Rockpalast

George Thorogood Live at Rockpalast in 1980 goes from zero to 60 in no time with the opening track, “House Of Blue Lights,” the Chuck Berry classic. “I’m Wanted” has some nice breaks and is as steady as they come. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” is as lively and interesting as the studio version. It’s a ten-minute romp of hard luck and booze, and Thorogood plays it flawlessly. The second disc features some great slide work and features a nice routine of Elmore James including “Goodbye Baby (Can’t Say Goodbye)” and “New Hawaiian Boogie.” Another song Thorogood is well known for covering is “Who Do You Love?” and he plays this Bo Diddley standard with all the attitude of a rattlesnake on a bad day. Classic stuff.

Captured live at Berlin's Metropol, The Go-Go's play in support of their 1982 LP, Vacation.

A career-spanning 1979 concert by Patti Smith and her band from Essen, Germany and broadcast on WDR's Rockpalast. Bonus interview after the concert.

Feeling Gravitys Pull, Harborcoat, Sitting Still, Maps and Legends, Fall on Me, Green Grow the Rushes, Driver 8, Hyena, So. Central Rain, Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover), Can't Get There From Here, King of the Road (Roger Miller cover), 7 Chinese Bros., Auctioneer (Another Engine), Old Man Kensey, Little America, Pretty Persuasion, Encore: Theme From Two Steps Onward, Toys in the Attic (Aerosmith cover), See No Evil (Television cover), Second Guessing, Encore 2: (Ghost) Riders in the Sky (Stan Jones and his Death Valley Rangers cover), (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, We Walk, Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It) (Marlene Dietrich cover) (Snippet), Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich cover) (Snippet), Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones cover)

Pretenders perform live at Rock Pop Festival, Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany as they tour for Learning to Crawl. Also included a live clip of "Waterloo Sunset" filmed for UK television.

Frontman/guitarist Tom Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell, bassist Ron Blair, keyboardist Benmont Tench and drummer Stan Lynch opened their taping at WDR Studio-L in Cologne with the rarity “Surrender.” A cover of Chuck Berry’s “Jaguar and Thunderbird” was performed next, followed by “American Girl.” Other well-known originals filling out the setlist include “Listen To Her Heart” and “Breakdown.” The taping concluded with back-to-back covers of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66” and The Isley Brothers’ “Shout.”

Even today, JOHN CALE is renowned for having been a member of the Velvet Underground, less known to many fans are his early works with avant-garde musicians like John Cage or La Monte Young. When he was invited for the Rockpalast-Festival on October, 14th 1984, he had just released the desolate masterpiece "Music For A New Society" (1982). Compared to the official live album, JOHN CALE's performance at the Rockpalast was far more intense, desperate, and wild. He performed the songs with a very hard edge, sometimes even deconstructed them ("Heartbreak Hotel"). This DVD contains two shows, one from 1984 with his full band and a solo Cale show from 1983.

Van Morrison and his band perform live in Essen, Germany, in April 1982. Highlights include "Into the Mystic", "Full Force Gale", "Bright Side of the Road" and "Cleaning Windows".

"Bad Woman Blues - Beth Hart" celebrates the music and voice of a woman who enriches rock and blues with emotion, authenticity, and honesty.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions perform live in Koln, Germany.

XTC performance from Hamburg, Germany 1982.

Commander Cody already gained cult status with his band The Lost Planet Airmen by 1980 when he was invited to play the Rockpalast. His music wandered between the genres blues, country rock, boogie, rockabilly and Tex-Mex spiked with his very own wit and humour. The audience witnessed a colourful, high energy concert evening in the WDR Studio A in Cologne. In his known manner, Commander Cody was rocking through the setlist, always with a tongue-in-cheek. That evening he was accompanied by Steve Mackay (saxophone, vocals), Tona Johnson (drums, vocals), Bill Kirchen (guitar, vocals), Doug Killmer (bass, vocals) and Peter Sigel (pedal steel guitar, guitar).

The Police perform at the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany 11-18-1980. Their second recording for Rockpalast and WDR Television.

Legendary reggae group Steel Pulse appeared on the German television program Rockpalast on December 12, 1979. The band had formed just four years earlier in Birmingham, England by guitarists David Hinds and Basil Gabbidon after hearing Bob Marley And The Wailers’ 1973 album, Catch a Fire. But the group was often barred from venues in Birmingham because of their Rastafarian beliefs, so they found a home with another group of outcasts-- the punk rockers.

Psychedelic Furs performing live in Berlin, April 11, 1981, at the height of their creativity. Songs include: "Into You Like a Train," "Pretty In Pink," "Imitation of Christ" and more.

Having made his Rockpalast debut in 1980 with Rockpile, Edmunds returned three years later, fronting his solo band, which included Rockpile guitarist Billy Bremner and pianist extraordinaire Geraint Watkins. The event took place at the large-scale Loreley Open-Air Festival in August 1983. The 17 track set features greatest hits (such as the UK #1 'I Hear You Knocking') and fans' favorites from Edmunds' stellar back catalog, including songs contributed by Elvis Costello ('Girls Talk'), Bruce Springsteen ('From Small Things'), Graham Parker ('Crawling from the Wreckage') and Fabulous Thunderbirds ('You Ain't Nothing But Fine').