So since the tour is starting in Boston...

[speedracer]

Well, I'm just glad to see the band isn't permanently mad at the city of Boston just because some out-of-towners tried to ruin a show after U2 security let in three rows of people into the heart in front of them.

 

[Blue Room]

Well, I'm just glad to see the band isn't permanently mad at the city of Boston just because some out-of-towners tried to ruin a show after U2 security let in three rows of people into the heart in front of them.

Oh man, lets not rehash that whole ugly incident again. Errors were made by both parties (fans and U2) and it has been discussed ad nauseum here and other places. Lets ALL move forward and hope it doesnt happen again. Lets face it, the band probebly hasnt given it a thought since they left Boston in 2001. Why dont we all do the same.

 

[Hewson]

I really don't think that incident (perpetrated largely by travellers and not Bostonians) would have a major impact on the band's 20+year relationship with Boston and its fans. Like Blue Room said, they probably don't even think about it.
Though maybe one of those protesters was in France recently and found a way to exact some revenge...

 

[blue eyed boy]

Gotta stick with Miami, also... A) The guys have homes there. B) If you were rehearsing for a tour in January or February, would you rather be near Boston or Miami? And Zoo TV and Elevation launched here... why not again? (The Lakeland show on Zoo TV was more of a dress rehearsal show... Miami was the official opening night.)

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

well where ever the main tour starts... i personally think they should have their first promo date at webster hall (formerly the ritz) in nyc on december 6th... 24 years to the day of their first united states show. with the album comming out just 13 days earlier, i think it works out just splendidly... they could play letterman earlier in the day (dave tapes at around 6pm), then head down to the village and play the same venue where they first played... damn i'm a marketing genious

 

[ouizy]

If the band played Webster Hall (a block from my apartment), and I were able to catch the show...


I could die a happy man.


However,


The band usually kicks off all US tours in a warm city in a warm state. There are various resons they do this and here is why I think they do:

1. If it is an outdoor show, obviously the weather plays a big factor.

2. I have to imagine rehearsals outside in warm weather (or even inside) are better for Bono's voice than that of a cold city.

3. Things can be stored outside in a warm dry place.

there are other logistical reasons, but I would not be surprised if the tour started in Las Vegas or Miami.

 

[Guinness Stout]

I checked out the Fleet Center calendar page, along with the Celtics and Bruins schedules, and there really isnt enough dates in March for Boston, other than a quick March 22,23 and 24- assuming they can get the stage ready in less than a day!
And that wouldnt allow for any practice time in the arena itself.
Even in Miami-American Airlines arena is getting booked up in March-
who knows, maybe there wont be a hockey season anyway.
I assume the tour will have to work around the NBA and NHL schedules for most arenas.
May or June is more likely in Boston since the season ends by then, and any playoff games can be scheduled around the concert dates.

 

[Hewson]

any playoff games can be scheduled around the concert dates.

Have you been paying attention to the B's and C's offseason moves...the Fleetcenter will be wide open come late April.

Anyway...who knows, maybe they're gonna do a mini tour first like they did for JT and hit 10 or so cities with 1 show as a warm up and they can start in Beantown.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

If the band played Webster Hall (a block from my apartment), and I were able to catch the show...


I could die a happy man.


However,


The band usually kicks off all US tours in a warm city in a warm state. There are various resons they do this and here is why I think they do:

1. If it is an outdoor show, obviously the weather plays a big factor.

2. I have to imagine rehearsals outside in warm weather (or even inside) are better for Bono's voice than that of a cold city.

3. Things can be stored outside in a warm dry place.

there are other logistical reasons, but I would not be surprised if the tour started in Las Vegas or Miami.

agreed... vegas would truely rock, and i would do my damndest to get out there for the show... but i still think they should listen to my briliant idea and play a promos how, ala irving plaza durring the atyclb promo tour, at webster hall... 24 years to the day at the exact same venue as their first US concert... it's pure genious i tell ya... genious.

 

[RademR]

i was at webster hall last month, great club. It would be cool if the band played there as like a "irving plaza" thing before the real tour kicked off. Nothing like NYC, i'm going up there for one of u2's shows this tour for sure.

 

[saltwaterkiss26]

U2 in Fenway

Fenway Park baby!! The Band needs to play FENWAY!!!!!!!

I could not agree more. Maybe then SOMETHING uplifting will happen there. God knows it won't be a Sox game... (No offense, really; I mean, I love them, but sometimes... ) A little Walk On would do that place a lot of good, huh? Not to mention it being a kickass place to do a concert.

And I must say, to all the warm weather comments, that Boston is certainly not warm in March... Still, a girl can dream, can't she?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Fenway Park baby!! The Band needs to play FENWAY!!!!!!!

i hope they play who's gonna pay fo youa crashed caaaahhh... that's song's wicked aaasome

 

[Hewson]

Daddy's gonna pay

 

[Guinness Stout]

How about a practice gig at the Paradise, or an orpheum show like the Stones did last year-

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Daddy's gonna pay

i'm now mixing up whose gonna ride your wild horses and daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car... trying to mock bostonians takes a lot out of me.

 

[U2girl]

Well, I'm just glad to see the band isn't permanently mad at the city of Boston just because some out-of-towners tried to ruin a show after U2 security let in three rows of people into the heart in front of them.

*reads* So that's where Larry's angry stare and shaking of the head during Desire came from! I always thought he was being mad at someone taking pictures or something...

Not to start any fights (what Blue room said), was it ever cleared who gave the order to move those few rows ahead? I mean, was it the band, the TV station who recorded the show...?

 

[CTU2fan]

Agreed...I've heard so many stories about that, but who knows what the real deal was? Anyway, I'm for a Boston opener, then Hartford And a Fenway show at the end of the first leg would seriously kick ass...

 

[anitram]

How about an opener in toronto in Feb. 15?

Oh, what a pleasant GA lineup that would be!

 

[SusanneAdoresU2]

Boston start dates-

March 18th in Boston is fantastic...

Why?

I live in Boston..
My birthday is March 18th...

Please say it's so!

The only thing that could top that would be if the shows are GA and I end up getting near this tour's version of 'the heart tip'..

got my fingers crossed...

 

[Blue Room]

I checked out the Fleet Center calendar page, along with the Celtics and Bruins schedules, and there really isnt enough dates in March for Boston, other than a quick March 22,23 and 24- assuming they can get the stage ready in less than a day!
And that wouldnt allow for any practice time in the arena itself.
Even in Miami-American Airlines arena is getting booked up in March-
who knows, maybe there wont be a hockey season anyway.
I assume the tour will have to work around the NBA and NHL schedules for most arenas.
May or June is more likely in Boston since the season ends by then, and any playoff games can be scheduled around the concert dates.

Miami has 3 arenas (if you count Ft. Lauderdale). One of these is rarely used and thats where they rehearsed for Elevation for a week before the first show in Ft. Lauderdale. Folks there is almost no way U2 are rehearsing in Boston for an opener there. I still go with what Paul McGuiness said as more reliable than Bono telling a group of people (in Boston) this information, which could have been misheard, misinterpreted, etc. Paul said the tour is going to start in Miami.

Now what is interesting is if they do some type of mini promo tour. I could see THAT starting in Boston. But the main tour will not start there.

 

[Blue Room]

*reads* So that's where Larry's angry stare and shaking of the head during Desire came from! I always thought he was being mad at someone taking pictures or something...

Not to start any fights (what Blue room said), was it ever cleared who gave the order to move those few rows ahead? I mean, was it the band, the TV station who recorded the show...?

Dammit U2girl stop the fighting!!! LOL

Larry is definately looking at the "protestors" during Desire when he shakes his head in disgust.

Who gave the order? U2

Their theory was that they wanted fresh new faces with alot of energy to be up front on the video (as they knew they were planning a commercial release of it and at that time they thought it would air on HBO). So they took some people from the middle and back of the line and lined the heart with them as they figured they would be more "fresh" than the people who camped out all night up front. Was it a bad move? I think it was, but I dont think U2 thought it out. I don't think they were trying to hurt anyone with the move or figured people would be that upset about it. It was a bad decision on their part that got blown WAY out of proportion. Thats my take on it.

 

[Guinness Stout]

I was about 15 rows up the side of the stage for that show, and I never even noticed the "protest"- the next night i was in GA and heard about it from some of the people who staged it
They must have been to about 10 GA shows in a row- the same people apparently were standing in front night after night- you know, being 4 rows back in GA is pretty damn good, I can appreciate being upset about being cut in line, but i don't think it was a bunch of first timers either- no reason to get that upset about it.

I hope they do some sort of GA again, even with a stadium show. Maybe with the hockey lockout some dates will open up!

 

[Hewson]

Originally posted by Blue Room
Now what is interesting is if they do some type of mini promo tour. I could see THAT starting in Boston. But the main tour will not start there.

Thats what i think may happen, like JT tour, a half dozen or so one off shows in select cities, say Boston, NY, Chitown, Atl, LA and SF for example possibly without all the bells and whistles the full tour will encompass (including an actual live Atomic Bomb which Edge will diffuse during the guitar solo from "Acrobat" without missing a note), followed a few weeks or months later by the full scale tour launch.

Of course there are now plenty of open dates at the FleeceCenter thru the winter/spring since there ain't no NHL season.

 

[wolfeden]

fleece-center

*wishing for a teeny lil' intimate "rehearsal show" somewhere like the 'Dise or the Palladium or the Middle East.. w00!!!*

 

[The_acrobat]

including an actual live Atomic Bomb which Edge will diffuse during the guitar solo from "Acrobat" without missing a note), . [/B]

That made me really laugh out loud. It would be so suspenseful that I wouldn't even be able to appreciate the guitar solo.

 

[Theedge555]

Fenway Park baby!! The Band needs to play FENWAY!!!!!!!

Maybe next September - Springsteen did it last year, Buffett did it this year. 2 nights for each artist. It definitely would be interesting....

 

[sv]

openers

Artists are superstitious. Zoo and Elevation openers (and tours) were extremely successful - I think they'll do Miami again.

Bad luck with the JT-Tempe (laryngitis) and Pop-Vegas openers.

Club dates are essentially a gift to media reps and major well-connected industry players (and a few of us hopefully!). Their goodwill and buy-in are essential for large-scale success - U2 has learned this lesson well. So I do think that we will see a few club dates this year in the big media cities (and hopefully Boston also).

sv

 

[RiverToTheSea]

Don't forget about Portland on that schedule!!

..they usually come to Portland!! I hope they do again!