What will be the future of Touring after 'the claw' ?

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Haven't they already done this with Elevation?

well that was not a small arena tour...and in Netherlands they played 3 times 30,000 people on Elevation...
I am wondering what they would like themselves. They talk always about the old days, doing tehse clubs and small arenas. That could be really great! What the Stones did in 2002/2003 for their Licks Tour, performing in Stadiums, arenas and even clubs/theatres. With highly different setlists for each type of venue...
Fan club members had first choice and of course went for the club/theatre lots of times. Ah that would be great, seeing the band in Paradiso, Amsterdam! Or in Olympia Paris...

I remembered in the Netherlands they played 2x Feijenoord Stadium rotterdam, 2x amsterdam Arena, 1x Arena Ahoy' and 1x muziekcentrum Vredenburg Utrecht within one month...
 
Apart from the bands entrance, which im sure could change to accomadate...

Why isn't the claw in the middle?

I think that the reason is that if the stage is truly in the middle they will have to give all directions of the field as much time. That means half of the concert you are not seeing anything when you are standing on the fields. When sitting in the seats in the back it's different cause you still see what's going on on stage.

The bands entrance is not a big issue I guess. They could make a walk area through the public. They did that before didnt they?
 
well that was not a small arena tour...and in Netherlands they played 3 times 30,000 people on Elevation...
I am wondering what they would like themselves. They talk always about the old days, doing tehse clubs and small arenas. That could be really great! What the Stones did in 2002/2003 for their Licks Tour, performing in Stadiums, arenas and even clubs/theatres. With highly different setlists for each type of venue...
Fan club members had first choice and of course went for the club/theatre lots of times. Ah that would be great, seeing the band in Paradiso, Amsterdam! Or in Olympia Paris...

I remembered in the Netherlands they played 2x Feijenoord Stadium rotterdam, 2x amsterdam Arena, 1x Arena Ahoy' and 1x muziekcentrum Vredenburg Utrecht within one month...


WTF , I wished I lived in that time.. But I don't see them going back into clubs , with the exception of promo-tour gigs. Bono said in an intervieuw that they worked hard to get out of them, so it would be weird to go touring in them "to get back to the old days"
 
Also, whatever happened to that sonic technology they were trying out for Vertigo tour ?
 
I think that the reason is that if the stage is truly in the middle they will have to give all directions of the field as much time. That means half of the concert you are not seeing anything when you are standing on the fields. When sitting in the seats in the back it's different cause you still see what's going on on stage.

The bands entrance is not a big issue I guess. They could make a walk area through the public. They did that before didnt they?

The way Def Leppard did it is simple - they just utilized all four sides of the stage - no one side was the front. At pretty much any given time, at least one member was on each side of the stage, and the drummer was in the middle on a rotating base.
 
The way Def Leppard did it is simple - they just utilized all four sides of the stage - no one side was the front. At pretty much any given time, at least one member was on each side of the stage, and the drummer was in the middle on a rotating base.

yes I've seen a similar setup for another band recently. But that setup really took out the energy of the show. Less interaction between band members or all members at one side and big part of the field not seeing anything...
 
That is incorrect!

The first time U2 did a 360 show was on the Unforgettable Fire Tour in 1984. Every arena show U2 have played since 1984 as been 360. Prior to U2 360 in 2009, no artist had ever done a STADIUM TOUR with a 360 set up. Doing a 360 set up inside the arena is easy since you can just hang almost everything from the ceiling. In an outdoor stadium, thats not an option, which is why U2 had to build the Claw to have a 360 show in an outdoor stadium.

Rod and Celine toured 360 stadiums in Europe in the 90's. Beatles and other artists frequently played center stage large venue shows in the 60/70's.

This is the first 360 stage setup to do a world tour.
 
yes I've seen a similar setup for another band recently. But that setup really took out the energy of the show. Less interaction between band members or all members at one side and big part of the field not seeing anything...

Well then, that's the fault of the entertainers or the crowd, or the entertainers not knowing how to work the stage, but not the stage itself, because the show I saw was plenty energetic.
 
Just because U2 sold seats behind the stage doesn't make it a 360 show. I saw Def Leppard in '92. Now that was a 360 show. A 360 show entails more than selling seats and glancing back at the audience behind you a couple of times throughout the concert.

DING DING DING!

Thanks, VP. Def Leppard have consistantly been one of rock's most innovative bands starting with "Bringing On the Heartbreak" right up through a couple of years ago when Joe Elliot decided that the Stanley Cup looked better upside down. Has U2 even put Lord Stanley's Cup upside down? I think we have our answer.
 
Make the stage a big equilateral triangle shape and each 1/3 of the show can be played at one of the tips of the triangle. The screens/speakers can be mounted in claw-like fashion.
 
DING DING DING!

Thanks, VP. Def Leppard have consistantly been one of rock's most innovative bands starting with "Bringing On the Heartbreak" right up through a couple of years ago when Joe Elliot decided that the Stanley Cup looked better upside down. Has U2 even put Lord Stanley's Cup upside down? I think we have our answer.

they are true trail blazers...
 
DING DING DING!

Thanks, VP. Def Leppard have consistantly been one of rock's most innovative bands starting with "Bringing On the Heartbreak" right up through a couple of years ago when Joe Elliot decided that the Stanley Cup looked better upside down. Has U2 even put Lord Stanley's Cup upside down? I think we have our answer.

There was a purpose behind the Stanley Cup incident. Joe was trying to symbolize the struggle and the distance between not only the player and their union and the league/owners, but also the growing gap between multi-million dollar players and their relatively working class fanbase. The Cup being turned upside down was a metaphor for all that.

But the media didn't quite get that, did they? :|

Joe is actually a brilliant philosophical mind.
 
I'm hoping for a cheaper setup in smaller venues, one they can take to countries until now impossible to play because of economics and scale. Wouldn't it be lovely for them to be able to play in India, China, South-East Asia?
 
If they can go from Popmart to Elevation then most anything is possible, they might scale down or go for something different, never know.
 
I'm not sure either why they seem to be claiming this 'in the round' as their own. The big stage setup is pretty unique (although WWE wrestling as one example has used claw-like structures when playing in massive stadiums for years, with screens and sound systems attached), but other bands such as Foo Fighters (Wembley), Metallica, Rod Stewart, and even Tina Turner have played 'in the round' in stadiums before.

I hope for a future tour where they do play smaller venues and concentrate more on the music (like Elevation), but I am still looking forward to this one. I managed to see Oasis once in a 3000 capacity venue (in 2002, way after they started doing stadiums and big arenas) and it would be awesome beyond belief to see U2 in such a place.
 
I think they're the first ones to use this claw shape for stadiums (definitely brand new technology with the screen), and the first ones touring "in the round" worldwide.
 
the 360 set up would be a bit better if bono actually sone more time around the back

the stage should really be in the middle imo
 
U2 will purchase a larger, noisier claw that uses up so much electricity, performing in Tokyo will be the only feasible option.
 
I think they're the first ones to use this claw shape for stadiums (definitely brand new technology with the screen), and the first ones touring "in the round" worldwide.

Is that a good thing? I can count the number of acts that the "claw" is practical and still have several fingers left over.
 
Their next tour should be a touring rock-opera with a consistent plot integrating the current album with songs from the back-catalogue. It can evolve somewhat from night to night, allowing for a degree of improvision, an evolving setlist, and a show that stays interesting for people watching it even if it maintains a good flow throughout every night. The stage essentially be a bunch of interconnected catwalks throughout the floor of each stadium/arena with Larry on a movable platform based in the middle of the catwalks. The speakers and lights should all be mounted on the roof, in the case of an arena or domed stadium, or at the top of the seating area in open stadiums.
 
Their next tour should be a touring rock-opera with a consistent plot integrating the current album with songs from the back-catalogue. It can evolve somewhat from night to night, allowing for a degree of improvision, an evolving setlist, and a show that stays interesting for people watching it even if it maintains a good flow throughout every night. The stage essentially be a bunch of interconnected catwalks throughout the floor of each stadium/arena with Larry on a movable platform based in the middle of the catwalks. The speakers and lights should all be mounted on the roof, in the case of an arena or domed stadium, or at the top of the seating area in open stadiums.

U2 should just go for a full-on touring production on Jesus Christ Superstar next.

Guess who plays Jesus?


M
 
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