Memories of Berlin

It is always exciting to come back to Berlin where I have so many memories. I used to spend some summer holidays when I was a child, my cousin was in charge of the food in the french army. One of his sons was my age. I remember going by train from Paris, going through East Germany. We were not allowed to look through the windows, the curtains were shut. We used to go to east Berlin through the metrop and it was for us the ultimate dangerous adventure. We were playing spy games, James Bond games.
Then I came back later on for doing some music, especially to play in the Waldbuhne, a huge outdoor amphitheater, close to the old olympic stadium and built by Hitler. I remember the very strange vibes of the tunnel backstage going directly to the stadium used a lot by Hitler and Goebels to visit the athletes in 1936.
I remember the wall and its amazing grafitti, the sadness of families being cut of for years. I remember that my mom, a great resistant, stayed in Berlin after she had been in a concentration camp. She travelled back from Berlin to Paris on the roof of a train risking her life at each tunnel.
Berlin, its soul, its architecture, its museums, galleries.., is more than ever impressive today. It is one of the most important cities in the world, a city of culture- official and underground. A great city of art and music, classical and modern. One of the centers of electronic music in the world. It has been an honor to be welcomed by such an enthusiastic audience, to get a standing ovation from the Berliners who know so much about music. We could have played all night...
The Berlin concert will remain for me and the band as one of the highlights of the tour.


The Reichtag, a good venue for a concert..


Victoria Platz, I remember the Wim Wenders' movie "les ailes du désir".


Schlotz Platz, where the nazis burnt thousands of books, may 10, 1933.

(posted on a mobile phone)