Well, I think it's great that so many here are concerned that every casual fan (if that) who wants to grab a last minute ticket to the U2 show tonight be able to do so. And perhaps demand will still be as high on the next tour as it was on 360. Frankly, we have no idea how well the record will do, how U2 will market the show, etc. At this point it's all speculation. And frankly I don't care about all that.
What I care about is U2 putting on a more intimate show and playing like they mean it, which they've done to great success many times before. I'm more concerned with them putting on a great show for those people who are there rather than packing them in and going through the motions. I understand that they can't play clubs, but they played arenas to great success on Elevation and a good part of Vertigo (and I know stadium shows are unavoidable in some parts of the world), and everyone got on just fine. Any U2 fan who really wants to see them (and can afford it) will be able to get a ticket in an arena tour...including everyone on here. And if some people get shut out, that's how it goes. As I said, there's no human right to see a U2 show.
And frankly, even though I guess it's "expected" of a group of U2's stature, I think their doing another one of these obscene monster spectacles would be a little unseemly. What are they going to do, go "bigger" than 360? They'd just embarrass themselves. And at this point a stadium tour in smaller scale than 360 would look like a let down...you almost have to have all that spectacle if you're going to do a stadium these days to make the ticket prices worth it.
I loved ZOOTV in particular and parts of 360. And God knows Pop needed all that flash to just get people in the doors. And the JT show was one of the best I've ever seen (and that was a pretty stripped down affair, it would never fly today). Stadium shows definitely had there place in U2 history, I'm not knocking them. But I just think it's time for something smaller, and it wont be the end of the world if they go that way. The only real downside I can see to an arena tour is if re-sellers took over the market, and U2 would have to find a way to deal with that if it happened, but I don't think they should base their performance decisions on the business practices of professional scalpers.
Why any serious U2 fan, like I presume most people on here are, would rather see them do one of these huge stadium tours and be packed in with 80-100K+++ other people looking at the band like insects on a matchbox over an arena show is beyond me. It's touching that people are so worried about everyone getting tickets, or U2 making a huge profit...but I just want a good show that's about the music. There's no need to go into a panic about an arena tour...relax, if you're reading this, and you want a ticket you'll be able to get one.