Rolling Stone: U2 to play stadiums in the US
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Bonogirl777
Blue Crack Addict
I hope they don't play Fenway Park(usually, they do one or two)concert per summer. I'll NEVER be able to afford tickets. And GA lining up would be a nightmare on Yawkey Way.
OMG yeah.
pudgie_child
War Child
We know they won't be at Wrigley Field because the Cubs' concert allotment is filled (Elton John/Billy Joel followed later in the year by Rascal Flats).
BigMacPhisto
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
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Stadiums are much better if only because the GA this time around will be massive out in an open field (as they were in Europe)...arenas last time meant a whopping 100 people get into the Vertigo inner circle and the same rich people go to every show and end up right at the front of the outer circle every damn time....will be much, much easier now to get the goods.
Earl-Of-IMDb
War Child
Yeah, the Dallas cowboys new stadium and the Reliant stadium are pretty massive. just from seeing them on the outside
Partyslammer
War Child
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My take on stadium versus arena.......
The biggest drawback to a stadium show no matter where you sit or stand is the sound. It will never be as good as even in the most acoustically challenged arena.
As for sightlines, I had seats in the 9th and 11th row near the ramp leading to the end stage respectively for two '97 Popmart shows (San Diego and LA) and it was still very tough to see the band because everyone stood on their rickety folding chairs the entire show and I'm nearly 6 feet tall. My wife who's about 5'5" was miserable especially at the LA show. For the '87 Joshua Tree tour, I caught several shows at the Sports Arena and the 2nd night at the LA Coluseum about dead center on the 50 yard line on the floor/field and the view and sound was pretty poor. By far my worst experience was Dodger Stadium for the '92 Halloween ZooTV tour show where a group of us had mid level seats about 2/3rds up and back and we were almost completely disconnected from the concert.
If this time around is GA floor, it might be alright being able to kind of jocky for a decent position without having to deal with people standing on folding chairs but if in the likely event it's all reserved seating, it's going to be a scalper's paradise and most floor seats will be astronomically priced on the secondary market.
T.B.
The biggest drawback to a stadium show no matter where you sit or stand is the sound. It will never be as good as even in the most acoustically challenged arena.
As for sightlines, I had seats in the 9th and 11th row near the ramp leading to the end stage respectively for two '97 Popmart shows (San Diego and LA) and it was still very tough to see the band because everyone stood on their rickety folding chairs the entire show and I'm nearly 6 feet tall. My wife who's about 5'5" was miserable especially at the LA show. For the '87 Joshua Tree tour, I caught several shows at the Sports Arena and the 2nd night at the LA Coluseum about dead center on the 50 yard line on the floor/field and the view and sound was pretty poor. By far my worst experience was Dodger Stadium for the '92 Halloween ZooTV tour show where a group of us had mid level seats about 2/3rds up and back and we were almost completely disconnected from the concert.
If this time around is GA floor, it might be alright being able to kind of jocky for a decent position without having to deal with people standing on folding chairs but if in the likely event it's all reserved seating, it's going to be a scalper's paradise and most floor seats will be astronomically priced on the secondary market.
T.B.
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
I'm not American, but ... stadiums rock.
Stadium concerts are the only chance you get reasonable tickets for U2.
But summer can't be true, they'll be touring Europe first.
Stadium concerts are the only chance you get reasonable tickets for U2.
But summer can't be true, they'll be touring Europe first.
joerags
War Child
Can anyone see a stadium tour working with the new songs on the album?
Stadiums only, huh?
Markets in which U2's grosses have remained basically stagnant since the 90s:
~ Dallas
~ Houston (the 2005 show doesn't count because there was no Austin/San Antonio show)
~St. Louis (the 2005 show doesn't count because there was no Kansas City show)
~ Kansas City
~ Cleveland (the 2005 show doesn't count because there was no Columbus show)
~ Columbus
~ Milwaukee/Madison
~ Salt Lake City
~ Ames/Omaha
And there are plenty of other markets like Indianapolis, Memphis, New Orleans, Clemson/Columbia, Birmingham, Austin, San Antonio, Jacksonville, etc., where U2 don't play anymore because they are WEAK markets for them.
What the hell are they going to do if they want to hit these above listed markets? Or are they going to skip them? Because at the prices they're charging nowadays, they won't even be able to sell out ARENA shows (or just barely in some cities) in these areas.
If it's truly a stadium only tour, then it's going to be a short North American tour...
Markets in which U2's grosses have remained basically stagnant since the 90s:
~ Dallas
~ Houston (the 2005 show doesn't count because there was no Austin/San Antonio show)
~St. Louis (the 2005 show doesn't count because there was no Kansas City show)
~ Kansas City
~ Cleveland (the 2005 show doesn't count because there was no Columbus show)
~ Columbus
~ Milwaukee/Madison
~ Salt Lake City
~ Ames/Omaha
And there are plenty of other markets like Indianapolis, Memphis, New Orleans, Clemson/Columbia, Birmingham, Austin, San Antonio, Jacksonville, etc., where U2 don't play anymore because they are WEAK markets for them.
What the hell are they going to do if they want to hit these above listed markets? Or are they going to skip them? Because at the prices they're charging nowadays, they won't even be able to sell out ARENA shows (or just barely in some cities) in these areas.
If it's truly a stadium only tour, then it's going to be a short North American tour...
kramwest1
has a
I think 2009 will be U2 dipping their toe into the economic waters with a short stadium tour, and then 2010 may see more dates and possibly arenas.
I don't see them doing the fairly rigorous schedule of all of the Vertigo Tour arena shows again. I think this tour will be "see them while they're close to your city" for the fans and if it goes okay there may be more dates.
Anyone think that Australia will be this next Winter?
Mark
lauramullen
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I hope they do arenas in 2010
Silence
The Fly
Where / what are the indicators of presales this tour?
BonoIsMyMuse
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
The membership spiel at U2.com says that membership includes access to a presale.
randhail
Rock n' Roll Doggie
I hope they don't play Fenway Park(usually, they do one or two)concert per summer. I'll NEVER be able to afford tickets. And GA lining up would be a nightmare on Yawkey Way.
Pretty sure that Dave Matthews is going to be the concert there this year.
popbellydancer
Refugee
Actually the thunder and rain does sound kinda cool
when i danced at tampa stadium during MW it started to rain on the line "Johnny take a dive, with your sister in the rain!" everyone told me it was really cool and united them together for that song. i became worried about slipping!! but
it was like bono lifted his arms up and said "let there be rain" and there was rain!
anyway, it was neat.
popbellydancer
Refugee
imo, the answer is no for smaller stadiums everywhere. but the led screen wasn't the ONLY reason they cancelled in raleigh on popmart let's remember part of it was very low ticket sales. so i would guess they're shell shocked/shy from the raleigh popmart, and will try to make that and other smaller markets be in smaller stadiums. where as NY/LA etc are gonna be the larger 60,000 type stadiums.
popbellydancer
Refugee
they blew up the stadium they used on popmart didn't they. is it bigger now?
and 20,000 was bad in that stadium cuz it was something like 40,000 capacity if memory serves. however 20,000 fills an arena. they should do both. stadiums in large cities and arenas in smaller ones. that'd be nice!
popbellydancer
Refugee
agreed.
and i think that we'll see shows in a larger market like miami, but none in the smaller areas like jaxville or tampa. it could be they skip NC and just do atlanta and DC/Charlottesville. Dallas and not Austin/Houston/San Antonio etc. LA but not San Diego.
WildHoneyAlways
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
pumped.
Dragonfave
New Yorker
U2Fanatic4ever
Blue Crack Addict
I'm considering seats right now but hell, I know my fanatical side is going to win out and I'm going to get GA's
you and me both sistah..
jphelmet
Refugee
would be crazy for them to play one show in texas only in dallas. they should play dallas + houston or san antonio but not one.
one show in texas would be underselling that market big time.
lauramullen
Blue Crack Distributor
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I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but wouldn't it be impossible for them to book dates in US football stadiums until the NFL schedule comes out in April. Just a thought
Interesting. So he's saying that U2 will lower their ticket prices from what they were on the Vertigo tour. However, 10-15x the price of No Line On The Horizon = $100-$150. But even if they lower their average price to say, $75, they'd still struggle to sell 25,000 tix in ANY of the Midwestern and Southern US markets I mentioned in my previous post.
Can you say PopMart?
zoopop
Rock n' Roll Doggie
They just have to schedule around Thursday, Sunday, & Monday. I'm sure they have access to the NFL schedule (at least the dates, times wouldn't matter). All the NFL teams know who there playing already and the dates are usually announced around April/May. The NFL already has this info.
For TX dates U2 might be able to play San Antonio/Austin show. Its a lock they'll have a Houston show & a show at Jerry World (new Cowboy stadium).
zoopop
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Any chance U2 would have $40-$50 seats? To me this would get people to the show and show good press for the band.
Upper Upper Level $35
Upper Level $50
Mid-Level $75
Close to stage/special seating $125
Upper Upper Level $35
Upper Level $50
Mid-Level $75
Close to stage/special seating $125
popbellydancer
Refugee
i meant they might do 2 shows in dallas/larger markets and no shows in smaller markets. they prob would do houston and dallas cuz those are huge markets. but they could just do multiple nights in the big cities like dallas la chicago ny.
