The Montreal Spitting Incident That Changed Pink Floyd Forever

On July 6, 1977, during Pink Floyd’s In the Flesh tour at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, Roger Waters reached a breaking point. A rowdy fan near the front kept shouting, climbing the barrier, and generally disrupting the show. After months of tour fatigue and feeling like the band was playing to unappreciative crowds, Waters leaned over and spat directly in the fan’s face.

That single moment haunted him. He later told friends it was the most alienating thing he’d ever done on stage, and it made him realize how disconnected he felt from the audience. The incident planted the seed for The Wall — the idea of a literal barrier between performer and fan, born out of the frustration of that tour.