Barrier erected at gig to mark freedom
Friday November 06 2009
BERLIN celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of its wall last night with an emotionally tone-deaf decision to erect another one around a U2 concert dedicated to freedom.
True, there were no minefields or watchtowers, but the new temporary wall erected before the performance certainly sent the wrong signals.
Only 10,000 fans in possession of previously allocated free tickets were allowed to pass through the checkpoints -- yes, checkpoints -- to see the band.
"It's completely ridiculous that they are blocking the view," said Louis-Pierre Boily (23), who failed to get tickets.
U2, in Berlin for the MTV European Music Awards, agreed to play in front of the Brandenburg Gate as part of the Wall festivities which culminate on November 9 -- the day the East German regime allowed its citizens to pour across the frontier.
On Monday, Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, President Sarkozy of France, President Medvedev of Russia and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will troop to the gate to mark the historic turning point.
By that time, U2 will have moved on and the background music will be provided by Bon Jovi.
The U2 event was seen by Germany as a deeply significant start to the festivities. The band's poignant lyrics -- "I have run, I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls" -- were seen as full of political significance, speaking directly to the East-West German divide.
It is enough for a band to mention the word wall or freedom for it to be taken up by hundreds of thousands of German fans. The Germans take this so much to heart that even David Hasselhoff, the crooning star of 'Knight Rider' and 'Baywatch', is still venerated for his song 'Looking for Freedom'.
It was thus a bit of a blow to the zeitgeist when the 2m wall -- no more than a metal safety barrier covered with tarpaulin -- was run up. Fans of U2 who had once chanted "We are the people" in anti-regime demonstrations, said they were treated like second-class citizens.
Thousands of fans gathered outside the barriers could only watch on big screens.
Nonetheless, the lucky few inside the cordon were ecstatic. "Thanks for coming out in the cold," U2's front man shouted to the adoring audience as the words 'one' and 'freedom' were emblazoned across the famous Brandenburg Gate.
The opening bars of 'One' floated through the cold night air as U2 hit the stage on the East Berlin side of the Gate.
Bono spoke of a proud city and one nation before performing 'Magnificent', followed by 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' which featured a surprise guest, Jay-Z.
Green lights took over the stage as the front man introduced the rapper as the "Mayor of New York City".
"I just want to think about this moment -- feel this moment that we're in this beautiful city of Berlin. Beautiful occasion to have been here," Bono said before the band performed 'Beautiful Day'.
Despite the freezing weather, the crowd went hysterical when U2 began 'Vertigo', counting in German -- "einz, drei, zwei, vier".
"A song for people who are trying to hold -- just that little bit tightly," Bono said.
The momentous concert came to an end with an impressive performance of 'Moment of Surrender'.
U2 has a firm history in Berlin -- they famously relocated there after the wall came down in 1989 as they sought to reinvent their sound.
The band who recorded much of the 'Achtung Baby' album in the city, later attended the MTV Europe awards to pick a gong for Best Live Act.
- Roger Boyes
Irish Independent
