Roger Waters slighted both the Weeknd and Drake after the Toronto press opted to highlight the two hometown artists instead of the former Pink Floyd rocker.
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Waters’ This Is Not a Drill Tour found its way to Toronto on the same day the North American leg of The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour was slated to kick off in the city. While The Weeknd’s show was ultimately postponed due to a Canada-wide power issue, Water’s show continued on without a hitch.
Despite the successful show, Waters expressed his anger at the Canadian press in a new interview with Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail—he particularly called out the reporter he was interviewing with. His main grief was their choice to cover The Weeknd’s kick-off show rather than Waters’ show, which was the first of a two-night stand at the Toronto arena.
“I have no idea what or who The Weeknd is, because I don’t listen to much music,” Waters told The Globe. “People have told me he’s a big act. Well, good luck to him. I’ve got nothing against him. Would it not have been possible to review his show one night and my show another night?”
He continued, “I’m not trying to make a personal attack. I’m just saying it seemed odd.”
He then, seemingly out of the blue, shifted focus over to another Toronto-born superstar, Drake. He lumped the two artists together, claiming to be “more important” than both of them despite their ever-growing success.
“By the way, with all due respect to The Weeknd or Drake or any of them, I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be, however many billions of streams they’ve got,” Waters said. “There is stuff going on here that is fundamentally important to all of our lives.”
Waters didn’t elucidate further on the “fundamentally important stuff” he was referencing. Thankfully for the rock icon, the two tour treks will not cross paths for the remainder of their stints on the road.
Photo: Brian Lima / Rogers and Cowan
