360 Comes to Tampa

We have been reporting the tour since the early days. Well since the start of 360. Each venue, travel days, show news and stories from you the local fan. One thing that we keep getting asked at each venue. “So how big is that stage” We found this photo that really gives the best picture. One thing we know for sure if you have been in or out of LAX you will think you have seen this stage before. Tampa your in for a show. This is the show of the year. Quoted sources have said the impact can be as large as the Super Bowl or play off game as it relates to traffic. Currently we have 10 people attending the show as well as 50 more people that “claim to be going”  One thing is for sure U2 has had an impact on Tampa Bay for three weeks total. Now thats impressive.

• 90 feet Height of the four-pronged canopy over the stage.
• 150 feet Height of the center pylon.
• 54 tons Weight of the cylindrical video screen, which opens to 14,000 square feet.
• 1 million Number of pieces in the video screen, which has 500,000 pixels, 320,000 fasteners, 30,000 cables and 150,000 machined pieces.
• 120 Number of trucks it takes to cart the stage from show to show.
• 3 Number of stages. They follow the “leapfrog” principle: One is used for the show, while the second is being built at the next location and the third is being dismantled at the previous location.

Sources: Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, Reuters

Blackberry Loves Tampa Too

Irish rockers U2 will step on stage tomorrow in Tampa, Florida, helped by BlackBerry’s sponsorship of their world tour in a deal no record company could offer.

Research In Motion Ltd.’s “BlackBerry Loves U2” advertising campaign is part of a trend where brands are stepping into the breach as plummeting sales shrink music labels’ marketing budgets. Once reluctant to be seen as selling out to corporate sponsors, artists are keen to sign up.

“BlackBerry made the TV commercial with our music and then spent many millions of dollars on media and TV worldwide,” U2 manager Paul McGuinness said by phone from the Toronto leg of the group’s multi-city tour. “They provided a budget that no record company could have possibly matched.”

Many question the fact that at most venues it does not even look like Blackberry is the sponsor. No creative thought into taging U2 and my blackberry at all. So I thought we would come up with my own 360 Blackberry marketing program if we was in charge of promotional work for either U2 or Blackberry. Yes we own a blackberry bold. So here goes

1. Take a photo at one of the venues and you can upload it to a blackberry photo booth where you can view, share and send your photo to anyone you like. The site would be branded with both U2 and Blackberry and the frames around the photos can be something like Blackberry loves U2 and U.
2. Change your tag line from “Sent from my XX Carrier Blackberry to Sent from U2 Venue Blackberry”
3. Create a photo booth at the venue where I can send a image to a friend again cross branding.
4. Blackberry Users and new owners get special access to media rich content that can be downloaded and saved on your blackberry.
5. Blackberry wrappers around the venue - ( industry term, large plastic wrapper)
6. For the early arrivals call home or send a message using a special Blackberry from the backberry tester. 
7. Enter win something anything
8. Tie promotion in with US wireless company - hum now that’s an idea
9. Create a limited edition U2 blackberry ( ah sounds like hum my U2 Ipod)
10. Do nothing. which seems to be the norm according to most venue fans.

 P.S. We had more but hey we don’t get paid for marketing Blackberry - But this last one is really good screen savers that can feature the venue or a member of the band

Promotional Consideration: NONE - We own Blackberry’s  long before it was cool to own one.

U2 Rock Band or Guitar Hero ?

We heard about this a couple of times over, and well frankly we passed on a story just due to time. Now that  USA Today reports that U2 was very interested in starring in their own Rock Band game last year, but for some reason decided against it. We thought about it again and well after we watched this video we are sold on the idea.

Bono and the boys have seen the success of the of The Beetles: Rock Band, or what looks like to be success, lets see what happens around christmas time.

“We definitely would like to be in there, but we felt some of the compromises weren’t what we wanted,” Adam Clayton told USA Today. “That could change. I love the idea that that’s where people are getting music, and we’d love to be in that world.”

The group was concerned about their digital portrayal, and rightfully so, but when Harmonix pulled it off with The Beatles, they were quick to become enthused again.

“What The Beatles have done, where the animation is much more representative of them, is what we’re interested in, rather than the one-size-fits-all animation. We didn’t want to be caricatured.”

So what are your thoughts ? Do you think they have the catalogue of songs necessary to make it happen?

U2 Tampa Event Info

U2 360º World Tour
Opening act: Muse

October 9, 2009
7 p.m.
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Address/Directions:
Raymond James Stadium is located at 4201 Dale Mabry Highway North, Tampa, Florida 33607 (see directions)

Field Ticket Early Parking/Entrance ONLY:
For those with Field Tickets (General Admission/Red Zone), early parking opens at 7 a.m. in Lots 1/3 (off of Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd).
Field ticket holders should line up to enter the stadium at Dock A (near Gate A).

Parking Lots Open:
Remaining parking lots open at 3 p.m.  – Lots 2, 4, 6D, 8, 9, HCC, 11, 12 and 13.
No advanced parking pass sales, pay as you enter (see map)
No camping or overnight parking

Parking Prices:
Cars - $25 in Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and HCC
Buses - $50 in Lot 8, 13 and 14
Limos - $50 in Lot 4 (as space is available)/campers-$50 in Lot 8, 13 and 14
Disabled - $25 parking is first come, first serve, Lots A and C

All Stadium Gates Open at 5 p.m.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Are cameras allowed?
A: Yes, lens no bigger than 1 inch, no PROFESSIONAL CAMERAS

Q. Are chairs permitted?
A. No.

Q: Are video cameras allowed?
A: No

Q: Can I bring in food or drinks?
A: No

Q: What can and can’t I bring in the stadium?
A: Please review the Security Policies provided.
Banners/flags larger than 8.5x11
Flashlights/fluorescents
Inflatable items including beach balls

Q: Can I tailgate in the parking lots?
A: Yes.

Q: Where are the disabled elevators?
A: Enter disabled gates at A and C. Review additional information about Disabilities Services.

Q:  Will there be concessions and restrooms on the field?
A: Yes, or near the field

Q: Is re-entry to the stadium allowed?
A: No

Q: Where do I park?
A: See the parking map. Additional information is available on the Parking and Directions site

Q: Where are my seats?
A: View the seating map

Q: Where is the stage?
A: The 360-degree stage will be near the south end zone

Q: Will concessions and restrooms be available for early arrivals?
Yes, and in the tunnels at the rear of the field.

Q: Are paper tickets permitted?
A: Yes, if purchased from Live Nation or Ticketmaster

Q. What are the policies in your parking lots?
A. Please review the Security Policies

U2 blasts off at GA Dome

Atlanta - Just after “Beautiful Day,” four songs into a thunderous, nearly sold-out show at the Georgia Dome, Bono took off his sunglasses. Beads of sweat dotted his face –  a vein stood out in  his temple. “Thank you all,” he told the audience, “for helping us build this—madness.”

And then he gestured up. Above him, all around him was the 170-ton, four-pronged stage, looking like a metal claw from the Planet of Giant Robot Crabs.

On the other hand, the sea of standing-room souls with general admission tickets on the floor of the Dome, the select few in the Red Zones (who bid for tickets to get at stage front) and the rest of us, packed to the Dome’s rafters, holding up cell phones like Bic lighters, had a strangely intimate connection to the four performers in the middle. This was due to many things, among them the in-the-round stage design, which lifted speakers and other hardware out of the way, and gave Bono, drummer Larry Mullen Jr., bassist Adam Clayton, and guitarist the Edge walkways and bridges to bring them right into the middle of the crowd.

It was also due to that determination to make a connection that is the hallmark of a U2 concert. While the show – and its seven-story accordionated video screen — was eye-poppingly huge, the emotion behind the performance was all human scale.

U2 moved between the human and the gargantuan through 22 songs (including five encores), kicking off the show with “Breathe” and “Get on Your Boots,” from the new album “No Line on the Horizon.”

The crowd was attentive to the new songs, but arms began punching the air when Bono told them to use their “Southern church voices” and the Edge launched into “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” from 1987’s “Joshua Tree.” Bono brought the band’s volume down, and let the audience sing the first verse.

“We’ve got old songs, we’ve got new songs, we’ve got songs we can barely play,” said Bono after a delicate duo version of “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” with the Edge on acoustic guitar. “We’ve got a spaceship,” he added, referring to his futuristic stage. “But it’s not going anywhere without you.”

Liftoff was achieved with “Vertigo,” the Edge’s hammered, chiming strings abetted by the shouted “Hello! Hello!” from the audience. Then with a shift of mood, the disembodied heads of the Brothers U2 nodded from the screen, as sequencers chugged through their techno remix of “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.”

The pacing of the concert made room for small moments and larger gestures. During “Sunday Bloody Sunday” the Hoberman video screen broadcast images of the protests in Iran. With “Walk On” the band invited a host of volunteers to step out on the circular catwalk surrounding the stage, each holding up a paper mask showing the face of jailed Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It was a sweet and somewhat strange gesture.

Just before the first encore Bishop Desmond Tutu’s face looked out from the video screen and spoke to the audience, congratulating them for their help in buying drugs to treat AIDS and malaria in Africa. (U2 concerts have raised millions for those causes.

We have been getting interesting reviews from you the fans that have attended the show last night. We reviewed all of the comments and based on your feedback the show was considered to be graded as “B” and Muse ‘C”. The feeling we have been getting is that the new CD (yea Album) has not been much of a rally cry for new fans. Long time fans had to replay the CD a couple of times before the embrace of what was termed by the group as new direction. A departure from our expectation, a journey of growth to which one must take once or twice in their life time. Bono screamed out to the audience “Don’t forget about us” seem to say hey we all have to take a journey and sometimes its better go with a friend. U2 wants you to ride along.

Sources: Atlanta

Hola Atlanta

Atlanta U2 Fans tonight we are about to launch our 360 view from your view. Yes we have selected 20 people from around the stadium to send live as it happens updates to our photo collection. The people selected are just like you fans, from all age groups. Remember to follow us on twitter.com/u2tourfanns  for real time updates.  Thank you Atlanta for making us feel so welome.

New $30 U2 seats released on eve of Atlanta show

Were you contemplating staying home from the U2 360º show at the Georgia Dome Tuesday night, due to the expense?

How does a $30 ticket grab you?

On Monday afternoon, Live Nation released a fresh batch of cheap seats to the iconic Irish band’s show. Granted, the lower level tickets are behind the stage.

Explains the Live Nation folks in an email to Buzz Central: “With a cylindrical video system of interlocking LED panels, and a steel structure rising 150 feet from the floor over a massive stage with rotating bridges, the band has truly created a intimate 360º experience for concert goers.  And with the production set and the show ready to lift off in Atlanta, tour promoters announced today that the sight lines are better than anticipated and a new block of lower level rear stage seats at $30.00 has just been released.”

 The tickets are on sale now at www,livenation.com,  the Georgia Dome Box Office or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

U2 Atlanta Fans use Marta

Atlanta Fans, a few days ago we reported that tickets had still be available. That seems to not be the case anymore. Most fans have waited long enough, held on to their cash and now have sold out the Atlanta show. ( Appears to be the case insiders stated)

Avoid what happened in NC. You can ride MARTA there and avoid rush-hour traffic that will likely back up the connector. You can park your car at several of the MARTA stations and ride in.  Best bets for MARTA parking include Inman Park, West End, Lindbergh Center, Dunwoody or North Springs (see the MARTA rail map).

Boston U2TOURFANS Staff 2009Once on the train, exit at either the W1 Dome or W2 Vine City stop on thewest line. If you are coming from the north or south rail line, you’ll need to transfer trains at the Five Points Station and follow the signs to the Westbound platform .  If you get off at W1, the Dome has its own exit at the far western end of the platform .  Or if you get off at W2 Vine City, merely walk down Rhodes Street when you exit the station.  General Admission tickets will enter the Georgia Dome through Lower Gate C only — at the West Plaza on Northside Drive, which will be nearest the W2 Vine City station.

 Also, be advised that the following items are prohibited:
* Video or audio recording devices
* Cameras
* Laser Pointers or Glow Sticks
* Balloons or inflatable balls of any kind
* Backpacks or large bags
* Blankets, sleeping bags or folding chairs
* Weapons or fireworks
* Noise-makers, air horns, instruments, whistles or bells
* Skateboards, scooters, bicycles or “heelies”
* Banners or flags on poles
* Coolers, cans or bottles
* Food or beverage

North Carolina Fans Disappointed

Days after the show  disappointed U2 fans were still horror-struck by traffic so snarled that dozens abandoned their cars on Wade Avenue(N.C), ducked behind trees to use the bathroom and wept openly as the music played without them.

U2TOURFANS FAN 2009The concert Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium is being ranked among the worst traffic jams in Raleigh history, and concert-goers trapped in cars for four hours coming and going have piled on blogs to complain about shoddy planning.

Brad King of Winston-Salem never even parked. He spent three-plus hours driving from his parents’ house in Durham, watching the bathroom-goers and the crying fans stuck outside, before he spotted the stadium several songs into U2’s set and decided to eat his pair of $50 tickets.

“We could clearly hear the music through the sunroof,” he said. “I thought, ‘Who’s to say we don’t spend five hours getting out of here?’ I don’t want to get home at 5 in the morning. So we turned around.”

The Cow man can cheer you up. Or make you wonder if your date dressed up like a cow would you still go to the show. In this case hum maybe we would.

Notice to FTC: We have not taken any gifts to report this story.