Australia off for 2006/07/08.......

[blueeyedgirl]

They could play the Exeter hotel on rundle st. That wouldnt cost much. In fact they would be guaranteed at least $250 profit.

Me and Reptile'll do the post gig sausage sizzle!

 

[timothius]

how could they play 22 shows, mostly consecutively, out of 31 days in January alone? 15 out of 28 in February? Not that I will be anywhere near that hemisphere. Just curious....

As sole promoter of this tour I feel an obligation to answer your questions...

The healthy & pollution free air of New Zealand is perfect for Bono's voice. He will have no vocal issues.

The small land mass of New Zealand will allow for quick transport between venues. The longest distance travelled on consecutive days is around 150km (or 100 miles)... in other words nothing. Also they will be playing theatres on the first 2 legs and so there will be minimal set-up time required.

 

[timothius]

When people see the set on Interference, they'll think it's an April Fool's prank!

Jokes on you. The date has been pulled.

That was the original plan, but there's been a little change. Or ... well, it's a big change actually. They're coming about 60 minutes down the road.

10 March - Gold Coast: Axver's Backyard, Axveriffic Festival, line-up:

8-9am: Pain Of Salvation
9-9:45am: Shihad
9:45-11am: Mark Knopfler
11-11:30am: Dave Dobbyn
11:30am-12:30pm: The Chills
12:30-1pm: Powderfinger (token Aussie act)
1-2pm: Muse
2-2:30pm: Delays
2:30-3pm: Blackfield
3-4:15pm: The Pineapple Thief
4:15-6:15pm: Porcupine Tree (feat. Aviv Geffen and Mikael Akerfeldt)
6:15-6:30: The Dalton Brothers
6:30-8pm: Finn Brothers
8-10pm: Dream Theater
10pm-1am: U2

As promoter I have to inform you I will not allow U2 to play above Neil on the bill, Tim in some cases, but not Neil.

Rearrange the bill.

(... Am I the only person here familiar with even half of these acts?)

Who are the Finn Brothers?

 

[Axver]

Jokes on you. The date has been pulled.

Timothius, we have Neil, Tim, and all other living members of the Finn family held hostage in a secret location. They will be released unharmed as long as the date goes ahead as scheduled. Thanks!

As promoter I have to inform you I will not allow U2 to play above Neil on the bill, Tim in some cases, but not Neil.

Rearrange the bill.

Porcupine Tree, Finns, Dream Theater, and U2 are all co-headliners! U2 get to play for 3 hours because we're going to get them thoroughly drunk on Guinness and demand they play anything we ask.

Who are the Finn Brothers?

They're these two young lads from Luxembourg who play hardcore punk.

 

[timothius]

Timothius, we have Neil, Tim, and all other living members of the Finn family held hostage in a secret location. They will be released unharmed as long as the date goes ahead as scheduled. Thanks!

I've never gone much on Luxemborgean Punk.

 

[Tania]

Can Axver's Rocking Band open? I'd like a free trip to the west coast!

I have checked the schedule and there is approximately 30 minutes free time. Would that suit? Or I could ask that bunch of hobo's that are swanning in from UK to cut back on one or two songs for ya?


*Gets out note book - Vertigo? Nah, don't need that one, that'll help Axver*

 

[Tania]

I've never gone much on Luxemborgean Punk.

You have never lived, Tim!

 

[thatsnotmypuppy]

Just to butt in on the chuckles - but I work at Ticketek - and the word here is the tour is going ahead - and the big issue is venue availability - especially in Melbourne. Nothing is signed - but its far from not happening.

 

[Tania]

Thanks thatsnotmypuppy (if it's not yours whose is it?) that made my day


*Starts to replan Christmas holidays Sydney for 6 weeks or should that be longer ....*

 

[Lila64]

As sole promoter of this tour I feel an obligation to answer your questions...

The healthy & pollution free air of New Zealand is perfect for Bono's voice. He will have no vocal issues.

The small land mass of New Zealand will allow for quick transport between venues. The longest distance travelled on consecutive days is around 150km (or 100 miles)... in other words nothing. Also they will be playing theatres on the first 2 legs and so there will be minimal set-up time required.

As promoter, can you get me 3 tickets? Comped? Along with the plane fare & somewhere to stay. It Axver's place available? I hear he has a pool table

 

[Sken]

thatsnotmypuppy, thats excellent news.

Any idea on what venues they are looking at that might indicate whether they will bring the outdoor or indoor tour to Australia?

 

[timothius]

I work at Ticketek - and the word here is the tour is going ahead

And you all thoguht my post was a joke.

Fingers crossed for GA's to beli's loungeroom!

the big issue is venue availability - especially in Melbourne.

Isn't Optus Oval where they held it last time and it isn't being used for anything in particular at that time.

 

[beli]

My loungeroom is always GA

We could always put U2 on top of the empty aviary in my backyard. U2 could use the avairy as a stage and we could all bop along in the swimming pool. Perth in February is hotter than hell so that might be a goer

 

[kennerado]

timothius, POPMart was at Waverly Park which was demolished. Optus Oval is a rumoured venue though.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

As I understand it, Optus Oval is giving a firm 'no' to U2 along with 2 others who want it's use for a concert & festival.

The financing is the other major, major issue - but greed is greed and a U2 tour is a U2 tour. Australian promoters have been on their hands and knees in front of U2 for years now trying to get the deal, now the deal is on the table. I would be surprised if that hurdle isn't, let's say, further negotiated.

It's the combo of both that I fear. I don't know what U2's plans are apart from Australia, ie Japan, NZ, South America etc. In other words, I don't know how flexible they are. If January is the only month they can possibly tour here due to the rest of their schedule, then I think you can forget about it. It's mid September, there is no Melbourne venue and no promoter. If U2 can be flexible with that, push it to March or so, and a suitable financial arrangement can be made - no worries.

At this moment though, there is no U2 tour, and there are two massive hurdles to overcome before there will be one.

 

[dazzlingamy]

Don't rain on our (slighty insane and goin crazy with fear) happy parade earnie! hahahaha

Im at the point where if they come WOOOOOO if they don't day off for crying then BAD MOUTHING them to everyone i meet (but still secretly listen to music in private and weep hot tears and anger)

LOL

 

[bono_man]

Just to butt in on the chuckles - but I work at Ticketek - and the word here is the tour is going ahead - and the big issue is venue availability - especially in Melbourne. Nothing is signed - but its far from not happening.

Nice work, thanks for posting that...makes me feel slightly better!

We need to use you as a detective me thinks. Are you able to be our little Aussie insider on this issue? It would be good (not to mention fun!).

 

[bono_man]

Also, if its an issue of venue availability, that sounds like they are looking at a stadium tour of here instead.

 

[thatsnotmypuppy]

Optus Oval is not an option - no license will be given. Talk was Rod Laver Arena - but the window of availability between the Australian Open and the Commonwealth Games lock down is about 9 - 10 days - 2 of which are already booked. Telstra Dome would be my best bet - but we dont book Telstra Dome shows at Ticketek. Thats Ticketmaster - I'll try to see if they know anything.

If the tour is coming in March-April - then most venues are available in Melbourne except the MCG which will be unavailable due to the track being removed after the CG's.

Word here is that the Backstreet Boys will use Rod Laver in late January/Early February, also there is talk of Robbie Williams playing in the same time window - so these two acts also lessen the availability...

 

[STING2]

It all sounds fairly grim at this stage. If U2 can't tour Australia and make a profit, I don't understand who can.

While everyone says that Popmart was a flop in Australia, the same can be said for just about everywhere. Not many US dates were sellouts on that tour.

Surely a tour that played arenas and doing three nights in Melbourne and Sydney plus a couple in Brisbane. Rod Laver would fit 19,000 and three nights would sellout at $100-$250 a ticket without too much trouble. For god's sake, the set's built, they just have to wheel it out.

But none of the stadiums were sellouts in Australia. In fact, Australia is the country that had the lowest average attendance per show on the whole POPMART TOUR at 23,282. The average attendance per show on the entire 93 date tour was 42,322 nearly double the average attendance in Australia.

Australians came out big for the Lovetown Tour and ZOO TV. One wonders why Australians on average turned their back on POPMART to a degree greater than any other country in the world?

Certainly, ATYCLB and HTDAAB have each sold about 3 to 4 times as much as POP did, but the band has to be careful when booking dates in Australia in light of what happened in 1998 for POPMART. But I think the increased album sales should allow the band to play to a much larger audience than they did on POPMART in Australia.

 

[Axver]

But none of the stadiums were sellouts in Australia. In fact, Australia is the country that had the lowest average attendance per show on the whole POPMART TOUR at 23,282. The average attendance per show on the entire 93 date tour was 42,322 nearly double the average attendance in Australia.

Of course, Australia's average attendance figure is dragged down by the fact that one of those shows was an ARENA date (which did sell out). And if I remember correctly, none of the stadium shows had attendance figures lower than the lowest in the States or Germany.

No need to twist the facts to make Australia look bad.

 

[STING2]

Of course, Australia's average attendance figure is dragged down by the fact that one of those shows was an ARENA date (which did sell out). And if I remember correctly, none of the stadium shows had attendance figures lower than the lowest in the States or Germany.

No need to twist the facts to make Australia look bad.

Attendance for the POPMART tour in Australia.

Sydney 37,976
Melbourne 23,810
Brisbane 17,567
Perth 13,775

Its true Perth was an arena show, but why do you think U2 booked an Arena there instead of a stadium given that this was a stadium tour? Obviously, the number of people willing to see U2 in a city like Melbourne is going to be larger than the number of people in Perth wanting to see them. Even so, if U2 played a stadium in Perth with the same attendance as Melbourne, the average for the tour when then be 25,790 , still the lowest of any country in the world.

All of the German shows had greater attendance than Brisbane and all of the shows in the United States had greater attendance than Brisbane as well with the exception of Jacksonville which had 15,000 in attendance. U2 soldout 1/3 of their Stadium shows in North America on POPMART, but none of their stadium shows in Australia were soldout.

Worldwide, the 93 date POPMART tour had an average attendance of 42,322 people per show.

 

[timothius]

The distance between the release of Pop & PopMarts tour of Australia may have also played a part.

ZooTV came hot on the heels of Zooropa which was one of the top 5 selling albums in Australia that year and Lovetown was directly after R&H...

Also weather wasn't exactly crash hot from what I understand?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

The Melbourne crowd was the really shocking one of that tour. Perth is a very small city with really only one viable stadium option, and at that time of year I would assume that stadium wasn't available. The arena it was held in is also not that big capacity wise, and I'm still amazed that the Popmart stage actually fit in there, in doing so it would have cancelled out a lot of seats. The Sydney Football Stadium has an absolute capacity of about 40,000. Robbie Williams holds the record there with about 39,000 in attendence, which was classed as a sell out. That stage was about half the size of the Popmart stage, and again, factoring in the % of seating that can't go on sale due to the size of the Popmart stage (one end, eating into the sides), I think the Sydney crowd was very good, if not a technical sell out it would only have been short by a couple of hundred. It certainly looked to be packed to the rafters and the disappointing part in Sydney would have been that ZooTV easily sold out two shows in that stadium only 4 years earlier. Ignore Brisbane - Australias cultural black hole. Melbourne however was a real surprise. I don't know what went wrong there, but something huge did.

The figures though are mammoth. I see no reason why U2 shouldn't be scared. The cost of U2 lugging that stage set down here for only 2 or 3 or maximum 4 stadium shows - even if they sell out it's hard to add up.

Put it this way (I know some of the figures for a 3 show stadium tour, the arena tour (C) is a guess)....

TOUR A
2 x shows at Sydney Football Stadium, 1 x show in Brisbane, 1 x show in Melbourne - 35,000 at each, $120 a ticket = VERY SLIM PROFIT (even if you take those figures up to 40K per concert its still a 'slim' profit vs the massive risk of praying that 2 Sydney shows sell out).

TOUR B
1 x Sydney, 1 x Brisbane, 1 x Melbourne OR 2 x Sydney, 1 x Melbourne - 35K at each, $120 a ticket = LOSS (pretty big one if it's the 3 city option)

TOUR C
3 x Sydney SuperDome (20,000 capacity), 2 x Brisbane Ent Cent (12,000), 3 x Rod Laver Arena Melbourne (16,000) at $120 = HEALTHY PROFIT (assuming the arena show costs half as much as the stadium show to transport/stage etc).

TOUR D (WORST CASE)
1 x Sydney (at 37,000 as roughly per Popmart), 1 x Melbourne (at 25,000 as roughly per Popmart), 1 x Brisbane (at 18,000 as roughly per Popmart) at $120 a ticket = $6MILLION LOSS.

 

[timothius]

TOUR C
3 x Sydney SuperDome (20,000 capacity), 2 x Brisbane Ent Cent (12,000), 3 x Rod Laver Arena Melbourne (16,000) at $120 = HEALTHY PROFIT (assuming the arena show costs half as much as the stadium show to transport/stage etc).

This is what gets me. U2 believe so heavily in their arena show during Elevation and the 1st leg of Vertigo - but for some bizzare reason have become transfixed their stadium show - to the point where they are willing to jeapordize touring here at all.

I would also venture if they were unsure about any of those venues they could quite concievably sell out Newcastle's Entertainment Centere as well which seats slightly more than Brisbane - and is in close proximity to Sydney to cut down on transport costs while servicing a different market. Again Perth, has the Burswood which would easily sell out once if not twice.

 

[Axver]

Attendance for the POPMART tour in Australia.

Sydney 37,976
Melbourne 23,810
Brisbane 17,567
Perth 13,775

Attendance figures are one thing, but they don't have any serious perspective until you couple them with one of two phrases: 'sellout' or 'capacity: x'. It's all well and good to say Sydney's attendance is low - and it looks it compared to the Popmart average - until you note what Earnie said above that it was very close to, if not actually a sellout.

Wasn't the Melbourne show played at Waverley Park, not exactly a prime venue? Melbournians/those in the know, want to speak on this? I find that figure very bizarre. Brisbane's makes all too much sense, though. Earnie's spot on when he says Brisbane is Australia's cultural black hole - worst part is, I live roughly an hour south on the Gold Coast, which is so devoid of culture that it makes Brisbane look like a bloody haven. Heck, U2 only played ONE gig in Brisbane on the UF Tour when they managed to play five each in Sydney and Melbourne. Embarrassing.

Perth isn't exactly the most fantastic place to go for venues. February's cricket season and there goes your stadium. Beli may be able to offer more perspective on why they made the venue choice on Popmart they did. Perth's so out of the way that I honestly don't see why they went there to play what was pretty much assurred to be the smallest, least attended concert on the tour.

And didn't one of the German shows struggle to make 17,000?

I'd also like to see attendance stats given some perspective in terms of how many people per capita attended. All I know is that Christchurch Lovetown saw 1 in 10 Cantabrians in attendance, which must be some kind of record. If U2 rocked into New Zealand hot on the heels of a new album, they could get those figures again. I'd like to see them play to a million people in the Greater NYC area.

 

[STING2]

The Melbourne crowd was the really shocking one of that tour. Perth is a very small city with really only one viable stadium option, and at that time of year I would assume that stadium wasn't available. The arena it was held in is also not that big capacity wise, and I'm still amazed that the Popmart stage actually fit in there, in doing so it would have cancelled out a lot of seats. The Sydney Football Stadium has an absolute capacity of about 40,000. Robbie Williams holds the record there with about 39,000 in attendence, which was classed as a sell out. That stage was about half the size of the Popmart stage, and again, factoring in the % of seating that can't go on sale due to the size of the Popmart stage (one end, eating into the sides), I think the Sydney crowd was very good, if not a technical sell out it would only have been short by a couple of hundred. It certainly looked to be packed to the rafters and the disappointing part in Sydney would have been that ZooTV easily sold out two shows in that stadium only 4 years earlier. Ignore Brisbane - Australias cultural black hole. Melbourne however was a real surprise. I don't know what went wrong there, but something huge did.

The figures though are mammoth. I see no reason why U2 shouldn't be scared. The cost of U2 lugging that stage set down here for only 2 or 3 or maximum 4 stadium shows - even if they sell out it's hard to add up.

Put it this way (I know some of the figures for a 3 show stadium tour, the arena tour (C) is a guess)....

TOUR A
2 x shows at Sydney Football Stadium, 1 x show in Brisbane, 1 x show in Melbourne - 35,000 at each, $120 a ticket = VERY SLIM PROFIT (even if you take those figures up to 40K per concert its still a 'slim' profit vs the massive risk of praying that 2 Sydney shows sell out).

TOUR B
1 x Sydney, 1 x Brisbane, 1 x Melbourne OR 2 x Sydney, 1 x Melbourne - 35K at each, $120 a ticket = LOSS (pretty big one if it's the 3 city option)

TOUR C
3 x Sydney SuperDome (20,000 capacity), 2 x Brisbane Ent Cent (12,000), 3 x Rod Laver Arena Melbourne (16,000) at $120 = HEALTHY PROFIT (assuming the arena show costs half as much as the stadium show to transport/stage etc).

TOUR D (WORST CASE)
1 x Sydney (at 37,000 as roughly per Popmart), 1 x Melbourne (at 25,000 as roughly per Popmart), 1 x Brisbane (at 18,000 as roughly per Popmart) at $120 a ticket = $6MILLION LOSS.

The POPMART tour cost an average of $214,000 US dollars per day, regardless if there was a show or not on that particular day. The cost of the entire 93 date POPMART tour came in at around 70-75 million dollars. The GROSS for the tour though was $171 million dollars yielding the band a $100 million dollar profit.

For ZOO TV Sydney, its reported that the capacity of the football stadium was 50,000. I notice that seats were not utilized on the floor ZOO TV, were they used for POPMART?

The cost of the Arena show is about 1/3 that of the Stadium show.

 

[timothius]

For ZOO TV Sydney, its reported that the capacity of the football stadium was 50,000. I notice that seats were not utilized on the floor ZOO TV, were they used for POPMART?

Seats were used for POPMART at the SFS.

 

[Axver]

This is what gets me. U2 believe so heavily in their arena show during Elevation and the 1st leg of Vertigo - but for some bizzare reason have become transfixed their stadium show - to the point where they are willing to jeapordize touring here at all.

I would also venture if they were unsure about any of those venues they could quite concievably sell out Newcastle's Entertainment Centere as well which seats slightly more than Brisbane - and is in close proximity to Sydney to cut down on transport costs while servicing a different market. Again Perth, has the Burswood which would easily sell out once if not twice.

That's what baffles me too! An arena tour would be viable, would actually sell out in Brisbane, and could visit other places such as Newcastle, Adelaide, and even the bloody Gold Coast (which would be dumb, but I'm saying it could). And it would be far less expensive to take it across the Tasman and play to what is arguably U2's most devoted audience in terms of concert attendance.

<dreaming>

Re-release One Tree Hill and they could fucking sell out stadiums the length and breadth of New Zealand. U2 live at the Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth

</dreaming>

 

[ChargedVT]

Sydney Popmart was a complete sellout. I rang there the day after tickets went on-sale and was told "completely sold-out". I heard it only took about 2 hours.
Occasionally though there will be some new tickets put on sale on the day of the show to deter scalpers.