Since its release in 1979, Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” has become ingrained within America’s culture. As both an album and a 1982 film, “The Wall” is a musical landmark that transcends even the band itself. Its influence has extended everywhere, from being identified with the end of political events such as the Cold War to attacks on the very foundation of educational systems in America. Through the lyrics and music, the Roger Waters-fronted band tells a story of personal experience and depression.
Because Pink Floyd hasn’t been releasing new material consistently, the chance to hear them perform live is rare. People are left with two choices: They can either pick up a copy of Pink Floyd’s album “Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81,” or watch different musicians perform the material in the band’s place.
On Saturday night, the local McDonald Theatre did just that by assembling eight local musicians in a nameless band to cover “The Wall” in its chronological entirety.
The band came together for the specific purpose of performing the album. But they had previously covered another Pink Floyd classic — “Dark Side of the Moon” — on numerous occasions in recent years.
Replicating the atmosphere of the original music, the show could best be described as ominous and strange.
The crowd spanned generations and offered a clear representation of the music’s lasting appeal. When the crowd heard popular songs such as “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II),” “Mother” and “Comfortably Numb,” the intensity and decibel level of noise in the almost sold-out theater was raised considerably.
The band used dry ice and lights to replicate the moody darkness of Pink Floyd’s original material.
Props, sets and screens were used to supplant some of the film’s key visual sequences. Mixed with other psychedelic imagery, scenes from the feature film played on the ceiling of the theater.
Drummer Rich Sellars had the most stage presence, playing the lead role of Pink as well as singing and voicing over various monologues from the film. The infamous cross-hammer logo was suspended high above his drum set.
However, his performance didn’t overshadow the other musicians — background vocalists Shelley James and Callan Cole, lead guitarist Al Toribio, rhythm guitarist Paul Lesinski, keyboardist Asher Fulero, second-string drummer Ned Failing and bassist Brendan Releford.
The band replicated the experience of “The Wall” with near flawlessness. Listening to any of the original recordings obviously turns up minute differences, but the crowd remained largely oblivious to these.
Every band member contributed voice-overs of material from the film and album. Due to the use of audio samples from the originals, the musicians were able to segue seamlessly from one song to the next.
With the two-and-a-half-hour show completed, the crowd coaxed the musicians back on stage for a half-hour encore, which consisted of songs from other Pink Floyd albums — “Animals” and “Dark Side of the Moon.” Even though the McDonald Theatre is a seated establishment, these songs finally got the crowd dancing.