U2 Playing Free Show In Honour Of Berlin Wall's Fall

10/28/09 11:24am

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

U2 fans in Berlin, Germany will have the opportunity to see the band play a free show next month to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. will perform in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 5 as part of the MTV Europe Music Awards. The performance will be broadcast at the awards, which will be held at Berlin's O2 World Arena this year. The show will also be part of the city's Fall Of The Wall festivities, which mark the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down.

"It'll be an exciting spot to be in, 20 years almost to the day since the wall came down. Should be fun," Paul McGuinness, U2's manager, said in a statement.

U2 will give away tickets on a first-come, first-served basis on their website and through MTV's website. There is a restriction of two tickets per applicant, and you won't be able to buy tickets the day of the performance.

The Berlin Wall was erected during 1961 to separate democratic West Germany from communist East Germany. The Wall prevented emigration between both countries. West Germans could visit East Germany, but East Germans could not cross over into West Germany. East Germans attempting to scale the Wall and escape into West Germany were quite often killed.

On Nov. 9, 1989, East Germany announced it would allow its citizens to visit West Germany and West Berlin following widespread protests against The Wall. This prompted thousands of East Berliners to head to the checkpoints so they could cross into West Germany. Guards handling the checkpoints originally wouldn't let them in, but eventually relented, and that's why Nov. 9 is considered the day the Wall fell. "Wallpeckers" had also begun symbolically tearing it apart.

The East German military did not begin dismantling the Berlin Wall until June 1990. It was completed in November 1991, but by then East Germany had already reunified with West Germany.

U2 recorded their 1991 Achtung Baby album in Berlin in October 1990, just after the reunification of Germany.

U2 recently announced more North American and European dates slated for 2010. You can see the band, who are touring in support of No Line On The Horizon, here:

Oct. 28 Vancouver, BC @ BC Place w/ Black Eyed Peas
Nov. 5 Berlin, Germany @ Brandenburg Gate
June 6 Anaheim, CA @ Angel Stadium
June 16 Oakland, CA @ Oakland-Alameida County Coliseum
June 20 Seattle, WA @ Qwest Field
June 23 Edmonton, AB @ Commonwealth Stadium
June 30 East Lansing, MI @ Spartan Stadium
July 3 Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
July 6 Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
July 9 Miami, FL @ Land Shark Stadium
July 12 Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field
July 16 Montreal, QC @ TBA
July 19 New York, NY @ New Meadowlands Stadium
Aug. 10 Frankfurt, Germany @ Commerzbank Arena
Aug. 12 Hannover, Germany @ AWD Arena
Aug. 15-16 Horsens, Denmark @ Casa Arena
Aug. 20-21 Helsinki, Finland @ Olympiastadion
Aug. 25 Moscow, Russia @ Luzhniki
Aug. 30 Vienna, Austria @ Ernst Happel Stadium
Sept. 3 Athens, Greece @ Olympic Stadium
Sept. 6 Istanbul, Turkey @ Ataturk Olympic Stadium
Sept. 15 Munich, Germany @ Olympiastadion
Sept. 18 Paris, France @ Stade De France
Sept. 22-23 Brussels, Belgium @ Stade Roi Baudoin
Sept. 29 Seville, Spain @ Estadio Olimpico De La Cartuja
Oct. 2-3 Coimbra, Portugal @ Estadio Cidade Coimbra