Roger Waters announces The Wall tour

 

Lema Samandar
Thursday 15 November 2012 16:36 GMT
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Roger Waters
Roger Waters

Former Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters has announced a summer tour of The Wall in large open-air stadiums across Europe.

Waters said he has redesigned and scaled up the show to create a dramatic visual stadium event.

He said he realised the potential of a stadium concert when he was forced to play in football stadiums while touring South America.

"There's something about connecting with that many people outdoors, which is actually extremely gratifying," Waters said during the tour announcement in central London.

"When I was a kid, I did not get that experience, I didn't like it," he said.

"Back in '75 and '77 when we were touring with Pink Floyd and we were playing soccer stadiums, I rather disliked it.

"It felt like we were very disconnected but I think that disconnection was actually a projection of the disconnection that existed in the band more than about us and the audience.

"Often when we're setting up these (current) gigs, I sat the very back of the stadium and then we run some of the stuff and sit there.

"I understand why people up there feel connected with what's going on stage and with the music and the emotion that's expressed during the show.

"It's just a bigger community."

Waters also said it was unlikely that former bandmate David Gilmour would join him on stage again like he did at the London's O2 Arena last year.

"I haven't had any conversations with David about that," he said.

"It think it's extremely unlikely, I think by and large David is retired."

Waters has been touring The Wall, which was Pink Floyd's 11th album, since 2010.

He said although the album was first released in the 1979, he feels it still resonates because people sense that it is genuine.

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"I just think people understand that it's true," he said.

"I'm not pretending anything, I write what I feel so people get that it's real and that there's no artifice in it."

Waters also said he wanted to meet some world leaders while he tours Europe in order to lobby some of his causes.

There are 24 European cities included in the stadium tour.

It will begin in July and arrive at London's Wembley Stadium on September 14.

PA

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