Should U2 do a Stadium-Arena-Club Tour like the Rolling Stones did?

[Infinity]

I think it would be very interesting and I would love to see U2 in a club. What songs do you guys think would be particularly great highlights in the stadium? The arena? The club?

 

[Axver]

HELL YES.

Clubs would be the perfect venue to bring back old rarities. And The Electric Co. would just fucking DESTROY any club it's played in.

 

[phillyfan26]

U2 needs to tour more often, and needs to release some live albums.

 

[U2girl]

If I remember right their touring crew complained when they were playing arenas and stadiums on the JT tour on the last US leg since it was a lot of work.

 

[kingofsorrow]

clubs are dangerous. what if the edge catches on fire during one of his solo's? the place is to cramped and everyone would go down in flames.
all this is assuming they can't get bono's ego thru the door and adams BIG..........................................bass up on stage.

 

[U2girl]

Clubs are ok for the mini pre-album tour like they did with ATYCLB, but I don't think they'd do that for a whole tour.

If getting tickets for the last two tours was hard (and they played arenas and stadiums), imagine getting tickets to club shows.

 

[CVA]

I think it´s a great idea, mixing arena or stadium sized shows with local clubs. It would be a "close encounter" that both band and fans could have fun with. Tickets would of course be the big issue to solve, since it would be great if it actually was local people at each local club. But I do think it´s a great idea!

 

[u2thewho]

Maybe they could require you to past a band general knowledge test to weed out the true fans before giving them tickets. But knowing the boys, you'd probably get preference for being a U2.com premium member.

 

[CTU2fan]

^ And for being cute...

 

[Bonochick]

If getting tickets for the last two tours was hard (and they played arenas and stadiums), imagine getting tickets to club shows.

Exactly. People get all jazzed about the idea of seeing U2 in a smaller venue...but good luck getting tickets. Ryan Adams fans just went through that...all excited that Ryan was playing small and intimate venues this summer. However, people started singing a different tune once they were unable to score tickets. Even I couldn't buy tickets the normal way, and you guys know how much I love Ryan. I just lucked out that a friend wound up with extras to sell me.

Ryan is nowhere near as popular as U2...so I can just imagine the chaos and disappointed fans if U2 played club dates. Of course, for those who would get tickets...yes, it would be very cool.

 

[CVA]

The thing is to play a stadium/arena gig as well as a club gig, in the same town. That´s what several major acts have done. People who attended Rolling Stones for both arena and club gigs in the same city, said it was great and of course totally different experiences, both for band and fans.

Imagine doing stadium-stadium-stadium-stadium-stadium and so on. Being able to have Beluga for breakfast every morning might be fun for a while, then it must get really boring. These are four great guys, but still human, with ten toes, ten fingers and so on like everyone else, and I think this would be a great way for them to actually get some true variation in touring-agenda. I don´t think Mr Manager would EVER allow for them to do a "just clubs"-tour! Getting tickets are the main hassle, so let´s just hope the next album is a really obscure thing, that only "Blue crack"-members "get"! "Sadly" ten million people seem to have fallen in love with this band.

 

[love2bmama]

I agree, seeing them in a club would be an awesome experience, but trying to get tickets for it would be

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

There would be lines for the valium prescriptions that would have to be filled before dates went onsale.

If they ever did anything as cool as that, you can guarantee there would be chaos.

 

[LMP]

Exactly. People get all jazzed about the idea of seeing U2 in a smaller venue...but good luck getting tickets. Ryan Adams fans just went through that...all excited that Ryan was playing small and intimate venues this summer. However, people started singing a different tune once they were unable to score tickets. Even I couldn't buy tickets the normal way, and you guys know how much I love Ryan. I just lucked out that a friend wound up with extras to sell me.

Ryan is nowhere near as popular as U2...so I can just imagine the chaos and disappointed fans if U2 played club dates. Of course, for those who would get tickets...yes, it would be very cool.

Exactly, U2.com wouldn't be much of a help in this type of situation either.

I know I'd like to pay 40 bucks to get a subscription so I can get tickets for a June show in July.

 

[Jeannieco]

clubs are dangerous. what if the edge catches on fire during one of his solo's? the place is to cramped and everyone would go down in flames.
all this is assuming they can't get bono's ego thru the door and adams BIG..........................................bass up on stage.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I know I'd like to pay 40 bucks to get a subscription so I can get tickets for a June show in July.

That's actually U2.com's motto, "Pay us 40 bucks and we'll give you tickets to a June show in July."

I feel like U2 has taken the safe route with touring lately--all arenas in the U.S., mostly stadiums in the rest of the world. It would be interesting to see them mix it up a little. They're in such high demand that they don't need to tour in support of a new album. It would be a little challenging for the crew, but they plan so far in advance that they'd be well prepared, and it's not like they'd be taking the whole stadium production inside, just a small portion of the equipment.

Yes, getting tickets for a club tour would be a nightmare, but there are ways to make sure tickets go to people who actually want to see the shows and not scalpers. It would also be interesting to see if they could put in place and actually enforce a rule where a person could only see a certain number of club shows, which could possibly make it a little more fair.

I say it's time for U2 to stop worrying about business for a little while and try something different.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

^

I think their fan base is large enough in the US that it can support a statium tour...

And for the love of all things holy, please change the stage this time! The heart/elipse design is played...

 

[Mofo]

besides the difficulty in logistics, it's possible doing the Stadium-Arena-Club Tour like the Stones did for 40 Licks Tour, a club tour would disappoint thousands of fans looking for tickets, but all three with

stadium shows; mostly greatest hits
arena shows: a little more varied
club shows: mostly rarities

now all U2 needs to do is to rehearse like 50 songs

 

[ejfan007]

I think this is a great idea; sure there's a host of logistical and security issues, but this would give the band a refresher course in some of their more obscure material. For club shows, do a setlist similar to the olden days, opening up with I Will Follow or OOC.

 

[JCOSTER]

A club show would be nice like the Ritz from a few years ago.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Exactly. People get all jazzed about the idea of seeing U2 in a smaller venue...but good luck getting tickets.

If I can do a combined 20 hours outside a little record store in -25C weather for two nights of 650-seat Arcade Fire goodness, I can do more for U2.

Yeah, bitches

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

yes

 

[BoMac]

If I can do a combined 20 hours outside a little record store in -25C weather for two nights of 650-seat Arcade Fire goodness, I can do more for U2.

Yeah, bitches

Yes that was a difficult night, what will all the coffee and food we consumed at the various cafes and diners we visited.

Seriously, I slept two nights at the Bell Centre to snag U2 tickets, and there's no telling how long I would wait to see U2 in a club.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

they should...

 

[Morgoth321]

While club shows are a lovely idea, the cynic in me already knows that several things would happen:

1) Scalpers and agencies would inevitably get their hands on the majority of the tickets, and would hawk them for preposterously exorbitant sums of money.
2) U2's legions of 'friends' / hangers-on and celebrity associates would have no problems gaining access. (In the context of an arena or stadium tour, this isn't a big issue, but it would be if the crowd size would be a few hundred people. The VIPs and their entourages would be taking away the opportunities for genuine fans.)
3) Whatever system used to allocate the 'general sale' tickets would never satisfy the demand, and vast amounts of people would end up disappointed. They would then use forums like this to hold the band responsible for business decisions that they have no direct control over (or choose not to look to closely at!).

Bottom line is, in the real world, the amount of tickets available to the general public for any major tour are nothing like the advertised capacities of the venues, for all sorts of reasons (fanclub presales, corporate hospitality, legal and illegal scalper activities etc). If U2 ever did do a club tour, very few of their 'genuine' fans would be able to see them in action - and by genuine I mean those without the financial muscle or connections that would give them an advantage.