Krakow City Council is due to vote this week on a motion declaring Roger Waters “persona non grata”. One of its members, Lukasz Wantuch, called on the townspeople to boycott his concerts.
Article written by
Published
Reading time : 1 min.
Roger Waters, co-founder of the rock group Pink Floyd, expressed his fury on Sunday September 25 after the cancellation of two concerts scheduled in Krakow, Poland because of his statements deemed complacent vis-à-vis Russia, concerning the war in Ukraine.
In an open letter in early September, the British musician wrote that the West should stop supplying arms to Ukraine and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of tolerating a “extreme nationalism” before ordering him to put an end to “this murderous war”.
The concert organizer, Live Nation Polska, announced on Saturday September 24 on Twitter that the concerts, which had been planned for April 2023 in the large sports hall of the city, had been canceled but without providing details.
Roger Waters, currently on tour in the United States, denied on Facebook Polish media claims that his band had given up and hit out at Mr Wantuch, accusing him of “draconian censorship” his work.
“Lukasz Wantuch seems to know nothing of my story (which consisted) of working all my life, at the cost of certain personal sacrifices, in the service of human rights”, said the singer-songwriter. Paraphrasing the lyrics of Pink Floyd’s smash hit “Another Brick in the Wall”Waters added: “Hey! Lukasz Wantuch! leave the children alone!”. He said he only wanted to call the countries involved “to work towards a negotiated peace rather than aggravate the situation towards an even worse outcome”.