The Wall – Live in Berlin
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| The Wall - Live in Berlin | ||||
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 Original 1990 cover |
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| Live album by Roger Waters | ||||
| Released | 10 September 1990 23 June 2003 (reissue) |
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| Recorded | 21 July 1990 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Label | Mercury Records | |||
| Producer | Roger Waters Nick Griffiths |
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| Professional reviews | ||||
| Roger Waters chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
Reissued 2003 cover
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The Wall – Live in Berlin was a live concert performance of the Pink Floyd studio album, The Wall, held in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall eight months earlier. A live album of the concert was released in September 1990. A video of the concert was also commercially released.
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[edit] History
The concert was staged on vacant terrain between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate, a location that was part of the former "no-man's land" of the Berlin Wall. The Wall was written by Waters when he was a member of Pink Floyd in 1979 with a tour following in 1980 and 1981.
The show had a sell-out crowd of over 250,000 people, and right before the performance started the gates were opened which enabled another 100,000 people to watch.[1] Fifty-two countries broadcast the two-hour event.
The event was produced and cast by British impresario and producer Tony Hollingsworth. It was staged partly at Waters' expense. While he subsequently earned the money back from the sale of the CD and video releases of the album, the original plan was to donate all profits past his initial investment to the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief, a UK charity founded by Leonard Cheshire. However, audio and video sales came in significantly under projections, and the trading arm of the charity (Operation Dinghy) incurred heavy losses. A few years later, the charity was wound up, and the audio and video sales rights from the concert performance returned to Waters.
The production was designed by Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park[2][3][4]. The stage design featured a 550-foot-long (170 m) and 82-foot-high (25 m) wall. Most of the wall was built before the show and the rest is build progressively through the first part of the show. The wall is then knocked down at the end of the show.[5]
Waters had stated on the first airing of the making of The Wall on In the Studio with Redbeard in July 1989 that the only way he was to resurrect a live performance of The Wall was "if the Berlin Wall came down". Four months later the wall came down.
Initially, Waters tried to get guest musicians like Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton but they were either unavailable or turned it down. Both Rod Stewart, who was to sing "Young Lust", and Joe Cocker were originally confirmed to appear but when the original planned concert date was put back both found themselves unavailable[6]. Also, on the same 1989 interview with Redbeard, Waters also stated that "I might even let Dave play guitar." On June 30, 1990 backstage at the Knebworth Pink Floyd performance at Knebworth '90, during a pre-show interview, David Gilmour responded to Roger's statement on an interview with Jim Ladd by saying that "he and the rest of Pink Floyd (Nick Mason and Rick Wright) had been given the legal go-ahead to perform with Roger but had not been contacted." Two days later, on July 2, 1990 Waters appeared on the American rock radio call-in show Rockline and contradicted his Gilmour invite by saying, "I don't know where Dave got that idea".
In the end, Hollingswoth (with Waters assisting) brought in guest artists including Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band, The Hooters, Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor, Cyndi Lauper, Marianne Faithfull, Scorpions, Joni Mitchell, Paul Carrack, Thomas Dolby and Bryan Adams, along with actors Albert Finney, Jerry Hall, Tim Curry and Ute Lemper. Leonard Cheshire opened the concert by blowing a WWII whistle.
This performance had several differences from Pink Floyd's original production of The Wall show. Both "Mother" and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" (like in the 1980/81 concerts) were extended with solos by various instruments and the latter had a cold ending. "In The Flesh" (also like the 1980/81 concerts) has an extended intro, and "Comfortably Numb" featured dueling solos by the two guitarists as well as an additional chorus at the end of the song. "The Show Must Go On" is omitted completely, while both "The Last Few Bricks" and "What Shall We Do Now?" are included ("The Last Few Bricks" was shortened). Also, the performance of the song "The Trial" had live actors playing the parts, with Thomas Dolby playing the part of the teacher hanging from the wall, Tim Curry as the prosecutor, and Albert Finney as the Judge. The show ended with "The Tide Is Turning", a song from Waters' solo album Radio K.A.O.S.
The Wall - Live in Berlin was released as a live recording of the concert, although a couple of tracks were excised from the CD version, and the Laserdisc video in NTSC can still be found through second sourcing. A DVD was released in 2003 in the USA by Island/Mercury Records and internationally by Universal Music (Region-free).
Hollingsworth's company Tribute, a London-based "good causes" campaign company, sold worldwide television rights, with 52 countries showing the two-hour event. Twenty countries showed up to five repeats of the show and 65 countries broadcast a highlights show. There was also distribution of a double music CD and post-production VHS videotape by Polygram.
[edit] Set list
- "In the Flesh?" by Scorpions
- "The Thin Ice" by Ute Lemper & Roger Waters & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir
- "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" by Roger Waters; sax solo by Garth Hudson
- "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" by Roger Waters
- "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" by Cyndi Lauper; guitar solos by Rick DiFonzo & Snowy White, synth solo by Thomas Dolby
- "Mother" by Sinéad O'Connor & The Band; accordion by Garth Hudson, vocals by Rick Danko & Levon Helm; acoustic instruments by The Hooters.
- "Goodbye Blue Sky" by Joni Mitchell & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir ; flute by James Galway
- "Empty Spaces/What Shall We Do Now?" by Bryan Adams & Roger Waters & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir
- "Young Lust" by Bryan Adams, guitar solos by Rick DiFonzo & Snowy White
- "Oh My God - What a Fabulous Room" by Jerry Hall (intro to "One of My Turns")
- "One of My Turns" by Roger Waters
- "Don't Leave Me Now" by Roger Waters
- "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" by Roger Waters & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir
- "The Last Few Bricks"
- "Goodbye Cruel World" by Roger Waters
- "Hey You" by Paul Carrack
- "Is There Anybody Out There?" by The Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir; classical guitars by Rick DiFonzo & Snowy White
- "Nobody Home" by Roger Waters & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir, guitar solos by Snowy White
- "Vera" by Roger Waters & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir
- "Bring the Boys Back Home" by The Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir & the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany song and dance ensemble
- "Comfortably Numb" by Van Morrison, Roger Waters & The Band & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir, guitar solos by Rick DiFonzo & Snowy White
- "In the Flesh" by Roger Waters, Scorpions , the Rundfunk Orchestra and Choir
- "Run Like Hell" by Roger Waters, Scorpions
- "Waiting for the Worms" by Roger Waters, Scorpions and the Rundfunk Orchestra and Choir
- "Stop" by Roger Waters
- "The Trial" by The Rundfunk Orchestra and Choir, featuring:
- Tim Curry as the Prosecutor
- Thomas Dolby as the Teacher
- Ute Lemper as the Wife
- Marianne Faithfull as the Mother
- Albert Finney as the Judge
- "The Tide is Turning (After Live Aid)" by the Company (lead vocals by Roger Waters, Joni Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison and Paul Carrack.) & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir.
[edit] Personnel
The Company
- Roger Waters: Vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar on "Mother", rhythm guitar on "Hey You."
- Scorpions:
- Klaus Meine: Vocals.
- Rudolf Schenker: Guitar.
- Matthias Jabs: Guitar.
- Francis Buchholz: Bass guitar.
- Herman Rarebell: Drums.
- Ute Lemper: Vocals.
- Cyndi Lauper: Percussion, vocals.
- Thomas Dolby: Synthesizer, vocals.
- Sinéad O'Connor: Vocals.
- The Band:
- Rick Danko: Vocals.
- Levon Helm: Vocals.
- Garth Hudson: Accordion, soprano saxophone.
- The Hooters:
- Eric Bazilian: Guitar.
- Rob Hyman: Keyboards.
- John Lilley: Guitar.
- Fran Smith Jr.: Bass guitar.
- David Uosikkinen: Drums.
- Joni Mitchell: Vocals.
- James Galway: Flute.
- Bryan Adams: Guitar, vocals.
- Jerry Hall: Vocals.
- Paul Carrack: Vocals.
- Van Morrison: Vocals.
- Tim Curry: Vocals.
- Marianne Faithfull: Vocals.
- Albert Finney: Vocals.
The Bleeding Heart Band
- Rick Difonzo: Guitars.
- Snowy White: Guitars.
- Andy Fairweather-Low: Bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals.
- Peter Wood: keyboards, organ, synthesizers.
- Nick Glennie-Smith: Keyboards, organ, synthesizers.
- Graham Broad: Drums, electronic percussion.
- Stan Farber: Backing vocals (credited as Jim Farber).
- Joe Chemay: Backing vocals.
- Jim Haas: Backing vocals.
- John Joyce: Backing vocals.
Others
- The Rundfunk Orchestra, directed by Michael Kamen.
- The Rundfunk Choir.
- Group of Soviet Forces in Germany song and dance ensemble (alternatingly credited on the 2003 reissue DVD as The Military Orchestra of the Soviet Army and as The Marching Band of the Combined Soviet Forces in Germany)
- Paddy Moloney (member of The Chieftains. Listed in album credits, but contribution is unknown.)
[edit] Performance notes
- Before the beginning of the show, brief performances by The Hooters, The Band and The Chieftains (with guest James Galway) were held, but none of these songs were ever officially released.
- In the actual concert on live television, the second song, "The Thin Ice" and part of the third song, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)", were disrupted when a circuit breaker tripped. It was reset, but immediately tripped again so they had to rewire some equipment. Those two songs had to be re-recorded for the issue of the videotape. After 'The Thin Ice' was interrupted, the original, live American broadcast of the show said: "This is radio-aid live in Berlin. If you're wondering what's happening, is, a production involving some thousands of people, has stopped. And when that has to happen, Roger walked out in front of the crowd, sort of waved to them and said, 'Oh well, this happened a couple of times during rehearsal' - in fact, if you were lucky enough to have seen 'The Wall' in L.A., when it was performed, I think, the second night, there was a curtain that caught fire, some very similar situation has happening [sic] here. They have to back up tapes, they have to re-cue lighting, get everybody ready, and then they're gonna roll it. He's actually kind of jovial about the whole thing, he's walking across the stage and just kinda went 'Aw, shucks,' and the crowd is laughing, they know what happened, that somebody missed a cue and they're gonna rewind, uh, get everything going again, and take the film back...because this is what happens with The Wall...is so tall...they end up using it as a kind of like a drive-in movie projector - uh, screen, rather - they project images on it and everything, so there's a lot of things that have to be re-wound, re-cued...and then they're gonna re-start it and then they're gonna come back to it....You're listening to 'The Wall, Live from Berlin' on the Global Satellite Network. And the reason we're here is for the 'Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief.' And if you'd like to help out, they're trying to get together and - unless you can write a check for $800 million - they're trying to get together some money that will be in a permanent account, and this money will then go whenever there's a disaster, whenever it's needed, somewhere in the world. And you can send your check into for 'the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief' P.O. Box 4383 Hollywood, California 90078 - and i think we're doing the show again! Let's go back live to the stage! 'The Wall, Live from Berlin'"
- The live performance of "Mother" was also hounded by a power failure. Roger Waters tried to get Sinéad O'Connor to sing her parts anyway, or mime the song, while the error was being fixed. Offended by being asked to mime, she didn't return after the show to re-record the performance (which is how "The Thin Ice" was saved for the CD/Video release.) Instead, the release version of "Mother" comes from the dress rehearsal on the previous night before the concert. Consequently, the large projection of Gerald Scarfe's mother character that was projected on the screen during the concert cannot be seen on the video or DVD versions.
- Film director Ian Emes was hired to shoot live footage originally intended to be included in the program. Emes devised a film around the character of Pink, performed by Rupert Everett, and of Pink's mother, played by Marianne Faithfull, and shot the sequences in East Berlin during the concert preparations. Only a small segment of the film was used in the performance.
- Bryan Adams appeared to be miming his guitar-playing in Young Lust, and the Scorpions appear to be doing the same on all their instruments during the fascist rally sequence, as can be observed on the video. The only one who don't seem to be miming guitar playing are Rick Difonzo and Snowy White
- The vocals that are heard through the megaphone in Waiting for the Worms are supposed to be coming through a rolled piece of cardboard (imitating a megaphone) that Roger Waters is singing to. However, in the beginning of the solo, the vocals that come through the megaphone are heard although Roger Waters was still picking up the paper megaphone from the floor, so it was obvious that the megaphone vocals are lipsynced.
- The Wife's part of "The Trial" was reshot at London's Brixton Academy after the original sequence was deemed to be of insufficient quality due to camera shake. What is seen in the video issue is a close-up of Ute Lemper, shot against a dark background, lip-syncing to the original live sound[6].
- Shot on Potsdamer Platz, the no man's land between East and West Germany, the producers didn't know if the area would be filled with mines - no one did. Before setting up, they did a sweep of the area and found a cache of munitions and a previously unknown SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler bunker. The Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler started as Hitler's elite personal bodyguard but were later diverted to Eastern and Western fronts. There is a misconception probably due to the SS division's name that the bunker found was the Führerbunker or the place were Adolf Hitler committed suicide which is false. The Führerbunker was in another location.[7]
- At the request of the concert producers, part of the Berlin Wall was kept in place as a security fence behind the stage.
- Paddy Moloney, bandleader for The Chieftains, is listed as a guest performer in the show. Although The Chieftains played a daytime set before the concert, his solo contribution to the main show remains a mystery.
- During the final chanting of "Tear down the wall!" in the Trial sequence, the wall has a projection of a concrete and graffiti marked semblance of the Berlin Wall, just before it is torn down.
- At the beginning of "Bring The Boys Back Home", a section of the Vietnam War Memorial was projected onto the wall, producing a chilling cross-image of Vietnam War lost American soldiers, Pink Floyd's album, and the Berlin Wall itself, sections of which were still standing near the concert site. These comments are from someone that attended the show.
- The live Van Morrison version of "Comfortably Numb" is used in the Martin Scorsese film The Departed. It is later used in HBO's 'The Sopranos'. Morrison also performed this version on his 2008 concerts.
- Rights in the event are held by Tribute Inspirations Limited.
[edit] References
- ^ According to Roger Waters' recollections in the documentary supplied with the DVD release of the film: "They stopped charging people when we got to 250-260,000, and like another 100,000 people came in..."
- ^ Rock Sets: the astonishing art of rock concert design: the works of Fisher Park / Sutherland Lyall. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992
- ^ http://www.stufish.com/pink-floyd/the-wall-berlin/reality.html
- ^ http://www.rogerwaters.org/about_berlin.html
- ^ Schaffner, p. 308
- ^ a b "The Wall Live In Berlin" 2003 DVD edition documentary and liner notes
- ^ Hitler's bunker
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