This Is Not a Drill was the seventh concert tour by English songwriter Roger Waters. The tour began at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, United States, on 6 July 2022, and ended at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa of Quito, Ecuador, on 9 December 2023.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Waters first talked about a new live spectacle following his Us + Them Tour on a Rolling Stone interview in September 2019. In 2021, he called the show his "first farewell tour".

In 2017, Waters released his fourth solo album Is This the Life We Really Want?, conceived as a radio play about a man and his granddaughter investigating why children are being killed in other parts of the world.^[1] Waters described the play as "part magic carpet ride, part political rant, part anguish".^[2]

To promote the album, Waters embarked on the Us + Them Tour, visiting North America, Oceania, Europe, and Latin America between May 2017 and December 2018. A portion of the show featured extensive anti-Donald Trump imagery during the performance of Pink Floyd songs,^[3] which led some attendees to boo or even walk out of the show.^[4] Waters responded to the pro-Trump critics by saying, "I find it slightly surprising that anybody could have been listening to my songs for 50 years without understanding", and said to those critics if they didn't like politics in music to "go see Katy Perry or watch the Kardashians. I don't care."^[5]

The tour was chronicled in a film, Roger Waters: Us + Them, recorded at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, and released in September 2019. In an interview promoting the film, Waters talked to Rolling Stone about his plans for the future, where he first mentioned the main concept for a following tour:

It will be even more political than Us + Them was — political and humane. We were listening to songs and looking at set lists today. We were talking about, what should we call it? I shouldn't be giving this away, but I don't give a shit because it will probably all change, but imagine the iconic helicopter that normally comes before “Happiest Days” and “Brick 2” — that noise that we all know and love — and imagine a megaphone, somebody abused this device before, I know — but, “This is not a drill.” I thought that could be a good title for the show: This Is Not a Drill. The ruling class is killing us.^[6]

In the same interview, Waters stated the tour would only visit arenas, with no concerts held in outdoor venues, and it would visit cities in United States, Canada, "and maybe three gigs in Mexico City. And that’s all. I can’t go off around the world, and I don’t really want to either".

In January 2020, Waters officially announced the tour, named This Is Not a Drill. "This tour will be part of a global movement by people who are concerned by others to affect the change that is necessary", said Waters in a video announcing the tour. "That’s why we’re going on the road. That’s why speak to each other in pubs. That’s why this conversation should be on everybody’s lips, constantly, the whole time, because it’s super important. So I hope you’ll all come to the shows."^[3] The show sees him performing in a 360° stage for the first time. Originally, the final show in the United States was due to take place on 3 October 2020, exactly one month before the 2020 presidential election.^[3]

On 27 March 2020, Waters posted a statement on his website and social media, announcing the postponement of the tour to the following year due to the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, declaring that the situation was a "Bummer, but if it saves one life, it’s worth it".^{[7][8][9][10]} In April 2021, tour dates in Canada and United States were announced to take place in 2022,^[11] while the concerts in Mexico were announced later in June.^[12] In a statement, it was specified that the show "includes a dozen great songs from Pink Floyd’s Golden Era alongside several new ones — words and music, same writer, same heart, same soul, same man". Waters has called This Is Not a Drill his "first farewell tour".^[11] In November 2021, a new show in Monterrey, Mexico, was announced, followed by three new shows in the United States announced later in March 2022. Concerts in North America took place between July and October 2022.^{[citation needed]}

Rehearsals for the tour began around 13 June 2022 in Southampton, with the first full rehearsal taking place on 16 June.^[13] Sean Evans, Waters' tour creative director, reprises his role for this tour, creating all visuals and stage design. To promote the tour, Waters and his band made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on 21 June, and performed a medley of songs from The Wall.^[14]

At the beginning of every concert, a voiceover described by journalist James Ball as "a plummy British announcer" requested audience members to turn off their cell phones, and to "fuck off to the bar" if they like Pink Floyd but "can’t stand Roger’s politics".^[15] Waters debuted a new song at the show, titled "The Bar", which was written during lockdown.^[16]

In September 2022, contrary to what Waters expressed previously, the first concerts in Europe were officially announced on his website and social media. Concerts took place between March and June 2023.^[17] In May 2023, Waters announced concerts in stadiums in South America, which took place between October and December 2023. These concerts didn't feature the 360° stage from previous legs, but a traditional stage instead.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} The South American leg saw other differences in the theatrics of the show itself. "Comfortably Numb 2022" included Waters pacing back and forth in front of the stage screens to sing, while wearing an all-white doctor's robe.^[23] And during "In The Flesh", where Waters used to come out dressed as the character Pink from The Wall, Waters was rolled out on stage in a white wheelchair, dressed in an all-white straitjacket. He appeared frail and weak until he was "injected" with a syringe and peaked up in time to sing.^[24] Although no opening acts were announced for the whole tour, the shows in Santiago had local artists Rosa Quispe Huanca and Inti-Illimani opening each date.^[25]

The following set list was obtained from the concert held on 6 July 2022 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.^[53]

The tour debuted a new stripped down "haunting organ and vocals version"^[55] of "Comfortably Numb" as the show's opener every night. The recording was released on 17 November 2022, titled "Comfortaby Numb 2022", as the lead single from his album The Lockdown Sessions.^[56]

In April 2023, Waters announced that his concert at the O₂ Arena in Prague on 25 May would be a cinema event. The film Roger Waters: This Is Not a Drill was directed by long-time collaborator Sean Evans, and broadcast live in more than 1,500 cinemas across more than 50 countries. Tickets were released on 25 April.^[57]

The concerts in the United States and Canada ranked #31 on Billboards Boxscore Charts, grossing $66,330,771. Those shows sold 519,362 tickets.^[58]

Tour band

• Roger Waters – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass guitar
• Jon Carin – keyboards, guitar, pedal steel guitar, backing vocals, Marxophone
• Dave Kilminster – guitar, backing vocals
• Jonathan Wilson – guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Money" and "Us and Them"
• Gus Seyffert – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals, accordion
• Joey Waronker – drums, percussion
• Amanda Belair – vocals, percussion
• Shanay Johnson – vocals, percussion
• Robert Walter – Hammond B3 organ, keyboards, piano, melodica
• Seamus Blake - saxophone, clarinet

Notes

• The touring band was confirmed on their appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in June.^[14]
• Producer and saxophonist Ian Ritchie confirmed that while he was intended to be part of the tour, he had to step down during rehearsals due to health issues.^[13]