I ocal musicians perform classic Pink Floyd album
H A Eugene band successfully
r eated “The Wall” in all its
psy chedelic glory live at the
McDonald Theatre on Saturday
By Aaron Shakra
tor the Emerald
Since its release in 1979, Pink
FIoyd’s “The Wall” has become in
grained within America’s culture.
As both an album and a 1982 film,
“vhe Wall” is a musical landmark
that transcends even the band itself.
Its influence has extended every
where. 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 experi
ence and depression.
Because Pink Floyd hasn’t been re
leasing new material consistently, the
chance to hear them perform live is
rare. People are left with two choic
es: 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 Mc
Donald Theatre did just that by as
sembling 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 mono
logues 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
Thomas Patterson Emerald
The McDonald Theatre was filled with flashing lights and nostalgia Saturday night as eight local musicians faithfully covered Pink Floyd’s
seminal album “The Wall” in its entirety, eliciting an encore from a satisfied crowd.
Lesinski, keyboardist Asher Fulero,
second-string drummer Ned Failing
and bassist Brendan Releford.
The band replicated the experi
ence of “The Wall” with near law
lessness. Listening to any of the orig
inal 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 mu
sicians were able to segue seamless
ly 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 al
bums — “Animals” and “Dark Side
of the Moon.” Even though the Mc
Donald Theatre is a seated estab
lishment, these songs finally got the
crowd dancing.
Aaron Shakra is a freelance reporter for the
Oregon Daily Emerald.
Monroe Park
continued from page 1
goal of meeting today is to open up a
discussion of why there are people
and groups that would be harmed by
U.S. policies worldwide.”
Many of the participants in Satur
day’s event are members of the Fair
Trade Coalition of Lane County.
Skinner and others like her have
joined the FTC as a way of making
their views known. “We want to dis
cover how the global economy is
promoting incidents like Sept. 11,”
she said.
“The government has been listen
ing to money, not our voices,” said
fellow organizer Josh Kellermann.
Skinner and Kellermann both be
long to the group United Students
Against Sweatshops, which was
one of many groups that joined to
gether in Monroe Park on Saturday.
“Big corporations usurp the Con
stitution,” said Russ Goodwin, who
described himself as simply a “tax
payer who has a right to be heard”
and held a sign saying “End Corpo
rate Treason.”
“They buy our politicians, who
then no longer represent the pub
lie,” he said.
One globalization issue being
protested Saturday was U.S. fund
ing for Colombia’s war on drugs.
“The war on drugs is a fallacy,”
Kellermann said. “Eradicating the
dependency on drugs would be far
more efficient. There need to be pro
grams (supported by the govern
ment) that help treat people that
have drug problems.”
Posters at the event echoed his
thoughts — one in particular said,
“In memory of those who have
died in the ‘War on Drugs.’” One of
the day’s speakers summed up the
view of many of the protesters:
“It's going to take all of us to stop
theFTAA.”
Brook Reinhard is a freelance reporter for the
Oregon Daily Emerald.
T TNIVERSITV
VJ A
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