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Let There Be More Light: The Pink Floyd Thread

blessmycottonsocks said:
Roger Waters cancels tour of Poland following outrage at his anti-Ukraine and pro-Putin comments.
City councillors in Kraków are expected to vote next week to name Waters as a persona non grata.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...-in-poland-amid-row-over-ukraine-war-comments
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You cheer a maverick because his combination of stubborn commitment and vagarious opinions blows a wind of challenging freshness through your own thoughts; there's little point in cheering on people like Waters just because you happen to agree with positions they have taken, because there'll be a new position the next month that you're just as likely to disagree with.

And if I said that to Roger Waters' face, there's a fighting chance he'd call me a stupid **** and tell me that he doesn't pick his views like lottery balls.

Which--in addition to his music--is why I admire him.
 
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Yithian said:
You cheer a maverick because his combination of stubborn commitment and vagarious opinions blows a wind challenging freshness through your own thoughts; there's little point in cheering on people like Waters just because you happen to agree with positions they have taken, because there'll be a new position the next month that you're just as likely to disagree with.

And if I said that to Roger Waters' face, there's a fighting chance he'd call me a stupid **** and tell me that he doesn't pick his views like lottery balls.

Which--in addition to his music--is why I admire him.
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I can still (just about) admire his music, whilst utterly despising his political views - bit like Ted Nugent or Wagner.
 
I’m with Yithian a bit. So long as he takes his stand on his own principle, he’s going to put noses out of joint.

He’s 79 and leading a band on a supersize rock tour of the world. He can say whatever he wants and play pretty much wherever he has a receptive audience. I fear that audience may shrink yet further after this. I’d still go see him because a single divergent opinion is merely that. I love his socialist heart all the same.
 
I wonder if Dave & Nick’s pro Ukrainian anthem had anything to do with Roger’s decision to go anti. hm
 
skinny said:
I wonder if Dave & Nick’s pro Ukrainian anthem had anything to do with Roger’s decision to go anti. hm
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Waters' defence of Putin and criticism of NATO predates the "Hey Hey Rise Up" benefit song.
Whilst I've been a life-long Floyd fan, for me now Dave and Nick ARE Pink Floyd and I wouldn't want to see a Waters show. Not just due to Ukraine. His rhetoric against the Jewish homeland and his belief in Zionist conspiracies are pretty toxic. And of course trying to kill off the band by sueing Dave and Nick was unforgivable.
If Waters had his way, we would never have had A Momentary Lapse of Reason, or the truly superb Division Bell.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Waters' defence of Putin and criticism of NATO predates the "Hey Hey Rise Up" benefit song.
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How do you know that's true?
blessmycottonsocks said:
If Waters had his way, we would never have had A Momentary Lapse of Reason, or the truly superb Division Bell.
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Yes I really sincerely think we did. Rog had always gotten his way. When at last he didn't, he flounced. The band (Pink Floyd) was enormously successful after Roger Waters pulled out. Roger's success paled in comparison. He only has his stupid ego to blame. I don't think there's any controversy here. It's as good as fact.

But I agree those two albums are as good as any Floyd produced. They really were amazing.
 
The title track has probably my favourite Gilmour solo to round it out. Yes, I think it trumps the much-vaunted CumfyNum.
 
Actually, pundits could argue that the TDB and CN solos are the same act. I might agree. Might not.
 
skinny said:
How do you know that's true?

Yes I really sincerely think we did. Rog had always gotten his way. When at last he didn't, he flounced. The band (Pink Floyd) was enormously successful after Roger Waters pulled out. Roger's success paled in comparison. He only has his stupid ego to blame. I don't think there's any controversy here. It's as good as fact.

But I agree those two albums are as good as any Floyd produced. They really were amazing.
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It's easy to find comments Waters made in support of Putin's invasion of Crimea, long before the current war:

https://www.rferl.org/a/pink-floyd-...crimea-causing-backlash-ukraine/29460955.html

I also see that Waters is a supporter of blood sports such as foxhunting and shooting. His Royal Albert Hall gig was in support of the "Countryside Alliance". Another reason for me to despise him!

Agree with the rest of your post - The Division Bell is probably my most played Floyd album.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
I also see that Waters is a supporter of blood sports such as foxhunting and shooting. His Royal Albert Hall gig was in support of the "Countryside Alliance". Another reason for me to despise him!
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Old news, the fox shit. Yes, he's a guvnor. Genius, but a motherfucker. Multi-faceted, as the old kids say. A complex person perhaps.
 
Mungoman said:
Roger, Roger, Roger... His choices in this situation, knowing his past history, do not make sense to me.

Am I getting thick or something?
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At the rate he's working to make himself persona non grata, he may have to limit any future live shows to places where he would be welcomed, like Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela or Russia.
 
He is already persona non grata with his neighbors who he is feuding with for several years now after he built a 14,000 sq ft house and took control of a contested road in Bridgehampton Long Island. Apparently he likes to alienate people.
:rolleyes:
 
dr wu said:
He is already persona non grata with his neighbors who he is feuding with for several years now after he built a 14,000 sq ft house and took control of a contested road in Bridgehampton Long Island. Apparently he likes to alienate people.
:rolleyes:
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He lives in the US...in a home the size of a three acre paddock??


I mean no offence to those who do live in the US...It's just so incongruous to me that Mr Waters would spout his ethic and then act like a T...I think that I'll shut up now.

My apologies to anyone that I might have offended.
 
Tickets for the latest Roger Waters tour go on sale today. Priced from £75 to £373. And then when you decide what ticket you want there is a service charge of between £10 and £15, a facility charge of £1.20 a handling fee of £2 and if you actually want a physical ticket rather than an e ticket it costs £6 on top.
 
gordonrutter said:
Tickets for the latest Roger Waters tour go on sale today. Priced from £75 to £373. And then when you decide what ticket you want there is a service charge of between £10 and £15, a facility charge of £1.20 a handling fee of £2 and if you actually want a physical ticket rather than an e ticket it costs £6 on top.
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That’s a no from me. Mind you, if you compare it with paying £40 to hear Ian Brown's out of tune singing to backing tracks karaoke style it doesn’t seem so outrageous..
 
I am never going to fork out nearly £400 for a live music event, no matter how good the artist is - I've simply got other things to spend my money on. How do people afford it?
 
Obviously taken aback by the public backlash his letters to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, blaming Ukraine for Putin's invasion, provoked, Waters has apparently been bullied into penning an open letter to Putin.
You can read the entire text at the link below.
In terms of a little mitigation, he does say to Putin "if you want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states. If you do, fuck you"

However he also asks Putin "If you were to come out and say, ... the Russian Federation has no further territorial interest beyond the security of the Russian-speaking populations of the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk that would help too."

What the fucking fuck?

Waters appears to be condoning Putin's annexation/enslavement of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.

That hole you're digging for yourself is getting fucking deep, Waters.

https://asiatimes.com/2022/09/an-open-letter-to-putin-from-roger-waters/
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Obviously taken aback by the public backlash his letters to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, blaming Ukraine for Putin's invasion, provoked, Waters has apparently been bullied into penning an open letter to Putin.
You can read the entire text at the link below.
In terms of a little mitigation, he does say to Putin "if you want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states. If you do, fuck you"

However he also asks Putin "If you were to come out and say, ... the Russian Federation has no further territorial interest beyond the security of the Russian-speaking populations of the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk that would help too."

What the fucking fuck?

Waters appears to be condoning Putin's annexation/enslavement of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.

That hole you're digging for yourself is getting fucking deep, Waters.

https://asiatimes.com/2022/09/an-open-letter-to-putin-from-roger-waters/
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Why would Putin listen to or read a rant from an old rock star?
It's just someone venting.
 
MercuryCrest said:
Nothing on Earth sounds like a well-tuned telecaster.

I've loved many axes, but a friend's uncle let me pick up his tele and now I understand the sound. I'm still going to try to match it with my Bolero, but I know that without some real fuckin' around, I'll never come close.
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Say what you like about Sting, he rents great Tele casters.
Shout out to @EnolaGaia for pointing out that Telecasters have 2 pups. Yes they do.
 
I am going to see waters at the o2 next year, it was about £154 for two tickets, I am ok with that considering I paid £50 for a pink floyd tribute act thinking it would be the nearest to pink floyd I would ever get.

As to his politics....I agree with 60% or 70% of what he says , but I prefer his message to be in the music rather then ranting online.
 
A question... remember the event that led to the creation of The Wall?
From Wikipedia:
In 1977, Pink Floyd played the In the Flesh Tour. Bassist and singer-songwriter Roger Waters despised the experience, feeling the audience was not listening and that many were too far away to see the band. He said: "It became a social event rather than a more controlled and ordinary relationship between musicians and an audience."[9] Some audience members set off firecrackers, leading Waters to stop playing and scold them. In July 1977, on the final date at the Montreal Olympic Stadium, a group of noisy and excited fans near the stage irritated Waters so much that he spat on one of them.
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Has anybody ever tracked this individual receipt of Roger Water's lingering loogie of spite spit? I know he felt badly about it and it led to The Wall, but suppose the spit-ee thought it was a remarkable moment in their life, touched by their hero? Maybe they have never washed it off, and instead have left it on their skin all this time.

Hopefully not! But it's weird to think about what happened to them.
 
Oh, dear.

It's all kicking off again with David, Polly and Roger.

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Just because PF made great music doesn't mean they have to be nice people. FWIW I always thought RW incredibly arrogant to pretend he was Pink Floyd on his own. But DG comes over as a smug B--- as well.

Musicians and other artists - their work and their personalities are separate things. For all we know Shakespeare was a complete ass.
 
Cochise said:
Just because PF made great music doesn't mean they have to be nice people. FWIW I always thought RW incredibly arrogant to pretend he was Pink Floyd on his own. But DG comes over as a smug B--- as well.

Musicians and other artists - their work and their personalities are separate things. For all we know Shakespeare was a complete ass.
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I always thought that Gilmour played his cards closer to his chest, but Roger Waters wore his heart on his sleeve. Cantankerous and infexible seems undeniable, but I long admired his refusal to make his life easier by saying and doing things he didn't believe in—even when I couldn't agree with him. I shan't go into the areas in which I hold differing views, but suffice to say that admiration has taken a real battering over the past few years.
 
Cochise said:
Just because PF made great music doesn't mean they have to be nice people. FWIW I always thought RW incredibly arrogant to pretend he was Pink Floyd on his own. But DG comes over as a smug B--- as well.

Musicians and other artists - their work and their personalities are separate things. For all we know Shakespeare was a complete ass.
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You may have a point, Cochise, but I now find Waters' views so repugnant that it genuinely does ruin my enjoyment of early Pink Floyd.
I don't get that feeling with Gilmour or Mason who, for me are Pink Floyd.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
You may have a point, Cochise, but I now find Waters' views so repugnant that it genuinely does ruin my enjoyment of early Pink Floyd.
I don't get that feeling with Gilmour or Mason who, for me are Pink Floyd.
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Saw them at Wembley - what, 1992? Gilmour doing his best guitar stuff on 'Comfortably Numb'. Also saw them at
Knebworth when Dark side of the Moon was quite new.

RW - well, his views and his music different things. I think it's clear he is a very troubled person. I love early Floyd. Echoes from Meddle my absolute favourite. When the sonar pings back...
 
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