doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
"paper sellout shows"? The process on this tour is no different than it was on POP, ZOO TV, or War, or even the last tour, Vertigo. The term "sellout" stands for the selling of all tickets released for purchase, NOT necessarily every possible physical seat in the venue.
I agree with Maoilbheannacht. These are real sell-outs, not some technicality. Parts of every stadium may be blocked (like areas behind the sound stage, areas blocked by overhangs in the seating, etc.) giving the illusion of "empty seats" - but those were intentionally not sold.
Also, with the numbers generated in the U.S. so far, I am blown away. This is NOT PopMart (which actually did generate big numbers in the first part of the U.S. tour). I expected strong sales in Chicago, Boston and New York. But to see them in Florida, Texas and other states is fantastic. It shows U2's appeal. NLOTH's chart position may not be good, but clearly the tour is helping the album sell between 4500-6500 copies each week - and that's also good news. To have a Platinum album with no big hit and to have sell-out shows across several continents proves that U2 is still appealing after all these years.