After two years of pandemic delays, Roger Waters launched his long-awaited This Is Not A Drill tour in Pittsburgh, PA on Wednesday. The concert from the founding Pink Floyd bassist at PPG Paints Arena featured a healthy dose of classic rock staples, solo compositions, and a pair of new songs written during lockdown.
Waters has never been one to hold his tongue about anything, be it his former bandmate David Gilmour or former President Donald Trump. The songwriter made sure everyone was on the same page by welcoming audiences with the message “If you’re one of those ‘I love Pink Floyd, but I can’t stand Roger’s politics’ people you might do well to fuck off to the bar right now,” broadcast across the PA and on LED screens.
The stage set up for This Is Not A Drill features Waters and his band—comprised of Jonathan Wilson (guitar), Robert Walter (keyboards), Jon Carin (keyboards), Joey Waronker (drums), Gus Seyffert (bass), Seamus Blake (saxophone) and Dave Kilminster (guitar) in addition to backing vocalists Amanda Belair and Shanay Johnson—performing in the round for the first time. The band was stationed in the center of a giant cross, with catwalks going out in all four directions. Above the group hung a similar cross-section of LED screens which displayed Pink Floyd iconography, political messaging, and more imagery throughout the 23-song performance.
The first set sandwiched beloved Pink Floyd staples “Comfortably Numb”, “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Have A Cigar”, and more between Waters’ solo works including “The Powers That Be”, which he busted out for the first time since 1999 last week at a private, invite-only dress rehearsal at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA. It was also there that he debuted the new composition “The Bar”, which Waters performed on Wednesday for the first time in front of a ticketed audience.
During the second frame, Waters offered yet another public debut with “Is This the Life We Really Want?”, which was also first performed at the dress rehearsal. The crowd was then rewarded with the entire B-side of The Dark Side Of The Moon, with The Final Cut‘s “Two Suns in the Sunset” following before a reprise of “The Bar” and finally “Outside the Wall” to close the show.
Check out fan-shot videos from Roger Waters in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, as well as a radio broadcast of “Have a Cigar”, “Wish You Were Here”, and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-9)”. The tour continues on Friday in Toronto, ON.
Setlist: Roger Waters | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh, PA | 7/6/22
Set One: Comfortably Numb, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3, The Powers That Be, The Bravery of Being Out of Range, The Bar [1], Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-9), Sheep
Set Two: In the Flesh, Run Like Hell, Déjà Vu, Is This the Life We Really Want? [1], Money, Us and Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse, Two Suns in the Sunset, The Bar (Reprise), Outside the Wall
[1] FTP for ticketed crowd