Roger Waters is back on the road, having kicked off his “This Is Not A Drill Tour” on Wednesday night (July 6th) at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena. Waters, who performed in the round on a massive, rectangular stage, pushed some fans' buttons with a printed message reading: “If you’re one of those 'I love Pink Floyd but I can’t stand Roger’s politics people,' you might do well do well to f*** off to the bar right now.”
The 23-song show was broken into two sets and opened with an acoustic version of The Wall's “Comfortably Numb.” Alongside newer solo material were Pink Floyd classics from The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall — along with a new song, titled “The Bar,” which was also performed later in the show as a reprise.
Throughout the show the omnipresent video screens showed a barage of political statements by Waters and at one point showed a bloody red stamp deeming both Presidents Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump “WAR CRIMINALS.” Under Joe Biden the tag was amended by adding, “Just getting started. . .”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on the screens and graphics while Waters performed “Sheep” from Floyd's 1977 Animals album: “The song depicting the sheep rising up to crush the dogs, came with a screen full of floating sheep and then a flurry of tweets about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. During intermission we were entertained by the flying pig, emblazoned with 'F*** The Poor' on one side and 'Steal From The Poor. Give To The Rich' on the other. It was adorned, as well, with such defense contractor logos as Raytheon and Elbit Systems.”
Roger Waters explained that rebelliousness and independent thinking have always been part of his makeup: “Yeah, I always have been that way. I spent a lot of time in the education system in England, which by and large was pretty good. But, when I went to my secondary school, which was a grammar school, they were pretty much of the 'sit down, be quiet, shut up and listen' school of education. We had canes and stuff like that, so there was plenty to rebel against — but then I've always been politically active, so when I was a kid I was involved in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and other organizations like that.”
The setlist for Roger Waters' July 6th Pittsburgh show:
Set One:
“Comfortably Numb”
“The Happiest Days Of Our Lives”
“Another Brick In The Wall Part 2”
“Another Brick In The Wall Part 3”
“The Powers That Be”
“The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range”
“The Bar”
“Have A Cigar”
“Wish You Were Here”
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)”
“Sheep”
Set Two:
“In the Flesh”
“Run Like Hell”
“Déjà Vu”
“Is This The Life We Really Want?”
“Money”
“Us & Them”
“Any Colour You Like”
“Brain Damage”
“Eclipse”
“Two Suns In The Sunset”
“The Bar (Reprise)”
“Outside The Wall”