The April concerts in Poland by British rock icon and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters have been postponed due to criticism of the musician’s position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The concert’s organiser, Live Nation Poland, announced the cancellation on Saturday but did not give a reason.
The cancellation follows Waters, 79, publishing a contentious open letter to Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, on his website at the beginning of September. In the letter, Waters expressed his opposition to the West arming Ukraine in order to support the troubled nation’s fight against invading Russia.
Waters also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of doubling back on his 2019 election campaign promises and said, without offering proof, that “the forces of extreme nationalism that had lurked, malevolent, in the shadows, have, since then, ruled the Ukraine.”
Waters continued by charging that these “extreme nationalists” had put Ukraine on the verge of conflict with Russia by transgressing a “series of red lines” established by the Russian government.
Waters denied cancelling the gigs himself on Sunday. The performances were scheduled to take place in Krakow as part of his worldwide tour.
Waters denied that he or his management had postponed the gigs in Poland in a Facebook statement sent to the newspapers Gazeta Krakowska in Poland and The Guardian in the UK. Instead, he laid the responsibility at the feet of Krakow municipal councillor Lukasz Wantuch, who published a Facebook post on September 10 criticising Waters’ performances.
As a result of my public efforts to urge all parties involved in the disastrous war in Ukraine, particularly the governments of the USA and Russia, to negotiate a peace rather than escalate the situation to a bitter end that could result in nuclear war and the extinction of all life on Earth, it is true that a town councillor in Krakow, Mr. ukasz Wantuch, has threatened to hold a meeting asking the council to declare me “Persona non grata,” Waters wrote on Facebook.
Despite the fact that Ukasz Wantuch seemed to have no knowledge of Waters’ history of battling for human rights throughout her life at a personal sacrifice, she continued, “He, in an article in a local newspaper, advised the good people of Krakow not to buy tickets to my event.”
He continued by saying that if Wantuch succeeds in his goal, “it will be a tragic loss for me” as well as for the people of Krakow.
He will prevent them from having the chance to form their own opinions due to his severe censorship of my work, Waters said.
Wantuch’s post expressed his opposition to Waters’ show, calling the musician “an open supporter of Putin” and his planned performances in Krakow “a shame for our city.”
Roger Waters, a vocal fan of Putin, wants to perform at Krakow’s Tauron Arena, according to Wantuch. “We have a meeting of the Cracow City Council on Wednesday, and I will be speaking with the president and council members to try to stop this. Such an occurrence would be regrettable for our city. He should perform in Moscow.”
In his response to Waters’ remarks from the previous day, Wantuch stated that he was still in Ukraine but would “have an offer” for Waters that evening.
Pink Floyd released “Hey Hey Rise Up,” their first new song in 28 years, earlier this year in an effort to collect money for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Waters did not contribute to the song; he left the band in 1984.
According to the United Nations, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, about 6,000 civilian deaths have been officially recorded.
