Fans hoping to catch a glimpse of U2’s free concert celebrating 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall will have - in the words of one of the band's biggest hits - to “scale these city walls", after organisers threw up a massive barrier to block the view for those without tickets.

The move has triggered outrage from Berliners, who see the irony in building walls to block off a concert dedicated to the moment that a massive surge of people forced their governments to knock the wall down.

The 10,000 tickets made available online for the Irish rockers’ 20 minute-long free show at the Brandenburg Gate were snapped up in less than three hours. Berlin police fear that ten times that number could tonight try to flood into Unter Den Linden, the street leading away from the Brandenburg Gate, to join in the atmosphere.

The spot where the band will play on Pariser Platz is closed off on three sides by buildings, while the fourth side has been obstructed by a temporary metal barrier nearly 12ft high, draped in white tarpaulin.

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“It’s completely ridiculous that they are blocking the view,” said Louis-Pierre Boily, 23, a Canadian music fan who has flown to Berlin even though he failed to get tickets, and was today one of several hundred people milling on the wrong side of the fence.

“I thought it’s a free show, but MTV probably wants people to watch it on TV to get their ratings up.”

The concert wall stands just a few yards from the site of the actual Berlin Wall which fell on November 9, 1989, ending 30 years of the forced division of West Berlin from communist East Berlin, and leading to the unification of West and East Germany the following year. Rock bands played a significant part in rallying discontent.

Music network MTV, which organised tonight’s concert, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did RMP, U2's publicist.

The U2 concert is intended as the highlight of the MTV Europe Music Awards, an annual event which is one of pop’s music’s biggest nights outside of the United States, which is being held in Berlin this year to commemorate the fall of the wall.

David Hasselhoff will co-present the ceremony, 20 years after his now legendary performance at the Brandenburg Gate on New Years Eve 1989.

Wearing a leather jacket with flashing lights attached, the Baywatch star performed his song Looking for Freedom in front of half a million people - in the process winning himself a large and loyal fan base in Germany. Looking for Freedom topped the German charts for weeks, and the album of the same name was Germany's top selling record in 1989.

The concert by U2 - who came to Berlin in 1990 to reinvent themselves and make Achtung Baby, for many fans their best album - will be beamed into the awards ceremony in the O2 arena on the other side of the city.

The British singer Joss Stone will greet guests on the red carpet, and Leona Lewis is among the other performers, alongside Beyonce, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Green Day and Shakira, with Katy Perry co-presenting.

“It’s really good to give (the awards) some meaning, more meaning, and music is such a wonderful celebration of life,” said Perry.

Perry said the show would be inspired by the film Cabaret with Liza Minnelli, set in 1930s Berlin, and would be darker, sexier, and more naughty than last year.

Perry's compatriots Lady Gaga and Kings of Leon lead the way with five nominations apiece, Beyonce is up for four nominations, while Detroit rapper Eminem and Californian punk rockers Green Day are shortlisted for three awards each.

Music channel MTV invited fans to decide the winners by voting for their favourite acts via the website www.mtvema.com, and last year it said 100 million online votes were cast.

Elsewhere in the city, Chancellor Angela Merkel due to host a gathering of world leaders past and present.

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