It was recently announced that Pink Floyd legend, Roger Waters, said he will play in Frankfurt, Germany despite a planned performance there being cancelled over claims of anti-Semitism. Waters was supposed to play at the publicly owned Festhalle on May 28, but the council called off the performance over the musician’s views on Israel. They later described him as “one of the world’s most widely-known anti-Semites”.
It turns out that Waters will now be allowed to play the concert. According to German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, an administrative court in Frankfurt on Monday found that neither the city nor the state of Hesse had the right to cancel a Roger Waters concert at the Frankfurt Festhalle as it had previously sought to do.
The court said that as the owners of concert organizer Messe Frankfurt, the state and city were obliged "to make it possible for Waters to stage the concert" as contractually agreed, despite concerns over the British musician's supposed antisemitic leanings.
Waters has run into similar trouble in other German cities due to his statements and past stage shows.
The court on Monday said that although Waters' show obviously borrows symbolism linked to National Socialism, it could not see that he was glorifying or qualifying Nazi deeds or identifying with Nazi racial ideology. Nor was there any indication that he would be using any type of Nazi propaganda during the concert.
The court said that to deny Waters access to the site would be to infringe upon his free speech rights as an artist.
Read more at Deutsche Welle.
Roger Waters has announced a live broadcast screening into cinemas worldwide on May 25. Tickets are on sale here. Watch a video trailer below.
Synopsis: For one night only, Roger Waters, the creative force behind the golden years of Pink Floyd, presents his first Farewell Tour, “This Is Not A Drill”, Live from Prague, in cinemas around the world.
This cinematic extravaganza is a stunning indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive and will include 20 Pink Floyd and Roger Waters classic songs, including “Us & Them”, “Comfortably Numb”, “Wish You Were Here”, and “Is This The Life We Really Want?”. Waters will also debut his new song, “The Bar”.
Waters will be joined on stage by Jonathan Wilson, Dave Kilminster, Jon Carin, Gus Seyffert, Robert Walter, Joey Waronker, Shanay Johnson, Amanda Belair and Seamus Blake to deliver an unforgettable performance with a call to action to love, protect, and share our precious planet home.
Please note this event has been time shifted in some markets to suit local time zones. Sign up for updates, here.
