I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Roger Waters in concert in London last night.
I'm no Pink Floyd fan but I have to say this was one of the most remarkable and spectacular rock shows I have ever attended.
And before I get much further into this, I'd like to make the point that Waters is clearly NOT antisemitic.
What he IS is outspokenly anti Israel's treatment of the Palestinians (along with being anti nukes, anti capitalism, and anti the military/industrial complex). That does not equate to antisemitism. If it did, then that label could be attached to a lot of us.
Waters has had the guts to stick to his musical and political guns for decades – and for that he surely deserves admiration rather than abuse. The political pygmies who have made headlines calling for a ban on his performances clearly have no interest in what he is actually saying, doing and singing about. They have their own agendas.
Of course, he is, for his own reasons, also extremely anti-David Gilmour. The overpowering light show that accompanied some of the most memorable rock songs of the Floyd/Waters past featured many images of his old band, but there was a lot of Syd Barrett and not one picture of Gilmour.
The only time during the evening that Waters allowed himself to get really nasty was when he addressed the accusation of antisemitism directed at him by Gilmour's wife, Polly Samson.
What he said about her is perhaps best not repeated here... let's just say this is a man who speaks his mind.
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