The Wall Remains
The irony of the gate/fence/wall up around the perimeter of the free U2 show at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin last night (11/5/09) is painfully obvious, and also a bit confusing.
I have no idea who is to blame for this idiocy. Maybe MTV? Maybe U2? Maybe the local police? Maybe the promoter? It doesn’t matter; the symbolism speaks volumes.
Bono is NOT the savior, but I’m pretty sure he and his cronies would have had the power to keep this wall from going up. I’d love to know who in the ring of power around last night’s show would trump the band’s wishes/demands (assuming they were there). How could Bono’s (obsessive) world-saving, superhero persona not step in and put a stop to this?
Could it be that they let it fly so that we all would be sitting here talking about it like this? My background is PR; I have a hard time taking anything (especially like this) at face value.
Here is an interesting tidbit of music, and Berlin Wall, history, according to an Associated Press story:
In 1988, musicians such as Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson performed in a three-day “Berlin Rock Marathon” on the western side of the concrete barrier, with the landmark as a backdrop.
Concertgoers in the West hurled bottles and firebombs at the wall, while some 2,000 youths gathered on the eastern side to listen, many shouting “The wall must go!”
November 9, 2009 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
