INDIO, Calif. – Roger Waters made his feelings about Donald Trump and Israel abundantly clear during a politically-charged performance at the Desert Trip music festival Sunday night.
The 73-year-old singer-songwriter also denounced war and addressed the Black Lives Matter movement in his 2 ½-hour set that closed out the three-day classic rock concert in Indio, California.
Waters blasted the Republican presidential candidate in music and images. Trump’s face appeared on the massive video screen above the stage with the word “Charade” across it as Waters performed the Pink Floyd song “Pigs (Three Different Ones).” Subsequent images showed Trump wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood.
Meanwhile, a parade-sized balloon shaped like a pig floated above the audience. It had Trump’s face painted on the side with the words “Ignorant, lying, racist, sexist pig.” And in case that wasn’t straightforward enough, giant letters flashed across the big screen reading “Trump is a pig.”
Waters followed up with “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II),” during which 15 school-age children came onstage wearing T-shirts that read, “Derriba el muro” — Spanish for “Take down the wall.”
While other Desert Trip performers mentioned the presidential election, Waters was the only one who brought up the Black Lives Matter movement in front of the overwhelmingly white audience. As he performed “Us and Them,” the big screen showed pictures of protest signs. “White silence is violence,” read one. “I cannot believe I still have to protest this (expletive),” another said.
Waters told the crowd that he’s been working with wounded warriors in Washington, D.C., and brought a young American veteran who lost his legs onstage to play lead guitar with the band on “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.”
“Working with these men has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my life,” Waters said. He dedicated the song to all victims of war and violence.
His set also included “Time,” ”Money,” ”Wish You Were Here” and “Dark Side of the Moon.”
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