RISH supergroup U2 are returning to Australia for a national tour. The band have announced their tour dates, including a stadium show in Sydney on December 13. The concert, to be held at ANZ Stadium, will mark the return of the band to Sydney after four years.
The band will begin their 360° Tour in New Zealand on November25, before travelling to Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.
Tickets go on sale on September 3 - with promoters Michael Coppel and Live Nation Touring expecting enormous demand.
Although only one show has been announced for Sydney, it is highly likely tour dates will be extended.
Rumours about U2’s return to Australia have been swirling for months. The tour announcement is an early Christmas present for many of the band’s loyal Australian fans, who feared frontman Bono’s back injury earlier in the year might have affected plans for a trip Down Under.
The lead singer had emergency spinal surgery in May, which forced the band to postpone the US leg of their world tour, plus major performances including headlining the Glastonbury Festival in England.
U2 returned to touring this month, with concerts in Europe.
Bono said he was ”fighting fit” and thanked fans, and his bandmates, for their patience.
The U2 show, which features an innovative in-the-round experience for fans, also has a range of cheap tickets for Australian concert-goers.
The ”sight-lines” seats start from $39.90 a ticket, with general standing and stadium seats priced at $99.90.
U2’s manager Paul McGuinness said the band were keen for Australian fans to see the production.
”It was important to the band that we were able to bring the whole 360° production to Australia and New Zealand so fans could experience the latest of U2’s legendary productions,” he said.
More than 4 million fans will have seen U2’s 360° Tour worldwide by the time they arrive in Australia.
A source close to the tour has revealed U2 are also considering leaving their enormous set - a three-pronged alien-like tower - in Australia as a tourist attraction, at the end of the tour.
”They thought it was a great idea,” said the source. ”Rather than shipping it all back on a plane, it could become a local attraction.”