U2 Breaks Record with 360° Tour
U2 has alot to ‘rattle and hum’ about after Live Nation’s big announcement concering the rock band’s record-breaking status in touring history
U2’s expensive Broadway production of Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark may be having a hard time getting off the ground, but they are showing no problems with their 2010-2011 road show.
According to a press statement released on Monday from Live Nation Entertainment, who oversees the rock band’s current touring itinerary, the 360° tour is the most successful tour in history, which breaks the holding record set by the Rolling Stones and their “Bigger Bang” tour of 2005-2007.
After a sold-out show at Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil this week, U2 received the big news. The 360° tour still has twenty-six more dates left on the tour before finishing up in Canada on July 30. Final ticket sales are estimated to range beyond $700 million, Live Nation stated. So far, 360° has amassed $558 million.
“These numbers are staggering, a fantastic result,” Arthur Fogel, U2’s tour promoter and producer stated. “An in-the-round transportable stadium production is something that the touring industry has been trying to figure out for some time. The extra capacity that the U2 360° creates also allows for a large number, several thousand in fact, of low priced tickets at every show.”
The show features U2’s long list of hits including “Beautiful Day,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “With or Without You and “Where the Streets Have No Name,” but also contains a major stage prop called “The Claw,” which usually takes up to four days to set up. The band has three of the mammoth-sized items and are usually staging the other contraputions while one is being used at a live show.
There’s been no confirmation on if the 360° tour’s profits surpass the Stones’ record, since the overhead costs for 360° reaches $750,000 dollars a day, show or no show.