Tour questions

[DaveC]

I wanna make sure I'm damn ready for this tour so I can get the best possible seats at both concerts (Boston & Montreal) that I intend to go to. So I have a couple of questions:

1. How long after the release of an album does it usually take to announce the first leg of a tour?

2. How long (on average) does it take for tickets to go on sale once the tour is announced for any given venue?

3. How long should I plan to go to a city (I live about 13 hours away from both cities by car) to line up for tickets (I'd like to avoid Ticketmaster, all I've heard is terrible stuff about them)?

4. How long before tickets officially go on sale should I line up so to assure I get GA/front row tickets?

5. How long should I plan to be in any given city for the concert (ie how many days)?

6. What is the best way to travel to a city approximately 15 hours away for a concert?

7. How early should I be on concert day to line up?

8. What's the best way to meet the band on concert day?

9. What should I bring for lines, etc.?

10. If I'm a few people back in line and I go to order, and the people ahead of me take longer than they should, will all the speedy little bastards using Ticketmaster get all the best seats and I'd be stuck halfway back, even though I'm like 3rd or 4th in line?

11. Line up or Ticketmaster?

12. Should I stay at a hotel or somewhere else? Is it feasible to do this?

13. Any other secrets or tricks I should know before going?

14. Lastly, any stories/comments?

Thanks guys! You're the greatest!

 

[The_acrobat]

1. It really depends. Popmart tickets went on sale before the release of Pop, while Elevation tickets went on sale months after ATYCLB was released. So, it really depends on when the album is released. They usually begin their tours in the spring, in order to qualify for some sort of Irish income tax break (anyone help me with this part?). The album is believed to be coming out early next year. So if the tour is to begin in April/May, the tickets might actually go on sale before or shortly after the release of the album.

2. They usually announce the dates a few weeks before they go on sale.

3. Well, you don't have to go to Boston to buy tickets for a Boston show. There are several different online ticket services other than ticketmaster that are available for you. I myself and wondering about my plan of action to get good seats while at the same time avoiding ticketbastard. We just will have to see what ticketmaster is planning to do with these so called "ticket auctions". Fucking bullshit.

4. If you want GA tickets, you'll have to participate in some sort of internet presale. I was 1st in line to buy tickets to the Columbus and South Bend Elevation shows at the local ticketmaster outlet, and I ended up sitting halfway up the side of the arena. They usually only sell a few thousand GA tickets, and they were the cheapest in the house on the last tour. They were sold out before the shows even went on public sale.

5. Get there the day before the show, and leave the day after the show. There will probably be multiple dates in Montreal and Boston on this next tour, so plan accordingly for how many shows you want to attend.

6. Fly there

7. Get there the night before. Have a little campout. It'll be a good experience for ya.

8. Wait behind the arena for them to enter. If security tells you the band is already inside and it's 4 in the afternoon, he is full of shit. Just stay there and wait in the back. Do this only if you don't have to be in the GA line.

9. Junk food, beer, pop, smokes, headphones with U2 music.

10. Like I said, even if you are first in line and are there right at the sale time, the best seats will have already been bought in the online presale.

11. Either ticketmaster or some other online service. Print your tickets out, if possible. It eliminates any possible human error (aka dumb fucks at UPS losing shit).

12. Spend your first night camping outside the arena for a GA spot. And any other nights you're in the city, I'd recommend staying in a hotel, unless you have a comfy vehicle to sleep in, or find a nice bridge to sleep under.

13. Pay close attention to u2.com when the dates have been announced, because they have a presale that you can participate in. THAT, my friend, will be your best chance. Boston is a huge city, and a huge U2 fan base resides there. It'll be a bloodbath. Good luck.

14. I bought tickets to Indianapolis 3 days after they went onsale. (I had already bought Columbus and Cleveland tickets, but needed to wait until my next paycheck to get the Indy ones). When I went there, I ended up on the side of the stage, CLEAR in the top row of the arena. As high up as I could've possibly been without going through the roof. But, we traded for some rear stage seats, and it wasn't too bad, really. So don't hesitate, and put aside money for this sorta thing, so you don't have to wait for your next paycheck.

 

[DaveC]

Thanks. Anyone else with anything to share?

 

[martha]

Single tickets can be had for face value + postage on ebay quite easily.


IF you don't mind not being close enough to look up their napalmed noses. The ebay seats that are face are up a bit. But hell, it's a ticket.

 

[martha]

Oh, and when I went to Phoenix and SLC, from the LA area, I arrived in town the day of the show (driving), and I left the day after the show. It only took me the morning to get to Phoenix and a day and a half to get to SLC.

 

[Axver]

I have two questions, if you don't mind me asking ....

1. I live in Australia. How would I go about getting tickets for overseas shows? Would I have to do it online, or can I get them from outlets here in Australia?

2. How hard is it to get right up close to the stage?

 

[ZOOTB]

As far as traveling, I'm from Boston and went to Toronto to see them for Popmart. I planned about a month or 2 ahead for it. The first thing I did was go to AAA and get a book on Toronto (they give these away for free). Then I looked at the map of the city which shows all the hotels in the area and decided which one was closest to SkyDome. Then I called AAA and told them exaclty what I wanted to do and why I was going and they set it all up for me. I ended flying on a small jet, I think it was a 1 hr flight, maybe 1 and 1/2 at the most. Took a free bus ride from airport to hotel. Concert was on a Saturday nite, so we left on friday and came home sunday morning. Everything went just as I had planned. The hotel was a little further than I'd like to walk so we took a short ride on the subway of which I had also considered and looked at subway maps online prior to going. All I can say is plan in advance and learn as much as you can about where you're going. I had never been to Toronto prior to this but with extensive research on the internet and AAA book, I became very familiar with the area prior to going and it worked out great and the concert was great. Good Luck!

 

[martha]

^ Now that is a good, helpful answer!