maycocksean
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I would like that
I'm joking of course, but they better sell out. You get way more shows than us, earn it!
What's GPIII! Haven't you seen around since last tour. Which show(s) are you going to?
I would like that
I'm joking of course, but they better sell out. You get way more shows than us, earn it!
Assuming that the retracted tour itinerary is accurate, the band will be skipping population centers like Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Miami, and yet has scheduled shows in Norman, OK and Charlottesville, VA (and maybe Raleigh, NC).
Part of the reason for touring is to maintain your fan base. If a band is not willing to travel to places where people live, it should not be a surprise if ticket sales suffer.
Hopefully the band has come to its senses and is altering the itinerary after East Rutherford, NJ . . . but I doubt it.
A couple of corrections.
1) The POP album was actually more radio friendly when you look at how much airplay the released songs got on US radio compared to ATYCLB and HTDAAB.
2) The band always starts off only announcing a few shows at a time. In North America, ZOO TV OUTSIDE BROADCAST had a total of 42 shows. POPMART had 44 shows. The Joshua Tree tour had 20 stadium shows. When your only doing stadiums, the number of total shows you do in anyone area will usually be less than 50% of what you would do if it was an Arena tour.
3) Back to the POP album and the airplay performance of the singles on the chart VS. ATYCLB and HTDAAB. Peak position:
POP
Discotheque #22
Staring At The Sun #17
Last Night On Earth #74
ATYCLB
Beautiful Day #14
Stuck In A Moment.... #56
HTDAAB
Vertigo #30
As you can see, the POP album is the WINNER in terms of which album was the most "radio friendly". It had 3 songs that made the comprehensive HOT 100 Airplay chart, and usually at higher positions than the next two albums.
I think U2 are far more money-hungry than most of us want to admit. They've all turned into savvy businessmen, whether it involves tax schemes in Ireland or high tech investment stategies (Palm), there's more to U2 than meets the eye. And don't forget McGuinness' shrewd skills.
What's GPIII! Haven't you seen around since last tour. Which show(s) are you going to?
U2 did 78 arena shows in the United States and Canada in 2005. At each show there were nearly 5,000 tickets sold that were $160 dollars. Thats 390,000 tickets at $160 which comes out to $62,400,000. Divide $62,400,000 by $250 and you get 249,600 tickets. With the 16 North American shows that have been announced, that works out to 15,600 $250 tickets per show. So, I'd say they will do just find with having 10,000 tickets at that price per show, given that there are only 16 shows on this leg, and likely will not be more than 20 in North America for this leg in 2009.
I think U2 are far more money-hungry than most of us want to admit. They've all turned into savvy businessmen, whether it involves tax schemes in Ireland or high tech investment stategies (Palm), there's more to U2 than meets the eye. And don't forget McGuinness' shrewd skills.
A friend of mine worked as a limo driver some years back, and once spent a day driving Larry and Adam around to various business meetings, none of which had anything to do with U2 or music. My buddy said Larry and Adam spent the whole time in the back seat chatting about real estate.
I think the desire to have the highest grossing tour of all time is strong with them, otherwise they would be content with playing US arenas with stadiums mixed in, the way Madonna, Rolling Stones and Green Day recently did. It'd be a safe bet. But, if U2 can sell 60,000 tickets per show at an average price of $100, and surpass the Bigger Bang Tour, they're gonna try it, even if the world economy is collapsing.
I just hope they didn't overreach this time here in the US.
You're very diplomatic, Morgoth, but I agree: North American U2 fans are spoiled.
That's what happens when your favorite band plays 15 arena shows within 3 hours' driving distance of your house (if you live in the northeast).
Paul McCartney selling 4000 tickets in 7 seconds for a Vegas show cannot be compared to U2 having to sell 80,000 cheaper ducats in Phoenix. You can bet that a large percentage of those McCartney tickets were snatched up by brokers, who will probably make a killing scalping those things to rich, 60 year old Beatles fans who were smart enough to move their 401Ks to cash in October 2007, but missed the McCartney onsale because they were too slow in typing the captcha words.
all I can say is the only concert in my whole life that I went to and I couldn't get a ticket to was one of the last vertigo shows in toronto the scalpers wouldn't take my 200 for a 160 ticket and the show had already started, it was insane
GA tickets for the two Vertigo Glendale shows could be had for $10 outside the arena before the shows began, such was the weak demand, even though both shows were "sold out"
ZOO TV stadium shows did not sellout in North America, yet that tour was considered a success
yet has scheduled shows in Norman, OK and Charlottesville, VA (and maybe Raleigh, NC)
60 year old Beatles fans who were smart enough to move their 401Ks to cash in October 2007, but missed the McCartney onsale because they were too slow in typing the captcha words
I think U2 are far more money-hungry than most of us want to admit. They've all turned into savvy businessmen, whether it involves tax schemes in Ireland or high tech investment stategies (Palm), there's more to U2 than meets the eye. And don't forget McGuinness' shrewd skills
I think the desire to have the highest grossing tour of all time is strong with them, otherwise they would be content with playing US arenas with stadiums mixed in, the way Madonna, Rolling Stones and Green Day recently did. It'd be a safe bet.
I don't think that is accurate.
10% of the shows will be sold for $30, but only the field GA tickets will be sold for $55, based on what I've read; and there will be space only for a few thousand on the field (not 30% of the ticket holders).
You keep claiming that all these mysterious tens of thousands of U2 fans who supposedly could not get tickets on the Vertigo Tour will now show up and fill all the seats for the 360 Tour. Do you have an appoximate number of fans nationwide who couldn't get Vertigo tickets? Where did you get that information?
I don't know a single U2 fan who ended up getting shut out of a show they wanted to attend. One way or another, they all got in. I know fans who attended 40 shows, and many others who attended 20-30 shows. They never had a problem getting tickets for face price, even for tough shows like Boston and Portland. How many fans do you know personally tried to go to a Vertigo concert but couldn't get tickets and stayed home instead?
The fact that GAs for Glendale were selling for peanuts does indicate weak demand, or else those tickets would have been selling for a much higher amount. This is basic economics, isn't it. The biggest band in the world not selling out two arena shows without a big assist from scalpers who bought too many tickets indicates weak demand by U2's standards.
Selling 40,000 tickets in Phoenix for two arena shows in the middle of a booming local economy in 2005 is no doubt an achievement for any band, even if a certain percentage of those tickets were bought by repeat customers, bought on the secondary market for well-below face value or eaten by resellers, but I don't believe that translates into the 80,000 tickets U2 will need to sell in order to fill Phoenix Stadium in the middle of an economic meltdown, the likes of which Greater Phoenix has never seen before.
Yes, U2 considered those Glendale tickets "sold out", but scalpers took a bath on those gigs. That's weak demand for U2, and I suspect brokers won't make the same mistake with the Phoenix show this time around.
If I remember correctly, it(zootv stadium) broke even.
I don't know a single U2 fan who ended up getting shut out of a show they wanted to attend. One way or another, they all got in. I know fans who attended 40 shows, and many others who attended 20-30 shows. They never had a problem getting tickets for face price, even for tough shows like Boston and Portland. How many fans do you know personally tried to go to a Vertigo concert but couldn't get tickets and stayed home instead?
Yeah, and only play in Ireland and Denmark
I think U2 are far more money-hungry than most of us want to admit. They've all turned into savvy businessmen, whether it involves tax schemes in Ireland or high tech investment stategies (Palm), there's more to U2 than meets the eye. And don't forget McGuinness' shrewd skills.
A friend of mine worked as a limo driver some years back, and once spent a day driving Larry and Adam around to various business meetings, none of which had anything to do with U2 or music. My buddy said Larry and Adam spent the whole time in the back seat chatting about real estate.
I think the desire to have the highest grossing tour of all time is strong with them, otherwise they would be content with playing US arenas with stadiums mixed in, the way Madonna, Rolling Stones and Green Day recently did. It'd be a safe bet. But, if U2 can sell 60,000 tickets per show at an average price of $100, and surpass the Bigger Bang Tour, they're gonna try it, even if the world economy is collapsing.
I just hope they didn't overreach this time here in the US.
I needed aspirine after trying to read this post. Not really how liveNation would make their estimates.
To put it another way, Popmart had 48 or so stadium shows in north america. This tour is 15-16 cities. Total attendance numbers from 2001/05 should cover the 2009 shows.
I easily think there is enough people interested in u2 to fill these shows. The problem is convincing 8-10,000 fans to spend $250 and 25,000+ fans to spend $100. Sightlines and acoustics in Stadiums still have a bad reputation in the US.
Go to Billboard.com and read the article on the new tour, or pick up the magazine at your newstand. They gave out the rough percentage for each ticket price:
15% at $250
45% at $95
40% at $55 and $30
All field tickets are at $55, but they never said that would be the only place where tickets would be at that price. There will definitely be $55 dollar tickets in the stands, otherwise your going to have area's where people with $95 dollar tickets are sitting 1 row in front of or next to people with $30 dollar tickets.
Also, it did not say 10% would be at the $30 dollar ticket price. It said at least 10,000 tickets at every show would be at the $30 dollar ticket price.
Oh, and no ticket will go unsold in Philly, Seattle, Detroit, Miami, or the Bay Area, that's for sure.
I was just trying to make a point about limiting the number of shows while the supply of fans is the same or greater and the impact that has on demand.
This stadium design is different from past stadium shows. The stage is close to the center of the field, although not in the center. That makes fans all across the stadium, closer on average to the stage than they were in normal stadium set ups. The Police were able to sell tickets at $250 in the stands with the old set up. Plus, the rest of the stands in most Police stadium shows were at the $95 dollar price. The $95 dollar ticket price will not be an issue, but they may struggle to sell the $250 tickets in the smaller markets.
Considering how few dates they scheduled in the US, it'd be hard not to sell this shows out.
Oh, and no ticket will go unsold in Philly, Seattle, Detroit, Miami, or the Bay Area, that's for sure.
By the time they hit those cities, they will be in arenas because of the tepid response they will have received to the stadium shows.
Thanks for that info; I hadn't seen that before.
In regards to the price levels, you will be seeing people who paid $250 sitting across the aisle from people who paid $95, which will be more problematic than the scenario you brought up!
The "barnstorming" tour of early 92 benefited scalpers more than the band. Is there any reason why the band should care if every last seat is sold or not beyond silly "sold out" semantics? This tour is still running off the momentum and sold out shows from 2001/2005.
I don't actually think the placement of Larry's drumset is any closer to the center of the field than it was in 87/92-3/97 for stadiums. Maybe closer to the blinking lights and the side of the walkways. I doubt the 92/97 walkways go out any further than the 2009 ego ramp.
I don't know about Detroit. I don't think the Palace shows sold out last time (granted, that's not really that close to Detroit.....). I was selling some seats for someone here and I don't think we sold them until just a day before the show, and there were some empty seats. If the economy really does play a role, then consider that Michigan is at the bottom of the list and every week the car companies and their suppliers are laying off more and more (not just the factory workers either, I know someone in R&D who's in trouble)...
Sure will. Thats the way it was for The Police. The $95 dollar tickets will sell just fine, but initially you may see some gaps towards the back of where the $250 area will be, unless there is enough people willing to pay $250 during the initial first day of sales.
Not if they price 10,000 seats a night at $250. Logically, if there were that many people willing to spend that kind of money on U2 tickets, wouldn't there be a lot more paid subscribers to u2.com?
Being from Oklahoma I'm going to guess that Norman will come close to selling out. As said above its a college town, it has a Dell office near by, also Norman is located only 15 minutes from Oklahoma City and around 45 minutes from Tulsa which should bring a fair number of people to the show. Who knows the stadium holds around 84k.