Roger Waters says he’s “coming anyway” despite Frankfurt concert ban: “Because human rights matter!”
The singer revealed in an Instagram post that he’s filed an injunction against the city’s council, but has yet to receive a response.
Image: Independent Photo Agency Srl / Alamy
Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has declared that he will be performing at Frankfurt despite recent cancellations by the city’s council over claims of anti-Semitism.
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Last month, the city of Frankfurt announced that they would cancel a Roger Waters concert scheduled for 28 May at the publicly owned Festhalle venue.
Citing Waters’ alleged “persistent anti-Israel behaviour” as the reason for their decision, the city’s municipal government also called the rocker “one of the world’s best-known antisemites” in their statement.
Now, however, Waters has announced that he’s “coming anyway” to Frankfurt. The singer posted an update to Instagram alongside a photo of the grave of Sophie Scholl, a German student and anti-Nazi activist who was executed by guillotine in 1943 for distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich.
Waters also revealed in the post that he’s filed an injunction against the council, but has yet to receive a response.
“Frankfurt Council were legally required to respond to Roger Waters [sic] interim injunction by midnight April 14,” he stated. “Did they? Nobody knows? We can only guess at what’s going on in Frankfurt? Are they playing for time? Who knows?”
“Not that it matters much! We’re coming anyway! Because human rights matter! Because free speech matters! Yes!”
He continued: “Frankfurt City Council, we remember Kristallnacht! Like Sophie Scholl our fathers stood with those three thousand Jewish men and today we stand with the Palestinians! We’re coming to Frankfurt on the 28th of May! Love, R.”
Last month, Waters’ team threatened to take legal action against the cancellations of his Germany concerts, which they described as “unconstitutional” and “unjustified”.
A petition has also been launched to reverse the ban, backed by signatures from Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello, Brian Eno, and Eric Clapton among others.