Platz Der Republik Berlin! 1988 (Cape Music CM827)
Reichstagsgelande, Berlin, Germany – June 16th, 1988
Disc 1 (63:34): Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Learning to Fly, Yet Another Movie, Sorrow, Dogs of War, On the Turning Away, One of These Days
Disc 2 (79:01): Time, On the Run, Great Gig in the Sky, Wish You Were Here, Welcome to the Machine, Us & Them, Money, Another Brick in the Wall (pt 2), Comfortably Numb, One Slip, Run Like Hell
For A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, Pink Floyd tour the US twice and Japan once before coming to continental Europe. The June 16th show was the first of seven German dates and the only Berlin date. Platz Der Republik Berlin! 1988 is the first silver pressed title documenting this date. Cape Music utilize an excellent audience recording which captures the dynamics of the event very well.
This was Pink Floyd’s first show in Germany in seven years and first in Berlin in eleven. The show starts off with a jazz-tinged “Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5,” leading into their current hit “Learning To Fly” with the “Signs Of Life” segue.
David Gilmour greets the audience, and even attempts some German, before explaining that the first half of the set would be devoted to the new songs. This was the practice of the band dating back to the early seventies. Playing so much new material at first could test the audience’s patience, but on the other it does set the current creative state of the band.
Gilmour’s vision of Pink Floyd, at least for the first post-Waters album, differed substantially to the past. Their lack of musical virtuosity (a sign of other progressive rock bands) was balanced by strong narrative moods. The latest album was more of a collection of songs than a cohesive piece of art.
But the music works very well in a live environment. The keyboard arrangements and emphasis upon guitars rather than the lyrics of the songs were more suited for arena rock. This is especially emphasized by the long and spectacular song “Sorrow.” The first half of the show ends with “On The Turning Away.”
The second half is the “oldies” part, starting with “One Of These Days.” It is interesting to hear some of the songs played out of their usual sequence, such as “On The Run” following “Time” and “Welcome To The Machine” after “Wish You Were Here.”
Floyd build up to their most recognizable tunes. “Money” is extended with the long jazzy break before the return tot he final theme and a segue into “Another Brick In The Wall Part 2.” Gilmour’s guitar showpiece “Comfortably Numb” closes the set. “One Slip” and the disco “Run Like Hell” are the two encores.
Platz Der Republik Berlin! 1988is the fourth Berlin show issued by Cape Music, a small project of theirs to press onto silver significant Pink Floyd shows in the city. Silver pressed titles with the latter day Pink Floyd are hard to find. This one is very well produced and packaged in a glossy digipack with photos from the concert on the artwork.
