Whats The Biggest US Stadium

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Headache in a Suitcase said:
yes, i noticed.

he sold 35,000 seats. every seat that was for sale was sold, not to mention the upper deck would have bad sightlines there because of the gigantic TV screens, which is exactly why U2 are having the screens raised.

considering a sell out for an arena show woulda been 18,000... selling 35,000 seats isnt' exactly doing poorly.
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I never said it was and most artist can't attain that number in Dallas. Some seats might of had bad sightlines on the upper deck, but definitely not all, plus if Paul needed to, he could raise the the gigantic TV screen as well. George Straits country music festival played to 50,000 people earlier this year. But 360 is going to be way ahead of that attendance figure.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
yes, i noticed.

he sold 35,000 seats. every seat that was for sale was sold, not to mention the upper deck would have bad sightlines there because of the gigantic TV screens, which is exactly why U2 are having the screens raised.
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Very few upper bowl seats would have been blocking the view of McCartney and the stage.

For hockey/basketball arena the scoreboard/screen would have to be raised.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
I think its about time you learned that RECORDS are based on CONFIRMED FACTS, NOT speculation. Just as a man claiming to be 140 in Armenia does not get to a hold a record unless he can prove when he was born with an actual birth certificate, neither does a rumor or media report of a stadium crowd in Brazil in the 1970s or 1980s get the record unless they have confirmed boxoffice numbers for the show.
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The 140 year old is a bad comparison. Shows that happened decades ago have vintage written documentation by newspaper beat reporters who probably frequented sporting events with similar attendance numbers.

Let me ask 2 things:

-is your opinion worth more than Guinness Record Book's fact checking team? They credited Macca and Tina each selling more tickets in Brazil than the 1997 Italy Popmart show. There are exact figures for sports events near 200,000 in RIO.

-Can ANY American music events be used prior to the 1970's by your creditation Process? Any international music event older than 20 years? What sources can be used?
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
A few shows in Europe does NOT constitute a tour.
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ROD 1995:
June
08 Aberdeen, Scotland
10 Glasgow, Scotland
11 Newcastle, UK
15 Hof, Germany
17 London, Wembley Stadium, UK
18 Lüneburg, Germany*
20 Rotterdam, Netherlands*
21 Gent, Belgium*
23 Essen, Germany
25 Schwalmstadt, Germany*
26 Halle, Germany *
28 Paris, France
29 Nancy, France
July 1995
01 München, Germany*
02 Linz, Austria*
04 Berlin, Germany
07 Göteborg, Sweden
08 Praha, Czech Republic*
09 Frauenfeld, Switzerland*
11 Köbenhavn, Denmark*
14 Rostock, Germany
15 Halle, Germany
18 Bucuresti, Romania
19 Istanbul, Turkey
21 Dublin, Ireland
22 Manchester, UK
23 Birmingham, UK
* = Festivals
ABOUT ROD - Tour 1995
Link has Wembley Ticket stub that mentions the "in the round" setup. he held the Wembley attendance record of 83,000 until is was broken by U2 at 88,000. Not 100% which were full stadium setups.

Celine:
June 14, 1999 Amsterdam Holland Amsterdam Arena
June 16, 1999 Brussels Belgium Stade Roi Baudouin
June 19, 1999 Paris France Stade de France
June 20, 1999 Paris France Stade de France
July 1, 1999 Zurich Switzerland Letzigrund Stadion
July 3, 1999 Munich Germany Olympiastadion
July 6, 1999 Sheffield United Kingdom Don Valley Stadium
July 8, 1999 Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium
July 10, 1999 London Wembley Stadium
July 11, 1999 London Wembley Stadium

The european leg of the tour was to be Celine's first stadium tour however, with many shows after March 1999, were cancelled due to René Angélil's sickness, Dion's husband and manager. Some of them were postponed until later in the year but those that were cancelled completely included Dublin, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Vienna, Barcelona, Marseille, Lyon, Cologne and Lisbon. However Celine performed a few of her stadium concerts which included 2 sold out nights at London's Wembley Stadium with more than 65,000 fans each night. Let's Talk About Love Tour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube - Celine Dion - Live in Paris - Part 1/13 - 1999
Some nice crowd shots from the opening song of her Paris concert special to watch with the sound turned off.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
But there is a concert that does have a chance to contest a record for a single day result for Soldier Field and thats Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA tour stop from 1985. The reason it gets to contest any U2 figure is because we have REAL boxoffice data for that show as reported in Billboard Boxscore. Bruce Springsteen played to about 73,000 people at Soldier Field in 1985. So he may still have the single day attendance record, but we won't know that until Boxscore figures are released for the U2 360 show at Soldier Field.
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LOS ANGELES, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With sales this morning of
over 82,000 tickets sold in New York, 72,000 in Boston and 65,000 in Chicago
U2 360 Tour will set the largest single day attendance record in each city. U2 360 Tour: Chicago, Boston and New York All Instantaneous Sell-Outs | Reuters

U2/Live Nation says 65,000 is a single day city record and there's a 1985 Bruce boxscore for 73,000 at the same location? LN/McGuinness must be "liars". The 2 night u2 tally must be a Chicago record.

For those wondering, Soldier Field has been renovated a couple times. Between Bruce and U2 boxsuites were added and total capacity reduced. I think the 1985 show was regular endzone, without a backdrop immediately behind the stage to add a few thousand more. IIRC, the whole stadium was also entirely GA, and in the dog days of summer.
 
Maoilbheannacht:

Do you think U2 will take a run at the US single attendance record in 2010? They could probably do it with some shrewd management decisinos. Which venue/city would be best? Open field that has a bit of a large valley/dip/gully/bowl/natural amphiteater?
 
U2FanPeter said:
The 140 year old is a bad comparison. Shows that happened decades ago have vintage written documentation by newspaper beat reporters who probably frequented sporting events with similar attendance numbers.
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No its not, because its the equilivent of what your doing with a news paper reporter writing about an event 60 years. They write down that there were 100,000 people and thats consider by you to be "vintage written documentation". Its not. Its no different that a any person at the event claiming that there are x number of people or someone claiming they are x age.

Let me ask 2 things:

-is your opinion worth more than Guinness Record Book's fact checking team? They credited Macca and Tina each selling more tickets in Brazil than the 1997 Italy Popmart show. There are exact figures for sports events near 200,000 in RIO.
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Its not an opinon, these are facts. Facts, verified by Billboard boxscore which reports REAL Boxoffice data.

Guinness Record Book's facts is notorious for reporting things that are not in of themselves records. If they have REAL boxoffice data for a show by Macca and Tina in Brazil that beats the Italy POPMART show, then lets see the exact attendance and gross for the shows plus the source of the information. If its just a Brazilian newspaper then its as worthless as your Al Jolson or whatever Chicago figure.

-Can ANY American music events be used prior to the 1970's by your creditation Process?
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If it can be verifiably confirmed that it is REAL boxoffice data rather than simply someone's estimate.

Any international music event older than 20 years?
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If it can be verifiably confirmed that it is REAL boxoffice data rather than simply someone's estimate.

What sources can be used?
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Anything that can be confirmed to be using REAL boxoffice data. The vast majority of information reported by newspapers on crowds at events are estimates or simply the actual seating capacity of the stadium. That does not constitute REAL boxoffice data.

A better source would be say in the case of Soldier Field, Soldier Field itself. I would assume that Soldier Field has records for most events at the stadium. The question is do they have records going back prior to the 1970s. If you can obtain information like that from the ticket boxoffice itself, then that would be perfect.
 
U2FanPeter said:
ROD 1995:
June
08 Aberdeen, Scotland
10 Glasgow, Scotland
11 Newcastle, UK
15 Hof, Germany
17 London, Wembley Stadium, UK
18 Lüneburg, Germany*
20 Rotterdam, Netherlands*
21 Gent, Belgium*
23 Essen, Germany
25 Schwalmstadt, Germany*
26 Halle, Germany *
28 Paris, France
29 Nancy, France
July 1995
01 München, Germany*
02 Linz, Austria*
04 Berlin, Germany
07 Göteborg, Sweden
08 Praha, Czech Republic*
09 Frauenfeld, Switzerland*
11 Köbenhavn, Denmark*
14 Rostock, Germany
15 Halle, Germany
18 Bucuresti, Romania
19 Istanbul, Turkey
21 Dublin, Ireland
22 Manchester, UK
23 Birmingham, UK
* = Festivals
ABOUT ROD - Tour 1995
Link has Wembley Ticket stub that mentions the "in the round" setup. he held the Wembley attendance record of 83,000 until is was broken by U2 at 88,000. Not 100% which were full stadium setups.

Celine:
June 14, 1999 Amsterdam Holland Amsterdam Arena
June 16, 1999 Brussels Belgium Stade Roi Baudouin
June 19, 1999 Paris France Stade de France
June 20, 1999 Paris France Stade de France
July 1, 1999 Zurich Switzerland Letzigrund Stadion
July 3, 1999 Munich Germany Olympiastadion
July 6, 1999 Sheffield United Kingdom Don Valley Stadium
July 8, 1999 Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium
July 10, 1999 London Wembley Stadium
July 11, 1999 London Wembley Stadium

The european leg of the tour was to be Celine's first stadium tour however, with many shows after March 1999, were cancelled due to René Angélil's sickness, Dion's husband and manager. Some of them were postponed until later in the year but those that were cancelled completely included Dublin, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Vienna, Barcelona, Marseille, Lyon, Cologne and Lisbon. However Celine performed a few of her stadium concerts which included 2 sold out nights at London's Wembley Stadium with more than 65,000 fans each night. Let's Talk About Love Tour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube - Celine Dion - Live in Paris - Part 1/13 - 1999
Some nice crowd shots from the opening song of her Paris concert special to watch with the sound turned off.
Click to expand...


Well, we know Paris and London were in the round, but as for the rest of those shows, thats a definite question mark, especially with the festivals. In any event, its nothing approaching the scale of what U2 is doing.
 
U2FanPeter said:
LOS ANGELES, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With sales this morning of
over 82,000 tickets sold in New York, 72,000 in Boston and 65,000 in Chicago
U2 360 Tour will set the largest single day attendance record in each city. U2 360 Tour: Chicago, Boston and New York All Instantaneous Sell-Outs | Reuters

U2/Live Nation says 65,000 is a single day city record and there's a 1985 Bruce boxscore for 73,000 at the same location? LN/McGuinness must be "liars". The 2 night u2 tally must be a Chicago record.

For those wondering, Soldier Field has been renovated a couple times. Between Bruce and U2 boxsuites were added and total capacity reduced. I think the 1985 show was regular endzone, without a backdrop immediately behind the stage to add a few thousand more. IIRC, the whole stadium was also entirely GA, and in the dog days of summer.
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Again, this is your problem, its a report, not an actual Boxscore. Wait until the show happens and we get REAL boxoffice data and then you can make the comparison.
 
U2FanPeter said:
Maoilbheannacht:

Do you think U2 will take a run at the US single attendance record in 2010? They could probably do it with some shrewd management decisinos. Which venue/city would be best? Open field that has a bit of a large valley/dip/gully/bowl/natural amphiteater?
Click to expand...

The largest US single show attendance record for a NON-festival ticketed event I have ever seen is the Who's concert at JFK stadium on September 25, 1982 with 91,451 people in attendance. U2 could already surpass that figure with either the FEDEX FIELD show or the ROSE BOWL show.

The time to do is on the first leg with a large enough venue and market. On the second leg, the only really large markets not hit on the first leg will be Oakland/San Francisco, Montreal, Philadelphia, and Miami. None of these markets except maybe San Francisco currently has a stadium large enough to set to break the record.

Why would you inform Chicago's Greg Kot about your alleged claim that Al Jolson played to 100,000 people and so Live Nation's report is inaccurate? LOL

REAL boxoffice data will be presented in Billboard Boxscore for the Chicago shows either this Wendsday or the next. Only then can these questions about a single day attendance record be settled.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
WOW, you can continue to fantasize about Al Jolson and the alleged 100,000 crowd at Soldier Field, but unless you have actual boxoffice figures, you have NOTHING. If it was a ticketed event, what was the TICKET PRICE?

Why would you inform Chicago's Greg Kot? LOL:wink: Are you on some type of crusade to stop U2 from getting a record?:wink: Are you a U2 fan? I would assume you are, because most casual fans never even bother to visit a fan based website let alone a non-fan. Most fans would like to see U2 set a record, but you seem desperate to stop them or prove them wrong.LOL

By the way, POPMART was in 1997, NOT 2005. In addition, POPMART has the attendance record for Soldier Field at 116,000 attendance from 3 shows. Thats confirmed from Billboard Boxscore which counts multiple shows in certifying gross and attendance records.

Al Jolson will never be able to contest U2 for a single day attendance record at soldier field because I do not think any boxoffice data exist for Al Jolson. No, a report in the paper does not count. Several Chicago papers reported the Police had 33,000 in attendance at Comisky Park in 1983, when in fact the number was 45,000 as recorded in Billboard Boxscore. In addition, they claimed there were 50,000 or 60,000 at each of the Soldier Field performances on POPMART when in fact it was only 40,000 to 45,000. Media estimate attendance which is why they get it wrong nearly all the time. Billboard Boxscore reports the REAL actual boxoffice results!
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It's reported that 100.000 fans saw Jolson. Live Nation say 65,000 is a single day paid concert Chicago non-festival record. 35,000 is quite a large descrepancy.

Wouldn't the pair of 360 shows have surpassed the trio of Popmarts at Soldier Field?

Why my "crusade"? I know the business resons for this tour, but along with others am lost for creative reasons. During the Vertigo tour longterm and respected music critique layed into the pop album in a posthumous review. Bono personally called to have a colourful conversation. If Kot needed a round two he could use Bruce or jolson against the press release claim. Kot also has access to vintage press that I would not.

Did Billboard say "40,000 to 45,000" as fact?
 
U2FanPeter said:
Comparing a number/fact provided by you against that refutes a number/fact presented by Live Nation is MY problem?
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No its making comparisons and declarations without REAL boxoffice data to back it up. Your the one who is talking about 1949 and Al jolson or a shows in Brazil sometime in the 1980s without any real boxoffice data for those shows.

I'm sticking by official boxoffice data that is known.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
The largest US single show attendance record for a NON-festival ticketed event I have ever seen is the Who's concert at JFK stadium on September 25, 1982 with 91,451 people in attendance. U2 could already surpass that figure with either the FEDEX FIELD show or the ROSE BOWL show.
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A 1982 Hooters/Santana/Clash/Who JFK Stadium concert bill is not a "festival"?

I'm sure you also consider the 5 act Rolling Stone 2005 Moncton bill a "non festival". Some french act/Our Lady Peace/Maroon 5/Tragically Hip/RS.

I remember you trying to discredit me for saying the 3 tenors were't a single act because of a stadium gross record that beat U2s(I think one of the 3T stadium show did more than Popmart italy). Same with the POLICE(Bryan Adams opening) claim that their 1984 Sydney(?) show was a stadium record and a 1977 Fleetwood Mac/Santana show did not count.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
The largest US single show attendance record for a NON-festival ticketed event I have ever seen is the Who's concert at JFK stadium on September 25, 1982 with 91,451 people in attendance. U2 could already surpass that figure with either the FEDEX FIELD show or the ROSE BOWL show.
Click to expand...


I don't think this is going to happen, frankly. And just as frankly, who cares if U2 breaks or sets some kind of attendance record? Fact of the matter is, they are selling out the number of tickets that are being released as they are being released. How can there be a ticket drop on the day before a show if it's completely sold out? The answer is, it's not sold out, in terms of the actual capacity of the venue, obviously, but they are selling out the tickets that they choose to release. In that respect, it's a success.

If they want to break records, they are going to have to fill up the area to the back and side of the stage alot more. I don't really get the feel that is their goal.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
No its making comparisons and declarations without REAL boxoffice data to back it up. Your the one who is talking about 1949 and Al jolson or a shows in Brazil sometime in the 1980s without any real boxoffice data for those shows.

I'm sticking by official boxoffice data that is known.
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Is there ANY stadium concert attendance figures you accept from the 50's or 60's?
 
U2FanPeter said:
A 1982 Hooters/Santana/Clash/Who JFK Stadium concert bill is not a "festival"?
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Nope. Hooters were largely unknown at the time. The Clash were only playing at best in theaters and did not even have a platinum album yet in the USA, and maybe not even a GOLD album yet. Santana at that time at best was only playing theaters on their own, hince the reason why they went on before the Clash.

I'm sure you also consider the 5 act Rolling Stone 2005 Moncton bill a "non festival". Some french act/Our Lady Peace/Maroon 5/Tragically Hip/RS.
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Yep, 89,000 people in attendance, but its not a festival.


remember you trying to discredit me for saying the 3 tenors were't a single act because of a stadium gross record that beat U2s(I think one of the 3T stadium show did more than Popmart italy).
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3 tenors was not a single act. Its like claiming that if the Police, Rolling Stones and U2 all formed a band together they sould be billed as a single act when in reality the bands individual fan bases make it anything but a single act performance.

Same with the POLICE(Bryan Adams opening) claim that their 1984 Sydney(?) show was a stadium record and a 1977 Fleetwood Mac/Santana show did not count.
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The show was in MELBOURNE and no one knew who Bryan Adams was in March 1984 in Australia. It was not a FESTIVAL. He did not have a single album to crack the Australian top 20. The Police show happened after the 1977 Fleetwood Mac show and was reported by media to be the largest international show in Australian history at the time. I concede I don't have and have never seen REAL boxoffice data for the show, but the same goes for Fleetwood Mac as well. I don't recall any media sources making the claim that Fleetwood Mac's show was the largest ever, that I believe was just your claim. Both are in the realm of speculation, but at least the Police show does have a media source claiming it was the biggest compared to the Fleetwood Mac show.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
Bruce Springsteen
August 9, 1985
Chicago, Illinois
Soldier Field
GROSS: $1,228,500
ATTENDANCE: 71,222
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 1
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"[...] 65,000 in Chicago
U2 360 Tour will set the largest single day attendance record in each city."

U2 360 Tour: Chicago, Boston and New York All Instantaneous Sell-Outs | Reuters

U2 AND Live Nation did poor proofreading, sloppy fact checking or lied in this press release.

U2 will hold the top 2 spots for combined Chicago visits(2009, 1997). Unfortunately, the final boxscore won't have the attendance for each 2009 show(presumably night one sold marginally better than night 2) to know if one of these shows did more than 71,222. Jolson needs to be heavily asterisked.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
3 tenors was not a single act. Its like claiming that if the Police, Rolling Stones and U2 all formed a band together they sould be billed as a single act when in reality the bands individual fan bases make it anything but a single act performance.
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I think 3T compares best to something like Blind Faith. They played bigger venues that previous projects by Clapton or Winwood did in the 60's. Travelling Wilburings each got a huge career boost when all contributed to an album together.

For a few years Ringo's All Starr thing played to bigger places than any of the guests could have done by themselves.
 
Like I said before I do not believe the reason for not playing the really large stadiums is the fact that they are "rural",
100 and whatever thousand football fans as opposed to 100 and whatever thousand U2 fans ? I dont see a difference in the impact on the "rural" community.
There are of course other factors like truck access , health and safety for concerts (GA) is proberbly different to football games and numerous others BUT a reason (in my opinion) is still going to be member No 5 not wanting to take the risk of not having a sell out.

still remains a 360 scam, even if it's "something new"
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
3 tenors was not a single act. Its like claiming that if the Police, Rolling Stones and U2 all formed a band together they sould be billed as a single act when in reality the bands individual fan bases make it anything but a single act performance.
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Ok not taking sides and I agree with much of what you say but now you are straying into a rather ridiculous argument of semantics. It's a single act for the purposes of that engagement/tour, of course it is. Otherwise, what do you call CSNY? The Travelling Wilburys? The Band? Each of those 'acts' had members with their own fanbases. An act is a singular entity based upon the name it is billed under.
 
U2FanPeter said:
It's reported that 100.000 fans saw Jolson.
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Its also reported in a Chicago newspaper that 33,000 people saw the Police at Comisky Park on July 23, 1983, but the REAL boxoffice data show that it was 44,622.

Live Nation say 65,000 is a single day paid concert Chicago non-festival record. 35,000 is quite a large descrepancy.
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We'll soon have REAL boxoffice data for the U2 360 shows in chicago. We don't have anything like that for Al Jolson, so it does not matter if someone writing in a paper claimed there were 100,000, 200,000 or 1 million. Without real boxoffice data, its irrelevant when it comes to records.


Why my "crusade"? I know the business resons for this tour, but along with others am lost for creative reasons. During the Vertigo tour longterm and respected music critique layed into the pop album in a posthumous review. Bono personally called to have a colourful conversation. If Kot needed a round two he could use Bruce or jolson against the press release claim. Kot also has access to vintage press that I would not.
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Why would you contact someone like Kot for this? Are you a U2 fan?
We have boxoffice data for Bruce Springsteen. We don't have any boxoffice data for Jolson. Records are based on FACTS, not assertions or estimates. Without REAL boxoffice data, you can't compete for any record.

Did Billboard say "40,000 to 45,000" as fact?
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No, they said the following:

25, 26, 27. Chicago June 27,28,29, 1997 Soldier Field 3 shows combined GROSS: $5,956,587 ATTENDANCE: 116,972

Based on that attendance figure though, it appears that the first and second nights were in the 40,000 to 45,000 range as both shows appeared full or soldout, while the 3rd show probably had about 30,000 as there were sections in the stadium that were clearly empty on that night. But the exact figures pure night are not known, but there definitely was not 60,000 on any of the nights.
 
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