U2 Tour Stats - Fourth Leg?

[Angel]

Hey all... Well, I just thought I'd collect the stats of U2 Tours past starting with the Joshua Tree Tour. I chose to leave out prior tours for the purpose of present day comparison, as U2 didn't really hit North America big until JT. There really is no purpose to this other than for interest's sake and to view any comparisons. Obviously we can't really predict what U2 will do next, but we can make some fun assumptions nonetheless... So check this out:

Joshua Tree - First Leg: USA & Canada (2 Months/Spring)
Joshua Tree - Second Leg: Europe (2? Months/Summer)
Joshua Tree - Third Leg: USA & Canada (3 Months/Fall)

Lovetown - First Leg: Australia, New Zealand & Japan (2 Months/Fall)
Lovetown - Second Leg: Europe (1 Month/Winter)

ZooTV - First Leg: USA & Canada (2 Months/Spring)
ZooTV - Second Leg: Europe (1 ? Months/Summer)
ZooTV - Third Leg: USA, Canada & Mexico (3 Months/Late Summer-Fall)
ZooTV - Zooropa: Europe (3 Months/Summer)
ZooTV - Zoomerang: Australia, NewZealand & Japan (1 Month/Fall)

Popmart - First Leg: USA & Canada (2 Months/Late Spring)
Popmart - Second Leg: Europe (2 ? Months/Summer)
Popmart - Third Leg: USA, Canada & Mexico (1 ? Months/Fall)
Popmart - Fourth Leg: South America & South Africa (2 Months/Winter)

Elevation - First Leg: USA & Canada (2 ? Months/Spring)
Elevation - Second Leg: Europe (2 Months/Summer)
Elevation - Third Leg: USA & Canada (1 ? Months/Fall)

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There definately is a pattern in their tour scheduling - other than Lovetown... But that aside, it is quite obvious that U2 likes to start in North America, before moving on to Europe and then finishing off in North America. What I see potentially happening with the Elevation Tour is one of these 3 possibilities:
1) Add a few dates in Mexico in Decemeber and then say buh-bye for a couple years...
2) Add not a fourth leg, but a whole new tour in summer 2002 that will span only Europe (and possibly Australia, but this I highly doubt after personally seeing P.Mac's opinion of this) after the release of a new album in late spring 2002. This tour would only last a couple months.
3) End in LA on the 19th and say see ya for a couple years!!

Personally, I think option 3 is what is really going to happen, but, that's just my opinion.

Ok, so these are just stupid predictions... but there has been so much speculation as of late I thought I'd give you guys some real stats to work with. So what do you all think?

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"I'm staring at the sun, not the only one who's happy to go blind..."

 

[Blue Room]

Check out this thread from the Now Departing Forum and you will see my opinion and some others: http://forum.interference.com/u2feedback/Forum22/HTML/002459.html

 

[the olive]

Don't forget that they always wait until a tour is over to release the concert video.

We get the Elevation DVD on or around the 4th of December.

 

[Whortense]

they won't ever do a "europe only" tour. whether you like it or not, bands suck up to the u.s. because they have the most disposable income. in other words, they can rip us off better price-wise, and people will be stupid enough to pay it.

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~whortense wiffin
walla walla, washington

 

[the olive]

Originally posted by Whortense:
they won't ever do a "europe only" tour. whether you like it or not, bands suck up to the u.s. because they have the most disposable income. in other words, they can rip us off better price-wise, and people will be stupid enough to pay it.

Wow, did you have a bad concert experience or what?

I doubt they'll ever play just European stadiums. Stadium shows require huge sound systems, massive staging, larger crews and more time between shows. They are extremely costly, and U2 will probably only undertake a full stadium tour if N America is included. I doubt that we'll see a stadium tour from U2 anytime soon.

 

[Blue Room]

the olive said "I doubt they'll ever play just European stadiums. Stadium shows require huge sound systems, massive staging, larger crews and more time between shows. They are extremely costly, and U2 will probably only undertake a full stadium tour if N America is included. I doubt that we'll see a stadium tour from U2 anytime soon."

Hmmm, then explain to me how U2 was able to put on only a total of 3 stadium shows on the 2nd European leg. Wouldnt that be super expensive to do for only 3 shows based on your theory?

Zooropa was technically a different tour for a different album than The Outside Broadcast. The Zooropa tour did not go to the U.S. The Lovetown tour also skipped the U.S. all together. U2 really underplayed Europe this past summer and I think it was done on purpose, because they planned to back the following summer, just like Zooropa/Zoo TV. We shall see.

Go over to U2tours.com and look at their rumors. They are just rumors but they have posted the most reliable rumors out there regarding this tour. A large percentage of the current rumors point to a Euro stadium tour in 2002. U2 will not be back in the U.S. for several years IMO once the 3rd leg is done.



[This message has been edited by Blue Room (edited 10-25-2001).]

 

[the olive]

I knew you'd call me on those shows Blue Room! Let me try to be more clear. U2 seems to have a kind of guilty consience when it comes to stadium shows. They know that there will be tens of thousands of people with crummy seats, and they try to make the shows enjoyable for them. Look at the stages for Outdoor Bradcast/Zooropa and Popmart. Huge. Not to mention the massive video screens. The elevation stage presentation is tiny in comparison. I think they have maybe 10 trucks on this tour compared to 70 on Popmart. Sure they extended the heart a little for Slane and the show in Italy, but people won't stand for that on a regular basis in football stadiums. If they were going to build a bigger stage and get bigger video screens and all the electronics to go with it wouldn't they want to take it around the world to pay for it?

 

[Blue Room]

Actually, I think they will stand for it. They obviously had no problems selling out a stadium and 2 nights at a festival site with that set up. Why would it be different next summer? Especially with a new album out! U2 is absolutely huge in Europe, much more than the U.S. and they played far less dates in Europe. I think U2 are doing this 3rd leg because they know they are not going to be back in N. America for awhile. The screens they had are not that expensive and they had a larger heart for the Italian show. I think the staging will be similiar to the show in Italy with some tweaking. U2 doesnt need all the technology to put on a great show. From all accounts I have heard the Italian show and Slane shows were some of the best on this tour. I dont know for sure but I feel about 80% sure that U2 will play stadiums in Europe next summer and that they will not return to N. America with that tour.

I'am not arguing with you olive, I just dont think you are right!

 

[the olive]

Hey Blue, I know your not arguing with me.

I actually prefer these kinds of discusions to the "Which band member sweat would you like to drink" kind of stuff...

I agree with you that the European audience is more tolerant of a bare bones stadium show. But, I don't think the band wants to take the present stage into stadiums on a regular basis. They would feel too guilty, unless they were going to go back to $15 tickets. They did a one off outdoor show during the first indoor European leg of Zoo Tv (Vienna) and Bono made some comments regarding it being a bad idea with such a huge crowd.

I would love to see it happen, but from a business sense it seems unlikely. Only time will tell!

 

[SkeeK]

Originally posted by the olive:
Don't forget that they always wait until a tour is over to release the concert video.

We get the Elevation DVD on or around the 4th of December.

The concert video also never comes from the first leg of a tour...