Maria Iglesias: Roger Waters' "The Wall Tour" in Madrid

OUTSIDE THE WALL by Maria Iglesias (C1):

Tickets were sold out (there had been none left for months!) but we were there! Last Saturday we were privileged to enjoy Rogers Waters’ The Wall Tour in Madrid. This event, which I will never forget but I will distinctly remember, it is up there as one of the best shows I have ever witnessed.

As you may know, The Wall, a fantastic rock opera released in 1979, is one of the best-known and best selling albums by Pink Floyd worldwide. Summing up the album’s main concept, it talks about a character named Pink, based on Roger Water's own life. Pink's life is stained by the loss of his father during the Second World War and the tyrannical treatment he suffered from his schoolteachers, as well as by his excessively protective mother and his failed marriage. All these disturbing issues become “bricks” that shape into a metaphorical wall which finally isolates Pink from society. Now, mix this story with drugs, hallucinatory episodes, abusive political and religious references and tons of paranoid video projections created by Gerald Scarfe and you will get the essence of both the album and the live show, which ends with the wall being demolished and, hence, the reunion of Pink with the world.

The concert follows Pink's story through 26 songs, some of them not only songs but almost icons in rock history. The first part of the show started with “In the flesh”, while fireworks started to fill the atmosphere with red lights, and Roger Waters appeared dressed up in black leather on the stage, dominated by an enormous flag with two hammers in red & black. The message was clearly written on the starting wall: “Them, not us. Us, not them” and, simultaneously, we could hear the perturbing noise of submachine guns and the terrible sound of an air plane crashing. We were so excited! The concert had barely begun!

While “The thin ice” and “Another brick in the wall - Part I” were being played thunderously we could see on the stage dozens of photos of missing or murdered people in conflicts all around the world, like soldiers, activists or even children, since Waters had started a project before this tour called “Fallen loved ones”, and invited his fans to send in photos of their beloved ones murdered or abused by violence. Then, a choir of kids appeared on the stage wearing black t-shirts with the message “Fear builds walls” and the song “Another brick in the wall - Part II” brought on a sort of “connection” which made the vibrant crowd sing along like in a kind of anthem. From this moment on, step by step, brick by brick, the building of the wall started across the stage between the performers and the eager audience. Roger Waters was rising up the wall in Madrid thirty years after Pink Floyd did in New York for the very first time.

The radiant performance of “Mother” was one of the most moving, intimate ones: while the real Waters was singing on the stage, we could watch the young one on the screen delivering the same song thirty years ago. This delightful song finished with the projection of a very well known quote by George Orwell, “Big brother is watching you”, which changed into “Big mother is watching you”. Outstanding visual elements took precedence over the sound in “Goodbye blue sky”, as the song was accompanied by the effective images of big war planes throwing missiles in the shape of famous icons of political, economic and religious powers: dollars, Mercedes Benz, Shell, Christian crosses and Jewish stars.



At this point of the concert, you can imagine the hypnotic spectacle of watching the progressive building of the wall across the stage - more than 60 metres wide and 10 meters high! - until it got almost completed with “Goodbye cruel world”, the nostalgic song that marked the end of the memorable first part of the gig, with Roger Waters showing his head through the a tiny hole on the wall.

After what seemed an endless break, Waters and his talented musicians returned on stage to perform the album's awesome second disc in its entirety, leading off with a fan favourite, “Hey you”. From that point on, Waters and his musicians stayed behind the wall, so you must imagine the fervent crowd acclaiming an empty stage just dominated by the enormous, breathtaking presence of the impressive white wall. “Bring the boys back home” was, doubtlessly, the most politically charged song of the night, during which harsh images of war tore into starving children. “Comfortably Numb”, the stoner hymn, was perfectly accompanied by tons of stunning psychedelic visuals.



For “The show must go on” the entire band, dressed in black, came out from behind the wall. Roger appeared dress like a true fascist, a machine gun in hand, for two powerful renditions of “In the flesh” and “Run like hell”, when there was a sequence of political imagery, including pictures of world leaders like Bush, Hitler, Mao, etc. At the same time, a giant, remote-controlled black pig was flying out above our heads, fully covered in slogans like “What's wrong with people?”, “Trust Us” and “Them, not us”.

As the concert was getting to its end, “Stop” and “The Trial” had everyone resoundingly yelling back "Tear down the wall, tear down the wall!" And down came the wall in Madrid as “Outside the wall” put a glorious final. Each section of the stadium keenly cheered Roger with great excitement and a deafening applause. I can honestly say that the show blew me away. I have nothing to complain about Roger as he didn't miss a note and sang in a phenomenal voice, punctuated by a fantastic sound system which was powerfully clear.

What can I say, as classic literature, great music is absolutely timeless. Do you want some living proof? First and foremost, regarding the audience at the concert, it was effortless to appreciate there was no age to enjoy the show as you could easily see that groups of expectant teenagers, animated fans in their sixties, lively middle-aged couples or entire families were attending Roger's gig enthusiastically. As Pink Floyd’s founding member briefly mentioned in the middle of this once-in-a-lifetime concert, many people present hadn’t been born the year The Wall was first published, which is certainly true: there is no age at all to rejoice in the show. Secondly, what really impresses me is the fact that The Wall’s lyrics are still relevant these days. Why am I saying this? As I have already remarked, the album sets out to explore human facts like solitude or deception and, what is more, the way we face them, and, on the other hand, it revolves around abusive matters like militarism, as well as religious, economic and political issues, so it is clearly a criticism of a system ruled by such oppressive powers. Do we not still live in a world full of wars, anger and poverty? Is The Wall’s message not alive yet?

To conclude, while writing this review for you, dear mates, I have been listening to The Wall (what else?) and I can honestly confess that the astonishing concert is certainly over but the memories will linger almost forever. After reading this humble review, may I have persuaded you to give the magnificent Pink Floyd a try? Haven't I? ... Is there anybody out there?

Cuenca: An enchanting city

Belén (NA):

Last carnival holidays I was in Cuenca. When I arrived in this town I was pleasantly surprised. It is an extremely charming, beautiful town in the center of Spain which is worth visiting.

The historic district is situated on a craggy rock surrounded by two great deep gorges carved out by the water of the two rivers: Júcar and Huécar. So, the spectacular scenery of this city is determined by these gorges. In fact, you can’t miss the marvelous view of the amazing façade of the Huécar from the city’s state-owned hotel parador. In this part of Cuenca there are a variety of constructions such as collections of popular dwellings in the San Martin quarter and the daring floating balconies of the famous restored Hanging houses.

The façade of Jucar is different since the original houses have not survived the passing of time. Now, these have been turned into green areas, wonderful for taking in the gorge’s views.

Another important area in the old town is the main square, where both the city hall and the cathedral are located. Cuenca’s cathedral was the first gothic one in Castile.

Consequently, with so many attractions, it is hardly surprising that the city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on December 7, 1996.

Not far from Cuenca, about 30 km away, we can indulge in “The Enchanted City”, characteristic for the strange forms that its stones have. About 90 million years ago, the enchanted city was part of the botton of the so-called Thetis Sea. Calcite (CaCO3) from animal skeletons and water was deposited in its botton. When the water disappeared, calcite was converted into limestone. As time passed, the limestone, which is permeable and soluble, was eroded by the rainwater. As a result, these distinctive landforms were produced. You can walk around these really fascinating forms for more than an hour.

For the same reason, in the south of Cuenca we can find one of the most important collections of sinkholes in Spain: “Las Torcas de los Palancares”. There are 22 large holes on the ground because of the chemical dissolution. Since there aren’t too many tourists in this area around you can have a good time in the heart of the nature.

As you can see, Cuenca and its enchanting surroundings offer so much of interest to make it a fantastic travel destination that I strongly recommend you.

International Women's Day

"I think that the time is ripe to make fundamental changes in our civilization. But for real change, we need feminine energy in the management of the world. We need a critical number of women in positions of power, and we need to nurture the feminine energy in men. I'm talking about men with young minds, of course. Old guys are hopeless, we have to wait for them to die off. Yes, I would love to have Sophia Loren's long legs and legendary breasts. But given a choice, I would rather have the warrior heart of Wangari Maathai, Somaly Mam, Jenny, and Rose Mapendo. I want to make this world good. Not better, but to make it good. Why not? It is possible. Look around in this room -- all this knowledge, energy, talent, and technology. Let's get off our fannies, roll up our sleeves and get to work, passionately, in creating an almost perfect world. Thank you."

Right. This quote is not obviously mine, but Chilean / naturalized American writer Isabel Allende's, one of the most widely read Spanish-language authors. Some years ago she started a foundation which is renowned for supporting programmes that promote the basic rights of children and women.

Well, as you know today is the International Women's Day and on such occasion Maria, one of my C1 students, has sent me this passionate lecture that Isabel herself delivered in 2007 at one of these TED annual conferences. It ends with the excerpt I quote at the beginning of this entry and you can watch in its entirety right down below. It comes only handy to celebrate a meaningful day like today and the often underrated role of women across the globe.

Actually Maria remembered Isabel's talk when she saw the video I forwarded you guys featuring, funnily enough, another Latin-American icon, Colombian superstar Shakira, who's been of late the talk of the town in our country as she's been spotted around with FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué. Here she addresses the prestigious Oxford Union, one of the oldest debating societies in the UK, to talk about her own foundation, Pies Descalzos, which helps the poorest children in Colombia by providing them with a decent schooling. I must admit that beyond the often frivolous façade of the music artist ("she's no dumb bimbo", a very suitable comment reads on YouTube) lies a great personality who has a lovely message to spread: the true value of a good education in today's society.

Who wants to be a Millionaire?

Let me first say that this is very much for my NA students, as we've talked in class about the rise of the TV quiz show, in particular the ever so popular "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"

The craze all began in the US in the 50s with this pioneering show, The $64,000 dollar Question. Those were the days of B&W television!

As popular as 64,000 was Twenty-One, which pulled huge ratings until a shocking scandal (which went all the way, can you believe it, to the US Congress as you can watch on the video down below) undermined the audience's faith in the programme, and made quiz shows go into decline temporarily.

But like the mythical Phoenix firebird that is reborn from it own ashes, quiz shows grew again in the 70s and so did the prizes, which got bigger and bigger. But it was not until the late 90s that a key breakthrough came, to be precise when "Who wants to be a Millionaire" first appeared on British television, and the rest is history. And history was made when an American by the name of John Carpenter (a tax agent himself, isn't it funny!) became the first contestant ever to win the staggering sum of 1,000,000 dollars. This is John on his way to success:

And click on the link for the precise moment that made television history, November 19th, 1999.

Nearly a year later, on November 12th 2000, Judith Keppel first won one million pounds on the UK version of the quiz - and became the 12th "millionaire" across the world:

Last but not least, there's the story of English "professional backpacker" Paddy Spooner, who won 250,000 dollars on the Australian quiz show in 1999 (as shown in the clip below) and the same amount in sterling pounds at the British show a year later, before he eventually trusted his luck (and lost) to the toss of a coin in Ireland.

So what do you think of these "big money" quiz shows? Would you like to appear on one of them? Post your comments here, will you?