U2 Joshua Tree Tour 2019
· Night 40 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 2/3/2024
· Night 12 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 25/10/23
· Night 10 & 11 setlists for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 20/10/23 & 21/10/23
· Night 9 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 18/10/23
· Night 6, 7, & 8 setlists for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 11/10/23 - 14/10/23
· Night 5 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 08/10/23
· Night 4 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 07/10/23
· Night 3 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 05/10/23
· Night 2 videos for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 30/09/23
· Night 2 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 30/09/23
read more...
|
|
Gen. Admission a Go for U2
Posted on Sunday, February 04 @ 02:51:41 CET by Macphisto
-----------------------------------------------
(RollingStone.com) -- Venues don't anticipate problems with U2's general admission shows
U2 have yet to announce the exact details of their upcoming (and rapidly selling-out) Elevation Tour, but odds are this outing by the Irish megaband will ultimately be remembered less for its stage props than for the band's decision to offer general admission tickets at each of their shows in the U.S.
There is, of course, the novelty factor; for fans of the band, the general admission section at each show will offer a relatively rare opportunity to see Bono and Co. much closer than they have since the band graduated to stadium status. Although U2 regularly play general admission shows in other parts of the world, the band has not typically done so in the States since their club days in the early Eighties.
In light of the recent fan death at Limp Bizkit's performance at the Big Day Out festival in Australia last week and the multiple fatalities during Pearl Jam's set at last summer's Roskilde festival, however, U2's general admission ticket policy has raised some concern over fan safety. But according to one representative at SFX Entertainment, the tour's promoter, general admission seating offered at indoor shows in recent memory by bands ranging from Creed to Phish have all gone off without incident, and the U2 tour should not prove an exception. Several arenas contacted by Rolling Stone expressed similar confidence that the U2 concerts should run smoothly if handled with the proper degree of preparation.
"We always get prepared when we have a GA show," said Dave Brown, vice president and general manager of Dallas Reunion Arena (where tickets for U2's April 3rd show sold out in a half-hour). "We've been doing [general admission shows] at Reunion for about three years now, so it's nothing new. We do about four or five a year. There are certain precautions we take to make sure we don't have any problems."
Brown said that, given the stage configuration for U2's show that he has knowledge of, the general admission situation "probably makes a lot of sense."
"People are going to be on their feet, they're going to be crowding around the stage anyway, so you remove the chairs, you remove obstacles that could actually become harmful," said Brown, adding that his arena has successfully hosted general admission shows by Limp Bizkit, Korn, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. "Our game plan worked. We had a few things like people trying to pick up the floor covering or starting fires, but you just respond to them. We have security in the crowd as well, and when people start misbehaving, you deal with it. As long as you stay on top of it, there's really nothing that serious that can go wrong."
A spokesperson for Madison Square Garden in New York, where U2 will play June 16th and 19th, said that the venue does not comment on details regarding how much they up security for different events, but noted that Nine Inch Nails performed with a general admission section at the venue last year and there were "absolutely no problems." "The bottom line is, Madison Square Garden always puts the safety of our patrons first, whether its general admission or designated seating," said the spokesperson.
Tim Ryan, general manager of Anaheim, California's Arrowhead Pond -- where U2 have sold out shows on April 23rd, 24th and 26th -- said that his arena has hosted general admission shows on a regular basis since its opening in 1993, ranging from Limp Bizkit to Latin shows, and that they have never been a problem in the past. "In my twenty-four years of experience in this business, I've seen problems on the floor where there are seats -- where fans still have the desire to dance and move and the seats just get in the way and prove an obstacle. It's not a perfect science. Just because you put chairs on the floor doesn't mean that you've eliminated the problem -- sometimes it just means that you've created a different kind of a problem."
Ryan said that although the degree of preparation and awareness for fan safety remains the same as for any event at the venue, he noted that everyone he has talked to in the industry so far is "very comfortable with a GA floor with U2." He said the 1,800 general admission tickets for each show were the first to sell out, and credits the band for offering them at only $45.
"We're going to take the same precautions, but the reality is I think it's going to be a great environment for the fans," Ryan said. "It surprises me that there is concern over a U2 GA floor when I've never had a phone call about a GA floor for bands such as Limp Bizkit and the dozens of other shows that we've done here. We received a call yesterday from a local television station regarding our concerns about U2 having a GA floor, but quite frankly I'm surprised. I think Bono has done an unbelievable great service to fans by allowing folks to be that close to his performance at such a great price. Rather than focus on why is there standing versus sitting, we'd rather focus that there was a tremendous demand for these tickets, and the fans that were lucky enough to get them will have a great evening and we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that nothing gets in the way of that."
RICHARD SKANSE
|
|
|