Where does Rio fit in?

[The_acrobat]

Not that I really care, I'm not going to South America in this life, I'm just concerned for all those who will be going in South American.

So we have Feb 20, 21 for Sao Paulo, Feb 26 for Santiago, and March 1, 2 for Buenos Aires.

Probably a 3rd show on march 4 for Buenos Aires. I heard they wanted to add Rio on March 5, but the 3rd BA show interferes with that. Anybody got a guess of when that will be. I can't see them going to Brazil and NOT playing Rio.

 

[PatrickM]

Well, I guess they will do that.

Maracanã Stadium, which would be the natural choice to held a concert, is currently going through lots of works to held the Pan-American Games in 2007. The other choice would be Praça da Apoteose but that one is too small - it holds only 35,000- or City of Rock, but that one is too far away from downtown and very close to the Autodrome where U2 played in 1998 and caused the biggest traffic jam in the history of this city.

So...

 

[STING2]

Well, seeing that they don't have to be in Auckland until March 17, they could probably play a show in Rio as late as March 7, unless of course it really takes two weeks to ship everything to Auckland. I think the band have multiple stages anyways.

I wonder if U2 would ever play a show in Fortaleza Brazil?

 

[God Part III]

Rio? Why Rio when they already play Sao Paolo?
It's a much bigger city anyway... Chile only gets one concert, Japan likely only gets two, Argentina is likely to only get two, why should Brazil have 3-4?
Not that I'm against it, it would be wonderful, but I just don't see why the band should play extra concerts in Brazil, if you know what I mean.

 

[pepokiss]

If Brazil gets Rio, we should get 2

 

[STING2]

Rio? Why Rio when they already play Sao Paolo?
It's a much bigger city anyway... Chile only gets one concert, Japan likely only gets two, Argentina is likely to only get two, why should Brazil have 3-4?
Not that I'm against it, it would be wonderful, but I just don't see why the band should play extra concerts in Brazil, if you know what I mean.

Well, Brazil is the larger country and they buy more U2 albums than either Argentina, Chile, or Japan.

With the two Argentina shows soldout in record time, negotiations have started for a third show. I'm not sure if Rio will happen, but it looks like they have a good chunk of time before they have to be in New Zealand.

 

[Halup]

Rio? Why Rio when they already play Sao Paolo?
It's a much bigger city anyway... Chile only gets one concert, Japan likely only gets two, Argentina is likely to only get two, why should Brazil have 3-4?
Not that I'm against it, it would be wonderful, but I just don't see why the band should play extra concerts in Brazil, if you know what I mean.

When talking about Brazil, you need to consider it is not small like Denmark where 1 show in Copenhagen is good enough. Brazil has a population of over 175,000,000 making it one of the most populated countries in the world. This compares with only 35-40,000,000 in Argentina and I assume considerally less than that amount in Chile. Sao Paulo is the world's 3rd or 4th most populated city with something like 10-12,000,000 residents and Rio has over 6,000,000.

If U2 only plays in Sao Paulo for Brazil, they are really underplaying that country. Logistically, adding a third show in Buenos Aires would be less expensive than adding a show in Rio in its place, but I've be hearing that while the Argetine promoter wanted a third show prior to either of the shows being put on sale, the band is more keen to use the date of March 5th for Rio.

 

[Regina O'Numb]

it´s just a rumor...HOT RUMOR...TICKET´S SALE TO SAO PAULO 1&2!!!!
U2: THE DATES, THE TICKETS
The sale of the tickets to U2´s shows in Sao Paulo starts on january 14. In their third visit to Brazil, they will play on february 20 and 21 at Morumbi Stadium. The prices since R$160 (U$64,00) uppear seats; to students R$80,00 (U$32,00) and R$1.000,00 (U$400,00) to the called 'hot are', in front of the stage. The sale will be only in the Pao de Açucar shopps, one of the sponsoreds of 'Vertigo' tour in Brazil. Field´s tickets R$180,00 (U$72,00). By the internet the sale will be at Tickettronic http://www.ticketronic.com.br. As in the internet as in th shopps (nine in Sao Paulo and two in Rio), are limited to 10 tickets per person. The shows of U2 in Brazil are promoting by Accioly Entretenimento and Plan Music. These informations will be officially revealed, next monday, 9, as the places of the sale. The time to starts the shows is marked to 9:45 p.m. The gate will open at 3:00 p.m. And Franz Ferdinand will support U2 in Sao Paulo´s shows. Franz Ferdinand, maybe will play in Rio de Janeiro on february 24. Despite the problems to play in a stadium, these two bands will play together, to, never being forgotten, so earlier.
read whole article (Brazilian Portuguese language) on:
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/pensata/ult512u276.shtml

 

[God Part III]

When talking about Brazil, you need to consider it is not small like Denmark where 1 show in Copenhagen is good enough. Brazil has a population of over 175,000,000 making it one of the most populated countries in the world. This compares with only 35-40,000,000 in Argentina and I assume considerally less than that amount in Chile. Sao Paulo is the world's 3rd or 4th most populated city with something like 10-12,000,000 residents and Rio has over 6,000,000.

If U2 only plays in Sao Paulo for Brazil, they are really underplaying that country. Logistically, adding a third show in Buenos Aires would be less expensive than adding a show in Rio in its place, but I've be hearing that while the Argetine promoter wanted a third show prior to either of the shows being put on sale, the band is more keen to use the date of March 5th for Rio.

I'm not comparing it to Denmark, I'm comparing it to Japan/South America.
Tokyo/Yokohama has over 16.000.000 million people - the biggest city in the world (actually, they're two cities, but it's grown to one big metropolis) and Japan is a larger market for U2 than Brazil (correct me if I'm wrong!). I just think it's unfair for the Chileans with rocket-high ticket prices and only one show, compared to Brazil with the potential of 4 shows.

 

[Halup]

I'm not comparing it to Denmark, I'm comparing it to Japan/South America.
Tokyo/Yokohama has over 16.000.000 million people - the biggest city in the world (actually, they're two cities, but it's grown to one big metropolis) and Japan is a larger market for U2 than Brazil (correct me if I'm wrong!). I just think it's unfair for the Chileans with rocket-high ticket prices and only one show, compared to Brazil with the potential of 4 shows.

U2 may sell more cds in Japan, but based on the Popmart tour in 1998, they are a much bigger concert draw in Brasil. For Popmart, U2 sold out 3 shows in Brasil, 2 of them to over 80,000 each night in Sao Paulo and a show in Rio with over 65,000. In Japan, 2 shows were originally planned for the 50,000 capacity Tokyo Dome on March 5-6, 1998, but due to slow sales, they ended up doing only the one show on March 5, and they did a show in Osaka, which I attended. Capacity there was around 35,000 and I'm not sure if it was fully sold out. I know that I easily bought a ticket outside the stadium and paid a little under face value.

Sao Paulo's rumored prices are considerally higher than Santiago's announced prices, both of which I feel are unfair to the citizens of these countries.

As far as talking about concert ticket demand, I think you can compare the Chile-Brasil situation to how it was in Europe. Denmark got only 1 show on this tour, whereas neighboring country Germany got 3. That is hardly unfair though, when you consider Germany has around 60,000,000 people, which far dwarf's Denmark's population. It's the same issue for Brasil which has maybe 150,000,000 more people in it's country than Chile.

 

[God Part III]

U2 may sell more cds in Japan, but based on the Popmart tour in 1998, they are a much bigger concert draw in Brasil. For Popmart, U2 sold out 3 shows in Brasil, 2 of them to over 80,000 each night in Sao Paulo and a show in Rio with over 65,000. In Japan, 2 shows were originally planned for the 50,000 capacity Tokyo Dome on March 5-6, 1998, but due to slow sales, they ended up doing only the one show on March 5, and they did a show in Osaka, which I attended. Capacity there was around 35,000 and I'm not sure if it was fully sold out. I know that I easily bought a ticket outside the stadium and paid a little under face value.

Sao Paulo's rumored prices are considerally higher than Santiago's announced prices, both of which I feel are unfair to the citizens of these countries.

As far as talking about concert ticket demand, I think you can compare the Chile-Brasil situation to how it was in Europe. Denmark got only 1 show on this tour, whereas neighboring country Germany got 3. That is hardly unfair though, when you consider Germany has around 60,000,000 people, which far dwarf's Denmark's population. It's the same issue for Brasil which has maybe 150,000,000 more people in it's country than Chile.

Hmm. I didn't know Chile was so unpopulated. and I didn't know about the Popmart thingy either. Well, more concerts makes more fans happy, no complaints from me.

Off-topic though: I'm planning to go to Japan to watch the Yokohama concerts. How does a Japanese crowd react? At what time (if you were GA) is it clever arriving? It'd be very nice with some advice from someone who's done it before
Thanks in advance.

 

[Halup]

Hmm. I didn't know Chile was so unpopulated. and I didn't know about the Popmart thingy either. Well, more concerts makes more fans happy, no complaints from me.

Off-topic though: I'm planning to go to Japan to watch the Yokohama concerts. How does a Japanese crowd react? At what time (if you were GA) is it clever arriving? It'd be very nice with some advice from someone who's done it before
Thanks in advance.

I suspect that the floor may not be GA in Japan. It was not GA in 1998. It was real interesting seeing that show there. The crowd seemed pretty appreciative of U2, but I also have strong memories of points between songs where the applause would end and it got so quiet I could hear the hum coming from the amplifiers, which is something I've never encountered at any other U2 show I've seen.

I've got a very unusual story from that show. I bought my ticket outside from an American couple and I had no idea where it was located in the stadium. I got inside and it was a floor ticket, located near the back. When I got to the back, the section did not exist. An usher gave me a new location to go to, which ended up being just a few seats to the side of the VIP stage in front of the mixing boards. I'm about 1.93 meters tall with blondish hair so I really stood out in this audience. A lot of the crew members were noticing me there.

Shows in Japan start very early and frequently do not have opening acts. As a result, U2 came onstage at just after 7:00pm. A few songs into the show, I noticed Paul McGuinness standing by the railing on the VIP stage, so I decided to approach him in between the next songs. When I started talking to him, he told me I had stood out like a sore thumb in this crowd. I told him I had come from Los Angeles to see the show and travel around Japan and that as I had attended the Popmart opening in Las vegas, I wanted to see a show near the end of the tour. He took an interest in all I was telling him, then asked if I would like to watch the show from the VIP stage. I went up there and spoke with him a little more during the show.

The funniest part of the night occurred during Where The Streets Have No Name. Apparently Bono felt he needed to get the Japanese crowd more excited, because during the song, he came off the stage and ran to the back of the floor as the band continued playing without him. As he got to the back, the fans came rushing towards him. I decided I wanted to be down in all of this and ran off the VIP stage. About 5-6 Japanese security guards had by this point ran to Bono and were holding off the fans from him. I was able to run directly up to Bono and was pressed next to him. The guards were moving Bono to a side door and I followed along. They opened the door, as gaurds held off the Japanese fans from Bono. I ended up walking in right behind Bono, as to my amazement the Japanese guards did nothing to stop me. They closed the door and it was me with about 6-7 security guards and Bono. A few of them then escorted Bono up a side tunnel to get him back to the stage. I decided not to press my luck and try to follow, so I walked back out onto the floor. I walked back to the VIP stage and the guard standing by the stairs stepped aside without saying a word and let me back up onto it. I was able to se Bono walk back onstage as the band was still playing an extended Streets. I have not heard a bootleg of the show, but that version must have ended up being around 9 minutes long. After the show ended I noticed Howie B. was in attendance and talked to him for a little while.

I'm convinced to this day that because of my size and being a white guy that they saw coming off the VIP stage, that they assumed I was either U2 security or somehow connected to U2. Something like that would only happen in Japan.

After the lights came up, it was the strangest thing I've ever seen after a concert. Unlike any other show where everyone can exit the building at the same time, here they first let out only the peple with seats in the stands. After this, the people on the floor were let out section by section. They had security monitoring each section to make sure everyone complied. I noticed a white couple arguing with security on the floor as they did not want to wait until their section was allowed to exit. The concert was over shortly after 9:00pm, the time where U2 usually goes onstage.

 

[God Part III]

Thanks very much Halup, quite an interesting story! I'm 1,91, so I also suspect there will be no problem getting a proper view from a GA stand! I've had a problem with my internet connection so I didn't get to reply. Thanks anyway!
Now I'll just have to get tickets!

 

[pepokiss]

we have 15.000.000 people... but that doesn't mean we should only get 1 show... I know there's demand for 2... but maybe because of the prices that can go to hell... damn DG MEDIOS