The theme nights held under the title “PERFORMING 68/89” at Hamburg’s Kampnagel were conceived as a “congress on the history of music in times of upheaval”, focusing on the triumph pop culture celebrated in the sixties in Europe. In both East and West pop songs were a political issue. What was the message of this music and which songs were especially important for the 1968ers on both sides of the Iron Curtain? And finally: can music still act as a mouthpiece for social change today?