As we previously told you, Roger Waters is taking Pink Floyd's The Wall on a North American tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its release. The album, a favourite among high school stoners and baby boomers alike, will likely draw large crowds to the shows this fall. In preparation for the tour, however, Roger Waters has indirectly disrespected the memory of Elliott Smith.
As LA Weekly reports, Waters hired an ad firm to launch one of those played-out, faux-Banksy viral campaigns with mysterious posters strewn across New York and Los Angeles's hippest neighbourhoods. The campaign features a pacifist quote from Dwight Eisenhower.
For many, however, the ad goons overstepped the lines of taste when they postered the impromptu Elliott Smith Memorial Wall in downtown L.A. Located next to the Malo restaurant, the wall features a mural that was immortalized on the cover of Smith's 2000 effort Figure 8 (see above). Since his passing, the wall has become a mecca for Smith fans to write their thoughts on the wall.
While the wall has been tagged by street artists, LA Weekly has several photos of "the well-funded vandalism" at their website.
Perhaps, the only fitting revenge would have been for Elliott Smith fans to do something to Syd Barrett's tombstone. Unfortunately for them, he was cremated.
UPDATE: Talking to the L.A. Times, Waters gave the following statement: "It was absolutely an accident. I didn't want to disrespect Elliott Smith's fans, and I've instructed [the team] to remove the wheat paste immediately. It was a random pasting in the normal course of this, and I want to make it public that we had no intent to offend or cover up something precious."
As LA Weekly reports, Waters hired an ad firm to launch one of those played-out, faux-Banksy viral campaigns with mysterious posters strewn across New York and Los Angeles's hippest neighbourhoods. The campaign features a pacifist quote from Dwight Eisenhower.
For many, however, the ad goons overstepped the lines of taste when they postered the impromptu Elliott Smith Memorial Wall in downtown L.A. Located next to the Malo restaurant, the wall features a mural that was immortalized on the cover of Smith's 2000 effort Figure 8 (see above). Since his passing, the wall has become a mecca for Smith fans to write their thoughts on the wall.
While the wall has been tagged by street artists, LA Weekly has several photos of "the well-funded vandalism" at their website.
Perhaps, the only fitting revenge would have been for Elliott Smith fans to do something to Syd Barrett's tombstone. Unfortunately for them, he was cremated.
UPDATE: Talking to the L.A. Times, Waters gave the following statement: "It was absolutely an accident. I didn't want to disrespect Elliott Smith's fans, and I've instructed [the team] to remove the wheat paste immediately. It was a random pasting in the normal course of this, and I want to make it public that we had no intent to offend or cover up something precious."
