Roger Waters' The Wall, Live In Berlin marks the second in a series of Pink Floyd related reviews I will be writing to commemorate the long awaited release of the band's Pulse DVD, which I reviewed last month. During the end of the '80s, after Roger Waters had left Pink Floyd, he began making plans to perform The Wall as a huge event, originally considering such grand places as the Sahara Desert, Monument Valley, The Grand Canyon, and Wall Street. Around this time, plans were also underway for the reunification of Germany, and the Berlin Wall eventually fell in November of 1989. The choice of location was now clearly obvious.
The Wall, Live In Berlin was filmed at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany on July 21, 1990. Potsdamer Platz was the "no man's land" that sat between the two Berlin walls which separated East from West. By the time of the concert, 250,000 tickets had been sold in advance and over 50 countries had signed on to broadcast the concert live. For fear of riots and injury, the concert gates eventually had to be taken down letting in an extra 100,000 people for free. The concert would also serve as a benefit for The Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief.
The opening sequence showing the enormous stage, the massive white wall, already 3/4 built, and the vast sea of people was quite awe-inspiring. For the opening number, "In The Flesh," the Scorpions are delivered to the stage (which is basically a two lane highway) via a white, stretch limo. What better band to open the show than Germany's own Scorpions, who were still one of the biggest metal bands on the planet in 1990.
From there, it is a non-stop appearance of musicians and actors who were brought in to sing the songs, and act out the parts. This was more of a grand theater production, on the grandest of scales, than an actual rock concert.
Ute Lemper, a successful German singer and stage actress, took the lead on "The Thin Ice" and sang beautifully. Garth Hudson handled the sax solo on "Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 1," and was the first of many members of The Band to share the stage that night. During "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives" the giant, inflatable, alien-looking, "Teacher" makes its first appearance, menacingly dangling its long arms down the front of the wall.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Thomas Dolby appears to have been delighted at your description, Paul!
2 - Paul Roy
Thanks for the tip Phillip. That was a real trip to see all the comments on Dolby's website about my review. Thankfully, at least HE got my point.