At odds with the reviewer over The Wall concert

Your reviewer, Marc O’Sullivan disqualified himself from critiquing The Wall by stating his dislike of it at the beginning of the article.

In this case, “bloated with indulgence and self-importance” describes the critic more than the concert.

The concert was excellent. Twelve musicians playing with the help of technical wizardry, as demonstrated in the children’s chorus in ‘Another Brick in the Wall’.

We are used to substandard sound systems at stadium gigs, but the sound was outstanding: crystal-clear high frequencies with a tight bottom end and a wide dispersal of speaker systems for stereo and surround-sound effects. Perhaps the Marquee promoters could take note.

The concert programme promised a performance of The Wall album, and, with a couple of new pieces and a few updated lyrics, that was what we got, and top-notch playing from a tight band at the end of a long tour.

The songs speak for themselves and complaining about the lyrics being “dreary” leaves me wondering where Mr O’Sullivan has been for the past five years. “Dreary” does not begin to describe many people’s lives in Ireland.

The ‘show’ element was quite astounding. Cutting-edge, modern video and graphic technology perfectly executed with cartoons, graffiti and even a video of a 1980 Roger Waters projected on the wall, while the 2013 Roger sang alongside.

The conclusion of the concert was also remarkable. Everybody was figuring out how this huge display of technical prowess and musicality would end.

Well, by the simple process of the 12 musicians coming out on stage and performing an old-timey song with a couple of guitars, ukelele, mandolin and voices, and walking off behind the remnants of the shattered wall, after being introduced to the audience.

As we left the stadium, I reflected that, for once, there was a smile on everybody’s face as we walked away.

Johnny Campbell

Grange

Cork