Text by Ana Clara Martins
"If you're one of those Pink Floyd Roger 's politics , you might as well head back to the bar now. Thank you," reads one of the four screens on stage.
Thus, Roger Waters begins his visit to Rio de Janeiro with the This is Not a Drill , which took place last Saturday, the 28th, at the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium.
After a 15-minute delay, duly timed in 5-minute intervals on the screens – since a large part of the audience was still in line at the scheduled start time of the show – the former Pink Floyd bassist appeared on stage smoking a cigarette and pushing the wheelchair of a man portraying an ill person. Then Roger kicked things off by singing “Comfortably Numb,” the song that closed his last tour, “Us+Them,” in 2018. This time, the song didn't have its traditional performance, but followed the arrangement of the version re-recorded in 2022.
Next, the artist presents a medley of iconic tracks from the classic album The Wall (1979): “The Happiest Days of Our Lives” and parts 2 and 3 of “Another Brick in the Wall”. Up until then, Roger had only been singing, when he switched to guitar, performing two songs from his solo career, “The Powers That Be” and “The Bravery of Being Out of Range”. Unlike the songs from his former band, the audience didn't sing along, even seeming unfamiliar with the tracks.
However, the messages displayed on the screens in three different languages (Portuguese, English, and Spanish) elicit shouts of support and much applause. The audience is confronted with images of innocent people brutally murdered for a variety of "reasons," governed by a genocidal state perspective: for being Black, a woman, Palestinian, or Jewish – showing that their lack of support for Israel is not linked, as many believe, to an anti-Semitic stance, but rather to an anti-Zionist one, always criticizing the apartheid practiced against the Palestinian people.
Next, Roger criticizes the war crimes committed by US presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and finally, he states that the crimes committed by Joe Biden are only beginning.
“The Bar,” Waters’ new song, was responsible for bringing the artist to the piano. Before presenting it, he states: “This place is huge, it’s for football! So today all of you who are in this wonderful place are also with me and my band in the bar. So, thank you! Welcome.”
Then the audience was treated to a dazzling sequence of songs from the album Wish You Were Here (1975). From that moment on, Waters begins an autobiographical retrospective, saying: "Let's go back to 1974, when I was playing with another band," and introduces "Have a Cigar," with projections of his former bandmates (except David Gilmour ), especially Syd Barrett.
And it is precisely from his friendship with Syd that Roger Waters speaks about the beginning of his career. While the band plays the instrumental that begins "Wish You Were Here," a track composed in homage to his friend and one of the founders of Pink Floyd, a text on the screen details the story from the time they met until the day they decided to form a band. "We dreamed the dream and, for a time, we lived it. The rest is history," the screens proclaimed. Tears streamed down the faces of the audience, while the text mentioned the moment when Roger realized he had lost Syd. "This is not a drill," the text concludes, making it possible to understand the concept of the tour.
After that, the moment many had been waiting for arrived: Roger Waters picked up his precision bass and played the progressive classic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (Parts VI-IX). Following on bass and with the screens offering an autobiographical perspective within the band, the first part of the show ended with “Sheep,” from the album Animals (1977), while a giant inflatable sheep hovered over the audience.
Approximately 20 minutes separate the end of the first act and the beginning of the second act. During this interval, another giant inflatable animal flew over the audience, this time a pig.
Roger Waters returns to the stage in the position of a sick man, wearing a straitjacket. Returning to The Wall, the musician performs "In the Flesh" and "Run Like Hell" in an apotheotic performance, complete with pyrotechnics. After singing some tracks from his solo career, such as "Déjà Vu" and "Is This the Life We Really Want?", the artist returns to his position as bassist and creates one of the most anticipated moments of the show: he plays the entire B-side of the celebrated album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), with the audience's voices echoing all the lyrics and countless colored lights reminiscent of the famous prism on the album cover.
At this point, Roger's backing band receives special attention, with guitarist Jonathan Wilson taking over vocals, saxophonist Seamus Blake shining with his crystalline solos, and the powerful voices of Amanda Blair and Shanay Johnson providing backing vocals.
Finishing the last track of the album, “Eclipse,” someone in the audience shouts at the top of their lungs: “I love you, Roger!” The artist replies: “I love you too, obviously! I really love you!” In one of his many interactions with the crowd, the artist recounts: “I met President Lula yesterday, what a lovely man!” There is a clear increase in the closeness not only between Roger and the audience, but also between the audience and the artist himself, when compared to the 2018 tour. “Ole Ole Ole Ole, Roger, Roger!” the audience cheers in unison, making the musician a little shy, but above all very happy.
As the performance neared its end, Roger announced that he would be playing "Two Suns in the Sunset," the last song from the album The Final Cut (1982), which divided opinions among fans. Furthermore, he drew laughter from the audience by saying that he copied the lyrics from Bob Dylan ," expressing his love for the album Blonde on Blonde (1966).
Despite the grand spectacle, with colorful lights, giant inflatable animals, and fireworks, Roger opted for a more intimate ending with "Outside the Wall," the song that also closes the album "The Wall."
The musician says he doesn't know if he'll have the strength to return to the stage. Therefore, those who were present possibly experienced their last chance to see Roger Waters and his revolutionary force live. Even after more than 50 years in the business, the artist continues to make his art political, showing that generational differences are not a justification for supporting fascist ideologies.
