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Music awards

November 6, 2009

The normally sedate plaza in front of the Brandenburg Gate transformed into a concert venue on Thursday, as U2 celebrated the Berlin Wall's destruction with a free concert.

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U2 at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
U2 have a bond with the German capitalImage: AP

Almost 20 years to the day after a divided Germany began to knit itself back together, Irish rockers U2 stood before Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate on Thursday to sing their own song of reunification.

U2 performed a free concert attended by 10,000 people on Thursday evening, then reprised several songs a few hours later for a performance beamed live to the O2 Arena for the MTV Europe Video Music Awards.

Bono in concert
Bono thanked Berlin for keeping U2 together in 1990Image: AP

Unity for Berlin and U2

The song "One" from the 1991 album "Achtung Baby" was included in both set lists, written and recorded when the band was in Berlin in 1989-1990. Their recording studion Hansa stood directly in the Berlin Wall's shadow.

Arriving shortly after the fall of the Wall, they have credited their time there with recharging their creative batteries and inspiring them to stay together as a band.

U2 guitarist The Edge reflected on that period of the band's history in his thank-you speech, given after they accepted the award for Best Live Act.

"We were, as a band, struggling. But we wrote a song that brought us back together, 'One,' and we owe you that, Berlin. Thank you," he said.

Tokio Hotel
Tokio Hotel scooped the best band awardImage: AP

The impact of the Berlin Wall's fall was referenced throughout the rest of the awards ceremony, which was held at Berlin's O2 World Arena. Host Katy Perry opened the show on a set that turned the arena's stage into the "Katy Kat Club," intended to pay homage to Berlin's thriving pre-war cabaret scene.

U2's performance for the show took place in front of a brilliantly lit Brandenburg Gate, with images of Wall artwork, and the words "freedom" and "one" projected onto its surface.

American hip hop artist Jay-Z, who had joined U2 on stage during the free concert for "Sunday Bloody Sunday," picked up an award for Best Urban Artist.

"I look forward to the day when all those walls come down," Jay-Z told a screaming crowd.

Other winners included Madgeburg-based teenage band Tokio Hotel, who won Best Group, and Silbermond, who won the award for Best German Act. The European VMAs were first held in Berlin, at the Brandenburg Gate, in 1994.

svs/AP/dpa/AFP

Editor: Ben Knight