Wednesday 19 Jun
 
 

Kanye West — Yeezus

Try as you might, but there’s no escaping Kanye West. Turn on the TV, radio, computer — hell, take a stroll downtown and you might see his mug projected on the side of a building. It’s an undeniable fact of life in 2013: Kanye West is bigger than Buddha, Krishna and The Beatles (today, anyway) and he’ll be the first to let you know about it.
06/18/2013 | Comments 0

John Moreland — In the Throes

With the soul of a poet and the look of a Sons of Anarchy extra, Tulsa’s John Moreland has been gifted the sort of gravely, booming voice that does Bruce Springsteen proud and a similar understanding of the universal human experience. It’s made for some fantastic records — both as a solo artist and with his dissolved Black Gold Band — and In the Throes is his best yet.
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

Jumpship Astronaut — Lights Burn Out

Oklahoma has never been the haven for electronic rock music that it is for country, folk and, as of late, psychedelic pop, but from the sound of Lights Burn Out, Oklahoma City upstart Jumpship Astronaut seems intent on changing that.
06/12/2013 | Comments 0

Various artists — Reaching Out

Like so many Oklahomans, the local music scene has responded with generosity and grace in the wake of last month’s tragedy in Moore. In the weeks since, droves of local musicians have banded together for benefit concerts and radio marathons to raise funds for the relief effort, and with extraordinary results.
06/04/2013 | Comments 0

Progress in Color — Get Well

It’s been a long, bumpy ride for Glenpool’s Progress in Color, which saw a record deal with Epic evaporate before even one record could come of it, but it’s led the outfit to where it was supposed to be.
06/04/2013 | Comments 0
Newsletter
Home · Articles · Music · Music · Great ‘Wall’
Music

Great ‘Wall’


Metro musicians band together to re-create Pink Floyd’s classic concept album live.

Charles Martin November 9th, 2011  

The Surrogate Band
9 p.m. Saturday
VZD's Restaurant & Club
4200 N. Western
vzds.com
524-4203

Filmmaker Mike Walsh latched onto Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” when he was 3 years old. His much older brother would come home stoned and play the 1979 double album on Walsh’s Fisher- Price record player.

“It gave me nightmares and, ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with Pink Floyd,” he said.

Being about isolation and abandonment, the record struck a chord with generations of malcontents, as did the subsequent 1982 film adaptation. To celebrate that timeless appeal, a group of metro musicians and artists will stage a live performance of “The Wall” on Saturday as a fundraiser for World Neighbors.

Operating as The Surrogate Band, the collective features members of The Venditos, Kite Flying Robot, Unmarked Cars and Metal Nutz. On the tech side, two projectors and an assortment of actors and stagehands will ensure the visual element holds up to fans’ lofty standards.

“That’s my biggest fear. I’ve lost sleep over it,” said Walsh. “Even coming close to meeting their expectations of what this music is terrifies me.”

To prepare, he was sent as a “forward observer” to Roger Waters’ recent tour, where the former Pink Floyd front man performed the album. Walsh returned even more intimidated.

“Oh, crap, how are we going to do this?” guitarist Justin Hogan recalled saying. “It’ll have to be a budget ‘Wall,’ but it’ll still be in the spirit of it.”

Hogan started working on the project a year and a half ago, when an impromptu rehearsal with his former band, Unmarked Cars, and members of The Venditos shifted to a rehashing of songs from “The Wall.”

“‘Wow, what if we just covered the whole thing?’” Hogan asked himself. “I started asking around to see who might be interested, then word came back to me that I was doing it.”

Aside from a few tweaks, the goal is to perform the material as faithfully as possible.

“We wanted to play it as intended,” Walsh said. “We don’t have the credence of The Flaming Lips, who could play ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,’ but make it their own.”

Come Saturday, as supplies last, attendees dressed in black pants and black shirts will receive a specially printed armband designed to re-create the film’s jackbooted army of disciples.

Hogan believes that the album continues to resonate with younger audiences because its themes of alienation and oppression are just as relevant today as three decades ago.

“You have Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring — there are all these things going on, and people are seeing these walls in their lives and they are tired of it,” he said. “So, it will be monumental ... on a budget.”

 
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
 
 

 

 
11.09.2011 at 09:23 Reply

nice! excellent job sir! thanks :)

 

 
 
Close
Close
Close