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.

Fans Pick 22 Songs

U2 360 Tour / Mark Peterson

Fans your votes are in for the 22 live track double CD album to be released to celebrate the 360 tour.  Fans had 46 songs to choose from and of course the main stays like “Where The Streest Have No Name, One and some lesser known Ultravoulet and The Unforgettable Fire have been chosen. Take a look at the list. What do you think ? Did they get it right ? Or is something missing ?

U22 tracklist:

1. Bad
2. Where The Streets Have No  Name
3. Magnificent
4. One
5. Ultraviolet
6. Even Better than The Real Thing
7. With or Without You
8. Beautiful Day
9. City of Blinding Lights
10. The Unforgettable Fire
11. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
12. All I Want is You/Love Rescue Me
13. Moment of Surrender
14. Until The End of the World
15. The Fly
16. One Tree Hill
17. Stay (Faraway, So Close)
18. Walk On
19. Zooropa
20. Elevation
21. Out of Control
22. Mysterious Ways

Highest Earning Tour of 2011

Shock! U2 lead Billboard’s year-end report of the top touring acts of 2011, with their “360 Tour” raking in $293.3 million in box office revenue from nearly 3 million in ticket sales for the year.

Bono and crew were on the road from June 30th 2009 to July 30th 2011 with their giant claw on the “360 Tour” and broke the all-time touring industry records by bringing in a staggering $736,421,586 with more than 7 million punters attending the shows.

Bon Jovi had one of the biggest years of their 28 year career and Take That made a lazy $185 million from their comeback tour with Robbie Williams, which included a record breaking eight nights at Wembley Stadium. The Wembley shows alone earned the band $61.7 million breaking the previous venue record of $38.7 million that had been set by Bruce Springsteen’s ten sold-out shows at New Jersey’s Giants Stadium in 2003.

Highest-Earning Tours of 2011:
01) U2 – $293.3 million
02) Bon Jovi – $193 million
03) Take That – $185 million
04) Roger Waters – $150 million
05) Taylor Swift – $97.3 million
06) Kenny Chesney – $84.6 million
07) Usher – $75 million
08) Lady Gaga – $72 million
09) Andre Rieu – $67 million
10) Sade – $50 million

For Sale: One Used Stage

U2 are to sell off the 29,000-square-foot steel ‘claws’ they used to create the stage on their ‘360 Tour’.

Tour director Craig Evans tells Billboard.com, “It’s certainly our intention to see these things recycled into permanent and usable ventures. It represents too great an engineering feat to just… put it away in a warehouse somewhere.

“We are in discussions to send them (parts) into different places around the world and have them installed as permanent venues. Some major events have shown interest in these, from four different continents.”

Reports suggest The Claw could be used as part of the London Olympics opening ceremony next year.

The run of shows - which have spanned across three years - are due to come to an end on July 30 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, and rather than just let structures sit in a warehouse the group and their management intend to sell them off.

“We’re now in discussions to send them into different places around the world and have them installed as permanent venues. Some major events have shown interest in these, from four different continents and we haven’t even really put the word out yet.”

U2’s ‘360 Tour’ is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, with ticket sales totalling over $700 million and it requires 120 lorries to transport its 50-metre tall sound system, stage and lighting rig making it the most expensive tour to hold.

Guitarist The Edge - who played the Glastonbury Festival with his bandmates Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen last weekend - previously admitted the rockers will never be able to go on a bigger tour.

He said: “We’re actually at the limit, the absolute limit, when you consider the economics and the practicality of transportation. We’re really as big as we could ever get.”

U2 360° Heading To Chile

Live Nation Global Touring  today confirmed that U2 will return to Chile. The U2 360° Tour will visit Estadio Nacional in Santiago  on Friday March 25th, 2011 and special guests on the night will be Muse.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on December 16th and  to Entel customers paying only with CMR Falabella cards on Monday, December 13th and Tuesday 14th via Ticketmaster.

 U2.com subscribers can enter a special advance PRESALE  beginning this FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10th at 10am (local) and running until this SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12th at 5pm (local).

Subscribers will be emailed ahead of this presale with details of timings.