Back to the web ringBack to the web ring
HomeNewsLinksGuestbook
RecordsCompositionsConcertsArtistsStories
FirstPreviousUpNextLast

1980, January 31
East Berlin Palast der Republik



Details

Date1980, January 31
VenuePalast der Republik
CityEast Berlin
CountryGDR
Line-upEdgar Froese, Chris Franke, Johannes Schmoelling


Records

Tangerine Dream: Official Releases
1980Quichotte
1986Pergamon
2016The Official Bootleg Series Volume Two (Tracks 5-7 only)
Tangerine Dream: Fan Releases
2003Tangerine Tree Volume 17: East Berlin 1980
Tangerine Dream: Bootlegs
1980Staatsgrenze West
1988Don Quixote


Set List

First Set

East Berlin 80, Part One (39:30)
During the first 20 minutes of this set there are some motifs that will recur on the Tangram studio album, but the vast major of the music has never been released officially.

Second Set

East Berlin 80, Part Two (45:00)
The first 27 minutes of the second half is more or less what can be heard on Quichotte. A few misplayed notes have been edited out, the first three chords of Quichotte, Part One are actually played twice, the first time more slowly than the second (which is where the album starts), and a couple of voices on the album did not appear live (e.g. the "twinkling" sound), but otherwise the first half of this set follows the album. After the end of Quichotte, Part One, the set moves into the first four or so minutes of Quichotte, Part Two as appears on the album, but just where the sequencer comes in on record, the live version takes a different track. In fact, from about minute four to 19, Quichotte, Part Two is a studio concoction.

Encore

East Berlin 80, Part Three (13:00)
The music played during the encore has never been released officially before the release of The Official Bootleg Series Volume Two.

(All times rounded to nearest 15 seconds and include bridges following song, if any.)

Large parts of this section have been taken from the site What Dreams Are Made Of by kind permission of the authors John A. Burek and Mark Schaffer.


Notes

Tangerine Dream performed twice on the same day.
 

 

With this show, the era of improvisation truly came to an end. The lengths of the two main halves were announced to the crowd before the concert, and the musical style reflected the direction the band was heading in, with much of the set bearing a close resemblance to (the then unreleased) Tangram. However, yet to appear was the "episodic" nature of the tour later that year; the sets really were long, continuous pieces of music rather than segued individual tracks as in the tours that followed.
 

 

Programme from the East Berlin Concert

This is the original programme from the "DT64 Jugendkonzert" (that is, Youth Concert) given away to the audience who had the luck to get a ticket to one of the two concerts by Tangerine Dream. The typewriter written leaflet consists of four pages, the second and third containing a short essay in German language that is roughly translated as follows:

"The West Berlin electronic rock band Tangerine Dream gives a guest performance in the GDR for the first time.
Their performance, as part of the DT64 youth concerts, will deliver insight into the current musical and artistical oeuvre of the internationally popular formation.
Tangerine Dream work with an unusual trio line-up, conducted by their founder Edgar Froese. Electronic Rock is a unique but nevertheless insufficient definition of their music. Rather Tangerine Dream must be counted among the most important ensembles of contemporary popular music; they are more keen to experiment than any other comparable band. TD has set standards (both in quality and quantity) in their effort to meet musical and technical possibilities. They produce tonal sound and noise syntheses, partially basing on a preset musical theme, but mostly they use the instrument of improvisation.
The ambitious realization will guarantee some optical as well as acoustical surprises for the audience.

About the band history:
In 1967 Edgar Froese founded Tangerine Dream, at that time featuring a line-up with guitar/flute and violin/percussions/bass. With the release of their first album Electronic Meditation (1970) -- a title which would become their conceptional programme -- they changed to a completely new and uncommon cast: a number of keyboards (e-piano, mellotron, synthesizer) handled by only three musicians. By 1974 Tangerine Dream became internationally popular, they reached the British top ten without any extensive publicity campaign. During their 1974 tour in England they premiered usage of video synthesizers. Later the band toured Western Europe, Australia and the USA with great success. In 1976 the well-known american film director William Friedkin ("The French Connection") shot his new movie only after he had listened to the soundtrack by Tangerine Dream beforehand. Tangerine Dream performed in the time-honored London Royal Albert Hall as well as in the West-Berlin Philharmony. Under the slogan "Electronic Space Rock and Orchestra" they presented their very own oeuvre -- embedded into a Bach premiere and contemporary works -- to an intrigued auditorium.
After a hiatus -- during which Edgar Froese realised a number of solo projects -- Tangerine Dream will perform live again for the first time on January 31st 1980 in the Palast der Republik."

(Click on the image to see a larger version of the cover in a new browser window)


 

 

 
FirstPreviousUpNextLast
Copyright/Disclaimer   © 2001-2021 by Michael Berling. Last Update: 2021-09-19 21:31