Roger Waters concerts scrapped in Poland over Ukraine row

WARSAW

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters lashed out on Sept. 25 after two upcoming concerts in Krakow in Poland were scrapped following criticism from city councilors over his stance on the war in Ukraine.

The city council is scheduled to debate a motion this week that would declare Waters a “persona non grata” and one councilor, Lukasz Wantuch, had urged city residents to boycott the Waters concerts.

Waters wrote an open letter earlier this month saying the West should stop providing arms to Ukraine, accusing President Volodymyr Zelensky of allowing “extreme nationalism” in Ukraine and urging him to “put an end to this deadly war.”

Live Nation Polska said on Twitter on Sept. 24 that the concerts, which had been scheduled for April next year at the city’s Tauron Arena, had been “cancelled” but did not give any more details.

Waters on Facebook denied Polish media reports that his team had pulled out but criticized Wantuch, accusing him of “draconian censoring of my work.”

“Lukasz Wantuch seems to know nothing of my history of working, all my life, at some personal cost, in the service of human rights,” Waters said.

Paraphrasing the words of his hit single “Another Brick in the Wall,” Waters also wrote: “Hey! Lukasz Wantuch! ’Leave them Kids Alone!’”

He said he had only wanted to urge the countries involved “to work towards a negotiated peace rather than escalate matters towards a bitter end.”