Roger Waters shows in Poland have been cancelled.
The Pink Floyd co-founder aims to take his This Is Not A Drill tour on the road next year, and has laid out plans for shows around Europe. A recent open letter to Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, seems to have scuppered at least part of his plans.
In the statement, the prog rock musician wrote that “extreme nationalists” in Ukraine “have set your country on the path to this disastrous war”. He then accused her husband, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, of failing his election vows to protect peace.
Part of the incoming tour was due to hit Poland, with Roger Waters arranging two dates in Krakow. These have now been cancelled – promoters Live Nation Poland confirmed the news to the BBC, but declined to give a reason for the move.
Łukasz Wantuch, a Krakow city councillor, had arranged protests against Roger Waters coming to Poland, with the city council to vote on ‘persona non grata’ status for the musician in a hearing on September 28th.
In a further statement, Roger Waters confirmed that the cancellations did not come from his team, adding that Łukasz Wantuch “seems to know nothing of my history of working, all my life, at some personal cost, in the service of human rights, he, in an article in a local newspaper urged the good people of Krakow not to buy tickets to my show. Not very democratic sir?”
“If Mr Łukasz Wantuch achieves his aim, and my forthcoming concerts in Krakow are cancelled, it will be a sad loss for me, because I have been looking forward to sharing my message of love with the people of Poland, something I have been doing on many tours over a career that has lasted in excess of fifty years. And also, regrettably, it will deny the people of Krakow the opportunity to see my current show, “This Is Not A Drill,” which is an important addition to a lifetime’s body of work. His draconian censoring of my work will deny them the opportunity to make up their own minds.”
Find Roger Waters’ statement below.
