Berlin’s MayDay celebrations took a turn for the worse over the weekend, when an afternoon of music and celebration was cut short by a police riot squad.
The celebrations are attended by thousands each year, but this year’s festival was shut down midway through Boys Noise’s set – as he ironically premiered a bunch of tracks from his new album titled Mayday.
Wow @boysnoize premiering his song by setting up/playing a set in the streets of Berlin that got shut down by the cops. Y do I not liv there
— M. (@_Agent_M) May 1, 2016
Reports as to what prompted riot squads to shut down the concert have been largely conflicting; with many fans claiming the police shutdown was unwarranted. However, the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel reports that left-wing demonstrators had begun to throw stones and bottles at police – sparking the shutdown.
…POLICE SHUT DOWN
— ???? ????? (@boysnoize) May 1, 2016
Left wing groups have responded that there were “more cameras rolling than stones being thrown”, and that the police presence, let along a riot squad – was hugely unnecessary.
Update 4/5/2016: Boys Noize has made a statement, indicating that his set was shutdown because it was illegal and without permit – and that the reason for the end to the show was unrelated to the violent May Day protests.
“On May 1st my @boysnoizerecords crew and I had the idea to throw a street party in Berlin strictly for my fans and the city. We did this very DIY!! As you have seen from the videos the vibe was incredible and very peaceful. The police asked us politely to shut it down and I did. It was a great day in celebration of peace, anarchy and my upcoming record which I played a few times through for the crowd.”
Check out some of the videos of Boiz Noize’s set, and another of police clashing with mayday protestors down, below.
BERLIN MAȲ̶͕̱͖̦̩̘̻̗̫̟̠̹͉̖͚̗̖̖̓ͧ̿͆͟͡ͅDAY pt.1 pic.twitter.com/84BRjxJh0L
— Boys Noize (@boysnoize) May 1, 2016
BERLIN MAY̡̗̩̣̹͍͎̦ͯͤ͆͂ͧͮͣͪ͑͛̇̌̌ͮ̋̎͑͜͞ͅDAY pt.2 pic.twitter.com/jzMxm3VXH7
— Boys Noize (@boysnoize) May 1, 2016
