It's bizarre to think that at some point not too long ago, the Berlin Wall still served as a brutal barrier between East and West Berlin. East Germans could be killed for trying to cross the barrier, forbidden from visiting (or fleeing) to the other side. As with nearly all major world events, musicians were among the most proactive activists in demonstrating against what the structure represented. Check out five huge shows that have occurred at the site both before and after its fall 25 years ago.
David Bowie and The Eurythmics (1987)
Two concerts were staged on the West side of the wall during June of 1987, one by pop duo The Eurythmics and one by former Berlin resident David Bowie. The concept behind both shows was to play for fans in West Berlin while offering at least a chance to hear the performance to fans who were forbidden to cross over for the show. The East German police couldn't handle even the notion of Western music crossing over to the ears of the youth, so they set up another fence around 200 yards away from the wall to prevent fans from getting too close. Both concerts resulted in rioting from youth on the East side, knocking over the fence not only to get closer to the respective shows but also to express dissatisfaction with the censorship of the East German government. The Los Angeles Times reported that around 3,000 showed up for the Eurythmics concert while even more came for Bowie. Ronald Reagan would make his famous "tear down this wall" demand less than a week later.
Bruce Springsteen (1988)
The Stasi had gotten the idea that keeping the youth in check was going to be a struggle. Thus it opted, as recently released documents point out, to quell the demands of the youth by allowing a major Western performer to appear in East Germany. They could not have found a worse option than Bruce Springsteen, who is all-freedom all-the-time, regardless of where. The government organized to hold the concert a mild distance from the wall as to deflect political commentary but they weren't fooling anyone. The Boss gave the crowd of 300,000 (with potentially millions more watching on state television) four hours of music. "I'm not here for any government. I've come to play rock'n'roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down," he said in German, before playing a cover of Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom." What was supposed to give the youth its fill of Western music only left them wanting more.
Leonard Bernstein (1989)
Christmas is meant to be the most joyful time of the year and a little more than a month after the wall had been brought down, Berliners were ready to celebrate. Leonard Bernstein accepted an invitation to play Beethoven's Ninth Symphony—with its nickname Ode to Joy switched to Ode to Freedom within the original German vocals—at the Brandenburg Gate on Christmas day. The event was a unifying experience to the fullest degree, featuring members of both the Bavarian Radio Symphony (West) and Staatskapelle Dresden (East)—as well as the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and Orchestra of the Kirov Theater (Soviet Union).
Roger Waters (1990)
Roger Waters was asked following the split of Pink Floyd whether he would ever perform The Wall—the band's concert spectacular that he had almost entirely written himself—ever again. He replied with some snark that if the Berlin Wall fell, he would play. A decade later the event had come true and the bassist was a man of his word. He and producer Tony Hollingsworth erected a massive, 550 foot long wall onstage in what was once the no-man's land "death strip" between the two sides of the city. More than 450,000 showed up for the show (350,000 paying) and guests included everyone from Van Morrison to German heavy metal act Scorpions. Waters ultimately lost quite a bit of money on the performance but apparently was inspired enough to recreate the show as a touring gig 20 years later.
U2 (2009)
U2, who had written its 1990 album Achtung Baby very much with Germany in mind, was tapped by MTV to perform a free concert at the Brandenburg Gate as part of the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards being held in Berlin as part of celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. Problems emerged when MTV opted to erect a "sight barrier" to prevent those without a ticket from taking part. Revisiting facts we've already established: The space can hold more than 100,000 spectators, and the show was free to begin with. So what was MTV hoping to gain by locking fans out, other than to create the most ironic prop possible? Celebrating the fall of the oppressive wall by erecting an oppressive wall?
