Inflatable pigs on Roger Waters' tours

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Please improve this article if you can. (July 2007)

A giant inflatable pig has been one of the staple props of Pink Floyd live performances since 1977 when the album Animals was released. After Roger Waters departed Pink Floyd in 1985, he continued to use the pig as a show element during his solo live performances.

1 The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour 2006/2007
2 Live Earth
3 The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour 2008
- 3.1 2008 North American tour dates
- 3.2 2008 European tour dates
  - 3.2.1 Landgraaf (The Netherlands)
4 References

[edit] The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour 2006/2007

Roger Waters used inflatable pigs at many shows on his 2006-2007 tour The Dark Side of the Moon Live, specifically, when he performed the song Sheep concluding the first part of the show. The pigs used on tour were decorated with slogans and pieces of song lyrics, and with various drawings. During select performances at open-air venues the pig was released to fly away.

[edit] 2006 European tour dates

No inflatable pig on this leg of the tour. Introduction was on September 6th on start of the US tour.^[1]

A pig entering Hollywood Bowl before being walked through and then released into the Los Angeles sky during Waters' 5 October show.

October 5, 2006, at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California, USA: slogans decorating the pig included "Kafka Rules OK!" on the pig's side, "Impeach Bush Now", on the pig's backside, and "Free at Last", written on the pig's underbelly. Handlers released the pig into the night sky. Afterwards, authorities informed Waters that he would face charges if the stunt was attempted again.^[2]

[edit] 2007 Australia, New Zealand & Asian tour dates

February 9, 2007, at Members Equity Stadium in Perth, Australia: the pig was again walked through the audience, then released, apparently deliberately. It was decorated with many slogans, including "Bring David Hicks home." It was followed by spotlight as it rose through the night sky and eventually landed in a swimming pool about 15 kilometres away.^[3]

[edit] 2007 Latin American tour dates

March 14, 2007, in Santiago, Chile: the pig had the following messages: "Socialismo al servicio de las S.A."(Socialism in service of the corporations), "Libre al fin" (Free at last), "Sin TAG" (Without TAG), "Va a nevar en el espacio, la NASA no lo sabe" (It's going to snow in space, NASA doesn't know), "Sorpresas de la democracia, la basura sale a flote" (Surprises of democracy, trash floats), "Push Bush contra la muralla" (Push Bush up against the wall, perhaps a reference to the lyrics of In the Flesh), "¿Fey? ¿Iñ chiñ? ¿El? ¿Nosotros? Tristes metáforas" (He? We all? in Mapudungun, then He? We all? Sad metaphors in Spanish), "Víctor Jara no calla" (Víctor Jara won't be silenced), and "E=MCool". Some of the messages were authored by Chilean poets Nicanor Parra, Elicura Chihuailaf, and Diego Maquieira.^{[citation needed]} The pig was released at the end of "Sheep".

[edit] 2007 European tour dates

May 12, 2007, in London, Earls Court: In addition to much of the above ('Stop Bush…' 'Nearly a laugh…' 'Dick Cheney… asshole!') the mention of (Tony) Blair had an arrow from the underside where 'good riddance' had been added (Blair had announced the timetable for his resignation the day before the gig). Also, 'All Religions Build Walls' on one flank.^[4]

[edit] 2007 North American tour dates

A close-up of the pig released at the Roger Waters show on June 1, 2007.

May 19, 2007, In Tampa, Florida: The pig was painted by James Vendetta [1] and released at the Ford Amphitheater despite 40 mph wind. One side read "Kafka Rules" and "Habeas Corpus Matters". The other side read "I only answer to God -Tony Blair". Under the words "I only answer to God" was written "Is the democracy?". Under "Tony Blair" was written, "Good Riddance". On the pig's butt, it said, "Impeach Bush Now". The belly said, "Free at last". On the throat, "Cut Here" with a dotted line. The pig was paraded through the crowd and released into the sky, but because the pig was not completely inflated it didn't float quickly enough to make it out the venue. The pig finally got tangled up on one of the columns supporting the venue's massive roof and blocked a giant LED screen for the rest of the show. Roger then said "In the meanwhile, we're gonna try and free that pig!" after the first set.

The pig used at the Hollywood Bowl show on June 13.

June 13, 2007, at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California, USA: a pig was walked around, but not released. "Torture shames us all" and "All religions divide" on the right side ("No education" in smaller writing). "Habeus ^[sic] corpus matters", "Fear builds walls" on the left side. "Free at last" on the belly. "Impeach Bush" on the rear. Various graffiti-style writings all around.

[edit] Live Earth

July 7, 2007: Roger Waters played in the New York leg of Live Earth. When he began singing The Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 the pig came out again. It had a more cartoony look, and part of its body appeared as that of the wall. It had the words "Together we stand, divided we fall" (the last lines of Hey You) on one side and "SOS" on the other. Unlike the SOS logo for Live Earth (which stood for "Save Our Selves") , the one on the pig said "Save Our Sausages" instead.

[edit] The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour 2008

[edit] 2008 North American tour dates

[edit] Coachella

April 27, 2008 In the conclusion of the three day music festival, called Coachella, Roger Waters ended the night, but not before he could release a special white pig. Over 50,000 people were in atendence. The pig was adorned with political messages. One side read "Don't be lead to the slaughter", with Uncle Sam holding two cleavers. The other side said "Fear builds walls." The bottom read "Obama" with a check besides it, while the butt of the pig read "Impeach Bush" in graffiti letter. Nearing the end of the first act, the pig somehow was either let go, or broke some of the ropes holding it to the stage and began to float north. Many people in attendance of the concert thought this was planned, but later it was announced that a $10,000 reward with 4 lifetime passes to Coachella would be given to whoever found the pig. It was found as "crumpled heaps of shredded, spray-painted plastic" three days later at a nearby country club in La Quinta.^[5]

[edit] Denver

April 30, 2008 The pig appeared during Sheep and dropped leaflets with "Obama" with a check box next to his name

[edit] Dallas

May 2, 2008 Roger Waters' pig appeared during the bridge of the song Sheep. The pig entered from the left side of the SuperPages.com Center pavilion and made its way across sections 101 and 102 just in front of the VIP boxes. The pig was then taken out the right hand side into the lawn seating area and proceeded to the middle back of the crowd. The crowd eventually took control and briefly mobbed the pig before releasing it in into the night sky. The pig allegedly travelled to downtown Dallas where it hit a crane over Victory Park. The pig for the Dallas show was constructed by artist Frank Campagna. The dimensions of the pig were: 30 x 15 feet. The front left leg was painted with the words "Fear Builds Walls" over a series of grey bricks. The left side said "Obama" with a check box next to his name. Under the Obama "ballot" were the words "Don't Be Lead To The Slaughter". The pig's sexual organ had "Cheney" written on it. The pig's anus was adorned with the words "Impeach Bush Now".^[6]^[7]^[8]

[edit] Houston

May 4, 2008 The pig appeared and followed much the same path as in Dallas. The bearers of the pig struggled to keep it controlled while under the roof of the Woodlands Pavilion, due to a combination of crosswind and down draft of overheads fans blowing. The pig made 4 complete circles of the lawn seating section before being released. One change in the pigs appearance was the absence of the "cut here" line, and the addition of two black eyes and a number of bruises. The pig was half pink and had large patches of bricks with graffiti styled writing on them. The check mark next to "OBAMA" appears as a dotted edged square. The right side of the pig had the statment "All Religions Divide" written across it. The left side of the pig showed a caricature of President George W. Bush with porcine features, with the phrase "Only Dimly Aware" next to it -- a reference to the song being sung, "Sheep": "Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away / Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air".

[edit] 2008 European tour dates

[edit] Landgraaf (The Netherlands)

May 11, 2008 Roger Waters' pig appeared once again during the song Sheep. It was pink with texts on both sides. On the bottom "Obama" was written. It was released and floated away in the air.

[edit] References

Categories: Roger Waters concert tours

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