Potzdamer Platz the day before the concert. You can see the stage in the distance.

Looking on

The open field was, until the wall came down, the “no mans land” between east and west Berlin where many were shot trying to cross into West Berlin and freedom.

Behind the stage… This may give you an idea of how much work went into building the stage. It was said that it took over a MONTH to build the set on site and two weeks to take it down!

The VIP seats (not to mention the ONLY seats!) at the concert. They were football stadium style seats on a large bleacher that ran down the east side of the field to the right of the stage. Members of the press and media, families of the performers and also some celebrities were seated there. If you look carefully you can see Mike Rutherford (Genises and Mike & The Mechanics) sitting just a few rows behind Tom’s seat. Tom said that he was neither press or celebrity. Just a lucky contest winner! But he noticed that he was getting some interesting stares from the other fans there that were not allowed past the barriers into the VIP area.

Bryan Adams backstage at the Hard Rock Tent. This was taken before the show, where many of the band members and special guests were wondering around and having a few cold ones at the Hard Rock. Tom’s passes didn’t give them clearance to get in, so they hung outside. The woman glaring over his shoulder is understood to be Bryan’s manager. She apparently wasn’t too happy that Bryan was actually MINGLING with the fans! Tom said that Bryan was “very cool” and in his opinion ” a highlight of the concert”.

Jim Ladd, radio DJ and voice of KAOS, there to cover the show for Westwood One. Tom said Jim was “A VERY nice guy,cool to chat with”. When he heard that Tom & his wife were Americans he seemed surprised and thought it was really cool that they won the trip there.

Mike Rutherford, backstage area. Tom said; “He was really cool, not even there to perform, just hanging out and watching with the rest of us!”

A banner in the crowd, made by some fans who marched it around the field to loud cheers.

The very beginning just after sundown…The Scorpions drove up in big Limo right across the stage.

The Teacher makes his appearance…6 stories tall!

Another of The Teacher …his giant arm scolding Cyndi Lauper on stage.

Filling in the gap in the wall, this piece was lifted by a huge crane into place.

The piece lights up, revealing “Mother.”

If you look closely, you can see a close up of Roger on the video screen built into the Wall. Each side of the wall had this screen, and there was a huge video screen set up at about halfway back in the field so that the crowd in the back could see. This particular shot of Roger was during “One of My Turns” when he was seating in a “hotel room” set built into the upper left side of The Wall. He was at least a good four stories up!

More projections, and you can see the progress of the Wall being built up.

The last few bricks….if you look closely at the center of the stage you will see the light coming through the open space where Roger stood as he sang “goodbye cruel world.” when he finished, this last brick was filled in and the first half was over. The Wall was complete.

Taken during “Comfortably numb” you can see at the top of the wall two small figures on each side of the stage. They are Rick Defonzio and Snowy White, each playing dueling riffs during the guitar solo ending. They were six stories high. They must have had an incredible view of the crowd!

Taken during “The Trial,” you can see Albert Finney at center stage on a raised platform playing the Judge. Also at this point The Wall itself became a giant movie screen, with the Gerald Scarfe animation from “The Wall” movie playing on both sides of center stage. What was truly amazing about this (Tom said it doesn’t really come across in the pics) was the stunning clarity of all the images projected onto the Wall through out the evening. They were brilliantly lit, and crystal clear.

The Wall finally crashes down

During the encore “The Tide Is Turning” with the entire cast onstage.

The site the day after.

A shot of some East German soldiers, off duty and hanging out behind the VIP seats section on the east side to watch the show. The concert took place in the former no mans land between the two sides of Berlin. The buildings in the backround are on the east Berlin side, and all the fronts are false ones put up by the E. Berlin govt. to make the city look better for the tourists and media. Later during the evening, hundreds of people could be seen on the roofs, balconies, and in the windows of these and all the buildings surrounding the site for miles around. The stage itself could be seen from almost anywhere around the city from the rooftops. Tom’s not sure how well they could hear however.

Tom

Tom with his wife Carin, unmasked this time.

The guy with the beard and microphone is a DJ from the station Tom won the trip from, WMMR in Philadelphia. His name is Pierre Roberts (pronounced “ro-BEAR) He was there filing reports about the show and doing interviews with the musicians when Tom spotted him wondering near their seats. When Tom told him they were the winners from the station, he was thrilled to finally find them, as he was hoping to interview them about their trip so far. He taped the interview, and later when he returned to Philly played it during his radio show. Tom & Carin were still in Germany , but a friend of Tom’s just happened to be listening and managed to get a tape running! Tom still has that interview on cassette today.

Stage brick: That’s Tom on the right, and on the left a guy he met there, Bruce. They are pictured with one of the actual bricks used in building The Wall that night. Somebody managed to grab one and bring it backstage after, and they were among many fans posing for pics of it. The guys who grabbed it said they were gonna try and get it back to the states with them, but Tom doesn’t know if they ever managed it.

Tom on the right again, with a few other guys from the tour, being interviewed by an Italian television crew. They were wondering around interviewing various fans in the crowd when Tom’s vest with all of the Floyd related pins all over it attracted their attention. They asked Tom & Carin where they were from, how they had got there, etc. and also whether they felt the concert would benefit anything. Tom told them if one concert could bring this many people from all over the world together for one cause something good must come out of it.
You can get an idea of how the backstage area was set up. Off in the distance you can see the rear side of the stage. Access was directly by this side, with security set up by the gate. From there it was a walkway following the east side of the Berlin wall (left standing as a natural barrier wall.) Just a bit further down from where they were standing there was a gap in the Wall, again manned by security and passes were double checked. Going through this gap took you into the backstage areas where the tents and press areas were. There was another area inside sectioned off for performers only, and Tom assumes that’s where Roger spent his time because Tom never saw him anywhere.

Tim Currey, the actor best known for his role in “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Tom bumped into Tim in the hotel lobby the day of the show. He was there to play the “prosecutor” during “The Trial.” Tom even managed to get his autograph. Tom’s comment, “Great guy, very friendly”.

Sinead O’Conner, getting into a van on her way to the show. She was also at the same hotel as Tom and after the show Tom wound up in the elevator with her on his way up to his room. Tom said “It was kind of awkward since I’m not a big fan of hers, but I did manage to be nice and told her I enjoyed the performance. She quietly said “thank you” as I got off on my floor, where I promptly ran into Rick Danko and Garth Hudson of The Band, strolling down the hall! Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera but said hi and shook hands with both!”

The scorpions: The lead singer and guitarist for the band The Scorpions, photographed here at a Changing Of The Guard ceremony taking place in East Berlin. Apparently these guards are similar to the famous ones in England who are not allowed to move while on duty. The rockers were traveling with Tom’s tour group of East Berlin and decided this would be a great photo op. It sure was!

The one that interested Tom & Carin the most, was the gentleman who was still in the process of painting the foldout art from “The Wall” album onto the Berlin wall! He had started it when he heard about the concert coming, and while he didn’t have a ticket, still wanted to paint the picture as a tribute to the show! The tour bus wasn’t supposed to even stop there, but those on the bus made the driver stop so they could get pics! While originally schedualed to be torn down, Tom & Carin were told that the government was reconsidering leaving these sections up as a tourist atraction, so if you ever visit Berlin these pics may still be there. Tom hopes so!

This is a postcard Tom stumbled across in a West Berlin gift shop. Notice the familiar hammer insignia! A must have postcard for any Floyd fan!

Another postcard, this one a pic of Potzdamer Platz BEFORE the wall came down. Notice the armed guards posted at the top of the wall. The field behind them was littered with land mines, and special crews were assigned teh task of cleaning up the site before the concert. They were still removing the last few land mines the night before the show!

Another postcard, with a pretty cool painting on it. Probably painted before the wall came down.