Inflatable pigs on Roger Waters' tours

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.

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, a reference to the idiom "Pigs might fly".^[1]

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

• 5 October 2006, at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood: 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 it was attempted again.^[2]

The pig was released again at the Shoreline Amphitheatre show in Mountain View the following week, on 10 October.

2007 Australia, New Zealand and Asian tour dates

• 9 February 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 (9.3 mi) away.^[3]

2007 Latin American tour dates

• In Mexico City, the pig had the message "Cerdo Bush derriba el muro de la frontera" ("PIG BUSH, DEMOLISH THE BORDER WALL"). The pig was released into the sky and was found in the nearby area of Azcapotzalco two days later.
• In Bogotá, Colombia, the pig featured the following slogans: "El patrón Bush visita el rancho de Colombia" (The landlord Bush visits the Colombian ranch)^[4][5] a clear reference to Bush's visit to the country only two days later,^[5] "Libres al fin"^[4] (Free at last) on the pig's belly, "El miedo construye paredes" (Fear Builds Walls), and "Kafka manda" (Kafka rules) on one leg, while also having peace symbols, the word "amor" (love) on his right hind foot, and the words "lechona Bush" (roasted pig Bush) on the pig's buttocks, as well as its sides reading "Devuélvanle la tierra a la gente" (Give the people back their land), and "Legalizen las drogas" (Legalize drugs),^[6][7][8] referencing the problem of refugees, the traffic of illegal substances and poor distribution of land in Colombia. The pig vanished into the night during the bridge of "Sheep".
• In Lima, the message for Peruvians was "Todos los peruanos somos iguales, no a la discriminación" (All peruvians are equal, no discrimination), due to one of the main problems in Peruvian society, discrimination against andean people, afroperuvians, gays and lesbians and others. Other messages included: "Stop Bush" and "Kafka rules". ^[9]
• 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 rises to the top), "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. The pig was released at the end of "Sheep".
• In Buenos Aires the pig had different messages, like "¿Donde esta Julio Lopez?" (Where's Julio Lopez, a missing witness in a political trial), "El miedo crea paredes" (Fear creates walls), "Bush go home", "Corte Aqui" (cut here) next to a dotted line around the neck and "Kafka rules OK", among others.
• In São Paulo, the pig bore messages such as "All we need is education", "Bush, não estamos à venda!" (Portuguese for "Bush, we're not for sale!"), "Killers, leave our kids alone" (a reference to João Hélio Fernandes Vieites, a young boy who had been recently murdered in a Motor vehicle theft) and "Ordem e Progresso?", a pun with the inscription of the Brazilian flag which reads "Order and Progresso" (Order and Progress) without the question mark.

2007 European tour dates

• 3 May 2007, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France "What an asshole", "Le Pen" "Enculés", "All religions divide us".^[10]

• 12 May 2007, at Earls Court, London; 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. Additionally, 'All Religions Build Walls' on one side.^[11]

2007 North American tour dates

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

• 19 May 2007, In Tampa, Florida: The pig was painted by James Vendetta and released at the Ford Amphitheater despite a 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 this 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.
• 30 May 2007, New York City: On the pig's right side: "Habeas Corpus Matters" and "Fear Builds Walls". On the left side: "Torture Shames Us All!" and "Religions Divide". On the rear: "Impeach Bush" with a peace sign over the pig's ass. Along the neck: "Cut Here" above a dotted line with a spattering of blood. Unlike the two previous pigs, this one had a partial drawing of The Wall on both sides.

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

• 13 June 2007, at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood: 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.

Live Earth

7 July 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 cartoonish 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.

The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour 2008

2008 North American tour dates

Coachella

• 27 April 2008 At 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 attendance. 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 lettering. Nearing the end of the first act, during "Sheep," the handlers lost their grip on the pig. Many people in attendance at 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.^[12] In addition to the pig, a low-flying plane dropped thousands of tiny leaflets with the Obama Check Mark design on the crowd. This caused a problem with the nearby town of Indio, where residents woke up to their town completely littered with trash.

Denver

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

Dallas

• On 2 May 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 rear of the crowd. The crowd eventually took control and briefly mobbed the pig before releasing it 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 × 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 Led to the Slaughter". The pig's penis had "Cheney" written on it. The pig's anus was adorned with the words "Impeach Bush Now".^[13][14][15]

Houston

• 4 May 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 downdraught from overhead fans. The pig made four complete circles of the lawn-seating section before being released. One change in the pig's 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 statement "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".

2008 European tour dates

Landgraaf (The Netherlands)

• 11 May 2008 Waters' pig appeared once again during the song "Sheep". It was pink with texts on both sides. On the bottom "Obama" was written, and "Fear builds walls" on the right side. It was released and floated away into the air.

"The Wall" Live

2010 tour dates

Chicago

• 24 September 2010 A remote-controlled inflatable pig was flown around the United Center during the song "Run Like Hell". The pig was operated in a similar manner to the Chicago Bulls' Benny the Bull inflatable mascot, which flies around the United Center during Bulls' games.
• The pig was in fact a warthog.

Ottawa

• The pig was in fact a warthog.

New Jersey

• The pig was in fact a warthog.

Mexico City

• The pig was in fact a warthog.

2012 tour dates

Chile

• On 2 and 3 March, a wired inflatable wild boar or warthog was flown behind the stage during the show. The boar was driven onto the audience, and landed over it, then it was torn into pieces by the crowd. It was black, with red eyes and white tusks, and phrases and symbols painted in white and red, over the black body.^[16]

Philadelphia

• 14 July, the boar made an appearance and was crashed into the 100-level section of Citizens Bank Park at the end of the show. Here is video of the audience catching and tearing the boar to shreds.

Phoenix

• 15 May, the boar made an appearance crashing into the make believe wall set up for the concert.

2013 tour dates

Belgium

• 20 July, A black inflatable boar was released emblazoned with a Jewish Star of David alongside fascist symbols. It offended many in the audience as Anti-Semitic.^[17] Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center criticised Waters by stating "Waters has been a supporter of the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. Forget Israel/Palestine. Waters deployed a classic disgusting medieval anti-Semitic caricature widely used by both Nazi and Soviet propaganda to incite hatred against Jews.".^[18] On 1 August 2013, Waters posted an open letter on his Facebook page in response to Cooper's "entirely predictable resulting rant." Addressing Cooper, Waters wrote, "I hold your outburst to be inflammatory and un-helpful and would suggest it can only impede progress towards peace and understanding between people. It is also extremely insulting to me personally in that you accuse me of being 'Anti Semitic', 'A Jew Hater' and 'Nazi Sympathizer'... I have many very close Jewish friends, one of whom, interestingly enough, is the nephew of the late Simon Wiesenthal. I am proud of that association; Simon Wiesenthal was a great man... I have often come under attack by the pro Israel lobby because of my support for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) which I won't go into here... However I will say this, in a functioning theocracy it is almost inevitable that the symbol of the religion becomes confused with the symbol of the state, in this case the State of Israel... Like it or not, the Star of David represents Israel and its policies and is legitimately subject to any and all forms of non-violent protest. To peacefully protest against Israel's racist domestic and foreign policies is NOT ANTI-SEMITIC." Waters also wrote, "For the sake of some perspective. The inflatable pig...has appeared at every Wall Show since September 2010, some 193 shows, yours is the first complaint. Also the pig in question represents evil, and more specifically the evil of errant government. We make a gift of this symbol of repression to the audience at the end of every show and the people always do the right thing. They destroy it."^[19]

References