u2 360 Boxscore

[Maoilbheannacht]

The venue itself should know, though few of the numbers got to Billboard.

There's been claims of big soccer or a special NFL game doing 115-120k. Now sure if the WWF have gone there. When the Pope came they do seating on the floor and all seating in the stands - free tickets? Also the Jaguares did a 360 show maybe a decade ago and I can't find any attendance figure. I also don't know if the venue has had some pricey shows like Soccer, NFL, 3 tenors having very expensive primo seats.

U2 did break some personal records, but U2.com makes no specific mention of breaking anyone else's records. Not even residency gross record which they would certainly hit.

If u2 only release the full tally, with Wed having slightly fewer people, then U2 fans will never know the U2 single night stadium attendance record.

Billboard Boxscore will only release the combined figure. Also, any issues about records will involve only comparisons to other music peformances. Billboard Boxscore does not do sporting events which is a totally different type of event from a music concert.

As for U2 breaking their own records, its often the case that they had the record to begin with, so no need to mention anyone else.

The single night record will simply become the average of the three most likely.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

JFK Phili had some big numbers with more than one night for Floyd/Stones.

Some acts may have played Maracana in South America more than one night.

Let me double check.

Pink Floyd only played JFK stadium once in their career in 1987 to 80,000 people. Stones never topped the 92,000 mark at JFK Stadium. Two shows in 1981, one show in 1978.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

U2's 3 nights in Dublin for 360 or Vertigo is perhaps their "residency" record. ZooTv Wembley over 4 nights is also up there. Those 3 records were all under 300k.

Michael Jackson sold out 5 nights at Aztec, which is possibly/likely still the venue record for a run of shows. Total somewhere in the 400-500k range.

Popmart Italy was 150,000(plus thousands of gatecrashers) and Glastonbury is a similar number.

The Jacksons and Springsteen did about 4 shows each at the Colisuem in the early 80's. Over 350k total. Springsteen also did an insane number of stadium shows around NYC in late 2003 - upwards of 700k total.

There are several festivals with attendance creeping close to 100k including Lollapallooza Chicago.

U2's residency record is Sao Paulo with 269,000 over three nights. U2 Mexico city should be anywhere from 255,000 TO 330,000.

MJ probably at best did 360,000 on his 5 night stand there(72,000 per night in a 270 configeration), which was the only time he played Mexico in his entire career.

If ticket prices were to average at $125 dollars, U2 360 in Mexico City could break Springsteen's record at Giants Stadium over 10 nights. It would become the new Billboard Record for a tour stop boxscore.

 

[spookyz]

In 1992, Elton John sold 180,000 tickets for 2 shows at Estadio Azteca. I don't have the boxscore right now but it can be found somewhere in the 1992 Billboard issues. So a capacity of over 72,000 at Estadio Azteca with an end-stage construction was possible back then. Maybe there have been lousy security conditions that allowed more people to be squeezed into the field and in the stands, who knows. That's also the only explanation I have for the 188,000 people who are claimed to have attended one single Tina Turner concert in Maracana Stadium in Rio.
An average attendance of 100,000 might be possible for MJs 5 night run but still it's all speculation.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Oasis(2 nights mid 90's), Robbie(3 nights 2003) each average 125k/night when they played Knebworth.

Great information! Thanks

I don't think U2 will top 125k per night but it seems they will hold the record for average attendance over multiple performances that are NOT being played in the artists "home" country, which is still pretty cool.


I still can't get over how huge Robbie Williams is in the UK but couldn't carry a fraction of that over to the US.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Great information! Thanks

I don't think U2 will top 125k per night but it seems they will hold the record for average attendance over multiple performances that are NOT being played in the artists "home" country, which is still pretty cool.

McCartney did 2 nights at Maracana in Rio April 20-21 1990(first South American show, only venue on the continent that tour. Same venue Tina supposedly did 180k+.

Sinatra also claimed to do 150-180k there back in 1980 in a single night.

 

[U2FanPeter]

FWIW, Wembley 1993 was 258k total attendance over 4 night with a capacity of 72k.

Night 3 was short about 30k so they donated those tickets unemployed agencies etc.. to fill it up. A very rare instance where U2 "papered" the house, though I've heard whispers of it happening a bit on Popmart. Official boxscores remain correct.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Billboard Boxscore will only release the combined figure. Also, any issues about records will involve only comparisons to other music peformances. Billboard Boxscore does not do sporting events which is a totally different type of event from a music concert.

As for U2 breaking their own records, its often the case that they had the record to begin with, so no need to mention anyone else.

The single night record will simply become the average of the three most likely.

How would you eventually put these shows in order of biggest attendance? With only an average given, the biggest Mexico attendance could easily be 5-7,000 off and completely skew this list.

Rose Bowl
Popmart Italy
Mexico 1 360
Mexico 2 360
Mexico 3 360
Paris 1 360
Paris 2 360
Paris 3 360
Moncton
Barcelona 1
Barcelona 2

Wasn't there a Joshua JFK show up here or other 360 shows over 90k like DC?

When they played Giants Bono revealed the single night attendance in order to brag about having a bigger turnout at the venue than the Pope(and WWF?) and therefore a record. The average over the 2 nights is a lower number since one night got changed with 3 weeks notice.

 

[robbrecon72]

No U2 azteca boxscores today. Lady Gaga ruled this week. She has other shows reported, but the number one and three spot today was...

#1
Lady Gaga
Mexico City
Foro Sol
May 5,6
Gross-$6,699,708
Attendance-111,060
Shows-2/2

#3
Lady Gaga
Guadalaraja Mexico
Estadio Tres de Marzo
May 3
Gross-$2,559,232
Attendance-29,047
Shows-1/1

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

In 1992, Elton John sold 180,000 tickets for 2 shows at Estadio Azteca. I don't have the boxscore right now but it can be found somewhere in the 1992 Billboard issues. So a capacity of over 72,000 at Estadio Azteca with an end-stage construction was possible back then. Maybe there have been lousy security conditions that allowed more people to be squeezed into the field and in the stands, who knows. That's also the only explanation I have for the 188,000 people who are claimed to have attended one single Tina Turner concert in Maracana Stadium in Rio.
An average attendance of 100,000 might be possible for MJs 5 night run but still it's all speculation.

Well, If U2 could pack more people than the 72,000 they did into the Stadium on Vertigo, I don't see why they wouldn't. U2 had General Admission on the field as well.

It would seem odd that Elton John could play to nearly as many people in a 270 configeration as U2 are doing in a 360 configeration.

Again, need that Boxscore to confirm this. There may not be one though as before 1995, it was rare that boxscores from outside the United States/Canada would be reported. Seems doubtful that Elton John would have been reported in 1992, but Michael Jackson was not in 1993.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

How would you eventually put these shows in order of biggest attendance? With only an average given, the biggest Mexico attendance could easily be 5-7,000 off and completely skew this list.

Rose Bowl
Popmart Italy
Mexico 1 360
Mexico 2 360
Mexico 3 360
Paris 1 360
Paris 2 360
Paris 3 360
Moncton
Barcelona 1
Barcelona 2

Wasn't there a Joshua JFK show up here or other 360 shows over 90k like DC?

When they played Giants Bono revealed the single night attendance in order to brag about having a bigger turnout at the venue than the Pope(and WWF?) and therefore a record. The average over the 2 nights is a lower number since one night got changed with 3 weeks notice.

You would just have to line them up side by side based on the average. I don't think will find any confirmed individual show results for Mexico.

Joshua Tree JFK did 86,145
360 DC at Fedex Field did 84,715

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

No U2 azteca boxscores today. Lady Gaga ruled this week. She has other shows reported, but the number one and three spot today was...

#1
Lady Gaga
Mexico City
Foro Sol
May 5,6
Gross-$6,699,708
Attendance-111,060
Shows-2/2

#3
Lady Gaga
Guadalaraja Mexico
Estadio Tres de Marzo
May 3
Gross-$2,559,232
Attendance-29,047
Shows-1/1

Wow, already a stadium act in Mexico. Just one album and one ep. New album comes out next week I think.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Wow, already a stadium act in Mexico. Just one album and one ep. New album comes out next week I think.

In Mexico City she did upwards of 6 tracks from the album released on May 24th. BTW, her "EP" is longer than several Beatles albums.

 

[U2FanPeter]

You would just have to line them up side by side based on the average. I don't think will find any confirmed individual show results for Mexico.

One of the Mexico shows will have the gross record for a single show of all time of any act. Why shave off upwards of 5-7,000 tickets($700,000?) from that total when publically publishing that info?

Plus there is an issue of one of the 3 Tenor show in a major city, adjusted for inflation, crushing that number.

Maoil, will U2 crack Spice Girls $33mil grossed at the O2 in London over 17 nights 3 years ago? The more I think about it, Bruce's $38.8mil at Giants 8 years won't be touched by U2 unless they did 5-8 nights in Dublin with the claw as the only Euro venue of 2011.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Unidos Por La Paz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This says the Jaguares played to 104,000 at azteca on March 3, 2001.

YouTube - ‪Jaguares-Fin (estadio azteca)‬‏
video showing their center stage set up.

If U2's collective record is plublished as anything less 312,000, one could reasonably argue that they don't irrefutably hold the single night concert attendance in Mexico.

 

[Popmartijn]

How would you eventually put these shows in order of biggest attendance? With only an average given, the biggest Mexico attendance could easily be 5-7,000 off and completely skew this list.

Rose Bowl
Popmart Italy
Mexico 1 360
Mexico 2 360
Mexico 3 360
Paris 1 360
Paris 2 360
Paris 3 360
Moncton
Barcelona 1
Barcelona 2

The Popmart show in Reggio Emilia, Italy was for about 150,000 people. So that one will hold the record as the biggest paying audience U2 have performed for. That wasn't in a stadium though.

 

[U2FanPeter]

The Popmart show in Reggio Emilia, Italy was for about 150,000 people. So that one will hold the record as the biggest paying audience U2 have performed for. That wasn't in a stadium though.

Live8 and Glastonbury were paying audiences technically bigger than Reggio 97.

Reggio is the largest non-festival appearance by U2. Mexico City is the largest audience in a stadium and their largest ever gross.

I'm having trouble thinking of a record that U2 Broke in Mexico when comparing other acts in North America.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

One of the Mexico shows will have the gross record for a single show of all time of any act. Why shave off upwards of 5-7,000 tickets($700,000?) from that total when publically publishing that info?

Plus there is an issue of one of the 3 Tenor show in a major city, adjusted for inflation, crushing that number.

Maoil, will U2 crack Spice Girls $33mil grossed at the O2 in London over 17 nights 3 years ago? The more I think about it, Bruce's $38.8mil at Giants 8 years won't be touched by U2 unless they did 5-8 nights in Dublin with the claw as the only Euro venue of 2011.

They are only going to publish the combined total. If its not in Billboard Boxscore then its not official. There are all kinds of estimates out there for this concert or that concert, but some of those are indeed inaccurate and the only way to confirm a result is with Billboard Boxscore.

Especially when your dealing with records, you can't be using various media reports or other unofficial sources to claim a record. Only something that is official and confirmed will do.

We'll get a combined total, but thats it.

As for cracking the combined totals, consider the following:

April 9, 10, 13, 2011
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Estádio do Morumbi
GROSS: $32,754,065
ATTENDANCE: 269,491
SHOWS: 3
SELLOUTS: 3
Average Ticket Price: $121.54

Third highest gross ever in Billboard history. If that same ticket price is used in Mexico City and there is a combined 312,000 people, you get the following GROSS $37,920,480. Thats very close to Bruce's $38 million in New York. Average ticket price will have to be a little higher, probably about $125 which is certainly a possiblity.

If U2 had just played one more show in Sao Paulo, they would have breezed past Springsteens record.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Unidos Por La Paz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This says the Jaguares played to 104,000 at azteca on March 3, 2001.

YouTube - ‪Jaguares-Fin (estadio azteca)‬‏
video showing their center stage set up.

If U2's collective record is plublished as anything less 312,000, one could reasonably argue that they don't irrefutably hold the single night concert attendance in Mexico.

Unless this was published in Billboard Boxscore, it won't be counted for the purposes of being a record.

 

[spookyz]

Well, If U2 could pack more people than the 72,000 they did into the Stadium on Vertigo, I don't see why they wouldn't. U2 had General Admission on the field as well.

It would seem odd that Elton John could play to nearly as many people in a 270 configeration as U2 are doing in a 360 configeration.

Again, need that Boxscore to confirm this. There may not be one though as before 1995, it was rare that boxscores from outside the United States/Canada would be reported. Seems doubtful that Elton John would have been reported in 1992, but Michael Jackson was not in 1993.

Here it is (link)

Elton John
November 13-14, 1992
Mexico City, Mexico
Azteca Stadium
Gross: $4,006,410
Attendance: 180,000
Shows: 2
$80, $13
Canto Nuevo
in-house

Maybe the seating capacity has been reduced since the early 90s.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Unless this was published in Billboard Boxscore, it won't be counted for the purposes of being a record.

U2 > News > Giant Numbers in Jersey

This "record" was never published in Billboard Boxscore.

September 23-24, 2009
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Giants Stadium
GROSS: $16,128,950
ATTENDANCE: 161,810
SHOWS: 2
SELLOUTS: 2
Average Ticket Price: $99.68

 

[CosmoKramer]

U2 > News > Giant Numbers in Jersey

This "record" was never published in Billboard Boxscore.

September 23-24, 2009
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Giants Stadium
GROSS: $16,128,950
ATTENDANCE: 161,810
SHOWS: 2
SELLOUTS: 2
Average Ticket Price: $99.68

I was at the concert and Bono did say it was a record(I'm not saying he is an official source lol). I have read reports from various news sources that they set the record at 84k+ but it was never published as such. I would have to believe if U2 had broken a record in Mexico for single night attendance, we would have heard something from the media as things like that are a big deal in the industry.

 

[U2FanPeter]

YouTube - ‪Michael Jackson - Dangerous World Tour At Mexico 1993 Part 2/6‬‏

3:08 has a aeriel helicopter shot of the seating arrangement for MJ in Mexico 1993.

U2 Vertigo Tour Mexico City 15Feb06 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
so-so image of u2 2006 seating in the same venue.
U2 Fan Concert Review on U2tours.com
U2 Fan Concert Review on U2tours.com

Also, Michael Jackson played Mexico with his brothers in 1975 so 1993 was NOT his first appearance in the country.

 

[U2FanPeter]

I was at the concert and Bono did say it was a record(I'm not saying he is an official source lol). I have read reports from various news sources that they set the record at 84k+ but it was never published as such. I would have to believe if U2 had broken a record in Mexico for single night attendance, we would have heard something from the media as things like that are a big deal in the industry.

The above link was u2.com and was picked up by some media outlets. The official Giants average puts them below the Pope....

All the attendance figures I've seen for any night in Mexico have varied by 10,000+. Comparing past "records" by MJ, Jaguares, 3 Tenors(single night gross record?) and Elton will take some time.

How will U2 single night attendance supposedly cap out around 115k while some outlets have made this claim:
"On 20 February 1993 Julio César Chávez fought Greg Haugen in front of 132,247 spectators."

 

[U2FanPeter]

I'm curious the 161,816 and 84,447 numbers at Giants. I think it's the only 360 multi-night city where they announced a single night attendance.

There is a 7,078 more people at the "record breaking" Thursday night than the Wednesday show that was supposed to occur on Friday. The NFL game on early Sunday was too tight a schedule fit.

One of 3 things happened:
-Live Nation/TM made more tickets available to the Thurs show in order to chase the record while withholding the same seats for Wednesday.
-Positive word of the wednesday show brought out 7,000 more for Thursday
-With 2-3 weeks notice, some fans coule not make the rescheduled show because of travel/family/work planning and were allowed to return tickets. Not all of these tickets were resold and LN counted it as a sell out anyways, despite it being against Billboard rules. Billboard has fudged rules in the past for Eagles and Mariah.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Here it is (link)

Elton John
November 13-14, 1992
Mexico City, Mexico
Azteca Stadium
Gross: $4,006,410
Attendance: 180,000
Shows: 2
$80, $13
Canto Nuevo
in-house

Maybe the seating capacity has been reduced since the early 90s.

This show is available on DVD and youtube. There doesn't appear to be rear stage seating, though they may have added sidestage since fans are looking at him rather than production that MJ/U2 brought.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Here it is (link)

Elton John
November 13-14, 1992
Mexico City, Mexico
Azteca Stadium
Gross: $4,006,410
Attendance: 180,000
Shows: 2
$80, $13
Canto Nuevo
in-house

Maybe the seating capacity has been reduced since the early 90s.

Thanks for the link! So indeed Michael Jackson might have played to as many 450,000 in his only visit ever to Mexico in 1993. But we have no boxscore, so for the purposes of records, there is nothing that can be used.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

U2 > News > Giant Numbers in Jersey

This "record" was never published in Billboard Boxscore.

September 23-24, 2009
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Giants Stadium
GROSS: $16,128,950
ATTENDANCE: 161,810
SHOWS: 2
SELLOUTS: 2
Average Ticket Price: $99.68

Well, if the venue officially declares it to be the record, then that would probably do. But you need to have some consistent accurate standard to base and confirm records. You don't want to have inaccurate media information setting records.

You can't be using video, fan websites, and newspaper and magazine reports because often such reports have proven to be inaccurate in the past and sometimes are based on nothing more than the venues listed seating capacity and not any official ticket sales results.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Well, if the venue officially declares it to be the record, then that would probably do. But you need to have some consistent accurate standard to base and confirm records. You don't want to have inaccurate media information setting records.

You can't be using video, fan websites, and newspaper and magazine reports because often such reports have proven to be inaccurate in the past and sometimes are based on nothing more than the venues listed seating capacity and not any official ticket sales results.

How much stock do you put in u2.com articles?

I posted the MJ video/u2 photos because I think his nightly total was closer to 70-75k than 90k. Elton could sell more sidestage seats due to sightlines.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

YouTube - ‪Michael Jackson - Dangerous World Tour At Mexico 1993 Part 2/6‬‏

3:08 has a aeriel helicopter shot of the seating arrangement for MJ in Mexico 1993.

U2 Vertigo Tour Mexico City 15Feb06 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
so-so image of u2 2006 seating in the same venue.
U2 Fan Concert Review on U2tours.com
U2 Fan Concert Review on U2tours.com

Also, Michael Jackson played Mexico with his brothers in 1975 so 1993 was NOT his first appearance in the country.

1. Pictures look essentially the same.

2. Pictures certainly cannot be used to prove or disprove alleged attendance levels especially since its unknown at what point the pictures were taken.

3. Well, if the Jackson 5 played Mexico in 1975, what is the date or dates for the shows and what venue did they play in?