A canceled concert of the Wizo farewell tour led to severe riots and street battles between punks and police in Magdeburg last Saturday, February 25. The resulting property damage is estimated at around 100,000 euros. According to the police, 56 people were temporarily arrested and 10 individuals were injured, including eight police officers. The police report states:
The band also commented on the incidents shortly thereafter on their homepage:
The concert was canceled shortly before it was set to begin due to significant safety deficiencies in the designated warehouse. This cancellation prompted 50 to 100 individuals from the leftist scene to express their anger by destroying shop windows, smashing car windows, and overturning construction traffic lights. The accused also erected roadblocks and threw stones and bottles at the emergency services.The reason for the cancellation was an overcrowded concert hall, which had a permit for only 300 visitors. However, 1,000 tickets had been sold in advance. Therefore, the cancellation of the event was certainly justified to protect the attendees. Why no rescheduled date was offered to the waiting fans remains unclear.
The band also commented on the incidents shortly thereafter on their homepage:
The WIZO concert in Magdeburg unfortunately had to be canceled at short notice!!!
Sorry to everyone who traveled for nothing! Our hastily written flyers with detailed explanations apparently reached very few of you due to the riots outside the club! Unfortunately, the organizer was even overwhelmed by this. To dispel all rumors, here is the flyer as a PDF file. http://www.wizo.de/magdeburg.pdf
