U2 Concert Ready with New Sound System, Improved Health For Bono

Bono/ U2TOURFANS

May 14th can't get here any faster for some U2 fans. Bono has been on recovery since last falls bike accident. The boys have been in Vancouver working on the new tour.

Its different for sure, with no opening band, we have to wonder what will be the walk in music however lets talk more about what we have learned over the last few days.  The New York Times has had access to the boys over the past week to give us some insight to what we can expect.

The concert will be two sets with an intermission with the first half pretty much as fixed set and the second set to be a bit more flexible with arbitrary selections.

U2 has always been on the cut edge side when it comes to technology not only from a sound prospective, stage and lights too. The band has been working on a new audio system that will suspend the speaker arrays from the ceilings pointing down, this will provide a complete immersive experience across the area floor.

The sound will be intense for everyone with no gaps within the house. Its considered to be uniformly transparent with the volume to be constant.

Now the stage will feature three risers, one "I" shaped one for "innocence" a round one shaped like  lower case "e" for "experience and walkway called the divider stage to signify the "passage from innocence to experience. Designed by Es Devlin. 

Remember the band promised another album while don't worry about the tour interference they the finest mobile recording studio heading out with them.

Bono has been writing songs with a few titles almost ready "Red Flag Day", "Civilization" and "Instrument Flying"  We should expect the next album to be within the moment, which could mean more POP music. 

So how is Bono you ask?  Well within the TIMES report Bono stated that the recovery is going well however  "It feels like I have somebody else's hand," the singer said. He likened the feeling to rigor mortis. "They say that nerves heal about a millimeter a week, so in about 13 months I should know if it's coming back." We should not expect Bono to be playing guitar.

So we are about 14 days out from the start and it sure looks to be another amazing tour. Be sure to download your mobile app today to be apart of the experience.

U2 360 Stage Announcement

LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — On July 30th, 2011 when the U2 360 stage is dismantled for the final time, the most successful concert tour of all time will have been seen by over 7 million fans.  The world’s most iconic stage will soon be available for sale.  For additional on-line information, 3D renderings, size specifications please visit:www.panthermanagement.com/theclaw

Designed by Bono, Willie Williams and Mark Fisher, the massive stage structure is an industry first. Tried and tested at over 110 concerts in 78 cities in 30 countries, the in-the-round transportable structure was designed to support up to 185 tonnes and engineered to withstand high winds while sustaining seismic loads.  While on tour, “the claw” carried a cylindrical video screen able to open to a size of 14,000 square feet and designed to provide fans with the best possible concert viewing experience ever.  It was an overwhelming success.

Groundbreaking, load-bearing, unique, the legacy will live on as these custom built structures are put on sale world-wide as either a permanent or portable pavilion.  These highly adaptable structures can be re-engineered and in fact recycled to become new multi-use and headline grabbing entertainment venues or facilities including amphitheatres, civic plazas, corporate pavilions, world expositions or world cup stages, or something as unique as a bio dome or conservation lab.

• As a music and entertainment venue, structure is able to provide a large covered stage area with or without wings and offers maximum load capacity for any event.
• At a world exposition or Olympic games, this is an attention grabbing high profile structure that also claims a unique piece of history.
• As an exhibition hall, the complex could be fitted with multiple floors with ceilings anywhere from 10 to 100 feet.
• As a plaza, the “claw” encompasses an area of 2,727 square meters (28,287 square feet) and would easily accommodate up to 2,800 people under cover.
• As a pre-built, engineered enclosure the structure is easily transportable, requires a very short installation time frame, and has proven to be extremely rugged and dependable.

For further information regarding design opportunities and purchase information, please contact:info@panthermanagement.com.

About Panther Management:

Panther Management is an international project management company with worldwide expertise in exhibit design and fabrication for zoos, aquariums, science centers, museums, visitor centers and theme parks. We specialize in unique themed environments and special events. Panther also has a great depth of experience in production and technical management of corporate presentations, large scale commercial theatrical productions and live music.  For additional information, visitwww.panthermanagement.com.

About Live Nation Entertainment:

Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network.  Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five eCommerce sites, with over 26 million monthly unique visitors.  Live Nation Concerts produces over 20,000 shows annually for more than 2,000 artists globally.  Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists.  These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling over 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.  

SOURCE Live Nation Entertainment

Want to work for U2 ?

Organizers of a U2 concert in Moncton this summer are on the hunt for hundreds of temporary workers needed to erect a massive stage, grandstands and lighting and sound systems at Magnetic Hill.

Pascal Dube of Stage Crew Inc. of Moncton is looking for riggers, forklift drivers, truck loaders, stage hands and general labourers.

It will be a huge job that will begin about a week before the concert.

The U2 stage, a huge metal claw with four legs and giant video screens that stands about 50 metres tall, will likely be the biggest yet erected at the outdoor venue.

As a contractor to the touring company, Dube will be responsible for working with U2’s road crew to make sure everything is set up and ready to go when the band arrives.

He can’t say exactly how many people he will need but said the AC/DC show in Moncton in 2009 required more than 200 people — and the U2 show is expected to be bigger with up to 100,000 spectators.

“We have people coming from all over New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia to work at the show. And they don’t come just for the work because they have other jobs — they gotta love doing it,” Dube said.

“In this job you get to meet people from all over the world and get to be part of putting this big show together. It’s all about the music.”

The July 30 show will be the final North American date of the U2 360 Tour. The opening act is Montreal’s Arcade Fire, which received a best album Grammy last weekend for The Suburbs.

Besides all the riggers and stagehands, the U2 concert is expected to provide many other short-term jobs in security, food service, beverage service, traffic control and the box office.

Shane Porter, the City of Moncton’s supervisor of special events, said extra security will also be recruited while traffic control in and out of the site will be handled by the RCMP.



Get on your Party Pass Dallas

Dave Long/U2TourFans.comDallas: The U2 360º Tour boasts an immense, stadium-shrinking stage design that has wowed fans from Barcelona to Boston. Designed by production designer Willie Williams and architect Mark Fisher, longtime U2 collaborators, the circular, immersive stage has been on the band’s mind since at least 2006. According to notes furnished by U2’s record label, the four-legged model was initially developed over dinner with a few forks during the Vertigo Tour.

The Irish quartet hasn’t been to North Texas since around that same time — 2005 — while touring in support of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It has been more than a decade since U2 has played stadiums in North America; it last did so in 1997, during the infamous PopMart Tour.

With buzzy opening act Muse in tow, U2 plays Cowboys Stadium on Monday to promote its latest album, No Line on the Horizon. Tickets, as of this writing, are still available (Ticketmaster’s Web site showed seats at all price points), as are $30 “party passes” similar to the type sold for Dallas Cowboys games.

Here’s a closer look at U2’s gargantuan stage, designed, the band says, in an effort to “establish a physical proximity” to the audience. It will be situated near Cowboys Stadium’s eastern end zone.

U2TOURFANS File PhotoThe highest point

Much has been made about the fact that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is willing to move the gigantic HDTVs for a rock concert but not

for a pro football game. That’s

probably because few punters could manage the considerable height of U2’s elaborate 360-degree stage. The overall steel structure is 90 feet tall, while the center pylon reaches a height of 150 feet.

Ready for a close-up

While the whole audience can’t be on the field for an up-close look at Bono and his stylish shades, the band has made it easier to watch the action. Wrapped around the 360-degree stage is a cylindrical video screen, described by the band as “groundbreaking.” The screen weighs a whopping 54 tons — the overall design is built to withstand a weight of up to 180 tons — and covers 4,300 square feet.

Plenty of pixels

Dave Long/U2TourFans The cylindrical video screen is made up of 1 million individual elements: 500,000 pixels; 320,000 fasteners; 30,000 cables; and 150,000 machined pieces. It can be broken into segments on what’s called a “multiple pantograph system.” This allows the screen to open and/or spread apart vertically as an effect. The screen can open to 14,000 square feet, roughly the size of two doubles tennis courts.

Building it up, tearing it down

A stage this dramatic doesn’t go up quickly: The steel structure alone takes four days to build (the stages were originally constructed by the Belgian company Stageco). The construction of each stage requires the use of innovative, high-pressure hydraulic systems. It takes an additional 12 hours to load in the screen, stage and other production equipment. Once the crowds have dispersed, it takes the crew six hours to dismantle the production aspect. Forty-eight hours pass before the steel structure is taken down and removed from the stadium.

Sources: U2TOURFANS File,U2.com, Live Nation

Did you know this ?

Bono has admitted he suffers from severe stage fright - despite the fact he’s been playing to packed stadiums for 25 years.

The U2 frontman says he still feels "nervous" and "sick" when he wakes up on the morning of a gig, even after quarter of a century.

"The morning before a show I get nervous. I can wake up with a sick feeling," he told Harper’s Bazaar.

The 46-year-old Irish star also worries he might let the crowd down by giving a less than perfect vocal performance.

"I have to hit very high notes and if you hit them wrong you can put your throat out," he said.

"So there’s a ‘Will I? Won’t I?’ aspect to it.

"It used to worry me sick. That sense of, how could I meet the levels of anticipation?

"If you’re a rock star and need 25,000 people telling you they love you, obviously you must be a very insecure person," he joked.