The popular band U2 performed the 110th and last show of its U2 360 Tour in Moncton, New Brunswick, on July 30th. The tour concluded not only one of the largest musical accomplishments, but has also set the record for being the greatest tour ever, to take place.
The U2 360 tour brings in a net worth of $736,137,344 with the total turnout rate of 7,268,430, setting the record for the highest tour count, ever seen. U2 broke the earlier set, Rolling Stones’, record of $558 million that took place on April 10th, in Sao Paulo Brazil. The phenomenal triumph of the 360 tour is attributed to the demand; the band has worldwide, including the cutting edge 360 degree, production that helped the concert stadiums hold, as many as 25% more people than before.
Specific details on the tour were first brought to light in March 2009, when the band was promoting its album “No Line On the Horizon”, came out in 2008 under the heading of “Kiss the Future”. However, the name of the tour was later changed to “360”, as stated by the band manager, Paul McGuinness. The tour started on June 30th, 2009, from Barcelona and Spain, taking place in different parts of Europe; and eventually, coming to North America on 12th September, in Chicago. The last time, U2 played in this continent, was during its PopMart tour, in 1997/98.
Even though U2 is celebrated across the globe; daring to release a 360 configuration that set aside nearly 7 million tickets in the market, in the time of recession, was extremely risky. "I remember when everything was first laid out, the production was conceived, and we came to the realization of what it did to the capacities," Fogel said in an interview, earlier this month. "We were in a meeting in New York, we saw the design, and talked about all the different angles. There was a moment of sitting there and everyone thinking, 'do you think we'll sell the tickets?' My gut was 'absolutely yes,' and I remember leaving the meeting and thinking, "oh shit.'"
The financial risk taken by the band and the producers, for unveiling the tour involves the daily cost of $750,000 on the road, the artistic accomplishment of the production and the performance called “the claw”, which has been quite an attraction among the fans. "There's nowhere to hide," Fogel says. "It was definitely scary." However, despite the scares, the tickets were sold all across the world, Fogel said, the lesson he learnt from 360 was "probably more so than any other tour, to trust my instincts."
The preparations for the tour began years ago; however, all those plans received a major setback when it was reported that the North American tour might be canceled, after the leading man of U2 Bono required a back surgery after an injury. The news was devastating as rearranging the tour in the middle was “challenging”, according to Fogel. Still, the team acted quickly and rearranged the tour next year. The job was done so close to perfection that fans, that had already purchased tickets, were placed right where they were supposed to be.
"It was difficult at the time, but the most amazing thing through it all was the refund rate across all the shows was only about 9%, which is ridiculous," says Fogel. "And we resold all those tickets."
"After PopMart, the strategy was definitely to build back up North America, under-play, create that buzz and that demand, and I think we did a great job with that," says Fogel who has now produced four of the top five highest-grossing tours, of all time. "To go outdoors in America this time, particularly with this production, is a story in itself. This thing, apart from, obviously, the band, great musicians, great music, great songs, was about creating that buzz in the world about this production. That was the hook."
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