Tour grosses over $703 million

The Edge / Adam / Bono / U2 360 Tour Denver 2011NEW FIGURES show that U2’s 360° Tour has grossed more than $703 million (€534 million) after seven million rock fans paid to see the band over the past three years.

According to figures published by music industry journal Pollstar, the tour grossed $231.9 million last year after 2.38 million music fans paid to see the band at 34 gigs across 26 cities.

The US-based publisher shows that the tour grossed the highest amount of any rock band last year and on average grossed $8.9 million per gig with an average attendance of 91,828.

The figures show that U2’s three-gig stint at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paolo, Brazil, alone earned $32 million.

The $703 million is a gross figure and does not take into account the significant costs of staging the tour, which involved 110 gigs in 79 cities around the world over three years.

Hundreds of people were employed in transporting and constructing the 360° “Claw” stage, while the concerts provided a major economic boost in the cities where they took place.

The profits from the tour are shared between the four members of the band – Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton – their manager Paul McGuinness, their promoter Live Nation, and the local venue operator.

The 360° production increased the capacity of venues by up to 25%, resulting in record attendances.

The Pollstar figures show that one of the top-earning stints over the three years was the band’s sold-out three-night run at Dublin’s Croke Park, where the tour grossed $28.5 million.

A breakdown of the annual figures shows that the tour grossed $231.9 million in 2011; $160.9 million in 2010; and $311 million in 2009, when three million people paid on average $101 to see the band play.

The year 2009 was the largest grossing year of the tour, when the average gross per concert was $10 million.

The drop-off in revenue in 2010 came as a result of the band postponing a North American leg of the tour after Bono sustained a back injury in Munich.

The latest figures for U2’s main Irish company, U2 Ltd, for the 12 months to the end of 2010 show that its cash pile increased almost fivefold to €4 million.

The principal activity of the company is the creation, protection and licensing of intellectual property.

Hiatus ? Could it be True ?

U2 / Bono / U2TOURFANS

Everyone was a buzz, could it be possible that the biggest band in the

world is going on hiatus or could it be that the band has chosen to break apart and “Walk On” The idea that something this great may need to be destroyed in order to grow has been heard all to many times with great bands. Yet, the great bands remain focused on turning out great music.

R.E.M has set the dinner table to finish strong.  For R.E.M ending on top requires strong CD sales, however it has failed to provide the last winner for R.E.M.

The boys have completed the largest tour ever and with some extra months, days, hours added in to recover from a delay with Bono’s injury its easy to hear the rumors that the boys may be at the finish line. Rumors fly like the lyrics of a song. Yet no official word has come from management, label or the boys leaving the fans to wonder aimlessly into the past. It is true that every good band must be a

ble to reinvent their music to the issues and public cry of the day.  If the rumors are true, this was the best summer of music ever.

To say that it is over is far from the truth. Their manager already has told people that would listen to him. Bono has work to be finished and the creative juices have been on over drive for sometime. A bad rumor needs to end with us not supporting the noise any longer.

Argentina Ready?

Tonights show is the first of three shows the boys have planed for Argentina. The stadium de la Plata is ready to host the crawl and give way to some 70 thousand expected fans. Tonight doors open at 16:00 and the show starts at 19:30 with Muse warming up for U2. The next two shows are  april 2nd and apirl 3rd. With thousands of fans already outside waiting near the entrance its just a matter of time before we get to see our boys someone screams from the crowd.

Third visit

U2 in Argentina took place in 1998, River, when they were in full Popmart tour. At that time, Bono invited the leader of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo to the stage, a gesture that is expected to repeat. The second time on Argentine soil was in 2006, also in the Monumental, during the  the Vertigo Tour .For the third visit to our country, the band consists of Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton promises an outstanding show, a show that some do not hesitate to describe as the most ambitious in the history of rock.

Follow tonights show via twitter or facebook - Of course we will update the videos after the show.

U2 reveal massive Twitter and Facebook project

U2/ Facebook/ Twitter/ U2TOURFANS Irish rockers U2 have revealed a new social media that allows concert goers to tag themselves in the audience via email, Twitter or Facebook.

Last year the Orange, a brand of France Télécom used a similar system. They used a high-powered camera that allows you to zoom on every single fan in the stadium.

At U2’s concert in Johannesburg earlier this month a photograph like this was taken. This massive image allows users to zoom into the crowd and see if they can spot themselves. They can then tag their images.

These panoramic images are taken with what is known as a Gigapixel camera. Now we of course has a chance to test this out during the South Africa show. What see that amazed us is how clear each image of every person as well as the equipment was ( or is). We found all of our team around the stadium and thought this might be something new for us to spotlght in the weeks ahead.  

Can Social Media Sway U2 360 Tour?

An avid Christchurch U2 fan has launched an online crusade to bring her favourite band to the city.

The Irish supergroup will play one concert at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadiumon November 25 but Ilam mother Chelsea Daly has created a Facebook page she hopes will encourage Bono and company to perform in Christchurch.

The online approach worked for Metallica fans earlier this year when thousands of people joined en masse to convince that band to schedule a Garden City gig.

Daly said she could see no reason why the same method could not work again.

As of noon today, the Facebook page had attracted 109 supporters and Daly was aiming for 2500.

“I think we can do this … support is growing very fast,” she told The Press.

Daly, who hoped to buy tickets to the Auckland concert, hoped tour promoters would take notice of the page and bring the massive U2 tour south.

She was using Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to spread the word.