10 million tune in to U2 gig

U2TOURFANS 2009

For U2 it was just another outlet for video footage but it may well prove to be the moment when the internet showed that it could generate audiences to rival broadcast television.

On ten million occasions viewers clicked on to YouTube to watch U2 perform live at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calfornia at the end of last month, a record for simultaneous viewing on the video website.

Malcom Gerrie, the chief executive of WhizzKid Entertainment, the company that filmed the event, said that both the band and YouTube were shocked and surprised by how many people watched online. “This achieved the kind of audience you might see for a television hit show, but it was far greater than you would see for a music show on television in any single country,” he said. “In Britain, they are cracking open the champagne if Later with Jools Holland gets seen by 600,000 people.”

YouTube, owned by Google, traditionally shows short video clips, and the U2 concert was one of only a handful of live broadcasts the website has undertaken. It was persuaded into doing so when Bono, the band’s frontman, took advantage of his friendship with Sergey Brin, one of Google’s two billionaire founders, to force a change of policy.

Previous attempts to broadcast major concerts live on the internet, such as AOL’s transmission of Live 8 in 2005, have proved to be disappointing for viewers because the prevailing internet technology had not been able to handle video well. As household connection speeds increase, transmitting live television online is becoming more practical.U2TOURFANS 2009/Rose Bowl

The high viewing figures came as such a surprise that neither the band nor YouTube capitalised financially. Paul McGuinness, U2’s manager, said: “YouTube were a little unsure of themselves. They were supposed to sell a sponsorship for the event, but somehow they didn’t manage to.”

YouTube also refused to pay U2, although the Irish quartet accepted the lack of fees because they saw the exercise as a promotional experiment. The Rose Bowl gig was being filmed anyway, so the band could release a DVD of the event early next year as part of their contractual obligation to their music company, Universal.

Mr McGuiness said that in future U2 would consider charging viewers to watch live online when the band comes round to touring again in about four years. “We might do pay per view next time, and we don’t think that will cannibalise any sales of DVDs because the audiences are separate,” he said.

In Britain, few programmes top 10 million viewers. Coronation Street and other soap operas; Champions League and other football finals; and Saturday night entertainment shows are the only programmes able to breach that figure. Last week the X Factor elimination show on Sunday night was watched by 15.8 million, making it one of the most-watched programmes of the year.

U2 were able to exceed the 10 million level because the concert was made available to 187 countries, including China, North Korea and Iran, although a third of the 10 million audience for the Rose Bowl show came from the United States.

After the gig, YouTube is understood to be considering a change in strategy that would turn it into a regular rival to the BBC and ITV and any traditional TV station. A spokesman for YouTube would only describe the event as a “big win”, but Mr Gerrie said: “We think a whole new business model has emerged here.”

U2 Breaks Tour Records !

Bono and company continued their record breaking ways last week. U2’s Oct 25 Rose Bowl performance has set a new US attendance record.

Billboard reports that the legendary Irish rockers have smashed their own attendance record for the best-attended single concert performance at a U.S. venue by a headliner.

The “With or Without you” hitmakers brought their 360° tour to Pasadena, CA’s. Rose Bowl last Sunday and played to a record breaking sellout crowd of 97,014.

U2 set their previous record during their Joshua Tree tour back on Sept. 25, 1987 at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, playing to a soldout crowd of 86,145
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Earlier this week, YouTube announced that the simulcast coverage of the Pasadena concert was watch by 10 million fans from 188 countries, making it the video site’s largest streaming event ever.

After playing their final show of the 2009 North American leg of their tour in Vancouver, BC on Wed, U2 headed east to headline the 2nd night of the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at New York’s Madison Square Garden show this past Friday (10/24).

The “Beautiful Day” hitmakers will play a free show in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 5 that will be beamed into the MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony at Berlin’s O2 World arena and will bring their 360° tour back to Canada and the US in the summer of 2010.

See U2’s official website for more tour details.

For the latest info on the band, check out “U2 heads back to North America in 2010” “U2 concert sets record on YouTube”

Did you know? U2 holds the top 3 positions among the top 5 single-concert attendances on record in the U.S., 

U2 wraps up 2009 with Vancouver show

U2 still running high off their Rose Bowl show came in to Vancouver for the last stop of 2009. Yes more dates have been announced as we said earlier we can expect to see this tour roll thru 2011. (just a guess on 2011). The crowds packed the ferry to capacity as the crossed over to see the world’s largest tour.  U2 knows how to keep the show current and fresh with their ever-evolving set list mixing in tracks off their latest album which I confess took some time to slip into my U2 rotation mix. As they has said early on this was going to be different. However after a couple of listens and a couple of shows, this could be possibility be their finest work.  

The stage — a sprawling entity dubbed “The Claw” — acted as Bono’s pulpit.

Head thrown back and arms open wide; he lifted the adoring crowd, even if just for a moment, out of the stadium’s concrete confines with the sheer power of his voice.

And the audience was ready to receive his word.

They were ready, fists raised and hearts pounding, to go forth unto Vancouver’s streets and spread the gospel according to U2: one love, one heart. 

We will skip telling you that the set change for this tour was a bit longer than most in the past; however it’s clearly due to the size of the stage and the amount of gear that has to come on and off the stage. We have photos that suggest that it takes the band about10 minutes per show to reach the stage. Sometimes they begin the walk as early as 15 minutes. 

 The show kicks off at 9:00PM local time as most twitter fans on the east coast have retried for the night. However you have a small group of dedicated twitter U2 fans that tweet every show, every song and Vancouver’s show was no different.

Kicking off the show with a trio of tracks from their latest release, No Line On the Horizon: Breathe, the decidedly un-U2-like Get On Your Boots and Magnificent. Bono, clad in traditional all-black and patented sunglasses, is basking in stadium love and has already covered more square footage than any of the Peas. (which was to be expected the opening act is never allowed to use all of the stage)

“Where are we going on the SkyTrain? Millennium Line. Expo Line. Canada Line.”

The reference to Vancouver’s public transit system sent the crowd into a frenzy and was one of the very few surprises of the night for anyone who has been following the band’s much-publicized tour – in particular, Sunday night’s live web cast of their Los Angeles concert which featured an identical set list and some of the same word-for-word on-stage banter from Bono.

The show took off when Bono launched into Mysterious Ways, strutting across the enormous catwalk – and the crowd was on its feet.

What we have always said from the beginning of this tour was “City of Blinding Lights” fits so well with this stage is as if the two were made or each other. Every tour stop Bono drags someone on stage to walk with him as he sings about the youth he misses, the beauty in side of me, as if we did not know that each show the person selected was pre-selected. The only difference tonight was that it was a little girl.

Back to our twitter fans, we all seem to have differences on the encore set. Tonight everything matched up, due mostly to this was pretty much the same set list from the last 4 shows.

The main set end around 10:30pm with the standard Sunday Bloody Sunday and Walk On/You’ll Never Walk Alone. BC Place came alive once more for “Where the Streets Have No Name” most will agree one of their best songs that never won a VMA award.

The encore was three songs, Ultraviolet which gives Bono the chance to drive a glowing red steering wheel dangling from above. Next “With or Without You” the wheel turns blue at this point. Closing out 2009 with Moment of Surrender, not before Bono asks “Let’s turn this place into the Milky Way” and as true fans do, they followed.

A couple of notable shout outs to Liam Neeson and football great Warren Moon in attendance, guitarist The Edge’s mother (“our very first crew member,” said Bono) and Bill and Melinda Gates. Bono led the crowd in a rendition of Happy Birthday for Mr. Gates, who celebrated his 54th birthday at the concert.

The sound was inconsistent, not surprising for this venue. But if anyone can sound good at BC Place, it’s U2.

U2 never let on that they just finished playing to 95,000 people and millions watching online. The energy was high and Bono’s voice was fine for the most part, of course in play back we will hear some stress points.

Closing out the show, Bono said” this was the best crew we’ve ever worked with” and while we can’t help but remember all the other crew members tonight was for this crew. Let of pats on the back for the set designer and big hugs for all the band mates.

 “It’s getting very emotional around here,” Bono said toward the end of the show.

It was, indeed.

Now on to Germany for a free concert at the Wall.  

We want to thank all our twitter followers, the U2 Twitter writers group.(with most we shared information back and forth, learning how to play in the sand box better)

To our photog Dave Long to whom made this tour light up for us and millions of fans

To our Youtube Channel team, you guys did a great job after some bumps early.

Our hosting provider, which at times we know we shocked you, we shocked ourselves.

Most of all we want to thank you the FAN for this wonderful experience.

Cheers, we will see you in 2010

U2 360 North America in 2010

U2 360° is coming back to North America in 2010, the band said on their website Sunday. Here is the rest of the announcement:

The tour will touch down next summer in Anaheim; Denver; Oakland; Seattle; Edmonton; East Lansing; Miami; Philadelphia and Montreal. U2 360° will also return for one night only in Toronto and Chicago before finishing the North American leg in New York at the New Meadowlands Stadium. On U2 360° the band currently play 22 live tracks, the first time fans have heard tracks from No Line On the Horizon, one of the best selling albums globally this year..

Tickets for the performances in Oakland, Edmonton, and Toronto will go on sale Monday November 2 with additional North American on sales taking place over the following few weeks in November. (Tickets are also about to go on sale for 2010 European dates in Athens, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey

Youtube:  Did you miss the show ? Living under a rock, well you just don’t know. Enjoy the rebroadcast of the show. Sign up here to be able to get the most current concert videos from the tour as we progress thru 2010.

U2 to play Brandenburg Gate gig

The band have announced a free gig in Berlin next month outside the Brandenburg Gate to mark 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The gig, on Nov. 5, will be staged as part of the MTV Europe Music Awards which are being held in the city this year. The free show will also kick off a range of events marking the fall of the barrier, widely seen as the end of the Cold War.

U2 have a strong affiliation with the German capital — in 1990 the band moved to the city to record their album ‘Achtung Baby’ at Hansa Studios. Tickets to the show will be made available off the band’s website and MTV’s. U2, incidentally, have been nominated for best rock band at the awards this year.

The band’s performance will be beamed into the MTV Awards, which are taking place at Berlin’s O2 World arena. U2 manager Paul McGuinness said, “It’ll be an exciting spot to be in, 20 years almost to the day since the wall came down. Should be fun.” The news of the free Berlin gig comes days after the band played a show streamed live over video-sharing website YouTube. The Pasadena, Calif, show is thought to have been seen by more than 2.5m people.

The band also recently announced more dates in their 360° tour for next year, with a cluster of shows in the US and Canada as well as more European dates — including German shows in Frankfurt and Hanover.

Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, executive producer of the awards ceremony, said the “world’s major music players” would be coming together “against the backdrop of the fall of the Berlin Wall to celebrate music, freedom and the birth of a new age in Europe”.

The ceremony, which will be hosted by US singer Katy Perry for the second year in succession, will include performances from Robbie Williams and Jay-Z.

Lady Gaga and Green Day lead the field with five nominations each, while U2 are in the running for best rock band.

Pixie Lott has already been announced as the winner of best UK and Ireland act, and will compete for the best European act trophy with 21 artists from across the continent.

U2 concert goes live on YouTube

U2 concert goes live on YouTube

The concert was bookended by songs from the band’s latest album

Irish rock group U2 have broadcast an entire live show via the video sharing website YouTube.

Although 96,000 people turned up to see the show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California, many times that number were expected to have watched it online.

As he took to the stage, lead singer Bono said: “Thank you Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone watching on YouTube all over the world - seven continents.”

The quartet played hits including Beautiful Day and Mysterious Ways.

‘Mad scientist’

Other tracks in the 24-song set included Vertigo, One and With Or Without You.

The entire show, which Bono described as a “space adventure”, is being repeated on YouTube.

The singer introduced his bandmates as famous characters from Hollywood history. Drummer Larry Mullen was “James Dean”, while bassist Adam Clayton was Clark Gable as Gone With The Wind’s Rhett Butler.

Hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas were the night’s support act

“Every horror movie needs a mad scientist,” Bono continued as he introduced The Edge, “and ours is just to my right.

“He wants to boldly go where no guitar players have ever gone before. He’s Mr Spock to us, he’s The Edge to you.”

The singer went on to compare himself to “Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito with a little bit of Dennis Hopper thrown in”.

It was the band’s penultimate date of the year, with one more concert to take place in Vancouver, Canada, on Wednesday.

The 360 Degrees World Tour resumes next June in Anaheim, California.

Meanwhile, the band have been speaking candidly about the mixed reaction to their recent album, No Line On The Horizon.

Although it among the best-selling albums of the year to date, it has underperformed compared to their previous records.

It has been certified platinum in the UK - meaning 300,000 sales - while in the US it has shifted just over 1m copies. Those figures mean it is the band’s least successful album since the experimental Zooropa in 1993.

The towering “claw” stage has allowed U2 to squeeze in bigger audiences

Speaking before Sunday’s concert, Bono admitted the album had lacked a big, commercial hit like Vertigo or Beautiful Day.

“We weren’t really in that mindset,” he said.

“We felt that the album was a kind of an almost extinct species, and we should approach it in totality and create a mood and a feeling, and a beginning, middle and an end.

“And I suppose we’ve made a work that is a bit challenging for people who have grown up on a diet of pop stars.”

“The commercial challenges have to be confronted,” bassist Adam Clayton added.

Live on YOUTUBE/U2

It’s kind of crazy to think that the band U2 has been popular for about 30 years now. Over that three decade span, the group has had music that has ranged from brilliant (War, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby) to self-indulgent (Pop) to a bit odd (Zooropa). But there has been one constant: They’ve always been a great live act. And tonight, a lot of the world will be able to see that from their computer screens.

U2 is streaming their concert tonight from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California live to YouTube. As the site announced earlier this week, some 16 countries will be able to view the show live: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, U.K., U.S. (other countries were presumably excluded due to streaming rights). The show will start at 8:30 PM PT tonight, and you can find it here.

During the show, YouTube will also feature a Twitter widget below the video player that will be displaying tweets from people who use the #U2webcast hashtag.

If you miss it live, YouTube will also put up the entire recording tomorrow on its U2 page.

U2 and technology have long gone hand in hand. Their ZooTV tour to support their albums Achtung Baby and Zooropa famously featured a massive amount of television monitors and live streaming video from all around the world. Later, U2 of course got chummy with Apple, and released their own branded iPod. But when the private equity firm  Elevation Partners (which U2 lead singer Bono is a partner in) purchased a huge stake in Palm, the U2/Apple love affair seemed to sour. And since then, U2 has now seen their most recent tour sponsored by Palm and Apple rival BlackBerry.

U2 Tour Fan Coverage

U2 Tour Fan coverage will continue as the tour leaves America and heads to Canada. Once the tour comes to a halt for the holiday season we will be changing our format to focus on different sides of U2. We have more to follow on that.  However we have updates on many other fronts.

• Twitter: Follow us via U2TOURFANS. We update set lists live every show. No matter what time zone, country its all available for you. 
• Youtube Channel:  Have you signed up for U2TOURFANS direct ? If not, why wait? We have the most concert videos from you the FAN. Every 360 show has been updated and we tons videos to screen and we will be posting long after the boys leave America. You can expect us to have video teams on the shows all the way to the end of 2010.
• Fan Photo Booth:  You the U2 Fans are the stars here. We have setup a really cool way to be apart of the massive show. Sign up to get a special show code so that you can send photos direct to us. Posted for everyone to see.
• SetLists: We update our set list live, during the show. After the show you can re-check as often as you like via our Set Lists link, currently set to North America.
• Photo Purchase: We have a photographer that has chosen some great tour shots that we will be offering for sale. Check back with us. We have a couple of great limited selections that we will not offer to everyone. Limited means just that. 
• Discussion Board: Your comments on anything you like, raw unedited facts from you. Live it, Post it and Share it. 
• FACBOOK: The U2TOURFANS Facebook site is up and running, your comments, photos again all welcome. Enjoy share and be a part of it.

Last, we want to thank you the Fan for making this possible. The concept was simple create a place for you to come share and be part of the experience. Watch for greater fan experience in 2010