We've talked about this before. The Joshua Tree in particular has a resonance here. Not 360. Not U2 specifically. U2 and the Joshua Tree. The show here will drive a series of local media look backs to that moment, to the Mecham debacle and U2's response, to the $5 show, and to a certain extent, the Zoo TV show and Public Enemy's refusal to perform related to the since-resolved MLK mess. Not every show is the same. There will be free promotion that you couldn't buy if you wanted to locally. Pure numbers can get you so far, but they can also tell you Hillary was going to win. And I say that as a risk manager who depends upon trend analysis and numbers to make decisions. The mistakes people in my position make time and again is to fail to consider environmental impact.
That media cycle will heat up prior to the show, but delaying the show announcement until two area shows were sold, and really not planning to play here/no reason for people to think they were going to play here is a large impact. This town supports huge music events, even when there were 1/5th the number of people here. The Rolling Stones "Let's Spend the Night Together" was also filmed here, and most major stadium tours have included a stop here with perfectly good results.
You cannot overstate the specific significance U2's Joshua Tree album and tour have here. You also cannot overlook the impact of the housing crisis and the local economy on the 360 results. Those are all real factors. Phoenix was a "hardest hit" community, and the local economy is largely driven by the real estate market, builders, and banking/mortgage. This city was destroyed. Everyone was impacted, but Phoenix, Las Vegas, and the Orlando, FL area were gutted. We have recovered, and the local economy is smoking.
And, yeah, if you have expended on major shows out of town, your show is a Tuesday, and you have tickets to a show THREE DAYS LATER, it can impact buying in your own home town. If it was just Pasadena, no, a show in May is not going to impact you buying a ticket for the hometown show in September. But when your show wasn't announced until after the purchase of Pasadena and San Diego, and you have to travel on Thursday to get to a Friday show in San Diego, and a show is announced for that Tuesday? Yes, most definitely, that can impact buying a ticket to your local show. We are hardcores and will see the same show over and over. Most rational people do not pay hundreds of dollars to see the exact same show on a Tuesday and a Friday. That is gonna stop u from buying a ticket in your hometown...unless you are a hardcore (like me, so I am going to both, though I did only purchase $35 tickets for the Phoenix show, when I would have bought the $160 option if San Diego wasn't 3 days later and bought).