Since August that U2 have been presenting new songs on stage. Portugal should not be the exception.
It is already known that U2 goes far beyond the mere concept of rock concert. When, in 1993, passed the Alvalade Stadium showed him, and in the XXI century it is no wonder that the tour they are carrying out, and passing this week-end in Coimbra, has reached levels truly megalomaniac . Even the health problems affecting Bono eased the band this summer, frequently defined as “the largest in the world.”
Although U2 just passing through Portugal this week-end, to 360 Tour has been portrayed in the DVD 360 At The Rose Bowl , a concert attended by 97,000 people and was seen by more than 10 million in YouTube. The DVD show is the one Portuguese-ses may attend: a band that acts in the center of a gigantic structure to be viewed from all sides of the stadium.
The group goes on the road to present the songs of the last No Line on the Horizon (2009) since June 30 last year and will only stop in the summer of next year. To note that the first 44 dates were 227.8 million euros in revenues.
However, disappoint those who think that everything that can see in Coimbra has been portrayed in the DVD 360 º At the Rose Bowl. Since the U2 hit the road again in August (two months after the operation stopped the tour), the group has been playing unreleased songs. In Turin the concert began with “Return of the Stingray Guitar. Shortly afterwards, in Helsinki, had firsthand Every Breaking Wave. However, it has also revealed two other novel: North Star and Glastonbury. The latter is a tribute to the British festival, which is one of the largest in the world and which were provided U2 performing for the first time this year. However, due to the operation of Bono, the group was forced to cancel the date, but has been invited to attend the 2011 edition.
The health problem of lead singer of U2 has cost several million to the band. “Whether or not it will touch, the tour continues to cost - in 500,000 pounds (600,000 euros) per day,” argues the manager, Paul McGuinness. This, just to keep an entire structure that needs 120 trucks to transport all kinds of stuff from city to city.
And though this tour is already one of the most profitable ever (and still not finished), the group has not neglected its social and humanitarian facet. Not only part of the proceeds of these concerts revert to humanitarian organizations, most recently, Bono met with Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia, who addressed the problem of combating AIDS.
The concert in Moscow that gave it an unusual event has generated, since the local police prevented Greenpeace’s actions outside the stadium Lujniki that had been agreed with the administration of the group.
Now it’s time for U2 to present themselves for two nights at Coimbra Stadium, where they surely will not miss the many songs that famous, but without forgetting that the Irish have always something new up its sleeve.