There is only one day left until the return of Roger Waters to Barcelona as part of his This is not a drill tour, which will mean his farewell to the stage, as announced by the 79-year-old British musician. Waters arrives involved in the controversy over his recent political statements, which have led to personal confrontations and suspensions from concerts.
After touring the United States for the past year, Waters landed last Friday in Lisbon to offer a double concert with which he kicked off the European stage. The former leader of Pink Floyd brings with him the usual and spectacular visual spectacle that characterizes all his tours, and which on this occasion will place him in the middle of the public with a spectacular stage in the shape of a cross that, after performing in Barcelona, ??will move to Madrid, where two concerts are scheduled to take place at the Wizink Center.
The show will offer a repertoire of 20 classic songs by Pink Floyd and Roger Waters, including Another brick in the wall, Sheep, Us
According to the artist himself, “This Is Not A Drill is a groundbreaking new rock and roll/film spectacle, it is a stunning denunciation of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive, and a call to action to love, protect and share our precious and precarious planet and home.
Beyond music, Roger Waters’ tour has been peppered with controversy after the suspension of two concerts as a result of the British musician’s political statements, always linked to controversy. Last September it was learned of the cancellation of the two concerts that Waters was to offer in April in Krakow (Poland). The decision responded to the musician’s statements in which he opposed the shipment of arms to Ukraine, accusing the “extreme nationalists” of that country of provoking the war. These words had their continuation last February, neither more nor less than in the session of the Security Council of the United Nations Organization. At the invitation of the Russian ambassador, Waters condemned the invasion of Ukraine, but went on to assert that the war “did not come without provocation” and demanded an immediate ceasefire.
This cancellation was followed a few days ago by the concert he was to give in May in Frankfurt, in this case due to statements about Israel, a country that Waters accuses of practicing apartheid with the Palestinian population. It was the city council itself that announced the suspension after considering Waters “one of the most recognized anti-Semites” for his support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) platform, an organization that aims to reduce trade relations with Israel. Likewise, he is accused of showing anti-Semitic iconography at his concerts, in reference to the Star of David that, along with other insignia of political nuance, usually wears the flying pig that Waters uses in live shows.
Dissatisfied with the news, the musician has announced that he will take legal action against the decision of the German council, a measure that he considers “unjustifiable” and an attempt to “silence” him. The complete opposite of what Polly Samson, wife of David Gilmour, thinks, who published a tweet last February in which she accused Waters of “liar, thief, anti-Semite and misogynist”, words that her husband and former member of Pink Floyd This is how the distance between the two former leaders of the group is reflected, increased by the news that Waters is recording a new version of The Dark Side of the Moon on his own, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the disk.
