19/12/81: NME front cover

28/2/81: U2 on Old Grey Whistle Test

On Saturday 28 February 1981, upcoming Irish rock band U2 performed live on the Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2. The group played three tracks from their debut album Boy, released in October 1980: The Ocean, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock and I Will Follow.

Despite having achieved critical acclaim and attention from the British music press, the band failed to have a hit single in the UK until 1983. Their second album October would appropriately reach the Top 20 in October '81.

U2's lead singer Bono Vox on the cover of NME, February 1981

source: BBC Genome, U2gigs.com

13/2/81: Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' live in Dortmund

On Friday 13 February British rock band Pink Floyd played the first of eight consecutive nights in Dortmund, Germany as part of their 1980-1981 The Wall Tour. This was the first time that the concert had been performed in mainland Europe, after opening in the USA in a year previously and shows in the UK in August 1980.

pic.: artnet.com

These liver performances of the album The Wall were noted for their ambitious stage set-up whereby a wall was physically built up throughout the performance, effectively isolating the band from the audience, in line with the concept of the original album and writer and performer Roger Waters' feelings towards his music and performance.

Dortmund in West Germany was said to have been chosen as a location for the concerts in order to reflect the condition of the Berlin Wall, still in force at the time. At the end of the Pink Floyd show "The Wall" is demolished as part of the show.

source: brain-damage.co.uk