(01-01-2007) U2: From joshua trees to palm trees - Reuters Canada*

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U2: From joshua trees to palm trees

By Jonathan Cohen
NEW YORK (Billboard) - You can't blame U2's concert promoter for wondering just how big the band's Vertigo world tour could have been if it had simply kept on playing.

After all, not one ticket went unsold for the 131 shows on the trek, which began March 28, 2005, in San Diego and wrapped December 9 in front of 47,000 fans at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium.

Having been on the road in fits and starts since March 2005, U2 was clearly in a celebratory mood in Hawaii, as Bono danced onstage with a woman from the crowd during "Mysterious Ways" and even pulled a lucky guy out of the audience to play piano with the band during "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses." Whether waving the American flag high above his head amid opener "City of Blinding Lights" or writhing on the stage blindfolded for "Bullet the Blue Sky," the frontman was holding nothing back.

When all was said and done, Vertigo clocked in as the second-highest grossing tour of all time: $389 million from an astonishing audience of 4,619,021, second only to the Rolling Stones' concurrent A Bigger Bang trek, which may continue into 2007, and has grossed more.

"I sometimes try and visualize, what would be the universe?" promoter Arthur Fogel told Billboard. "In other words, what if you could just play and play and play? We sold over four-and-a-half million tickets on this tour, but we still underplayed basically everywhere we've gone."

Vertigo visited arenas in North America through late May 2005, then played stadiums in Europe throughout that summer. In the fall, it was back to North America for a run that included six shows at Toronto's Air Canada Center and six at New York's Madison Square Garden.

February and March took U2 to South America, which was originally to be followed by dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Those shows, however, were postponed until the fall due to a serious illness that struck within the immediate family of a band member. Details have never been publicly disclosed.

Getting Vertigo back on track was the final hurdle for Fogel. He and U2 manager Paul McGuinness say they're in contact all the time, even a year before the first fan has filed into a venue.

"As the record develops, the production develops," McGuinness said. "And depending on when the record is finished, we have an imaginary start date. That's subject to change, but the thinking about the production is always simultaneous with the making of the album."

The Vertigo stage set featured an ellipse-shaped extension that allowed band members to travel far into the general-admission crowd on the floor. It required 30 semi trucks to get from place to place, according to stage manager Rocko Reedy. On a good day, it took two-and-a-half hours to assemble, but that duration could nearly double depending on weather and venue configurations. After being loaded post-show onto the trucks, the stage was packed onto three 747s to travel to the next venue.

Early in the tour, U2 performed in front of seven see-through LED curtains, onto which images and patterns were projected. Later, a giant, super high-tech LED screen was used instead to form the backdrop.

To read the entire piece, please go here.
 
The band may even experiment with commercially releasing select concerts as downloads shortly after their completion. "That's something we're exploring," McGuinness acknowledged. "In the future there will be more what we call 'band-to-fan activity."'

Interesting. Think they'll actually follow through on this this time?
 
nathan1977 said:
The band may even experiment with commercially releasing select concerts as downloads shortly after their completion. "That's something we're exploring," McGuinness acknowledged. "In the future there will be more what we call 'band-to-fan activity."'

Interesting. Think they'll actually follow through on this this time?

Wasn't a similar thing said 2 years ago - as part of the U2 ipod deal?

Anybody got audio for the Toronto 5th and 6th shows quoted in the article??? I can't believe they got RUSH and members of Tragically Hip onstage to sing "Tears Are Not Enough" in the encores!!
 
Yes!!! Good quality "bootlegs" I can't wait. Tour in 2008...we should be so lucky. Realistically maybe the end of 2008 as a tour start...after all they just got done with Vertigo. No way it'll be the beginning of '08.
 
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