MovieChat Forums > The Wall: Live in Berlin (1990) Discussion > dvd differs greatly from broadcast :(

dvd differs greatly from broadcast :(

posted 17 years ago by neoengel127
7 replies | jump to latest

I love this concert. It was amazing.

However there is one huge issue I have with it.

The one I saw on Canada's Much Music station in 1994 had what I thought were the original performances and contained what I thought was a more genuine presentation of a live concert.

The new version takes away many subtle elements that made the concert so amazing as well there is a huge different in the actual chords played out (even on guitar). And yes I know about the power outages too, this didn't effect the songs I refer too.

And yes, I own the cd release as well, and that differs from the concert in the dvd. It's almost as if it got Lucas'ed. I still have a home recorded copy of the concert (poor video quality :( ) when broadcasted in '94 and I'll take a listen to the differences to be specific.

Regardless, and amazing thing to watch, best concert ever. I guess I'm a stickler for the original version of things.

[–] hifispock 17 years ago

Have you compared your video and dvd yet?Are there any differences?

"How do you know my name..?"
..."It's stenciled on the back of your shorts". {"\ (*_*) /"}

[–] robnathanson 17 years ago

1994 is still 4 years after the concert took place....so, perhaps there is a difference between that and the original show too....

[–] morbius82000 17 years ago

I remember when it was originally shown and I thought it was terrible. Good idea, but no Gilmour. :(

[–] nine_on_the_snap 17 years ago

1st off the CD abd the DVD are HEAVILY edited.

There were 3 songs in the concert that were messed up due to power issues. Roger Waters stated (after the 1st issue occurred) that they would play them at the end. It never happened.

They must have been doing some tap dancing with the "live" feed as I have a copy of the broadcast in Canada and there appear to be no mistakes. My guess is that they were spooling the previous night's rehearsal just in case something happened.

They ran a full blown concert the night before. Unfortunately, I was walking around Berlin and stumbled into the Tiergarten and heard the music. By then it was well into the second half.

Additionally on both the CD and DVD releases there was editing in the studio. This is again do to the power issues and some issues with poor quality on the jumbotrons. I also heard that Sinead O'Connor refused to stay late or work in the studio to help remedy the issues for CD/DVD release.

It was still an anazing event. I saw the original performance in New York and still think it was the best concert ever but this one was historic and holds a special place in my mind and heart.

By the way, you are right, no Gilmour but the TWO guitarists Waters got did a geat job especially on Comfortably Numb.

[–] Aquagram 15 years ago

I still have the VHS from when I recorded the broadcast in 1990.
There is no mistaking the fact that things went wrong on this version.
There is a two minute gap early in the show where nothing happens and the keyboard player even looks at the camera as if to say, "what's going on?"
Also poor old Thomas Dolby is wailing away on his keyboard and you can't hear a thing. You can almost hear the plug coming out the amp halfway through the solo. Then the sound goes halfway through "Mother".
I'd always wondered if they'd tidied this up for the home video/DVD and it seems they did. Interesting.

[–] tie_kerl 15 years ago

Walters offers some insight on the DVD's documentary.

There were three versions of this concert shown; live, broadcast live, and released VHS/DVD. The day before the main show, they ran a full rehearsal with a limited audience packed around the front of the stage. In this version, however, the wall was not built to its full height and it was not pushed over. There was the live show, of course, which was fraught with problems. One minor segment was shot on a soundstage in London. The Wife's lines in "The Trial" were far too shaky on camera in both rehearsal and live, so they were re-shot after the fact with Ute miming to the audio from the live performance; this is only on the VHS/DVD release. They also wanted to re-shoot "Mother" due to the sever malfunctions, but after Sineade O'Conner thought she was being asked to lip synch the show, she threw a hissy fit and refused to do it so both in the live broadcast and the VHS release it is the rehearsal seen, hence why the craned-in wall segment with The Mother on it is never seen behind the performers.

[–] shanleydillman-99542 9 years ago

The dress rehearsal was awesome; probably only 5,000 people there. We stood about 100 feet from the stage. Everything went well without a hitch. The day of the show was a nightmare, however. Got to the site around 10 AM, had to wade across about 20 feet of crushed beer cans before we got to the gate. The venue ran out of everything by 2 PM; no food, water, or clean toilets and the show wasn't supposed to start for another 5 hours. When it did actually start, about 6 or 7 hours later, there were massive technical glitches and a small riot. We had to stand to see and were easily 200 yards from the stage. The massive monitors were constantly out of sync.

However, with all the glitches and problems, I wouldn't have missed that crazy, wonderful night.