Roger Waters in concert Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Review: Roger Waters' 'The Wall Live' an immaculate sound-and-vision spectacular at Van Andel Arena.

There’s a fine line between triumph and fiasco.

Roger Waters’ immaculate sound-and-vision extravaganza, "The Wall Live", is very much the former. Without the ex-Pink Floyd singer/bassist’s exacting eye for detail (and, arguably, his massive ego), the show presented Wednesday night at Van Andel Arena could easily have been a cheesy, psychedelic rock opera for the extraordinarily stoned. But as it stands, it’s amazingly elaborate, impeccably executed and possibly unforgettable - even for the stone-sober.

Waters is easily the grand-poobah professor of Rock Spectacle 101, using grandiose imagery to tell a story about war, repression, corporate influence and rebellion. As he and his band – including guitarist David Kilminster and singer Robbie Wyckoff playing estranged Floyd partner David Gilmour’s parts – worked their way through the entirety of Pink Floyd’s 1979 double album “The Wall,” crew members slowly and steadily stacked large bricks into a literal wall across the stage. The show was divided into two hour-long sets with an intermission. The first built the wall, the second presented the oppressive massiveness of it, and tore it down. It’s a metaphor, you see.

Although the presentation sounded more clear and crystalline than any arena show I’ve ever attended, and Kilminster’s guitar work during “Comfortably Numb” soared majestically, I’m sure none of the crowd of nearly 10,000 went home talking about that. It’s the over-the-top visuals that stick with you: Insane hallucinatory footage from the “Wall” movie (fornicating flowers, etc.) was often projected on the wall and, most memorably, a digital animation of bomber planes opening their bays and dropping corporate logos and religious iconography. Also powerful was footage of soldiers returning from war to their families during “Bring the Boys Back Home.”

And then there were the inflatables: the flying pig, the dancing teacher, the ominous Mother character the scary praying-mantis woman. For “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,” the giant teacher loomed menacingly over a children’s choir – Waters recruits local kids for every show – with beady LED eyes, eventually deflating under the chanting youth. It was as bizarre as it was endearing.

The evening opened with sounds of war chattering around the arena via surround sound, and an airplane crashing into the wall. It ended with Waters donning a double-breasted cloak and wielding a machine gun and megaphone, mimicking a fascist totalitarian rally before pre-recorded chants of “Tear down the wall!” mingled with the audience’s shouts, and the wall crumbles – a little bit anti-climactically - amidst cheers and dust and smoke.

What does it all mean? Peace, man. All we need is peace. It also means Waters can outdo his big-venue competitors with outrageous, entertaining extravagance. The legions of rock fans tuned in to Pink Floyd’s brand of art rock devoured it, singing along and pumping their fists. It is a little disconcerting to see a show with such a pro-human, anti-greed message charging upwards of $200 for a ticket and $40 for a T-shirt. But that’s the price of doing business. It isn’t cheap to stage a rock spectacle, you know.

By John Serba

LIVE REVIEW

Roger Waters: The Wall Live

3 ½ stars (out of 4)

When/where: Wednesday night, Van Andel Arena

Attendance: Just under 10,000

Time on stage: Two one-hour sets with a 25-minute intermission

Highlight: Midway through the second set, Waters led the crowd on a sing-along of anthem-to-end-all-anthems “Comfortably Numb. David Kilminster’s guitar song-ending guitar solo was soaring and powerful.

From www.mlive.com