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
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'Mind-blowing' surprises to elevate U2 tour
Posted on Friday, February 02 @ 02:54:13 CET by Macphisto
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(USAtoday.com) -- By Andy Seiler and Anthony DeBarros, USA TODAY
U2 fans should expect the unexpected from the band's coming Elevation Tour 2001, says frontman Bono. Despite the stripped-down, back-to-basics sound of their popular 10th studio album All That You Can't Leave Behind, the shows will be anything but bare-bones. "People are expecting a plain vanilla U2 show," says Bono, whose other new project, the movie Million Dollar Hotel, opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles. (Bono came up with the story, wrote and performed much of the music; he's also one of the producers.)
"But we have some surprises. I want to put on something mind-blowing and memorable. We're flattered when people say, 'My favorite part of the concert was when you turned all the lights off, and it was just the four of you playing in the middle of the house.' Well, thank you very much. But if it the whole show were like that, wouldn't you feel just a little ripped off?"
Tour shows will include "two gigs, one in the middle of another one," Bono says. "We can have a club gig in the middle of an arena gig."
One aspect of the 43-date U.S. tour has others worried. The band is offering general-admission seating on the floor of the arenas, with reserved seating also available. General-admission seating, also known as festival seating, is actually seatless, with concertgoers clustered, standing on the floor.
"We've been trying to do this in the United States for 10 years," says Bono. "Believe me, this took a lot of work. Our shows in Europe have been a very physical experience. People go to the show to dance and jump up and down and get away from their office, their school, their factory floor. Watch what happens when you see a floor full of U2 fans going up and down. It's incredible. This is the way we do business everywhere in the world. It's only in the USA that we haven't been allowed to."
But Paul Wertheimer of Crowd Management Strategies, a consultant who focuses on concert safety, says there's a good reason for that.
"Festival seating encourages and sometimes demands that people in a crowd compete against each other," Wertheimer says. "I'm not saying that there's going to be a disaster. But there's a great potential for disorder and discomfort and possibly worse."
Tour promoter SFX has released a statement saying that safety will be a priority.
And Bono counters that safety standards will be high and argues that U2 fans are a harmonious bunch.
"Rock shows have always been a kind of positive riot," he says. "Ours is a cross between going to church and a riot. After the show, some people go home and (make love) . Some people leave their jobs. Some people sign up for Amnesty International or Greenpeace."
Bono's main complaint is that the safety standards will be too high.
"Because of safety regulations, we're not going to be able to fill the floor the way we do in Europe ," he says. "I don't think there are going to be any accidents. The only thing that I'm worried about is that the floor will look empty."
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