Mother, the black boar, the light show, just left us absolutely blown away in our seats. Roger Waters is every bit the master of his craft. Musicians today don't even come close to his (and Gilmour's) contribution to the music world.

My husband and I were completely lost in the experience of "The Wall". Thank you Roger. This concert will go down in my memory as the best ever. Come back to Australia soon!

CONCERT PICTURES by BD CONTRIBUTOR, Alison Gerrard

Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia
Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia
Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia
Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia Roger Waters - The Wall Live in Australia

CONCERT REVIEWS and PICTURES by other BD CONTRIBUTORS

Hopefully coming soon - we welcome all contributions!

YOUR HELP NEEDED! We want to cover Roger's concerts the best we can, to share the experience with everyone, especially those who won't be able to attend the shows. We'd love to see ANY pictures, tickets scans, reviews, newspaper reports, and anything else you come across for this show - we look forward to hearing from you!

Last Updated ( Thursday, 23 February 2012 )
 
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