FALL tour in Stadiums needed!

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bonoed said:
oh please no, I'd rather do this than have stadiums, horrible, no one in the back sees anything, its useless even going. More arena dates, they could just stay put in Vegas like Celine Dion and have us come to them from all over the world. They could stay put a year and never have to tour.

NO stadiums, please Bono, no.

Some of the best shows I have ever seen have been U2 stadium shows. What happened today with the arena shows is unfair to millions of fans. The band have a stadium production for all their European shows and they should bring it to the USA for the fall tour. In my opinion, its all about the music, not about how physically close you are to the band or whether you can see their facial hair. I've had front row seats in a stadium and seats all the way at the back, on the second level, on the top row of the stadium, and U2 put on a live show that succeeds in reaching both seats!

I understand the concerns some have about stadium shows, but think about all the people who tried their best today to get tickets and didn't, because U2's first leg is only booked in Arena's.
 
they could just stay put in Vegas like Celine Dion and have us come to them from all over the world

LOL!

Yeah, and sold out five years in advance just like her too. Really fair.

Sting2, I agree with you about D.C. and Philly. That's why I put those two as stadium markets, but excluded Kansas City, Green Bay,etc.

U2 is one of the few bands who really make stadium shows work. They won't shortchange fans in stadiums anyway. They care too much about how they come off.

And Adam did mention more video this time. Stadiums with large vidi-screens+U2 = good show.

You're also right about demand versus supply. If they remained in arenas, they'd have to be on the road for two years to fill demand.

They could mix their third leg(like on the JT third leg) with arenas in smaller, and stadiums in larger, markets and come alot closer to satisfying demand.

rockn'rolldoggie
 
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jedi Larry said:
they could just stay put in Vegas like Celine Dion and have us come to them from all over the world

LOL!

Yeah, and sold out five years in advance just like her too. Really fair.

Sting2, I agree with you about D.C. and Philly. That's why I put those two as stadium markets, but excluded Kansas City, Green Bay,etc.

U2 is one of the few bands who really make stadium shows work. They won't shortchange fans in stadiums anyway. They care too much about how they come off.

And Adam did mention more video this time. Stadiums with large vidi-screens+U2 = good show.

You're also right about demand versus supply. If they remained in arenas, they'd have to be on the road for two years to fill demand.

They could mix their third leg(like on the JT third leg) with arenas in smaller, and stadiums in larger, markets and come alot closer to satisfying demand.

rockn'rolldoggie

The JT third leg is the way to do it. Play a stadium show to satisfy the demand, then play an arena for the few that don't like the stadiums. The important thing is being flexible because demand to see U2 in Kentucky is a lot different than the demand to see U2 in Philadelphia or Washington DC.
 
sortofhomecoming said:
I would not be surprised - if they play at Lincoln Financial Field in the Fall.


I would be...

You see, doing a stadium tour in the fall in america is tough... it would run right through the start of the NFL season. not gonna happen...

the only way it is possiable to do a stadium tour in america is to do what springsteen did... play smaller baseball stadiums instead. it would cut the number of tickets down by about 15,000... but it would still be a good 10 to 15,000 more than arenas. it's the only way to get it done.
 
jedi Larry said:
Hey, they played Denver's Mile High in, what October..........:ohmy:

And it was packed with 50,000+ and cold.....

Is Gillette Stadium what used to be called Foxboro Stadium?

Maybe they'd play those dates early September(if they do them at all that is)?

Foxboro Stadium was sitting where Gillette Stadium's parking lot is now. Gillette Stadium is sited about three football fields away from where the old one used to be. Indeed, I would love to see U2 at Gillette Stadium...MUCH better equipped for a concert than the old stadium was. If the band is taking notes about the ticket fiasco for this first U.S. leg, the remedy might be stadiums when they come back to these shores. The problems are in the heartland, where U2 doesn't do nearly as well (aside from, say, Chicago) as they do on the left or right coasts. U2 is definitely a 'Blue State' band. Stadiums might be a stretch outside of the core markets. This isn't just conjecture; it was borne out the last time, on the PopMart tour. Many middle-of-the-country stadiums didn't sell out.
 
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Headache in a Suitcase said:



I would be...

You see, doing a stadium tour in the fall in america is tough... it would run right through the start of the NFL season. not gonna happen...

the only way it is possiable to do a stadium tour in america is to do what springsteen did... play smaller baseball stadiums instead. it would cut the number of tickets down by about 15,000... but it would still be a good 10 to 15,000 more than arenas. it's the only way to get it done.

U2 played stadiums in the USA in the fall of 1987, in the fall of 1992 and in the fall of 1997! On POPMART, the Chicago Bears had to practice at a different field because of the show!

The Rolling Stones did a fall stadium tour in the USA in 1989, 1994 and again in 1997!

The only conflicts would be Sunday evening football games.
 
NHChris said:


Foxboro Stadium was sitting where Gillette Stadium's parking lot is now. Gillette Stadium is sited about three football fields away from where the old one used to be. Indeed, I would love to see U2 at Gillette Stadium...MUCH better equipped for a concert than the old stadium was. If the band is taking notes about the ticket fiasco for this first U.S. leg, the remedy might be stadiums when they come back to these shores. The problems are in the heartland, where U2 doesn't do nearly as well (aside from, say, Chicago) as they do on the left or right coasts. U2 is definitely a 'Blue State' band. Stadiums might be a stretch outside of the core markets. This isn't just conjecture; it was borne out the last time, on the PopMart tour. Many middle-of-the-country stadiums didn't sell out.

Several Red States like Texas(Dallas) and Florida(Miami) can easily support U2 shows. Also Washington DC sellout mainly from people in Virginia, also a Red State. While Pennsylvania is technically Blue, if you look at the county map, its mostly red. The only reason the state turned Blue was because of the large African American communities in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh who do not tend to be big U2 fans as well. Also, one of the few sellouts on the POPMART tour was Salt Lake City, Utah. Another was Las Vegas, Nevada. So I think the whole red state/blue state thing does not hold a lot of water.

As far as the weaker markets regardless of where they are, the band can do arena shows in those markets. That is what they did on the Joshua Tree tour. They played a mix of stadium and arena dates and I think thats what they should do on the fall leg of the tour in the USA.
 
For its size, Salt Lake City is a strong market for U2. :wink:

Headache in a Suitcase
You see, doing a stadium tour in the fall in america is tough... it would run right through the start of the NFL season. not gonna happen...

Yeah, I guess the NFL didn't play in '92.......when U2 played stadiums from August thru November........and I guess they suspended their season when U2 played their third leg POPmart smack dab in the middle of the season.

And I guess they didn't play any football in third leg '87 when U2 played stadiums.

You can easily book a stadium for one, two shows during football that plays once a week.

Actually, winter/spring in the states is alot trickier for bands touring arenas.

You have basketball,hockey,other events, etc.

Plus, many of the larger markets have multiple stadiums...New York met for example.
 
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Anyone who happened to see Zoo TV in both arenas and stadiums should realize that there was no contest between the two - the stadium show blew away the arena show in every way!

This first leg is resembling the Joshua Tree first and second legs in a lot of ways. I really think they should do the combination of arena and stadium shows like they did for the fall leg. Bono has always said that he likes the idea of U2 playing to big crowds in stadiums, so I think it would be great if they could add at least a few stadiums in the fall to help meet demand.

As with Sting2, I have experienced some fantastic stadium shows, as long as I have avoided being too far from the stage. I've travelled through Europe seeing shows in stadiums without the hassle of needing to have tickets before arrival, just buying them outside (often way below face) and going in to have a lot of fun. I feel very lucky that I was able to secure tickets at face for all 5 shows on the first leg I was planning to attend, but feel everyone should have the chance to see the guys this tour.
 
I know that the New England Patriots have a huugggge practice facility next to Gillette Stadium, so that's not an issue.
Secondly, people are forgetting that teams have ROAD TRIPS. Teams go two (if not three!) weeks without a home game. This is why Fall stadium tours can work and have worked in the past.
As for the baseball park idea, I think it would awesome, but my two concerns are sound and availability.
Baseball parks were never built with the idea of hosting a rock concert. Did anyone here see The Boss at Fenway? I'd be interested to hear how the sound was.
Unlike football, baseball teams do not have many off-days, occasionally playing more than twenty games in as many days. But they also have road trips, so it can work.
Also, the quality of the field is much more important in baseball, and a ZooTV-like stage could mess up the field (although they did it Yankee Stadium, so I guess why not?). Football on the other hand can be played in the mud, snow, sleet, etc..., so a beaten up field doesn't matter (unless you're the Colts).
Bottom line: I'd rather see U2 at Fenway than at Gillette.
 
I would not be surprised - if they play at Lincoln Financial Field in the Fall.


I saw Springsteen at the Linc. Horrible acoustics. Horrible. But then again I was up so high I was afraid I'd get hit in the head with an airplane, so maybe it's nicer down in the bottom of the bowl.
 
I think they should do what the Stones did.

Stadium/Arena/Club show in each area:p

It was a very cool idea and worked very well. Schedule Giants Stadium, MSG for 2 nights and a Beacon Theatre show for fanclub members and have no fanclub priority for the other shows

replicate that in each major market :)
 
jedi Larry said:
For its size, Salt Lake City is a strong market for U2. :wink:

Headache in a Suitcase
You see, doing a stadium tour in the fall in america is tough... it would run right through the start of the NFL season. not gonna happen...

Yeah, I guess the NFL didn't play in '92.......when U2 played stadiums from August thru November........and I guess they suspended their season when U2 played their third leg POPmart smack dab in the middle of the season.

And I guess they didn't play any football in third leg '87 when U2 played stadiums.

You can easily book a stadium for one, two shows during football that plays once a week.

Actually, winter/spring in the states is alot trickier for bands touring arenas.

You have basketball,hockey,other events, etc.

Plus, many of the larger markets have multiple stadiums...New York met for example.

thank you for your analysis for the stadiums in new york... i wasn't aware.

thank you again for your analysis for sports arenas and stadiums and their best time of accesability... it's not like i spent 25,000 bucks a year on a degree in sports and recreational management or somethin... ohhh wait, i did.


yes... stadium tours in the early fall have been done... its' very rare, but they have been done. but a simple look at past tour itinerarys gives creedence to my original point.

u2 did some stadium dates in the fall on the joshua tree tour... yes... fact.

51 shows were done on the third leg of the joshua tree tour...
18 of them were done in stadiums... the other 33 were arenas. those 18 stadium dates were held at 16 different venues... 2 were in canada where there is no NFL, 2 were NFL domed stadiums, 5 more had astro-turf fields, two were college stadiums, one was a minor league stadium, and one was a baseball stadium. that leaves only 5 venues where NFL games are played... on grass... that had stadium shows. RFK in DC, Cleveland Municipal, the LA Coliseum, Tampa Stadium & Sun Devil... three of those are in warm weather climates, and cleveland municipal was such a dump that it was nicknamed "the mistake by the lake".... aka they didn't give a crap what happened to the field. So that left RFK Stadium in DC, which may or may not have had an astro-turf field at the time, i can not remember.

on the ZooTV outside broadcast tour, all the cold weather, outdoor NFL stadiums were played in august... before the start of the NFL season. when they played chicago, they played the world music ampitheater. from the start of the NFL season on, the stadiums played were either in warm weather climates, domed stadiums, baseball stadiums, non NFL stadiums or stadiums outside the US.

on the third leg of the popmart tour, the only stadiums they played north of georgia were sky dome (canadian domed), metrodome (domed turf), silverdome (domed turf), olympique (domed turf), sport paleis ahoy (ummm rotterdam), trans world dome (domed turf), & the kingdome (domed turf). in fact, the only outdoor stadiums they played the entire third leg were in florida or mexico.


someone mentioned the stones in 1997... again, look at the dates and the locations... of the 27 stadiums played, the only outdoor NFL stadium dates were pre mid-october, and there were only 6 of them to begin with. 6 out of 27. the other 20 were college stadiums, domes, baseball stadiums or out of country dates.


on to another one of your "points," yes... many markets have multiple stadiums. thus my point of playing baseball stadiums instead of football stadiums. easier access... thus they could play shea stadium... or as you refer it... new york met stadium... instead of playing giants stadium.



arenas and domed buildings... no matter what the season... are normaly built as multi-purpose buildings, easily broken down from one set up to another. that was the rage in the 60s, 70s and early 90s... build stadiums that could be used for a variety of different events with minimal breakdown. from the mid 90s on, from the advent of camden yards in baltimore, both baseball and football teams have taken to building sport specific stadiums, less easily adapted for multiple events. so no, you are wrong... playing a concert at madison square garden durring basketball/hockey season (if there ever is a hockey season again) is harder than playing giants stadium, a stadium that hosts two NFL football teams, durring football season... because of the logistical nature of the arenas, it is easier to set up and break down events in smaller arenas than it is in larger stadiums. yes, it can be done, but it's not as easy as you would think.

also, you forget about the factor of climate. the third leg of the vertigo tour would not begin in the united states until september. that leaves a very small window of opportunity to play non-domed stadiums in the northeast, midwest and pacific coast. not too many people want to be standing outside in new england in november to watch anyone, and i'd be willing to guess not too many bands want to, either.

on the subject of climate... baseball season is over by late september for most teams. they don't care if you trample their grass, they re-sod every off season anyways. it's harder to re-grow grass in winter in cold weather climates, so they don't want 10,000 people trampeling over it durring the season. it's the same reason why there are so few stadium shows at baseball stadiums in the summer. baseball teams have road dates, too... and the ampitheatre setup is more conducive to large stages... but any team that owns it's own stadium doesn't want it's field turned to mush in the middle of the season.


so the logistics of a full blown stadium tour in the united states in the fall just don't work. could they play a few areans and a few stadiums? sure... they did that on the joshua tree tour in 87. they could make it work. but with such a large number of dates to schedule for this third leg, due to the canceling of dates on the first leg because of family illness, as much as i would LOVE to see it, a stadium tour in the fall just doesn't work... unless it's baseball stadiums... which is the only thing i said in the first place.

thanks, though. i hadn't brushed up on my large facilities work in a few years.
 
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Maybe it will be a mixture of stadiums & arenas ?

It actually makes sense - U2 normally have 2 crews and stages when they are touring. 1 where they are playing and the other 1 travelling to the next show. They could tour with an arena set up and a stadium set up and switch between the 2.
 
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