Roger Waters has criticised U2, saying he regrets inspiring the band’s large-scale concert style after they allegedly dismissed Pink Floyd’s 1979 album The Wall as “theatrical nonsense”. The dispute matters because it highlights Waters’ long-running resentment of Bono and his view that U2 later adopted the very kind of spectacle they had criticised.

Waters recalled Bono objecting to Pink Floyd’s theatrical approach when U2 were still a young band, while claiming that U2 subsequently copied his ideas throughout their career. The article points to U2’s 360 Tour as an example of such spectacle: it grossed about $736 million across 110 shows between 2009 and 2011, drew more than seven million attendees, and used a vast production requiring 120 trucks and roughly 300 crew members.