U2‘s current 360 tour became the highest grossing tour in history over the weekend. A sold-out concert last night (4/10) at Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil pushed the tour past the previous record held by the Rolling Stones’ Bigger Bang Tour which grossed $554 million from 2005-07.
When the U2 tour finishes in Canada on July 30, the gross is expected to surpass $700 million.
There are 26 shows left on the Live Nation outing which launched in 2009. So far U2 360 has played to 5 million people worldwide, with that number expected to surpass 7 million before the tour wraps. The two-year run encompasses 110 shows in 30 countries across five continents.
Promoter and producer Arthur Fogel pointed out that the band’s in-the-round transportable stadium production set can accommodate more fans in the stands. He says, “The extra capacity that the U2 360 creates also allows for a large number, several thousand in fact, of low priced tickets at every show.”
But this massive, cutting edge production is costly reminds U2’s manager Paul McGuinness, who says “the band spend enormous sums on production for their audience.”
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