U2 (Finally) Announces the Innocence + Experience Tour
Bono may still be recovering from his bicycle faceplant in New York City last month, but the U2 juggernaut moves on. The Innocence + Experience World Tour will begin in Vancouver with two nights in Vancouver at Rogers Arena on May 14 and 15. Other Canadian dates on the first leg include two in Montreal (June 12 and 13 at the Bell Centre) and Toronto (July 6 and 7 at the Air Canada Centre). A full list of dates is available below.
So how are they going present things this time? Obviously, they’re not going to do something as ambitious as the 360 Tour with its three “claw” stages. Billboard offers this:
The tour will also be conceptually unique in terms of the music. Routing shows that the cities are all booked in multiples of two dates in each market, which is no accident. Though the concept is being refined, it is believed that the band will be performing two different shows in each market on consecutive nights, built around the “innocence + experience” theme. That said, all tickets will be sold as individual night tickets, with no package deals.
Arenas will be sold to full capacity, with views of the stage from all angles. Scaling follows the historical U2 model, with floor tickets priced at $65, prime seats priced at $250-$275 (depending on the market), scaled all the way down to a significant number of seats priced at $30.
At this stage, the only corporate partner is UPS, which will be U2’s “official logistics partner” on the tour. This partnership is designed to help defray freight and transport costs, allowing the tour to move the massive production more cost-effectively, particularly on an international level.
Interesting. Now look at this diagram of the alleged stage plot. That’s one LOOOOOOONGGG stage.
Finally, here’s that list of dates I promised you.
NORTH AMERICA DATES
May 14 – Vancouver (Rogers Arena)
May 15 – Vancouver (Rogers Arena)
May 18 – San Jose (SAP Center at San Jose)
May 19 – San Jose (SAP Center at San Jose)
May 22 – Phoenix (US Airways Center)
May 23 – Phoenix (US Airways Center)
May 26 – Los Angeles (Forum)
May 27 – Los Angeles (Forum)
May 30 – Los Angeles (Forum)
May 31 – Los Angeles (Forum)
June 12 – Montreal (Bell Centre)
June 13 – Montreal (Bell Centre)
June 24 – Chicago (United Center)
June 25 – Chicago (United Center)
July 6 – Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
July 7 – Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
July 10 – Boston (TD Garden)
July 11 – Boston (TD Garden)
July 18 – New York City (Madison Square Garden)
July 19 – New York City (Madison Square Garden)
July 22 – New York City (Madison Square Garden)
July 23 – New York City (Madison Square Garden)
EUROPE/UK DATES
Sept. 4 – Turin, Italy (Pala Alpitour)
Sept. 5 – Turin, Italy (Pala Alpitour)
Sept. 8 – Amsterdam (Ziggo Dome)
Sept. 9 – Amsterdam (Ziggo Dome)
Sept. 16 – Stockholm, Sweden (Globe)
Sept. 17 – Stockholm, Sweden (Globe)
Sept. 24 – Berlin (O2 World)
Sept. 25 – Berlin (O2 World)
Oct. 5 – Barcelona (Palau Sant Jordi)
Oct. 6 – Barcelona (Palau Sant Jordi)
Oct. 13 – Antwerp, Belgium (Sportpaleis)
Oct. 14 – Antwerp, Belgium (Sportpaleis)
Oct. 17 – Koln, Germany (Lanxess Arena)
Oct. 18 – Koln, Germany (Lanxess Arena)
Oct. 25 – London (O2)
Oct. 26 – London (O2)
Oct. 29 – London (O2)
Oct. 30 – London (O2)
Nov. 6 – Glasgow (The SSE Hydro)
Nov. 7 – Glasgow (The SSE Hydro)
Nov. 10 – Paris (Bercy)
Nov. 11 – Paris (Bercy)
For more information, go here.
I wonder if this tour is breaking ground on a new business model in the live concert concept. What I mean is that they seem to be saying “We will be here. Please stop by and see us.” As opposed to the historically true “We are heading to Wichita, then Billings, and then on to Birmingham, Alabama to play YOUR town” type tour regimen. They seem to have strategically mapped out dates where they are in urban centres and slightly smaller cities with proximity to large, outlying populations and are pushing the “VIP” Hotel, travel, ticket concept whereby fans pay to bring themselves to the band. (Rather than the band bringing a small, portable city to the fans in places like, say, Albuquerque, Buffalo or New Haven Connecticut.) And then, the ticket prices. As always there is a handful of hard-to-compete-for tickets at prices people who work for a living can afford. But, the majority are priced into the stratosphere.
I will be at both Toronto shows, and will have traversed some distance to do it. So, I’m on the hook. Acknowledged. But, I noticed something odd in all of this. For the first time in 35 years as a fan of U2, I noticed that NONE of the shows sold out in mere minutes. Not one of them. If the touring game is changing, who is changing it? The Band, or the fans?