Its day 4 of the tour and a day off in Berlin. I just had a two hour guided tour in a taxi. The driver, Tom, is now quite an old friend of mine and it was interesting to once again see the city that inspired my song ‘The Palace Of Tears’. The original Palace Of Tears (Die Tränenpalast) was the nickname for a crossing between East and West Berlin at Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof, where relatives would part.
The Hotel Stadt Berlin, now The Park Inn, was where I stayed for my holiday in July 1989, it was a good way to spend all the East German marks I had earned playing with Oysterband in the east. At 37 stories high it was probably the biggest knocking shop in Europe, although I was too innocent at the time to notice that. We saw the old Stasi headquarters which were stormed by the people in January 1990. They probably had a file on Oysterband. We also drove past Hansa Studios where Bowie recorded his ‘Berlin’ album, just meters from the old wall.
The tour continues, and it’s a good one. The first three shows were outdoors and so will many of the others be as well.