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| U2360° Tour | |
|---|---|
| Concert tour name | U2360° Tour |
| Artist | U2 |
| Start date | 2009-06-30 |
| End date | 2011-12-30 |
| Number of shows | 110 |
| Attendance | 7,000,000 |
| Gross | $736,000,000 |
U2360° Tour The U2360° Tour was a worldwide concert tour by U2 in support of the albums No Line on the Horizon and the band's back catalog. The tour featured an innovative freestanding stage and a 360-degree audience configuration that redefined large-scale stadium productions, making it one of the highest-grossing tours in history. It involved collaborations with prominent designers, engineers, and promoters and included performances at major festivals and arenas across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, and Africa.
Planning for the U2360° Tour drew on prior large-scale projects by U2, including the Elevation Tour and the Vertigo Tour, and was influenced by lessons from tours by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Pink Floyd. The band worked with designer Willie Williams, architect and stage designer Mark Fisher, and the engineering firm Tait Towers to create a structural concept that allowed a centrally placed stage within venues similar to pioneering arena configurations used by Grateful Dead and Genesis. Producers from Live Nation and executives from Clear Channel Entertainment were involved in routing and promotion. Technical rehearsals took place at soundstage facilities used previously by U2 for Rattle and Hum sessions and television specials tied to Late Show with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live.
The tour's signature feature was the "Claw", a four-legged, freestanding stage structure engineered by Joe Flood, Michael Keating, and teams from Tait Towers, combining elements of contemporary stagecraft exhibited by Cirque du Soleil and large-scale set pieces previously realized for The Who and Paul McCartney. Lighting systems integrated fixtures from MA Lighting and LED technologies developed by Philips and Satisloh, while sound reinforcement used line arrays from Meyer Sound Laboratories and mixing consoles by Avid Technology. The stage permitted 360-degree sightlines reminiscent of configurations used at Wembley Stadium and Madison Square Garden, enabling the band to perform surrounded by fans in a manner analogous to performances at Glastonbury Festival and Rock am Ring. Visuals projected on a cylindrical video screen were produced in collaboration with video directors who had worked with Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie.
Typical set lists combined tracks from No Line on the Horizon with classics from albums such as The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and All That You Can't Leave Behind. Songs frequently performed included Beautiful Day, One, and Where the Streets Have No Name, often reinterpreted with arrangements recalling studio work with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Notable performances included shows at Croke Park, Rose Bowl, Estadio Monumental, and a headline slot at Rock in Rio; celebrity attendees included figures from Barack Obama's administration and artists associated with Bono's activism such as representatives from (RED). The tour also featured guest appearances by artists who had collaborated with U2 in the past, including musicians linked to Pavarotti & Friends charity events and producers from the band's recording sessions.
Core band personnel were Bono (lead vocals), The Edge (guitar, keyboards), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums). Touring personnel included long-time collaborators from U2's production company and stage crew, technical directors who had worked with Bill Graham Presents and Eventim, and sound engineers experienced with touring productions for artists like Adele and Coldplay. Creative direction involved input from visual artists connected to Magnum Photos exhibitions and fashion designers associated with stage costumes seen in retrospectives at institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum. Safety and rigging adhered to standards set by industry organizations including International Association of Venue Managers and certifications used by Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers-trained technicians.
Critics from publications such as Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian, and The New York Times reviewed the tour favorably for its production scale and musicianship, while some commentators compared its spectacle to tours by U2's contemporaries like The Rolling Stones and Madonna. The U2360° Tour set box office records at venues including Wembley Stadium, Croke Park, and the Rose Bowl, ultimately grossing approximately $736 million and becoming the highest-grossing concert tour at the time, surpassing figures achieved by The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour and later matched by tours from Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Attendance exceeded seven million across all legs, and the tour's commercial strategy involved ticketing practices coordinated with Ticketmaster and sponsorship elements aligned with brands that had previously sponsored stadium tours.
Multiple concerts from the tour were recorded for broadcast and release, with footage incorporated into television specials and DVD/Blu-ray packages akin to releases such as U2 3D and Rattle and Hum. Broadcast partners included networks and platforms comparable to HBO, BBC Television, and international syndicators that had carried major concert events like Live Aid and Woodstock. Selected performances were released as live albums and concert films, and excerpts were used in promotional material on channels associated with MTV and streaming services competing with platforms similar to Netflix. Archival footage has since been referenced in retrospectives on U2's career and exhibitions at institutions such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Category:U2 concert tours