A free concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall ended up being a disappointment for fans blocked off by a wall put up by a television network.
U2, an Irish rock band with lead singer Bono plays music with spiritual overtones. The 10,000 tickets for the group's concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 5 were snapped up a few hours after they became available.
Concert organizer MTV put up the wall, a Berlin spokesperson told the Irish Times.
“I find it rather unfortunate and unusual for organisers of a free concert – particularly one of this nature – to demand such a barrier,” the spokesperson said.
Later in the article, MTV's reason for putting up the wall is revealed.
“We are asking fans without tickets to watch the concert on television. The barrier is for security reasons and to contain the crowd, allowing the surrounding shops and restaurant continue trading.”
Of course, no legitimate U2 fan would chose to watch the concert on TV. And the security garbage doesn't fly either, according to the Time article, which says "MTV was unable to say why the concert was being staged on Pariser Platz, on the eastern side of the gate, rather than the Tiergarten park side, where there are no space problems and no businesses to be disturbed."
So MTV might have gained a few viewers that night, while effectively walling out scores of others with bad publicity.
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