How Amazing Would This Be...

[BVS]

and I had no idea it was a U2 song way back then.

 

[the tourist]

June 11th Seattle, WA Qwest Field

The problem with that is that it won't be after the 4th of July but before the 1st of September. Which means there's a 90% chance it would rain, instead of only a 40% chance (during the times I mentioned). Instead, they should do two nights at the Gorge Amphitheatre, where the crowd would be double, still outdoor, but WAAAAAAAY better atmosphere.

 

[Axver]

Plus, I highly doubt the band will mix stadiums and arenas on the same leg. That would be a logistical nightmare for the crew, unless they plan on hiring two productions managers and two stage managers, and that's just silly.

Would it really be that hard? If they actually designed a stage that had "extra parts", in a manner of speaking, so that it could go into arenas or be extended for stadiums, wouldn't that keep things down logistically? Or, for that matter, they're going to have a stadium setup for Europe anyway, so would it be that hard to bring it to the US for some shows? Hell, they brought Vertigo's down to Oceania for just nine shows at five venues - I don't doubt they could do more stadiums in the US to a lower cost and higher profit.

It's quite clear that some US markets really require U2 to play stadiums to avoid a ridiculous amount of concerts, such as New York and Boston. I think on the next tour, U2 can't just stick to arenas in some parts of North America.

 

[corianderstem]

The problem with that is that it won't be after the 4th of July but before the 1st of September. Which means there's a 90% chance it would rain, instead of only a 40% chance (during the times I mentioned). Instead, they should do two nights at the Gorge Amphitheatre, where the crowd would be double, still outdoor, but WAAAAAAAY better atmosphere.

Yeah, but then that means I'm driving 3 hours over the mountains and either driving 3 hours back in the middle of the night or camping there.

DO NOT WANT!!!!

Can't we just shack up U2 at Safeco Field, with its retractable roof?

 

[the tourist]

Yeah, but then that means I'm driving 3 hours over the mountains and either driving 3 hours back in the middle of the night or camping there.

DO NOT WANT!!!!

Can't we just shack up U2 at Safeco Field, with its retractable roof?

Sound would be horrifyingly shitty. What if U2 did a 3-day deal at the Gorge, though? Worth it? I think so! People would come from all across the Pacific Northwest/BC, etc for that. And I know a good offsite campsite. It would be heaven.

 

[corianderstem]

I'm not a camping kind of girl.

Honestly, though, U2 would be the one band I'd trek to the Gorge for.

 

[U2girl]

Morgoth321: I believe McGuiness did say that, and it's interesting he said "autumn", considering they tend to play Europe in the summer.

Bonoismymuse: I think they had a mix of arenas and stadiums on last leg of JT tour and I remember reading somewhere the tour crew said they'd never do that again as it was too stressful.

 

[Axver]

Bonoismymuse: I think they had a mix of arenas and stadiums on last leg of JT tour and I remember reading somewhere the tour crew said they'd never do that again as it was too stressful.

All three legs of the JT Tour were a mix of arenas and stadiums, actually.

And they did do it again. On Lovetown's first leg, they did arenas in Australia (though I think Adelaide was outdoors?) and stadiums in New Zealand.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I know a lot of people think the US gets too many shows, but come on.

We don't just think it, we know it's fact.

 

[Axver]

We don't just think it, we know it's fact.

Yeah. I don't care how big it is; one country should not get over half of the shows on any given world tour.

Not even a country as large as China could justify that.

 

[last unicorn]

I'm okay with two US legs and that many shows IF U2 came back to Europe for a second leg and play as many shows there as well.

 

[Axver]

I'd be OK if they did two US legs and two European legs if they did two legs of everywhere else too.

I'm not sure Paul McGuinness is all too aware anywhere exists beyond North America and Western Europe. Hell, Muse did two legs of Australia in 2007 and they aren't exactly some small, non-notable band with low expenses. If they can do it, I don't see why U2 can't.

 

[U2girl]

All three legs of the JT Tour were a mix of arenas and stadiums, actually.

And they did do it again. On Lovetown's first leg, they did arenas in Australia (though I think Adelaide was outdoors?) and stadiums in New Zealand.

Touche.

But Lovetown was obviously a much shorter tour than JT. Did they play Europe and Japan indoors on that tour too ?


I'd be okay with what they did in Popmart: 2 legs for US (less dates though), more Europe and ROW territories.

 

[Axver]

But Lovetown was obviously a much shorter tour than JT. Did they play Europe and Japan indoors on that tour too ?

All the European shows were arenas, as were the Osaka shows. The Tokyo gigs were at the Tokyo Dome, the same venue used on ZooTV and Popmart - a roofed stadium.

I'd be okay with what they did in Popmart: 2 legs for US (less dates though), more Europe and ROW territories.

I really don't see why two US legs are necessary. Why not combine it into one leg? If they do stadium shows in the biggest markets, one leg really wouldn't end up taking that long.

 

[The Sad Punk]

U2 haven't even played Iran yet. What's up with that?

 

[Axver]

U2 haven't even played Iran yet. What's up with that?

Ahmadinejad didn't send a text message to the One Campaign.

 

[U2girl]

Do you know, perhaps, the ratio of arenas/stadiums on JT ?

For Lovetown it seems vast majority of dates were arenas. Did the demand made them play some stadium dates ?

As for US legs...teritorry size ? Demand ? Financial/profit reasons ?

 

[Axver]

Do you know, perhaps, the ratio of arenas/stadiums on JT ?

No, but I'll go and calculate it! I'm curious and I don't have much else to do right now.

For Lovetown it seems vast majority of dates were arenas. Did the demand made them play some stadium dates ?

For New Zealand, they had to play stadiums. At the time, the country had no arenas of a remotely suitable size, and the demand was extraordinary. U2 set the record for the highest attendance to a concert in Christchurch, and a second unplanned show was added for Auckland after the first quickly sold out. The second show added was actually the first one played - it was squeezed in between Wellington and the first-to-go-on-sale Auckland show.

As for Japan, I've no idea why they did a stadium in Tokyo and an arena in Osaka. It seems there was plenty of demand in Tokyo though - they did two shows at the Tokyo Dome!

I'm not quite sure what the deal is with Adelaide as I'm unfamiliar with its venues. Saddo might be able to clarify. U2 played what's listed as "Memorial Drive Stadium" - is that a tennis venue or something? I don't think it's on the scale of the Kiwi stadiums or the Tokyo Dome.

As for US legs...teritorry size ? Demand ? Financial/profit reasons ?

Well, take something like Popmart - 30 shows the first time around, 17 the second. I don't see why they couldn't have done all 47 in one leg! It strikes me as being a much more effective way to go about things. The first leg of Elevation and third of Vertigo were both longer; 50 shows each.

 

[Axver]

Do you know, perhaps, the ratio of arenas/stadiums on JT ?

Alright, here we go.

First leg: 1 stadium show to 28 arena shows.

Second leg: 18 stadium shows to 12 arena shows.

Third leg: approximately 20 stadium shows to 30 arena shows. I am honestly not clear whether some venues are arenas or stadiums. If someone more knowledgeable about US venues wants to have a look, here's the concert list.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Would it really be that hard? If they actually designed a stage that had "extra parts", in a manner of speaking, so that it could go into arenas or be extended for stadiums, wouldn't that keep things down logistically? Or, for that matter, they're going to have a stadium setup for Europe anyway, so would it be that hard to bring it to the US for some shows? Hell, they brought Vertigo's down to Oceania for just nine shows at five venues - I don't doubt they could do more stadiums in the US to a lower cost and higher profit.

They used two stages on the last tour, so that one was always on its way to the next place. I don't know that going from an arena stage to a stadium stage is just a matter of adding more parts--the stage itself looked quite a bit different to me in the pictures I saw from the European and last legs of the tour, that it was higher, and of course that it had the B stages rather than the full catwalk that arena shows had around the ellipse. I also think the video eqipment would be different.

Switching between stadiums and arenas would also be difficult for Joe and the guys in the backline, because the sound would be so different between playing inside and playing outside.

U2's got the best crew in the world, so they certainly could do a mix of stadiums and arenas, but as U2girl said, it would be extremely stressful, and since the band is so good to the crew, I doubt they'd put them through that. I think the U.S. will see both stadium and arena shows on the next tour, just not on the same leg.

 

[Axver]

They used two stages on the last tour, so that one was always on its way to the next place.

In that case, wouldn't it then be fairly easy to have one arena stage and one stadium stage and ensure the schedule is not problematic with that?

I don't know that going from an arena stage to a stadium stage is just a matter of adding more parts--the stage itself looked quite a bit different to me in the pictures I saw from the European and last legs of the tour, that it was higher, and of course that it had the B stages rather than the full catwalk that arena shows had around the ellipse. I also think the video eqipment would be different.

Oh, I know things were quite distinctly different between Vertigo's arena and stadium stages, but if they designed a stage with going between arenas and stadiums in mind, perhaps they could avoid some of those differences? For example, return to just one catwalk out to a b-stage, which can be shortened or lengthened depending on the venue. A stage with adjustable height surely can't be that difficult either. Though the size of a screen and such would perhaps be a bit more difficult.

I think the U.S. will see both stadium and arena shows on the next tour, just not on the same leg.

That strikes me as less viable, not more. You'd have a stadium leg hitting the northeast, Chicago, the west coast, and maybe a couple of other strong markets. Then you'd have an arena leg filling in the gaps at a totally different point in time. It seems patchy and illogical to me, and the two might as well be combined - or markets that can't support stadiums should just be ditched. Going by the Vertigo Tour's sales figures, most of the places they played can either support one stadium show in at least a reasonably sized stadium (there's no rule saying U2 can't play 30,000 seater stadiums in smaller markets), or are near a market that can support a stadium show.

Actually, I'm just thinking back to Elevation - in some of the strongest European markets, they were able to make the arena set-up work in stadiums, Turin and Slane being the most obvious examples. It worked. Why not mainly tour the US in arenas if they think stadiums are largely unviable and/or still haunted by Popmart's memories, but in LA, Chicago, New York, and Boston put the arena setup in a stadium?

 

[The_acrobat]

OK -- Done some thinking for 2009 first US leg. In the fall, Uniondale, NY and Madison Square Garden as well ast the TD Banknorth Garde and Rogers Centre would be tacked on to some repeats as well as Minneapolis and Denver. What do you think? I'm bored today...

April 10th Jacksonville, FL Municipal Stadium
April 12th Orlando, FL Amway Arena
April 13th Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
April 15th New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena
April 16th Houston, TX Toyota Center
April 18th San Antonio, TX Alamodome
April 20th Oklahome City, OK Ford Center
April 22nd Nashville, TN Sommet Center
April 23rd St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
April 25th Chicago, IL Soldier Field
April 26th Chicago, IL Soldier Field

May 01st Montreal, Canada Bell Centre
May 02nd Montreal, Canada Bell Centre
May 05th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
May 07th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
May 09th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
May 12th Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
May 13th Washington, DC Verizon Center
May 15th Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
May 18th Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium
May 19th Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium

June 05th Edmonton, Canada Commonwealth Stadium
June 06th Edmonton, Canada Commonwealth Stadium
June 08th Vancouver, Canada General Motors Place
June 09th Vancouver, Canada General Motors Place
June 11th Seattle, WA Qwest Field
June 14th Las Vegas, NV Orleans Arena
June 15th Las Vegas, NV Orleans Arena
June 17th Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
Juen 18th Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
June 20th San Francisco, CA Monster Park
June 22nd Anaheim, CA Honda Center
June 23rd San Diego, Ca iPayOne Center
June 25th Los Angeles, CA L.A. Memorial Coliseum
June 26th Los Angeles, CA L.A. Memorial Colisem

SMB

1. U2 will NOT play a stadium show in Jacksonville, Florida ever again. God only knows why they booked it for Popmart, they only sold 15,000 tickets at that show.

2. U2 will not play 3 Florida shows in Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville in a row. Where is Miami?

3. ONE show in Texas, and it's in San Antonio, and it's in a STADIUM? If U2 were to do a stadium show in Texas, they'd definitely do it in Dallas.

4. U2 could definitely do stadium shows in Philly and DC.

5. 2 stadium shows in Edmonton followed immediately by 2 arena shows in Vancouver followed by a stadium show in Seattle. May want to spread those out between 2 legs somehow. Might run into a problem of over-saturation.

6. Why are they playing at the ORLEANS arena in Las Vegas?

7. THEY NEED TO PLAY IN OHIO!!! PREFERABLY IN COLUMBUS!!! (Selfish me)

A side note about the over-saturation thing: Who's to say that if the prices were competitively set, what the actual demand would be? Who knows how many shows U2 could have sold out at MSG or Boston in 2005? Tickets were gone so fast that there was no way to measure the demand except to say that supply was insufficient. They probably could've sold out a 2nd night in lesser markets like Cleveland, Omaha, Milwaukee, etc. They also probably could have played in Columbus, Cincinnati or Indianapolis (which would've been nice for me). They have to draw the line somewhere I guess, or else they'd be play 365 days a year.

 

[iloveedge]

That misses about 95% of U2 fans.

Yeah...I'm so not travelling that far to see U2.

 

[pepokiss]

*looksatlocation*

 

[jimmmm]

October 01st London, England The O2
OCtober 03rd London, England The O2
October 04th London, England The O2
October 07th London, England The O2
OCtober 08th London, England The O2
OCtober 11th New York, NY Madison Square Garden
OCtober 12th New York, NY Madison Square Garden
October 18th Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center
October 19th Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center
October 24th London, England The O2
October 25th London, England The O2
October 27th London, England The O2
October 28th London, England The O2

November 01st Paris, France Bercy
November 02nd Paris, France Bercy
November 05th Hamburg, Germany Color Line Arena
November 06th Hamburg, Germany Color Line Arena
November 10th London, England The O2
November 11th London, England The O2
November 14th London, England The O2
November 15th London, England The O2
November 17th London, England The O2
November 18th London, England The O2

December 13th Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
December 14th Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
December 17th Chicago, IL United Center
December 18th Chicago, IL United Center
December 23rd Dublin, Ireland The Point Theatre
December 24th Dublin, Ireland The Point Theatre
December 26th Dublin, Ireland The Point Theatre
December 27th Dublin, Ireland The Point Theatre
December 30th London, England The O2
December 31st London, England The O2

To be perfectly honest I think that would be shit!!! hard as it may be to believe, there are more cities in England than london.

 

[Shawn Bonneau]

I have listened to all ur thoughts and complied this.

April 10th Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
April 12th Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
April 15th Nashville, TN LP Field
April 17th Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
April 19th Charlotte, NC Bobcats Arena
April 22nd Irving, TX Texas Stadium
April 24th San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
April 27th Tempe, AZ Sun Devil Stadium
April 29th Anaheim, CA Honda Center
April 30th Anaheim, CA Honda Center

May 02nd Los Angeles, CA L.A. Memorial Coliseum
May 05th San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
May 06th San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
May 10th Seattle, WA Qwest Field
May 13th Edmonton, Canada Rexall Place
May 14th Edmonton, Canada Rexall Place
May 20th Chicago, IL Soldier Field
May 21st Chicago, IL Soldier Field
May 23rd St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
May 25th Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
May 27th Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
May 30th Montreal, Canada Bell Centre
May 31st Montreal, Canada Bell Centre

June 05th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
June 07th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
June 09th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
June 11th Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
June 12th Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
June 15th Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium
June 16th Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium

SMB

 

[The_acrobat]

I have listened to all ur thoughts and complied this.

April 10th Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
April 12th Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
April 15th Nashville, TN LP Field
April 17th Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
April 19th Charlotte, NC Bobcats Arena
April 22nd Irving, TX Texas Stadium
April 24th San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
April 27th Tempe, AZ Sun Devil Stadium
April 29th Anaheim, CA Honda Center
April 30th Anaheim, CA Honda Center

May 02nd Los Angeles, CA L.A. Memorial Coliseum
May 05th San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
May 06th San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
May 10th Seattle, WA Qwest Field
May 13th Edmonton, Canada Rexall Place
May 14th Edmonton, Canada Rexall Place
May 20th Chicago, IL Soldier Field
May 21st Chicago, IL Soldier Field
May 23rd St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
May 25th Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
May 27th Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
May 30th Montreal, Canada Bell Centre
May 31st Montreal, Canada Bell Centre

June 05th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
June 07th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
June 09th East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium
June 11th Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
June 12th Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
June 15th Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium
June 16th Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium

SMB

That's a better and more likely vision of what could be. It has only one flaw:

NO COLUMBUS OHIO SHOW!!! (just kidding. I know Columbus is a weak concert market, not just for U2, but in general. However, it is less than an hour from my house. Elevation tour was nice to me I guess.)