DID
BOWIE
BRING
DOWN
THE
BERLIN
WALL?
Perchedprovocativelynext to thecity’s
infamousWall, on theColdWar’sbitterest
frontline, thePlatzderRepublik rock
festival iswell underwaywhen theBritish
post-punkbandNewModelArmykickoff
their setwith
MyCountry
.Therearecheers
from thosewho recognise thispolitically
chargedanthemof solidarityandby
the timeEurythmicsbegin
Sexcrime
(NineteenEighty-Four)
, themassedcrowd
is ina frenzy. But there’snodoubt it’sone
particular ex-Berlin resident that fanson
both sidesof theWall are reallyhere to see.
Clad inaflowingpink suit,David
Bowiedescends spider-like to theopen-
air stage, suspendedonapinkarmchair.
Wireless-microphone technologyallows
the then40-year-old star togrooveand
leapwithwildabandon, andhisanticsare
beamedover theBerlinWall onagiant video screen. Banks
of speakersbroadcasthits like
BigBrother
and
Let’sDance
across thedividedcity, andEastBerliners shimmyunder
Stasi (state security forces) spotlightsby theBrandenburg
Gatea fewhundredmetresaway.
All isgoing smoothlyenoughuntil Bowie reaches
Heroes
, the
15th trackofhis26-songmega set,when theatmosphere ignites.
The songwaspenned specificallyabout theWall and theeffect is
immediate: fans in theeast gowildand thepolicequickly spread
out tocontain themas thechant goesout, ‘Teardown theWall’.
At thatmoment, thecracks in theBerlinWall,which
finally fell 25yearsago thismonth, echoedacross theworld
inoneof thedefining scenesof the20thcentury. Itwasa
point of triumph for the singer,who just adecadepreviously
hadarrived inBerlin seeking refuge, not revolution.
By 1976, theThinWhiteDuke lookedgaunt, pallidandnot
particularly regal, the result of anallegeddiet of redpeppers,
SATURDAY6JUNE
1987, BERLIN.
FROMLEFT
Bowie’sBerlinconcert
in 1987; theman
himself at theWall in
thesameyear
WORDS
TRISTAN RUTHERFORD
PHOTOS
CHRIS HOFFMAN/DPA, GETTY
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