Inside the Wall: Roger Waters “This Is Not a Drill” review

Sitting anxiously and wreaking havoc on a small bag of M&Ms, I chewed, ready for the show to begin.

I didn’t know what I expected when we walked into the State Farm Arena Saturday, Aug. 20, to see Roger Waters’ “This Is Not a Drill” tour. Safe to say, the performance surpassed expectations.

Before the music, Waters narrated captioned video screens with a few safety warnings and, “If you’re one of those ‘I love Pink Floyd but I can’t stand Roger’s politics’ people, you might do well to f—k off to the bar,” which the crowd reacted to with applause and laughter. The concert then proceeded to start firmly with an acoustic version of “Comfortably Numb” and made its way through bits and pieces of Waters’ more political and solo career. 

After it had started, my pre-show anxiety eased into a mellow euphoria. My heart felt as if it had been picked up from the weights it carried tirelessly on its back. All in our own trance, each person in the room seemed connected no matter how different each of us actually were. 

Waters’ political views flashed on the big screen showing images of police brutality, guns, protests and victims of the modern political problems. “War Criminal” flashed across Reagan, Trump and Biden’s faces. As an older artist, Waters’ ideologies and political opinions still resonate. 

After his solo works (“The Powers That Be,” ”The Bravery of Being Out of Range” and “The Bar”) and a few more songs from “The Wall,” Waters sat back down at the piano and sighed.

“Now we must go back … back in time,” Waters said solemnly, the crowd moving with him as he started to perform “Have a Cigar,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on you Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-9)” in a personal homage to his late friend and founder of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett. The pieces became increasingly emotional, as Waters told stories of the pair and their journey as musicians until Barrett left the band and their friendship in 1968 due to his struggle with mental health. During “Shine on you Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-9)” Barrett’s face was shown in red on the big screens as Waters, tearing up, repetitively threw his hands up longingly towards Barrett.

Half the crowd seemed to be in tears when the first act was over, including myself. 

The second act had more of Pink Floyd’s most famous songs, complete with a giant inflatable pig, fake machine guns and a giant line of triangles made of white light. The video screens in the middle of the stage engulfed us into a technicolor haven, which Waters stood prominently in the middle of. Starting off with an entrance to “In the Flesh,” from 1979’s “The Wall,” and bleeding into songs from “Dark Side of The Moon.” All of these songs, including the songs featured in the first half, made the live recordings weak in comparison. The combination of visual emphasis, rock theatricals and musical performance created a unique experience that can’t be re-lived. 

In the grand finale, Waters spoke to the crowd, exchanging small murmurs of his gratitude whilst crossing over to the piano again to play his last few songs. The show ended with “Outside the Wall,” the last track from “The Wall.”

The venue was filled, but there was still room for people to get up and dance freely. Being at the very top of the arena, you could see the expressions and reactions of the audience. We heard a few “Pigs!” “Stand still laddie!” and “F—k the Supreme Court!”.  We also saw some people, as Roger would put it, “F—k off to the bar,” due to Waters’ rabid, yet needed, political outspokenness and activism. 

Even though its activist undertones were prominent, the performance brought the crowd together.  Waters  later recalled this during his performance, saying “I think it’s a beautiful thing we’ve done here tonight. It means so much to me that we can all come together and learn that, this, this fight in humanity, this really is not a drill.” 

The smell of weed, unity and enthusiasm really seemed to strike us, especially Waters, who during the end of the second half proceeded to thank the audience as he wiped a tear of his own. Eventually after “Outside the Wall,” Waters walked around the cross-shaped stage, introducing his band members as they left one by one. Waters then prophetically threw up his hands as the last spotlight went out and the crowd erupted in cheer.