U2 South African shows confirmed
U2 are definitely performing in South Africa in February 2011, we can exclusively reveal.
When someone initially broke the news at the beginning of September, sparking widespread rumours across the country, record company and concert promoter representatives dismissed the report as speculative.
Now three additional well-placed sources have confirmed that the Irish supergroup are set to perform two shows in South Africa as part of their 360 Degrees world tour. Singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. are believed to be touching down at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 13 February and Cape Town Stadium on 19 February 2011.
The official tour announcement is expected to be made within the next week, with ticket sales to open shortly thereafter.
U2, who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1976, have sold in excess of 150 million albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other band - 22. They are currently in Europe on the third leg of their 360 Degree tour which grossed R2.1-billion over 44 shows in 2009, making it the highest grossing tour of last year.
Described by U2 as “the first time a band has toured in stadiums with such a unique and original structure”, the shows feature the group playing on a circular stage surrounded by the crowd. To enable this, the set makes use of a four-legged structure dubbed “The Claw” that holds the speaker system and a cylindrical video screen that moves up and down behind the performance area.
“We have some magic, and we’ve got some beautiful objects we’re going to take around the world, and we’re inside that object,” said Bono of the stage set which is 50 metres tall - more than twice the height of the previous record holder: The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang Tour. The group are using three separate sets on the tour, each of which costs between R180-million and R240-million and is transported by 120 trucks.
Responding to an original report, Big Concerts CEO John Langford told Eyewitness News in September: “Obviously we’d all like U2 to come here, and Big Concerts has been trying since we last had them here in 1997. But the problem with the 360 Degree tour is that it is incredibly expensive. There are 150 containers that need to be shipped over. At this stage, the rumours are not true, I’m afraid.”
It is now certain that the rumours are indeed true.
Print article | This entry was posted by SirDyl on October 13, 2010 at 11:20 am, and is filed under Music. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |