Will they sell out stadiums in the USA?

[KUEFC09U2]

I am 49 & I have been following the band since 1980...trust me U2 is past it's prime & I went to the show in Tampa back in 1997 & it was halfull. Yes Popmart was not a success, but I went to the Joshua Tree Giants Stadium Shows in 1987 & Outside Broadcast shows in 1992 & those were pretty well sold out, but I don't see these shows selling out outside of the BIGGER cities

Ah its so clear now, thanks.

 

[siblis50]

U2 scores its seventh No. 1 on The Billboard 200 as No Line on the Horizon bows in the top slot. The Interscope album moved 484,000 copies in the U.S.................That's good considering the recession we are in, but not what the Record company wanted. I'll try & find the ad for you.

 

[lauramullen]

Just because the album is selling well doesn't necessarily mean the tour will. We'll just have to wait and see

 

[siblis50]

The Big News: As expected, U2’s five-star No Line on the Horizon soared to the top of the charts in its debut week, selling 484,000 copies to give the current Rolling Stone cover stars their second-best U.S. debut ever, more than doubling the sales of 2009’s previous highest-selling debut, Bruce Springsteen’s Working on a Dream. The album fell slightly under industry expectation of a half million copies, but Universal Music Group’s Australian division, who accidentally leaked the LP weeks before its release, might be to blame.

 

[RedRocksU2]

 

[siblis50]

I hope the tour does well as I have been a follower of the band since 1980, but the economy is very rough right now & people/fans are hurting finacially. I think the album is Excellent & I am glad that it's not a commercial success attracting the pop kids.

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

The Big News: As expected, U2’s five-star No Line on the Horizon soared to the top of the charts in its debut week, selling 484,000 copies to give the current Rolling Stone cover stars their second-best U.S. debut ever, more than doubling the sales of 2009’s previous highest-selling debut, Bruce Springsteen’s Working on a Dream. The album fell slightly under industry expectation of a half million copies, but Universal Music Group’s Australian division, who accidentally leaked the LP weeks before its release, might be to blame.

It sold 484,000 albums - 16,000 short of a half million - hardly disappointing.

And every article I've read had projections between 400,000-500,000

There's a multitude of reasons why this number is phenomenal.

Anyway, I know this is a US-centric thread but for what it's worth, I think U2 will sell out Toronto. Every newspaper here has had an article on the band & their tour every day since the announcement.
Coldplay's went on sale 3 days ago and there are only nosebleeds left but U2's a more popular live band (here anyway)

 

[KUEFC09U2]

I hope the tour does well as I have been a follower of the band since 1980, but the economy is very rough right now & people/fans are hurting finacially. I think the album is Excellent & I am glad that it's not a commercial success attracting the pop kids.

But the album IS a commercial success? its number 1 in god knows how many countrys, i belive its the the fastest selling since Britney Spears in the US, when i think she sold something around 505,000 in DECEMBER!

how can you not think the album is a success?

anyway this isnt the forum to be discussing that, if you wish to discuss further you should head over to peeling off the dollar bills.

 

[Super Yo]

From U2.com

The new album has debuted at number 1 in 30 major territories around the world: UK, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland.

 

[cdparky]

That show sold-out in the sense that every ticket sold... they didn't, however, put every seat up for sale.

Sounds like the Live Nation routine of declaring everything a sell-out when not. They made themselves look stupid last year claiming Madonna sold out Cardiff with 34,000. ignoring the 2/3 empty pitch and mostly deserted lower tiers (and that it holds around 60,000 for a legitimately sold out concert). Whether the shows sell out or not Live Nation will portray it as sold out.

 

[Bonogirl777]

From U2.com

The new album has debuted at number 1 in 30 major territories around the world: UK, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland.

 

[4U2Play]

Everything will depend on the US economy this Fall. If the unemployment rate rises above 10%, and if those who have jobs keep seeing their hours cut back, or raises cancelled, then I can't see U2 or anyone else selling out stadiums outside of the big cities.

I think U2 and LN made a mistake in deciding on a stadiums-only tour, instead of a mixture of stadiums and arenas, like the Stones, Madonna, and Green Day did on their last tours. That greed might come back to bite them. Look for discounted $250 tickets at some point.

It's a smart move by LN to start selling tickets five months in advance, while rolling out dates very slowly so as not to saturate the local markets with too many available tickets all at once. I think everyone involved is holding their collective breath about US ticket sales

The vast majority of my U2 friends have said that they will not travel to see shows nearly as much this time as they have in the past. Everyone is four years older with other priorities now, and perhaps also a bit poorer. Good news for those of us worried about getting tickets, bad news for U2 Inc.

 

[ntalwar]

Look for discounted $250 tickets at some point.

That's possible, but they may also give free upgrades to the $250 seats. The Police and The Rolling Stones did that at some shows.

 

[BWU2Buffs]

Everything will depend on the US economy this Fall. If the unemployment rate rises above 10%, and if those who have jobs keep seeing their hours cut back, or raises cancelled, then I can't see U2 or anyone else selling out stadiums outside of the big cities.

I think U2 and LN made a mistake in deciding on a stadiums-only tour, instead of a mixture of stadiums and arenas, like the Stones, Madonna, and Green Day did on their last tours. That greed might come back to bite them. Look for discounted $250 tickets at some point.

It's a smart move by LN to start selling tickets five months in advance, while rolling out dates very slowly so as not to saturate the local markets with too many available tickets all at once. I think everyone involved is holding their collective breath about US ticket sales

The vast majority of my U2 friends have said that they will not travel to see shows nearly as much this time as they have in the past. Everyone is four years older with other priorities now, and perhaps also a bit poorer. Good news for those of us worried about getting tickets, bad news for U2 Inc.

Very good post -- demographics are shifting a lot: for Vertigo I went out three times, my kids were 6 months and thankfully Grandma helped out -- actually, she had to since I paid for her to see U2 in San Diego at 62 with her grandsons and my Dad, but I digress. My kids are now 5 -- sports and such take up their life and my time and money too. Oh yes, and my wife tolerates me and U2, but in this economy, it will be one show, maybe two or I am abstinent by force for a long time.

I have not seen an answer to one question posed -- the average US stadium will be aorund 65,000 fans -- bigger in some markets, a tad smaller in others.

I believe it is way too early to call this album a commercial success - one week of sales? Please, maybe we should talk in a month -- not likely, but for all we know sales could fall off of the cliff after week 3; in part because I, like others, do not hear a ton of radio friendly hits on this album, and that will hurt sales, despite critical success in my opinion.

All that said, big city markets will likely sell out or come close regardless of the economy -- smaller markets like Norman, might struggle to sell 40K tickets -- a lot will depend on pricing and promotion.

 

[believer75]

There are several months before the tour hits the states and that will give plenty of time for the album to sink in to everyone. Unlike Pop which they took on the road in the U.S. only shortly after the album came out not giving everyone time to digest the songs.

The venues that are currently on sale will sell out...yes. And that will hype up the subsequent shows in the U.S. making it The E ticket that it will definitely be. Why are we doubting U2???

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

should be interesting to see. THe new album isnt very radio friendly, same as POP mart. I love them both.

difference here is that POP was the 3rd album moving away from the masses over 7 years. With NLOTH they are white hot from their last 2 albums (again with the masses) which were much more radio friendly. that will bring in more people.

I think thats the main reason they havent announced a ton of shows to start off. dont want egg on their face.

A couple of corrections.

1) The POP album was actually more radio friendly when you look at how much airplay the released songs got on US radio compared to ATYCLB and HTDAAB.

2) The band always starts off only announcing a few shows at a time. In North America, ZOO TV OUTSIDE BROADCAST had a total of 42 shows. POPMART had 44 shows. The Joshua Tree tour had 20 stadium shows. When your only doing stadiums, the number of total shows you do in anyone area will usually be less than 50% of what you would do if it was an Arena tour.

3) Back to the POP album and the airplay performance of the singles on the chart VS. ATYCLB and HTDAAB. Peak position:

POP
Discotheque #22
Staring At The Sun #17
Last Night On Earth #74


ATYCLB
Beautiful Day #14
Stuck In A Moment.... #56


HTDAAB
Vertigo #30


As you can see, the POP album is the WINNER in terms of which album was the most "radio friendly". It had 3 songs that made the comprehensive HOT 100 Airplay chart, and usually at higher positions than the next two albums.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Not if they price 10,000 seats a night at $250. Logically, if there were that many people willing to spend that kind of money on U2 tickets, wouldn't there be a lot more paid subscribers to u2.com?

U2 did 78 arena shows in the United States and Canada in 2005. At each show there were nearly 5,000 tickets sold that were $160 dollars. Thats 390,000 tickets at $160 which comes out to $62,400,000. Divide $62,400,000 by $250 and you get 249,600 tickets. With the 16 North American shows that have been announced, that works out to 15,600 $250 tickets per show. So, I'd say they will do just find with having 10,000 tickets at that price per show, given that there are only 16 shows on this leg, and likely will not be more than 20 in North America for this leg in 2009.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Does anyone know (on average) how many tickets (seats plus GA) we are talking here in the US for these stadiums?

I do think they will sell out NY and LA (especially considering LA is only CA show so will include SD fans, and possibly North. Ca fans and NY has to include Philly fans). I do also think that if a show is on a weekend, it will sell a lot more than if its on a weekday. I know to us diehards that may sound unbelievable, but think about all the casual fans that are needed to sell out stadiums - a lot of them may not want to go to a concert on a weeknight. BTW, I hope I am wrong about this!

I also think a lot of sales will be based on reviews - if the reviews from Europe are that the show is amazing, then it will be a hot ticket. If we get Popmart Part Deux (I don't think this will happen), then I will be up front with the rest of you diehards, and the casual fans won't know what they are missing!

I'm guessing 60,000 or 70,000 to be the average in North America. Some shows will be higher, others will be lower.

 

[digitize]

A couple of corrections.

1) The POP album was actually more radio friendly when you look at how much airplay the released songs got on US radio compared to ATYCLB and HTDAAB.

2) The band always starts off only announcing a few shows at a time. In North America, ZOO TV OUTSIDE BROADCAST had a total of 42 shows. POPMART had 44 shows. The Joshua Tree tour had 20 stadium shows. When your only doing stadiums, the number of total shows you do in anyone area will usually be less than 50% of what you would do if it was an Arena tour.

3) Back to the POP album and the airplay performance of the singles on the chart VS. ATYCLB and HTDAAB. Peak position:

POP
Discotheque #22
Staring At The Sun #17
Last Night On Earth #74


ATYCLB
Beautiful Day #14
Stuck In A Moment.... #56


HTDAAB
Vertigo #30


As you can see, the POP album is the WINNER in terms of which album was the most "radio friendly". It had 3 songs that made the comprehensive HOT 100 Airplay chart, and usually at higher positions than the next two albums.

How well something charts does not define how radio friendly it is.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

In Hawaii there were quite a few empty seats and that was a pretty small stadium. Albeit in a strange location and a show that had been rescheduled....

With 45,000 tickets sold, the U2 concert in Hawaii on Vertigo is the largest concert to have ever taken place in the history of the Island.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I think there's a good chance they will sell out. Charlottesville (pop. 45,000 without students) sold out for the Rolling Stones in 2005 at Scott Stadium. And I think I figured out why Charlottesville was added - Live Nation's director of touring lives there. An article I read says that was the reason they got the Stones to perform there. Fortunately I live 2 hrs away from there.

Another reason was that the Stones only did one Arena show in Washington DC forcing many fans there to go to Charlottesville. They did sort of the same thing in Philadelphia, two shows in an Arena, no seats behind the stage and an average ticket price of $190. Many fans got shut out, but then they played a stadium in Hershey not to far away. Combined with the fact that the Stones had never played Charlottesville or Hershey before, plus had just underplayed nearby markets in big cities like DC and Philli, both stadium shows soldout, despite being in a relatively more rural area.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

There won't be 10,000 seats at $250...the 10,000 seats are the $30 price.

I live here in PHX, this city has been great to U2 going back to Joshua Tree, and I do NOT see them selling out University of Phoenix Stadium. GREAT venue and all, but the economy is in the tank, etc......

They may not sellout the stadium, but both Paul McGuinnes and Arthur Fogul said that 15% of the capacity would be sold at the $250 ticket price. Thats 9,000 seats at $250 if the capacity is 60,000 for the show.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I mean, I just can't see stadiums selling out that fast. You might not get the best seats available right at 10 AM, but I really don't think we are going to see alot of stories on here of people not getting tickets.

Now, I'm sure in a few markets (NYC, LA, etc) the stadiums might sell out relatively fast. I also think that those markets will add second shows, thus increasing the chance of scoring tickets. In other markets, I suspect it may be weeks before the shows sell out, if at all.

The majority of sellouts on the ZOO TV tour in North America did not actually happen until show time. There were a few though that soldout quickly. The first show at RFK stadium in Washington DC soldout in 2 hours. The first show at GIANTS STADIUM in New Jersey soldout in 23 minutes.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

How well something charts does not define how radio friendly it is.

Well, how much something is PLAYED on the radio determines where it places on the charts. The songs that get played more on the radio are by definition the more "radio friendly" songs. Songs from POP got played more on the radio than the songs from HTDAAB or ATYCLB.

 

[zoo99]

Chicago= sellout with extra date added
Boston= sellout with extra date added
Toronto= sellout with extra date added
New York= sellout with extra day added
Atlanta=sellout or very very close
Charlottesville= not to sure about this market but if stones can do it no reason why u2 won't
Dallas=sellout especially if they play in new stadium
Houston=sellout or very close
Las Vegas=sellout
Los Angeles=sellout maybe second date added
Norman= no idea
Pheonix=sellout
Tampa=sellout or very very close
Washginton=sellout
Vancouver=sellout

I would be shocked if any of the above didn't happen, theres a very good reason they picked those four cities first, Guarenteed packed houses of 60-80 thousand people in major media markets=great press for the first couple weeks.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Unfortunately, I can't see this tour ending up as anything other than PopMart part 2 in the eyes of the media. Just like "only" selling 480K copies of NLOTH in its first week is being spun as a disappointed, playing to anything less than capacity crowds every night is going to be positioned as a failure.

It won't matter whether the concert is any good or not - all that will be remembered by the press is the band didn't sell out in Tampa, Norman, Phoenix, etc. Just look at how PopMart is described now. It's sad, but true.

ZOO TV Tampa and ZOO TV Phoenix did not sellout either, but there was NO BAD PRESS.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

No, U2 is not a Stadium Band any Longer, that ended with the Zoo Tv Tour

Really? I think you should take a look at these STADIUM figures from the 2005-2006 tour before you make a statement like that:


2ND LEG OF VERTIGO WORLD TOUR: EUROPE

29. Brussels, Belgium : June 10, 2005 : Koning Boudewijn Stadion : GROSS $4,864,554 : ATTENDANCE 60,499 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

30. Gelsenkirchen, Germany : June 12, 2005 : Arena AufSchalke : GROSS $4,203,947 : ATTENDANCE 59,120 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

31, 32. Manchester, England : June 14-15, 2005 : City Of Manchester Stadium : GROSS $11,119,740 : ATTENDANCE 107,671 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

33, 34. London, England : June 18-19, 2005 : Twickenham Stadium : GROSS $13,677,410 : ATTENDANCE 110,796 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

35. Glasgow, Scotland : June 21, 2005 : Hampden Park : GROSS $5,819,053 : ATTENDANCE 53,395 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

36, 37, 38. Dublin, Ireland : June 24-25, 27, 2005 : Croke Park : GROSS $21,163,695 : ATTENDANCE 246,743 : SHOWS 3 : SELLOUTS 3

39. Cardiff, Wales : June 29, 2005 : Millennium Stadium : GROSS $6,406,073 : ATTENDANCE 63,677 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

40. Vienna, Austria : July 2, 2005 : Ernst Happel Stadion : GROSS $4,200,416 : ATTENDANCE 55,645 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

41. Chorzow, Poland : July 5, 2005 : Stadion Slaski : GROSS $3,127,416 : ATTENDANCE 64,711 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

42. Berlin, Germany : July 7, 2005 : Olympiastadion : GROSS $4,725,530 : ATTENDANCE 70,443 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

43, 44. Paris, France : July 9-10, 2005 : Stade De France : GROSS $11,822,645 : ATTENDANCE 160,349 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

45, 46, 47. Amsterdam, The Netherlands : July 13, 15-16, 2005 : Amsterdam Arena : GROSS $13,022,200 : ATTENDANCE 165,516 : SHOWS 3 : SELLOUTS 3

48. Zurich, Switzerland : July 18, 2005 : Stadion Letzigrund : GROSS $3,574,993 : ATTENDANCE 44,260 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

49, 50. Milan, Italy : July 20-21, 2005 : Stadio San Siro : GROSS $7,565,264 : ATTENDANCE 137,427 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

51. Rome, Italy : July 23, 2005 : Stadio Olimpico : GROSS $4,010,779 : ATTENDANCE 67,002 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

52. Oslo, Norway : July 27, 2005 : Valle Hovin : GROSS $3,765,136 : ATTENDANCE 40,000 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

53. Goteborg, Sweden : July 29, 2005 : Ullevi Stadion : GROSS $4,081,864 : ATTENDANCE 58,478 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

54. Copenhagen, Denmark : July 31, 2005 : Parken Stadion : GROSS $3,650,294 : ATTENDANCE 50,000 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

55. Munich, Germany : August 3, 2005 : Olympiastadion : GROSS $5,343,379 : ATTENDANCE 77,435 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

56. Nice, France : August 5, 2005 : Parc des Sports Charles-Ehrmann : GROSS $3,548,702 : ATTENDANCE 51,900 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

57. Barcelona, Spain : August 7, 2005 : Camp Nou : GROSS $5,130,437 : ATTENDANCE 81,269 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

58. San Sebastian, Spain : August 9, 2005 : Estadio de Anoeta : GROSS $2,936,571 : ATTENDANCE 43,720 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

59. Madrid, Spain : August 11, 2005 : Estadio Vicente Calderon : GROSS $3,679,354 : ATTENDANCE 57,040 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

60. Lisbon, Portugal : August 14, 2005 : Estadio Jose Alvalade : GROSS $4,492,762 : ATTENDANCE 55,362 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1





2ND LEG OF VERTIGO WORLD TOUR TOTALS

GROSS: $155,932,214
ATTENDANCE: 1,982,458
AVERAGE GROSS PER SHOW: $4,872,882
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE PER SHOW: 61,952
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $78.66
SHOWS: 32
SELLOUTS: 32






4TH LEG OF VERTIGO WORLD TOUR: MEXICO, BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, CHILE


111. Monterrey, Mexico : February 12, 2006 : Estadio Tecnologico : GROSS $4,504,026 : ATTENDANCE 50,347 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

112, 113. Mexico City, Mexico : February 15-16, 2006 : Estadio Azteca : GROSS $10,257,284 : ATTENDANCE 141,278 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

114, 115. Sao Paulo, Brazil : February 20-21, 2006 : Estadio do Morumbi : GROSS $11,682,557 : ATTENDANCE 149,700 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

116. Santiago, Chile : February 26, 2006 : Estadio Nacional : GROSS $5,000,589 : ATTENDANCE 77,345 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

117, 118. Buenos Aires, Argentina : March 1-2, 2006 : River Plate Stadium : GROSS $6,966,821 : ATTENDANCE 150,424 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2





4TH LEG OF VERTIGO WORLD TOUR TOTALS TO DATE

GROSS: $38,411,277
ATTENDANCE: 569,094
AVERAGE GROSS PER SHOW: $4,801,409
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE PER SHOW: 71,137
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $67.50
SHOWS: 8
SELLOUTS: 8







5TH LEG OF VERTIGO WORLD TOUR: AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN, HAWAII


119. Brisbane, Australia : November 7, 2006 : QSAC Stadium : GROSS $4,254,140 : ATTENDANCE 50,094 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

120, 121, 122. Sydney, Australia : November 10-11, 13, 2006 : Telstra Stadium : GROSS $18,538,724 : ATTENDANCE 206,568 : SHOWS 3 : SELLOUTS 3

123. Adelaide, Australia : November 16, 2006 : AAMI Stadium : GROSS $5,058,962 : ATTENDANCE 60,000 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

124, 125. Melbourne, Australia : November 18-19, 2006 : Telstra Dome : GROSS $11,188,720 : ATTENDANCE 127,275 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

126, 127. Auckland, New Zealand : November 24-25, 2006 : Ericsson Stadium : GROSS $6,216,819 : ATTENDANCE 84,475 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

128, 129, 130. Saitama, Japan : November 29-30, December 4, 2006 : Saitama Super Arena : GROSS $6,096,855 : ATTENDANCE 57,158 : SHOWS 3 : SELLOUTS 3

131. Honolulu, Hawaii : December 9, 2006 : Aloha Stadium : GROSS $4,486,532 : ATTENDANCE 45,815 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1






5TH LEG OF VERTIGO WORLD TOUR TOTALS TO DATE


GROSS: $55,840,752
ATTENDANCE: 631,385
AVERAGE GROSS PER SHOW: $4,295,442
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE PER SHOW: 48,568
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $88.44
SHOWS: 13
SELLOUTS: 13

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Everything will depend on the US economy this Fall. If the unemployment rate rises above 10%, and if those who have jobs keep seeing their hours cut back, or raises cancelled, then I can't see U2 or anyone else selling out stadiums outside of the big cities.

I think U2 and LN made a mistake in deciding on a stadiums-only tour, instead of a mixture of stadiums and arenas, like the Stones, Madonna, and Green Day did on their last tours. That greed might come back to bite them. Look for discounted $250 tickets at some point.

It's a smart move by LN to start selling tickets five months in advance, while rolling out dates very slowly so as not to saturate the local markets with too many available tickets all at once. I think everyone involved is holding their collective breath about US ticket sales

The vast majority of my U2 friends have said that they will not travel to see shows nearly as much this time as they have in the past. Everyone is four years older with other priorities now, and perhaps also a bit poorer. Good news for those of us worried about getting tickets, bad news for U2 Inc.

1) Its a stadium tour! There were stadium shows on the Joshua Tree Tour and ZOO TV tour in the United States that did not sellout. Both LA Stadium shows and one of the Bay Area Stadium shows in California did not completely sellout on the Joshua Tree tour. About 25% of the US stadium dates on the ZOO TV tour did not sellout. The more important statistics are total attendance and total gross.

2) Nearly all stadium tours start with a small number of dates, adding more as time continues. They are also put on sale around 5 to 6 months in advance from show time.

3) Stadium tours have a smaller number of shows, and this one will be split into two legs in North America. Probably 20 shows first leg and 20 shows second leg. Yes, people may be cutting back on the number of shows they go to, but there are smaller number of shows that they can actually attend.

 

[4U2Play]

Chicago= sellout with extra date added
Boston= sellout with extra date added
Toronto= sellout with extra date added
New York= sellout with extra day added
Atlanta=sellout or very very close
Charlottesville= not to sure about this market but if stones can do it no reason why u2 won't
Dallas=sellout especially if they play in new stadium
Houston=sellout or very close
Las Vegas=sellout
Los Angeles=sellout maybe second date added
Norman= no idea
Pheonix=sellout
Tampa=sellout or very very close
Washginton=sellout
Vancouver=sellout

On what are you basing these assumptions?

 

[bigwali]

Tickets will be easy to come by this tour in the USA. Obviously Chicago, Boston, New York, Toronto will be strong but I would be very surprised with new dates added for any stadium considering the economic conditions.

As far as their CD sales, by comparsion when Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" topped the U.S. pop chart with sales of 721,000 copies in June 2008, the title cut was on its way to hitting No. 1 on the U.S. singles charts.

U2 doesn't have the star power of an anthem like Viva on this record. So 484,000 is solid but nowhere near their last release or Coldplay's, but more similar to their earlier album releases.