u2 play 3Arena in December

[macawaca]

Seems like they could rig the stage to sit sideways and make it work

You might end up losing more of the GA space that way though Headache? The Odyssey Arena in Belfast is the obvious alternative, assuming the ceiling height is ok? If you did get close to 10,000 a night even a 6 night stretch would be sufficient, assuming there might be a stadium show or 2 next year to soak up the extra demand. Way better than having to make do without seeing them indoors at all. I suspect that ceiling height could be a bit of an issue though, its not a full blown arena in the sense of the MEN in Manchester or O2 in London or US style arenas, as they only have the one seated tier which doesn't necessitate a higher roof.

 

[dean_flynn]

You might end up losing more of the GA space that way though Headache?

True but remember that seated tier is raised, so for certain gigs - McCartney and Jack White spring to mind - they remove the bottom of the seating area to expand the GA. When they do this, the "blue" GA section on the picture that I posted actually stretches underneath the seating area. It stretches quite far back and you could get a lot of people in there, but the views are then quite limited (it's mostly just access to the concession stands etc.).

The Odyssey Arena in Belfast is the obvious alternative, assuming the ceiling height is ok? If you did get close to 10,000 a night even a 6 night stretch would be sufficient, assuming there might be a stadium show or 2 next year to soak up the extra demand. Way better than having to make do without seeing them indoors at all. I suspect that ceiling height could be a bit of an issue though, its not a full blown arena in the sense of the MEN in Manchester or O2 in London or US style arenas, as they only have the one seated tier which doesn't necessitate a higher roof.

As far as I know the capacity at the Odyssey is 11,000, vs 14,500 at the 3Arena. You're probably suggesting it based on the shape though rather than the capacity, which is a good point. I'm not familiar with that arena.


I think it's all a moot point anyway, as U2 seems to have made the decision that whatever happens in Dublin, it won't be the standard I+E show.

 

[MrBTH]

Technical Information

From this I can see that the ceiling height is 22m - anyone any idea if this would be high enough for the show? They would also have to work around the Belfast Giants Ice Hockey team fixtures but getting up to a 12 night run would be possible.

Agreed, about 6 -8 nights would probably suffice. From looking at the tour videos so far I'd say the 22m ceiling height should be enough to accommodate the full rig- the top of the screen when at it's highest position looks to be about 14m above floor level.

I'll be really annoyed if U2 decide not to present the i+e show that the rest of Europe and America are getting to their home audience in Ireland, especially if Belfast Odyssey Arena proved to be a suitable venue shape and size-wise. I held off booking any tickets for Glasgow or London with the promise of the shows in Dublin. I really really want to see the full show. It now looks like I'll need to plan to travel and take my chances with resellers for decent tickets... It's also frustrating that there's still no clarity as to what they are actually planning in Dublin.

 

[The_acrobat]

The venues in Glasgow and Amsterdam are not 360 arenas, as there would essentially be no seating behind Larry drum kit. Europe has a lot of arenas like this. The difference is these arenas still employ the long floor design which is really why 3 Arena can't accommodate the stage.

I'd think there'd be a way to get around that, then again I'm no engineer.


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[macawaca]

Anyone here any rumours or updates on potential Irish dates? Defo losing patience with them on this one. I'd saved my pre-sale codes in order to get Dublin dates, which I could have used to get Glasgow, London or Paris. If they're not doing Dublin or Belfast indoors that's fine, just tell us already, it's not too much to ask. I'm not wasting a pre-sale code on another sub-par outdoor gig in Croke/Aviva when you could see them indoors instead.

Rant over!

 

[corianderstem]

No news or even rumors.

Now that pestering fans have gotten U2 to play The Crystal Ballroom, they need to start pestering them about Dublin.

 

[macawaca]

Interestingly the following dates appear to be still available at the 3Arena (Point) in Dublin (if they are going to do a non i+e type set up), following the last date of the Paris gig:

21st - 28th November;
7th - 14th December;
20th - 31st December and
1st - 16th January 2016.

 

[Fano]

The venues in Glasgow and Amsterdam are not 360 arenas, as there would essentially be no seating behind Larry drum kit. Europe has a lot of arenas like this. The difference is these arenas still employ the long floor design which is really why 3 Arena can't accommodate the stage.

I'd think there'd be a way to get around that, then again I'm no engineer.


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I was actually in the 3arena last night for Neil Diamond.

It was setup for an all seated gig so I couldn't yard the floor to see whats the max runway it could accommodate but I'd say its no more than 30 yards.
The best seats in the venue would also be looking into the end of the screen which has obstructed views so that wont work.

They could probably turn the screen sideways though and run it along the back of the stage which is very wide and that would work grand but
as I've said before I dont think we will get a proper indoor gig indoors this year or any year.
We will be treated to another set of Croke park gigs

On a side note ,Neil was brilliant and it irks me that a 74 year old man can play for 2 hours and fifteen minutes without a break and U2 struggle to play 2 hours.

 

[jeffarido]

It seems strange to announce the Europe leg and have no official dates for Dublin yet..... There must be something special happening with this show??? Maybe they will release song of experience around same time??

It just sounds like U2 have something big up their sleeve

 

[ChargedVT]

The last we heard, which was last month I think, it seemed like they still didn't know what they were going to do.

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[corianderstem]

I wonder if it'll get shelved until the next leg?

 

[ChargedVT]

I'm thinking they will drop the indoors idea and do the standard summer outdoor gig thing. Just seems strange that they first announced these gigs 7 months ago but still seemingly have no idea when or where to play them.

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[macawaca]

Bump - anyone?!

 

[prbiker15]

The rumor mill has started up again.

The Sun

Despite Irish dates being so far omitted from the tour, sources believe the Dublin gigs may take place between November 25 and 28. This comes after reports that U2’s crew are booked into the adjacent Gibson Hotel for those dates.

Prices of rooms at the Gibson are higher than usual during this period which has added to speculation that U2’s could be there in late November.

A hotel spokesperson said they were “not in a position to comment on individual guest bookings”.

But an industry source told the Irish Sun: “Expect an announcement from U2 on Irish concerts very soon, and I’d say late November would be when the dates would take place.”

 

[macawaca]

Was also mentioned again on Ireland's Today FM a couple of days ago, just mentioning the late November rumoured dates again.

 

[Pop Artist]

Wish the rumor mill would make up its mind already! Could not do any other Europe dates, but if Dublin falls around American Thanksgiving time, then I can do...

 

[Aleh_Hewson]

Waited the whole f**** year, and the rumour indicates the ONLY DAMN WEEK I CAN'T GO.

Please, be next year. Please, be next year. please, be next year

 

[The_acrobat]

Just checked the 3 Arena's website, and there is still a gap between Van Morrison on Nov 20 and Simple Minds on Nov 29, so these rumors work out. This is a very busy venue, also. You'd think that at some point they'd have scheduled something in that week, unless U2 have had those dates on hold all along. There's actually room for them to do 4 shows in that timeframe. It'd work like this;
Nov 20- Van Morrison show
Nov 21- Van Morrison load out, U2 load in
Nov 22- Show 1
Nov 23- Show 2
Nov 24- Day off
Nov 25- Day off
Nov 26- Show 3
Nov 27- Show 4
Nov 28- U2 load out, Simple Minds load in
Nov 29- Simple Minds concert

The 3 Arena doesn't really have any more multiple-date availabilities until after December 19th, and unless they plan to do a recreation of the Lovetown Dublin shows and be in the week between Christmas and New Years, I wouldn't count on December.

 

[corianderstem]

Oh snap, if U2 were to play after Van Morrison, I'd go to Dublin early and see Van Morrison, too!

 

[Pop Artist]

Well, this is where it's at with Ireland right now, so everyone breathe...

The Edge: U2 trying to take world tour to Ireland - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

 

[macawaca]

Just checked the available dates for the SSE Arena in Belfast (formerly Odyssey Arena):

Looks available from 23 - 26 November, so really only 2 nights gigs.
Looks available from 14 - 19 December, so maybe 4 gig nights there?

After that you're looking at after Christmas before there's any days available and even then It's between ice hockey games for the Belfast Giants, which is an added complication in this arena.

 

[Dragonfave]

U2 to tour Ireland at end of November, Bono confirms

Bono has confirmed that U2 will be playing “Innocence and Experience” shows in Ireland at the end of November.

“We are coming home... it was really hard to figure out a way of doing it, but we just had to make it happen,” he told The Irish Times after coming off stage on Saturday night in Turin following the band’s second show in the city.

The city or cities they will play in, the exact dates and venue names will be made public this Wednesday as well as infomation about ticketing for the shows.

The difficulty for the band in playing Ireland was that the stage configuration of the current tour is simply too big to fit into any Irish venue.

“We found a way to reformat the show, to literally rebuild it for the Irish shows,” says Bono.

“It got to the stage where we just had to tell our people “You have to make this happen, you have to make this work, this is where we are from and we have to bring the tour home.”

The tour was supposed to finish in Paris on November 15th but has now been extended until the end of November to accomodate these new Irish shows.

“I am so happy we are bringing this home,” adds Bono. “These Irish shows will be like an Irish wedding. It is always tricky planning a wedding – who sits besides who could ruin it!”

There have been previous reports that the band have block-booked rooms in Dublin’s Gibson Hotel, which is adjacent to the 3Arena, from November 25th to November 29th. The 3Arena is free on these nights.

Given that the current album details U2s upbringing and early days on the Northside of Dublin, the tour is the most “Irish” thing they’ve done with Cedarwood Road (the road in Ballymun Bono grew up on) being brought to life on huge video screens as Bono walks down the length of the road during the show.

A centrepiece of the performance is the band calling on the British governement to make public the files on the Dublin/Monaghan bombings of 1974. Thirty-three people died in May 1974 when car bombs were detonated without warning – the atrocity remains the largest loss of life at any point in the Troubles.

The band have reworked Sunday Bloody Sunday to draw attention to how the bereaved families are still looking for answers to who was repsonsible for the deaths. A portrait picture of each of the 33 victims is shown on huge video screens as the band sing Raised By Wolves — a song specifically written about the bombings.

Bono has spoken about how, on the Friday the bombs went off, he would normally have been in the exact area of Dublin where the explosions occured as there was a well known record shop in the area he would always frequent after school. A punctured bicycle on the day meant he didn’t make it into town that day but a good friend of his was caught up in the bombings and it is the friends voice who narrates the story on Raised By Wolves.

The band have reworked the live show to reflect the Syrian refugee crisis. The singer changed the lyrics to “Pride” in Turin when singing “One boy washed up on an empty beach” in reference to the horrific image published last week of a drowned young Syrian boy.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

Just started to save some cash flow.....


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[beershack]

I just booked a decent spot in Temple Bar for $99/night from the 23rd-30th

 

[zuma]

Oh god I'm actually seriously considering a trip. I must be insane. If anyone is up to sharing a room please pm me


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[corianderstem]

Yeaaaaah, I dunno. I really shouldn't spend the money. Buuuuuuuttttttt ....



We'll see how I feel. I'll have to get up in the middle of the night to even attempt to get a ticket when they go on sale, I assume.

 

[Pop Artist]

The rumored November time frame works well for me. Only problem is that I am on vacation in Mexico City until next Monday! Although, the wifi does work well in my room... I just don't need to be stressing about tix while on vacation!

 

[Axver]

Let's hope this isn't another wind-up. About bloody time these dates get confirmed.

 

[corianderstem]

I hope I do get shut out in the ticket sale ... that would make my decision for me.

 

[gareth brown]

Oh god I'm actually seriously considering a trip. I must be insane. If anyone is up to sharing a room please pm me

Haha yeah I couldn't care less to begin with, now it's confirmed I'm suddenly considering a trip too

Edit - ok I can get a return flight from Bristol to Dublin for £36. Definitely going for tickets