Even though many of them didn't know his name, 23 Toronto students were happy to perform with Roger Waters on Wednesday night and take direction from the former member of Pink Floyd.
"You can smile," said Mr. Waters, who gave instructions from the floor in front of the stage at the Air Canada Centre during the rehearsal and sound-check before the show.
When the students, wearing black shirts reading "Fear builds walls," later walked onto the packed venue's stage, the audience clapped and cheered. As they left, Mr. Waters high-fived at least one of the students.
The Regent Park School of Music students were invited by e-mail last Wednesday to sing background on the legendary Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) at Mr. Waters's three-night gig.
This left the students, who range in age from 10 to 15, about a week to practice. Because many go to different schools, one of their first rehearsals together was on the way to the venue. They worked on the chorus while someone played acoustic guitar on the bus.
"What's funny about it is some of them didn't know who Roger Waters or Pink Floyd was," said Richard Marsella, director of the music school, before the performance.
But that wasn't the case for 14-year-old Amelia Churaman.
"This is amazing because I've loved Pink Floyd for a long time," she said. "To be able to perform with one of them is amazing."
She acknowledged that most of her peers had never heard of the 1979 song or even the band.
Sal Mehdinejad was more excited than his daughter Tamara, 10, when they heard the news that they were to perform.
"I was ecstatic," he said. "I grew up with them in that era… She was excited once she heard the song."
While the lyrics - "We don't need no education" - may give some parents pause, Anne-Sophie Falconer, who has two daughters performing, said she's not worried about the "bleak" message.
"I don't think they will make it their own story, I don't think they will relate to it," she said.
The students will also perform at shows on Thursday and Saturday.