You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, whether cynical &/or uninformed OR NOT.

Have you read or listened to any Roger Waters interviews in the past decade or so, I mean when he’s sitting back in his home studio taking a break from composing and fly fishing, etc.? He’s a helova guy. Can’t keep a wife all warm and cozy with all his roamin’ (like too many other touring musicians), but he’s got wonderful human qualities and the wherewithal that comes from solid blood, sweat, & tears endeavors. If he lives the rest of his life as a leisurely fly fisherman and philanthropist he will never really ever run out of money. He’s pat. In fact, from what I’ve read on the past couple tours, some venues made him money and some he had to pay out of pocket just to put on a show. The elaborate nature of these productions guarantees that they are not economically sound ventures. Springsteen charges the same price when he tours his solo, and he’s got two pianos, harps in a few keys, a stomp box and a Telecaster, and some lights. Now there’s the big bucks! One has to have a greater motive than just money …to take THE WALL to the people, bro. This ain’t some fuckin Whitesnake reunion. It is one of the greatest creative, recording, film, and stage productions/conglomerations in the history of man. And, although it was originally about social alienation (& fascism, etc.), it was so well-written and insightful that it has found proof time and again to be a legitimate socio-geopolitical drama for the epochs of our time.

..You can’t say that about “Cats”.

From what I’ve read and viewed, RW is a busy soul, a man who can’t sit still and not produce or build something; he’s a busybody carpenter with tools and materials…and The Wall has always been too gigantic a production in the past to take it to the planet’s venues. I guess now he feels he [can afford it].

& better believe it, he has something of human interest to say with The Wall. This is Roger Waters taking his opinion about oil & religious war, about the wall in Israel, the Gaza Freedom March, solidarity of the world’s real people, humanism the world over, the mindlessness of blowing up people & earth for fun and profit, tyranny, hate, fear, doubt, and fallacy based senseless abuse of lives and livelihood worldwide. He’s a courageous guy (for a long white-haired ol’ time now) who’s recognized & dealt with his own sense of audience/performer alienation by really learning to trust and play and put himself out there wholly as a performer on the human stage. His shows feel very warm and cozy and will knock your socks off (if you can see past the drunken dipshit in front o you standing on his chair and screaming, “Hey look at me, me, me, I’m pissing myself at a Pink Floyd concert!”).

I took my son to see Roger Waters play Dark Side of the Moon, and it was just this side of a spiritual experience for the two of us. This is a kid who gets around a bit, and yet I saw awe in his eyes like I had never seen. It was perfect, and we talked about the political ideas all the way home and for weeks afterwards.

In this case, it is very likely RW had to have set aside a lot of money before even thinking about taking this show on the road.

We can’t afford the big ticket event this time around, otherwise I would see The Wall ~without hesitation~. It is a truly important creation and artifact of 20th (21st) Century humanity amidst the din of Mordor & other such Empires bent on chains & ruin.

At least try and consider that he may honesty be attempting humanitarianism on a grand scale. Some folks are just driven that a way; it’s why they can continue to achieve so much in an artistic vein. There aren’t many like him. But they exist, and put on a show every now and then. Altruism can’t be totally dead, not even amongst the cash rich. If so, we're fucked!

I’m a sap, sure, but the cat’s got heart. If John Lennon were more like him, more able to adapt and improvise and duck when the wingnuts fire their cannons, he’d still be around … moving much of the same mountains . . . for us Joe Bagadonuts who can’t be bothered to pick on a mountain our own size.

(Fork me) JMHootenannyO