Stating because the pig was his idea, and that after releasing the LP "Animals" it became a symbol of identity, he was owed $35,000.00 U.S. dollars for breach of ownership rights. The court case never go off the ground, and Waters himself soon became involved in a project much more interesting than harassing his mates. It was suggested he perform "The Wall", the profits of which would form the commencement of a new charity foundation The Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief.
urrently vexed with his aspirations Waters was also active. Having lost the rights to the band's name he devised a new way to embitter the lives of his one-time friends. In the summer of 1989 he took legal action against Gilmour and Mason because of their unauthorized use of the famous inflatable pig, during Pink Floyd concerts.
72 year old Leonard Cheshire, a pilot of immense service to the British Air Force, who as an official British observer was an eyewitness to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki in 1945, came up with the idea and established the fund. He decided to create a live statue to remember all the people who lost their lives during wars in the last 100 years, the estimated number being 100 million. With this aim on 1st September 1989, on the 50th anniversary of commencement of the second World War, the fund was brought to life and received international support. Cheshire's idea was very simple - to collect five pounds sterling for each life lost and thus to base the fund on 500,000 million pounds. The base would always remain untouched as an honor to those 100,000 million human beings, but the dividends earned on this sum would be used to offer assistance to the victims of future catastrophes and natural disasters (floods, famine, earthquakes etc.) such that capital would be offered only if other sources were unable to meet the demands. Those adversities which go unrecognized by others will find help with us - said the founder of The Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief.
Roger Waters, convinced of the correctness of the aim: for one life lost - one life saved, was uncertain whether signing up with the organization he should agree with the proposed performance of "The Wall". He was convinced the title was associated by the listening audience with the name Pink Floyd, but currently he wanted nothing to do with the group. On the other hand "The Wall" was his idea, and a product of only his ingenious imagination. The whole concept, lyrics, music and the unbelievable stage performance - who else if not he would have the right to perform "The Wall"? Perhaps the time had come to show everyone who in fact is Pink Floyd.
When after a ten year gap I had to re-listen to the album I thought: "Christ, I hope I still like it". I listened to it on my car's cassette player, and thought this isn't at all bad. In reality I was quite proud.
The author's indecision was short lived. In his inner-self he was pleased it was he who was asked and was certain he could not refuse. He perfectly discerned that only "The Wall" - the most expensive and most splendid spectacle on earth, was capable of gathering a several hundred thousand audience. How many people wanted to see the spectacle 10 years earlier! Pink Floyd only played 29 shows in four cities on earth - this was a drop in the ocean of desire. Obtaining a ticket for one of the shows was close to being miraculous.
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When in September 1989 the decision was made, the thoughts turned to finding an appropriate venue for the anniversary - thirtieth performance of the show. Waters once stated, if he was to play "The Wall" again he would do so on the ruins of the infamous Berlin wall. However in September 1989 this vision was not even remotely being entertained. In reality only the United States were considered, with the most suitable site the Grand Canyon of Colorado. Waters very much wished to perform "The Wall" on Wall Street, which would have been quite ironic. When on 9th November the first defect appeared in the Berlin wall, events started to occur with the momentum of an avalanche. It soon became apparent the historical wall, through over quarter of a century artificially dividing two worlds, must fall. In the same fashion as the one described by Waters. Occurrences in Western Europe helped the organizers to make up their minds, and the rightness of this went unquestioned. Berlin was surely the best place to bring to life this amazing idea. |
The concert, planned for 21 July 1990, was to be from the outset distinctive and the only one of its ilk. To take part in the event many well known artists were invited, to perform Waters' works a special stage show was also prepared, which due to its grandiosity was to surpass everything which had been done to date in its class. Just the wall alone, which was to be built with great solicitude a month before the concert, made a magnificent mark. Made from 3000 Styrofoam bricks (dimensions: 150 x 88 x 60 cm) it was 164 meters long and over 18 high - as a comparison let me remind you that the wall used by Pink Floyd some 10 years ago was made of 420 bricks, was three times shorter and 12 meters high. The group had never performed in front of such a massive audience which was to assemble on 21 July at Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. Gerald Scarfe designed two giant inflatable figures - the teacher with a 14 meter head and shoulders 20 meters broad and also a menacing 16 meter pig. To move them two huge cranes were installed - one capable of lifting 60, and the other 100 tons. Everything was to be more massive and superior to the times of Pink Floyd. A special enticement was to be the appearance, on stage, of Russian soldiers on West German soil.
| The press announced it as the biggest concert in the history of Rock. Certainly never previously had a single performer (because despite the invited guests it was in effect a concert by Waters and his group) drawn such an audience. On 21 June Berlin became an instant Mecca for the fans of Rock. Special bus lines were established to transport youth to the concert, in addition every ticket for the show enabled the bearer to free travel along any transport route in order to get to the show - the organizers ensured that everyone could get to the venue on time. In the mean time, a number of hours before the show was due to begin the vast territory around Potsdamer Platz was full of people. It was difficult to determine the number. Official sources claim 250 thousand, despite the fact that 300 thousand tickets were supposedly sold. In effect this is unimportant if we realize that with the marvels of modern technology the show was transmitted live via satellite to millions around the world. |  |
Punctually at 2200 hours on "no man's land" - this is how for 28 years the terrain between East Berlin an West Berlin was treated - on the spot where a few months previously stood the Berlin Wall, Roger Waters commenced the building of his own "Wall". Fans of Pink Floyd waited almost 10 years for this moment! The concert was opened by Leonard Cheshire, and then for the next uninterrupted two hours there was Music.
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Roger Waters performed together with his group The Bleeding Heart Band, which was made up of Graham Broad (percussion), Rick DiFonzo (guitar), Andy Fairweather-Low (guitar), Nick Glennie-Smith (keyboards), Snowy White (guitar) and Peter Wood (keyboards) and also Joe Chemay, Jim Farber, Jim Hass and John Joyce (choir singers). Orchestral parts were performed by The East Berlin Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the irreplaceable Michael Kamen, and vocal assistance was provided by The East Berlin Radio Choir. |
It is easily seen, Waters did not perform the song "The Show Must Go On" and to finish the concert - instead of the expected "Outside the Wall" - performed a song of hope, "The Tide is Turning". While the composition performed by all artists who took part in the event left a lot to be desired from the vocal point of view, the whole idea of such a final is worthy of note.
The concert itself was remarkable for its aims and some concepts, an indelible impression was made by the huge images and photographs projected onto the entire length of the wall. It is difficult to deny that if all available resources were used to their limit, the concert could have been more interesting and turned out much more splendidly.
In so far as the visual side of the event is concerned there can be the fewest number of misgivings. Waters purposefully declined a number of concepts used by Pink Floyd 10 years previously (e.g. smashing plane), instead suggested a helicopter which circled above the audience, vehicles driving the artists on to the stage, and also - as a curiosity - a performance by soviet soldiers. Similar enticements were multiple, but certain concepts were abandoned during the planning stages. Here I have in mind the use of two bombers and four tanks as suggested by Waters. Cheshire disagreed with these plans. He told me I could not do this. But that's what it's all about. We had a bit of an argument. I think it is a matter of his conscience - he always remembers being up there dropping bombs on innocent people. Cheshire explained this differently. Roger is inexperienced. I simply feel that it would not have been right. We should not bring back dreadful memories. Waters was not convinced, but reluctantly relinquished. He knew that even without those effects the event would still be sufficiently good. However he missed one other vital aspect. Everyone who in the last three years had seen a Pink Floyd concert will surely understand what was lacking in the performance of "The Wall". Perhaps because of the disagreements with his friends, Waters did not follow the performances of the mother-group and perhaps did not know what spectacular and un-repeatable images may be created using the round screen and its circumferential lights. This statement may be taken as a joke, but it does not alter the fact the above-mentioned powerful lights shone only a few times and only momentarily. The additive effects of sight and sound (worked out to unbelievable precision during Pink Floyd concerts) sometimes left a lot to be desired. Perhaps this was the artist's aim, but it was certainly the audience who lost out.
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The underutilized lights or the temporarily missing vibrancy (Waters' sluggish actions during the performance of "One of My Turns" or even the final sequence of demolishing the wall, which without the expected fireworks turned out quite plainly) may be considered as minuscule in comparison with the sound problems. These on a number of occasions halted the presentation and brutally brought the audience to the ground. It is difficult to blame any one person for this, one can however feel bitter towards Waters that he did not stop the show in order to rectify the problem. When at the very commencement of the show (during the track "The Thin Ice") it turned out the microphone was not working, the artist helplessly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in disbelief. |
Despite the mammoth efforts of so many people who worked on the venture for many weeks, that everything would come out uninterrupted. Despite the numerous rehearsals, which went without any problems. Finally, despite such a huge cost ($8.5 million U.S. dollars) which was borne, to properly organize the whole show.
The third and final matter, which needs to be addressed in the evaluation of the Berlin concert, is the choice of artists who performed Waters' compositions. This choice was made by the author himself and it is unquestionable that this time he did not prove equal to the task. Regardless how much the voice and singing style of Klaus Meine from the group Scorpions could be somehow suffered, Waters gave the impression of mocking the main song from the album "Another Brick in the Wall" (Part 2) by assigning the vocals to the screaming Cyndi Lauper, who in addition rampaged all over stage as if during an epileptic convulsion. She forgot she is no longer singing about young girls just wanting to have fun. Equally inept was the performance of Mr. Rick Danko and Levon Helm from the group The Band, who vocally murdered the song "Mother" and - together with Van Morrison - the legendary single "Comfortably Numb". Their shrieking, coarse voices were completely incompatible with Waters' delicate compositions (one of the gents even experienced difficulties remembering the words to the song he was singing). If we add to this the poor services of Joni Mitchell the overall assessment can not be very high.
| Thankfully there were many more well polished moments to the performance. Bryan Adams was fantastic, and also, not previously appreciated in Poland, Paul Carrack whose performance of "Hey You" rivals the original version. Sinead O'Connor did not sing badly, but as a result of sound problems her performance was bland. Peter Wood had an impressive session on keyboards, the two guitarists represented themselves equally well - Snowy White and Rick DiFonzo, who with their style ensured Gilmour's absence went unnoticed. Unusually effective was the scene of the court trial with Tim Curry, Thomas Dolby, Ute Lemper, Marianne Faithfull and Albert Finney. And finally the master of ceremonies himself - Roger Waters, momentarily bettered himself. He could not disappoint. It was his day. He used this chance well. Despite certain objections and problems he proposed a huge and incredible presentation. A spectacle this caliber has not been previously seen in Berlin. Even if everything did not go as planned. |  |
The concert was to commemorate the disintegration of the Berlin wall symbolizing the liberation of the human spirit - said Waters in an interview with "Q" magazine (author: different to the one published in issue 9 of REG- speaking of issue 9 is page 32 meant to be blank?). Asked whether it concerned throwing a challenge to Gilmour and Mason, he immediately denied it: No, this was not the idea. Obviously I am happy that some more people on this earth will understand that "The Wall" is and always was my creation. Perhaps there was a small element of a challenge. But I heard them during a festival in Knebworth and do not think I should be distressed. They do not have the faintest idea what it's all about. They never had. But anyway, the majority of the public in Berlin will be saying they attended a Pink Floyd concert. It's all to do with the name. It is something with which I will have to live.
What a surprise it must have been, to the last few thousand spectators leaving Potsdamer Platz, when suddenly in front of their eyes the performance started over. Due to the above described technical problems, Waters and other producers decided to repeat the show to obtain footage to be able to fill "the holes" in the footage recorded for the making of the planned LP and video.
A few days later with astonishing honesty, shutting the mouths of all skeptics and critics, Roger Waters presented an accurate outline of retouched tracks to be included on the various releases. The unofficial after-midnight presentation of "The Wall" allowed making corrections in the tracks "The Thin Ice" (part by Ute Lemper), "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" and "Mother" (parts performed by members of The Band). Rehearsal performed before the show (also recorded) allowed the use of Sinead O'Connor's vocals ("Mother"). Bryan Adams and Cyndi Lauper rectified in the studio their exhibitions during "Young Lust" and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)". Both also added their voices to "The Tide is Turning".
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Organizing this show was certainly a lot of hard work - Waters said two years later in an interview for "Q" magazine - but it was excellent to work with Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper and all the others. With one exception - Sinead O'Connor. Oh Christ! I had never previously met anyone so unpleasant, conceited and so unprofessional. She was so self-centered that even I was startled. She was concerned that taking part in "The Wall" may ruin her image, because there were no young people in the whole show! All the others and myself were just old pricks to her, so she came up with an excellent idea. She said that I should hire Ice-T or some other similar bloke to remake one of the songs into rap! I am not kidding! And neither was she! This is quite pitiful - this was an honest proposal. A few months later, after the record came out, in an interview for American TV in front of millions of viewers, she laughed at the whole performance, saying it was a heap of shit. |
She doesn't understand a thing. She is simply a young, dumb bitch. As foretold at the end of august, we saw the official double release by Roger Waters consisting of the recording of the concert. The material obtained (essentially from three concerts) was heavily edited in the studio (Olympic Studios) and we finally got a compact professionally done album. Despite the numerous faults described not even the scent of an irregularity has remained. As far as the quality of the recording is concerned, "The Wall Live in Berlin" is equal to the 11-year-old original. Listening to the recordings it is difficult to deny that Nick Griffiths and Nigel Jopson, responsible for the final mixing of the material, have performed a miracle. The entirety sounds extraordinary. The only unpleasant screech is the shortening of the guitar solo of Rick DiFonzo towards the end of the track "Comfortably Numb". The decision can not be understood and lacks any sense- especially as no other versions were recorded. It was meant to be a recording of the concert...
| It was a good thing that the album was made. It was good that the official videocassette also came out (at the end of September), where everything looks even more spectacular and imposing than the real thing. Such an important and rare performance of "The Wall" should be available in numerous forms. It is fitting that there is more left at the end of a show than just memories and it would surely be a shame if such a presentation was not preserved for future generations to view. Upon listening to "The Wall Live in Berlin" completely different feelings arise. How authentic are recordings of concerts anyway? It is known that songs "The Thin Ice" and "Mother", during which there were sound problems, needed to be re-recorded - ultimately in a few years no one will remember those problems, but the music will remain. |  |
Ultimately we obtained more of a studio than a concert album, but surely this was not the aim. Perhaps Griffiths and Jopson did not perform a miracle, but a glaring falsification. Everything depends on one's point of view.
This is not an isolated event, similar changes are commonplace. For this reason concert albums should be treated with an element of caution. Despite appearances they do not always reflect the said artist's performance. David Gilmour did not go to Berlin. In an interview with "Q" magazine in the middle of July, which I enclose below in part, he said: Gilmour: Certainly, I am tempted to go there, but I won't do so. None of us will go there. I will probably watch it on television. I could not stand it if someone from my profession was to see me somewhere at the back, secretly watching the concert. I am not interested in this to such an extent that I should go there. Actually I never really considered on a deep level as to what I think about the whole thing. We fought with Roger for freedom, and if I want to be free, I should also permit his freedom. As far as I am concerned, I have no objections to "The Wall" being performed. I am certain Roger will do it well.