The debate about Roger Waters’ dictator costume has now also reached Roger Waters himself: he changed part of his show for the concert in Frankfurt. He emphasized during his performance that he decided against his usual impersonation as a “demagogue” in a black leather coat, with a red armband and machine gun in hand because he knows the history of the venue.
The costume, which is reminiscent of the outfit of a fascist agitator and caused horror at the show in Berlin, would probably have been inappropriate, even according to the Pink Floyd boss in the Festhalle in Frankfurt: 3,000 Jewish men were rounded up here in 1938 and mistreated and then deported.
During his appearance in Berlin, the 79-year-old appeared on stage disguised as a dictator. The local public prosecutor initially suspected that his outfit, consisting of a floor-length, black leather coat with a red armband, was based on the SS uniform look.
Waters said on Facebook: “My recent appearance in Berlin has provoked malicious attacks from those who want to slander and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles. The elements of my performance that were questioned are clearly a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry in all their forms. Attempting to portray these elements as something else is disingenuous and politically motivated. Portraying a lunatic fascist demagogue has been a feature of my shows since Pink Floyd’s 1980’s ‘The Wall’.”
The background of the fascist costume
In fact, Waters’ Ledermann outfit is part of his neo-staging of the “Wall” cycle, which rushes across the oversized LED screens to accompany stage action while the band performs. Waters finally fires blanks into the audience with a machine gun. A similar costume was worn by Bob Geldof in the role of Pink in Alan Parker’s 1982 film adaptation of The Wall. The crossed hammers are the symbols of a fictional neo-Nazi organization that the young Pink not only falls for – he later even leads.
The uniform had previously been worn during the Pink Floyd concerts of “The Wall” tour, which also took the band to Dortmund for eight concerts in the Westfalenhallen in 1981. It is therefore possible that not every critic or the authorities investigating in this country were aware of the historical continuity of Waters’ stage interlude as a shooting dictator.
However, Waters could also have been clear that his show fascist appearance is now seen in a different context than before. Unlike in 1981, he is accused of anti-Semitic attitudes from various quarters, including David Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson (Waters emphasizes that he is not an anti-Semite); and the Central Council of Jews has criticized the permission for Waters to perform in this country. Therefore, Waters’ insistence on a fascist-look performance during the “This is not a drill” tour does not, in everyone’s judgment, reinforce his publicly stated position of taking a stand against fascism. Regardless of the fact that he did without the dress in Frankfurt.