Music: [u2tour] **Times & Transcript: What happens to U2's iconic concert stage now?

What happens to U2's iconic concert stage now?
Published Saturday July 30th, 2011
'The Claw' goes on the auction block tomorrow morning
By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff

For sale: U2's iconic "claw" stage. Well used, but in great condition. Contact Bono for details.

Yes indeed folks, you too can own a piece of rock and roll history. As of midnight tonight, the claw-like structure and the stage below it that has become "the" iconic image of the historic and nearly three-year U2 360 World Tour is for sale to the highest bidder.

"The bidding on the set starts on Sunday morning," said Jake Barry, of Jake Berry Productions, the firm hand-picked by U2 to manage the production of the most lucrative rock tour of all time and which comes to an explosive end tonight at the Magnetic Hill Music Festival.

The price?

"A lot," Barry said.

Other than a pot full of money, you'll need a flat surface on which to erect the massive structure.

The allure of Magnetic Hill as a concert site is its natural amphitheatre - the concert site is on a hill, giving everyone a fine view of the performance. But that uneven ground was one of the challenges of bringing U2's round stage to Moncton - the ground on which it sits must be flat.

No big deal, Barry said, they just had to do some grading and lay down some flooring for lack of a better term for the thick steel plating under the structure, before installing the behemoth.

Actually, there are three "claws." This makes it easier to set up and tear down as the tour makes it way across the planet. The stages can leap-frog each other from one venue to another, so there's no rush as there might be with just one stage. And heaven forbid that something bad happen to the stage in transit if there is only one of them.

Built at a rumoured $25 million, each claw is an identical, four-legged, 29,000-square-foot steel structure that towers several stories high and supports the Irish rockers' massive light-and-sound displays plus other electronic equipment needed to pull off such a show.

Those in the industry agree there's never been anything quite like it in the history of rock tours, the ultimate homage given the beloved excesses of live rock and roll.

Built into its spindly appearance are the most high-tech of gadgetry, electronics and equipment - but its appeal to fans is that it just looks good and you can clearly see the band no matter where you're stationed in the crowd. U2, who actually own all three of the claws, don't want all of that engineering, work and material to go to waste when they take a break for an anticipated few years, if not permanently (heaven forbid,) tonight sometime after 11 p.m.

Tour director Craig Evans told Billboard Magazine earlier this year that the claws "represent too great an engineering feat to just use for the tour and put away in a warehouse somewhere."

Tracked down yesterday at the scene of tonight's grande tour finale, just as the banks of speakers were being raised to the claw's roof, Evans hadn't changed his mind.

And his appreciation of this particular stage was evident as he watched the structure going up for the last time on its unprecedented three-year multi-continental odyssey, with most venues being ultra-modern concrete stadia which are quite different than the leafy green splendour of the Magnetic Hill site that overlooks the entire Metro Moncton area.

"And when the fans see the stage and a vista that overlooks Moncton, they will be amazed," Evans said. "The greenery, the background overlooking the city, it's really quite striking."

Harkening back to Barcelona in 2009 when the tour kicked off, it seems like so long ago, Evans said, yet at the same time it seems like last week.

"We didn't even know if we could raise this stage when it was first designed," Evans laughed.

Impresario Donald Tarlton of Donald K. Donald Productions wouldn't put much weight behind rumours that a concert site somewhere might want to invest in the claw as a permanent stage. The stage is just too intrinsically linked with the band U2, he thinks.

"This structure will forever carry the imprint of the 360 World Tour," Tarlton opined, though he's sure any concert venue's inquiries about buying the stage - or all three of them - would be heartily entertained.

Barry can't guess who might want to buy it. Perhaps some giant new shopping mall might want it as an attraction, he mused.

"Maybe a dedicated fan," he added.

"Do you happen to have a really, really big yard?"

You'd also better have a lot of tractor-trailers. Each leg of the claw, and the equipment inside each leg, requires 38 trucks to transport it. The floor requires another 14 trucks. Once you add in the other stuff that goes along with it, you'll need 47 tractor-trailers in all to haul your new toy home.

What's that cost? Barry doesn't want to think about it, lest it ruin the sale.

"A lot," he said again.

To make your bid, contact panthermanagement.com, which can give you 101, or more, ideas for the claw:

* 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 metres (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 additional online information, 3D Renderings, size specifications please visit: www.panthermanagement.com/theclaw

Rumours abound that the claw, or at least parts of it, will be featured in some aspects of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. But for confirmation, we'll just have to wait until next summer.

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