Music: [u2tour] Entertainment Africa: U2's South African Shows Confirmed

U2's South African Shows Confirmed
Entertainment Africa News
October 12, 2010

U2 are definitely performing in South Africa in February 2011, we can
exclusively reveal.

When we 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 our 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.

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