Dozens of people protested ahead of the show, calling Waters anti-Semitic.
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Demonstrators say they want his fans to know what they're supporting when they come to the pair of shows, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, believing many are unaware of the agenda Waters has been pushing in many of his concerts.
"It's important to let the people who bought the tickets to his concert know what he does and how wrong it is," North Woodmere resident Gavriel Haviv said.
Waters is an outspoken critic of Israel, and critics believe his message is bigoted. The 73-year-old has taken a clear political position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supporting an organization that urges putting financial pressure on Israel through a boycott of Israeli businesses.
But they say he crosses the line when using an inflatable pig with a star of David, which he has shown multiple times, according to the protesters. They say the concert should never be held in a taxpayer-funded venue, and even though most of Waters' commentary on this tour is aimed at President Donald Trump, they say the imagery is unforgivable.
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"To associate a swine, a pig, with a Jewish star is highly offensive," Lawrence resident Zev Friedman said. "It's exactly what the Nazis did. It's a hate crime there, and it's extremely offensive over here. So we want to let him know he's not the humanitarian sensitive guy that he alleges to be, but he really is a bad guy."
Waters says he is not an anti-Semite and that his message is being misunderstood. Organizers say the pig imagery is not being used in any of these shows.