Pink Floyd: Roger Waters shows in Poland canceled

CNN
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Brirtish rock legend and Co-founder Pink Floyd Roger Waters’ concerts in Poland in April have been canceled amid a backlash for the musician’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Live Nation Poland, the party’s promoter, confirmed the cancellation on Saturday but did not specify a reason.

The cancellation comes after Waters, 79, was published A controversial open letter on his website In early September for Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska. Waters wrote in his letter that he opposes the West sending weapons to Ukraine to help besieged country In its war against the invasion of Russia.

Waters also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of doubling down on his 2019 campaign promises and said, without providing evidence, that “the forces of ultra-nationalism that have been dormant, malign, in the shadows, have since been ruling Ukraine.”

Waters went on to accuse these “radical nationalists” of putting Ukraine on the path to war with Russia by crossing “a number of red lines” set by the Kremlin.

Waters denied on Sunday that he had canceled the shows himself. The performances were scheduled to take place in Krakow as part of his international tour.

in Facebook statement Addressed to Britain’s Guardian newspapers and Poland’s Gazeta Krakowska, Waters denied that he or his management had canceled shows in Poland. Instead, he blamed Lukas Wantosh, a Krakow city councilor who wrote his own Facebook post on September 10 opposing Waters’ offers.

It is true that a Krakow City Council member, Mr Łukasz Wantuch, has threatened to convene a meeting asking the council to declare me “persona non grata” because of my overt efforts to encourage all participants in the disastrous war in Ukraine, especially the two governments of the United States of America, Waters wrote on Facebook: “The two governments of the United States of America And Russia, to work toward a negotiated peace, rather than escalating matters toward a bitter end that could be nuclear war and the end of all life on this planet.”

Notwithstanding that this chapter ukasz Wantuch seems to have known nothing of my history of working, all my life, at 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 My show tickets,” added Waters.

He went on to say that if Wantosh achieved his “goal… it would be a sad loss for me” as well as for the people of Krakow.

“His strict control over my work will deprive them of the opportunity to make their own decisions,” Waters concluded.

Wantoch’s post expressed his opposition to Waters’ show, calling the musician an “outspoken supporter of Putin” and his planned shows in Krakow “a disgrace to our city”.

“Roger Waters, an outspoken supporter of Putin, wants to play at the Tooron Arena in Krakow,” Wantuch wrote. “On Wednesday we have a session of the Krakow City Council and I will talk to the president and council members to prevent this. Such an event would be a disgrace to our city. Let him sing in Moscow.”

Wantosh responded to Waters’ statement on Sunday by writing that he is still in Ukraine but will “get an offer” to Waters in the evening.

Earlier this year, Pink Floyd released Their first new music in 28 years, a single called “Hey Hey Rise Up” to raise funds for humanitarian relief in Ukraine. Waters, who left the band in 1984, did not contribute to the song.

Nearly 6,000 civilians have been confirmed killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, The United Nations says.