“I had a huge cue sheet up on my amps. Except for the Comfortably Numb solo, there were no moments where I could say, ‘Forget everything. Just play’”: For David Gilmour, Pink Floyd’s wildly ambitious the Wall tour was a blast – and a challenge

David Gilmour performs onstage with Pink Floyd at Earls Court Arena in London on August 7, 1980 .

In a way, the origins of Pink Floyd's original live performances of The Wall in 1980 and 1981, at that time the most ambitious rock concerts ever staged – at least on the arena scale – are a bit ironic.

The concept of The Wall itself was meant to symbolize the great chasm Floyd's bassist and chief lyricist, Roger Waters, felt between himself and the band's fans – especially during the band's previous tours of enormous football stadiums.