U2 Yet To Make Profit From 360degrees World Tour

Because of massive overheads...

September 28, 2009 by Scott Colothan

U2 Yet To Make Profit From 360degrees World Tour

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U2 are yet to make any profits from their huge 360° World Tour, despite having already performed 32 stadium shows in Europe and America.

The band's long-term manager Paul McGuinness explained that the band have mammoth overheads of $750,000 per show (around £470,000) and it won't be until the end of their North American leg this year before they go into the black.

The ambitious tour features an in-the-round stage complete with a giant claw which has to be reassembled and dismantled after at every show.

Speaking to Reuters, McGuinness said: “The engineering problems are enormous and costly. We had to find a way for it to be aesthetic and figure out a way of doing video.

“That cylindrical screen we have - that didn't exist, we had to get somebody to invent that. We had to design this four-legged thing (the claw) - and build three of them.”

Despite his predictions of making a profit this year, McGuinness is cautious about how much money they'll make in 2010.

He added: “(It won't) exactly (be) gravy, because whether we're playing or not, the overhead is about $750,000 daily. That's just to have the crew on payroll, to rent the trucks, all that. There's about 200 trucks.

"Each stage is 37 trucks, so you're up to nearly 120 there. And then the universal production is another 50-odd trucks, and there are merchandise trucks and catering trucks.”

U2: A History Of Gargantuan Live Shows:

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The massive claw that is the focal point of the 2009 360degrees World Tour. Three different claw stage structures, which each costing between £15 million and £20 million, are being used by the band around the globe.

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for the prices they are charging it is hard to believe they are still in the Red..sic...even with the Redzone Scam they should have been in the black. U2 became their own scalpers with Redzone scheme. oh and what is the point of having sponsors, so you do'nt get into the black .
~ by bignose 9/28/2009 Report
Maybe they should have got sponsored by iPhone instead of Blackberry...
~ by Bob 9/28/2009 Report
bignose, funny how you mention their way too high prices. This tour, you could even buy 30$ tickets! There are tickets in every price range. The money generated from the Redzone tickets is going to charity, so it isn't that much of a scam and doesn't make U2 scalpers, does it? Oh and the sponsor, that was to cover the high costs of the development of this whole circus. It isn't quite nothing!
~ by Barkeeper 9/28/2009 Report
I bought 2 tickets to Wembley, best seats in the house. and it really was worth it-you can see why it costs so much and I'll never forget the spectacle of it all. And it masks that U2 aren't as good a band as everyone thinks wonderfully.
~ by MrGawain 9/28/2009 Report

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