• Wall Tour
  • "How to identify Wall shows"
  • "How large was the wall on stage?"
  • "Who were the DJ's who introduced the band?"
  • "What is the strange introduction read by the DJ's?"
  • "Who made up The Surrogate Band?"
  • "Some concerts have a jam at the end of 'Another Brick in the Wall part III.'"
  • "Wasn't there a fire opening night?"
  • "The Show Within The Show"
  • "Video and audio"

Wall Tour

This section was written by Richard Mahon (RichM66@compuserve.com)

"How to identify Wall shows"

The key factor is what is said before ``Run Like Hell'' -- it was different at every show. There was an article on this in Brain Damage 28, that Karl Magnacca has typed in. It's too long to include here, but it's available by sending mail to ``echoserv@fawnya.meddle.org'' with the following in the body of the message:

        send wall.id.info echoes
        quit

make sure the text is lowercase and left-justified. This will mail the file.

"How large was the wall on stage?"

The Wall was made up of approximately 450 cardboard bricks that were 5 feet long, 2 1/2 feet high and 1 1/2 feet deep. The wall itself stood approximately 30 feet in height and 150 feet wide across the front of the stage.

"Who were the DJ's who introduced the band?"

    Los Angeles - Cynthia Fox February 7, 8, 9, 12 & 13, 1980

    Los Angeles - Jim Ladd February 10 & 11, 1980

    New York - Gary Yudman

    London - Gary Yudman

    Dortmund - Wili Tomsik

"What is the strange introduction read by the DJ's?"

This is believed to be a script written by Roger Waters for the introduction of the Surrogate Band. Three examples include:

Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York, February 28, 1980

[Yudman speaking]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Nassau Coliseum. My name is Gary Yudman and we are going to have a fine show this evening. We ask you, please enjoy the show from your seats, so that security won't hassle you. Then everything will be all right. The band is setting up and be ready to go soon. Halfway through the show, there'll be a 20 minute intermission, which will give you a chance to buy some t-shirts. Now, because of the nature of the show, we ask you, please, do not use flash cameras. Unfortunately, they will be confiscated. And please, if your car is blocking the driveway or an emergency exit, put it in a place, where it will do no one any harm. Well, I think the band is about ready to go. No, not quite yet, not quite yet. The band has also something very important, the band has asked me, that you refrain from using anything like fireworks. Ah, they would like you to be able to hear the words and the music that they have created. If there are disturbing distractions in the Coliseum, it will only bother and distract the many people who are come here to watching here the fantastic show you are about to witness. So please no fireworks. Believe me, there'll be enough explosions in your mind. So, I think that the band is about ready to go now. So, in a minute, we will start the show and I think the band is about ready to go now ...

Earls Court, London, August 6, 1980

[Yudman speaking]

... ladies and gentlemen... we're going to have a great show for you. The band is backstage and we'll be ready to go in just a few minutes. Before the show begins, the house management would like to make a few requests. First, please no fireworks. Believe me, watching the show there'll be enough explosions in your mind. Besides there'll be enough sight, sound and action to concentrate on, so that anything resembling distractions from the show will probably be frowned upon by your neighbors. Also, please no flash pictures. And any unauthorized audio or video equipment found being used may be confiscated. So please save yourself a lot of hassle. Well, I think the band is about ready to go now. No, no, not quite yet. By the way, during intermission as a memento of the evening official t-shirts and souvenirs will be on sale in the lobby. Please stop by and take a look also at the exhibition of paintings of some of the animations of Gerald Scarfe. Well, I think the band is about ready to go now. No, no, not quite yet. One thing I would like to point out upon the conclusion of the show this evening, please be careful upon exiting, please be careful, there are a lot of people here tonight, so be patient and exit in a safe, formally manner. Also, those of you driving know that the surrounding turnpikes and jam-packed highways are the cause of emergency events. So please be careful upon ...

Earls Court, London, June 17, 1981

[Yudman speaking]

Good evening, good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Earls Court. My name is Gary Yudman and we're going to have a fine show this evening. First we'd like to thank you for your patience and waiting. The stage is set and the band is about ready to begin, I think... No, not quite yet. Well, this will afford me the opportunity to remind you of a few regulations by which the band would appreciate it if you would obey. First, please enjoy the concert in your seats, no rushing the stage, also, no photographs are permitted. Any camera found being used will be confiscated. Also, please no fireworks of any kind. Believe me, there'll be enough explosions in your mind. Well, the band is about ready to go now, I think. No, no, not quite yet. I'd also like to remind you of the conclusion of the show this evening, upon exiting please go slowly, especially those of you driving, as the local highway is a bit jam-packed due to tonight's concert. We'd also like to thank the hundreds of people who came out here early this morning to set up for tonight's show. Without all those people and all those crews we wouldn't be here tonight. So please sit back and enjoy the concert. By the way, anyone caught standing on their chairs will be shot. Well, the band is about ready to go now, I think. No, no, not quite yet. I'd also like to remind you: When you're leaving this show this evening, and we hope you will be leaving please be careful, watch yourself when you're leaving. We've had reports of people falling down and bumping into each other. And we don't wanna get hurt, do we? So please be careful when you're leaving the arena. We've had reports from local residence that there've been too much noise and people falling down and hurting themselves, themselves, themselves, themselves, themselves too much. So please enjoy the show and be careful when you're leaving...

"Who made up The Surrogate Band?"

The Surrogate Band consisted of Andy Bown on bass, Snowy White on guitar, Willie Wilson on drums and Pete Woods on keyboards. Andy Roberts replaced Snowy White on guitar in 1981.

The first appearance of The Surrogate Band, for the show opener ``In The Flesh?,'' featured Roger Waters on bass and vocals. When The Surrogate Band joined Pink Floyd to play in front of the wall in the second half of the show Andy Bown played bass behind Waters.

"Some concerts have a jam at the end of 'Another Brick in the Wall part III.'"

In live performances, ``Another Brick in the Wall part III'' was extended more than any other song in the show. The instrumental recap of the first set included musical parts from ``The Happiest Days Of Our Lives'', ``Young Lust'' and ``Empty Spaces.'' If more time was needed, as was often the case in the initial shows, the band would go into a jam that was similar to ``Any Colour You Like.'' This was used to buy time for the ``wall-building'' roadies to complete their task.

"Wasn't there a fire opening night?"

On opening night at the Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, February 7, 1980 curtains at the top of the stage caught fire when pyrotechnics were set at the start of ``In The Flesh?'' Sound engineer James Guthrie heard a crackling sound in his headphones and attempted to isolate where the sound was coming from. The sounds Guthrie heard were roadies who were attempting to extinguish the fire as Waters and Gilmour were dodging small chunks of flaming curtain falling from the top of the stage. When the fire became too much to handle Waters stopped the show at the start of ``What Shall We Do Now?''

Waters:

Hold it a minute! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop. Stop the film. We've decided that the best thing would be to put this fire that we have up here out. We'll scroll back to the beginning of that bit there and we'll carry on when everything's under control. Sorry but that's the best thing to do...

After a pause...

Waters:

One. Two. Wasn't that exciting? Ok, well as soon as we can [...] the house lights we'll go back to that bit in the story where the moon was out, the clouds were going across the moon. We'll go back to that bit in the story where the moon was out and the clouds were going across the moon. You remember the bit where there was a moon with clouds going across it? You remember that [...]. Ah, that's the bit okay? Thank you very much for waiting.``

Many in the crowd thought the flames were a part of the show. Considering Pink Floyd's reputation for theatricality the idea didn't seem that far-fetched.

"The Show Within The Show"

Enough evidence exists to conclude that portions of a ``Pink'' the character concert took place within The Wall Performed Live by Pink Floyd.

The parts that make up the ``Pink'' the character performance begin with The Surrogate Band introduction. The songs performed by ``Pink'' the character are - ``In The Flesh?'', ``Young Lust'', ``In The Flesh'', ``Run Like Hell'' and ``Waiting For The Worms.''

Waters described each in his 1979 interview with Tommy Vance.

1) ``In The Flesh?''

TV: This actually sets up what the character has become.

RW: Yes.

TV: At the end.

RW: Couldn't have put it better myself!

2) ``Young Lust''

TV: And then comes ``One of My Turns.''

RW: Yes, so then the idea is that we've leapt somehow a lot of years, from ``Goodbye Blue Sky'' through ``What Shall We Do Now'' which doesn't exist on the record anymore, and ``Empty Spaces'' into ``Young Lust'' that's like a show; we've leapt into a rock and roll show, somewhere on into our hero's career.

3) ``In The Flesh''

RW: This is him having a go at the audience, all the minorities in the audience.

4) ``Run Like Hell''

TV: And then seemingly in the track ``Run like Hell'' this is him telling the audience...?

RW: No...

TV: Is this him telling himself?

RW: No, ``Run Like Hell,'' is meant to be *him* just doing another tune in the show. So that's like just a song, part of the performance, yeah...still in his drug-crazed state.

5) ``Waiting For The Worms''

RW: ``Waiting for the Worms'' in theatrical terms is an expression of what happens in the show, when the drugs start wearing off and what real feelings he's got left start taking over again.

Comments to the audience always seemed to preface ``Pink'' the character's songs within The Wall - the two Surrogate Band introductions, Gilmour's introduction of ``Young Lust'', Waters' improvised comments about the pig before ``Run Like Hell'' and even the counting of the tempo in German for ``Waiting For The Worms''.

"Video and audio"

A question has always surrounded the existence of live footage of the concerts. After overseeing the videotaping of the 5 shows at Nassau Coliseum Mark Brickman directed live footage from August 1980 at Earls Court and spent 6 months editing the footage at his home. This video is in circulation among collectors and is labeled ``Pink Floyd-Earls Court August 1980''

The final five shows at Earl's Court in June of 1981 were directed by Michael Seresin and produced by Alan Parker. This footage was felt to be too dark and was never used in The Wall film. Parker referred to the shows as five blown opportunities.

Marc Brickman also directed a ``behind the scenes'' documentary during the 1981 shows at Earls Court that included interviews with the band and key members of the production crew. Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke was the executive producer. It was put together with the intention of airing it on television but it never saw the light of day.

As for live audio recordings, The Wall shows at Earls Court were recorded at 15 ips on 48 tracks, using two-inch analogue tape and Dolby A. The band had four 24-track machines overlapping to ensure the entire show was recorded without a gap. Unfortunately, these live recordings of The Wall were never even mixed.

Reportedly, Waters has considered releasing a video for archive purposes in 20 years from the time The Wall was performed.