Bono's Tart said:
I can understand U2 playing dates in America/Canada that were missed out on the first leg but see no reason why they should return to the same cities to play multiple shows there again, when they always stated that they would play Australia.
Its sad for the Aus/New Zealand fans.
Its only an opinion but I wouldnt expect any (sorry most) of the American fans to agree with it.
I think you are over-simplifying the process.
The first leg of the tour had a set amount of cities and dates. Granted, these were never "official" - but they were definitely leaked and had U2 not postponed the start of the tour, this schedule would have been followed. When the schedule was rearranged (due to whatever reasons) that forced the readjustment of all shows in the U.S. and Canada.
In other words, it was possible that cities in Canada were scheduled for the first leg. It was possible that instead of U2 revisiting some of the same cities again, they were to hit other nearby cities. For example, U2 is planning another 2 shows in Chicago on the third leg after already having 4 shows there on the first leg. On the surface, this seems ridiculous. But logistics was probably the deciding factor here. U2 may have wanted to hit South Bend or Indianapolis or other nearby cities, but were unable to due so because of the rescheduling (i.e., the venue was not available in those cities at that time). Hence, the easiest thing to do was have another 2 shows in a major city in that area. The same is true for Boston and NYC.
Also, shows that were to be in the first leg were pushed to the third leg. As such, the third leg is now extended. Consequently, this pushed back the Australian/Japan shows.
I admit, if I were in Australia, I'd be disappointed knowing I have to wait another year to see U2. This is especially frustrating since U2 didn't stop in Australia for their last tour.
However, U2 promised they'd hit Australia this time and I hope they keep that promise (barring some unforeseen event). I also think U2 should tour the continents of South America and Africa as well as other countries, like Mexico and New Zealand. This could be their last big tour and given the success of this album, why not extend the tour in 2006 and hit these countries one last time? U2 might not ever go there again!
Of course, that's me - I'm not the one out their touring.
I hope that U2 will tour these other countries soon. And I hope people there have as much ease getting tickets as Propaganda/U2.com members did on this recent Third Leg presale.