RIP, U2's summer tour

Seen U2 three times. First time in 1984, the opener was The Waterboys, a great underrated band. Second time, 1985, it was Lone Justice and on The Joshua Tree tour it was Los Lobos. Good stuff, there.

 

Wasn't the first leg of the tour barely profitable (in U2 terms) because of the giant set and production? Sold out everywhere, but the nut was outrageous.

 

It was massively expensive, but I think they still cleared upwards of $75 million.

First time I saw U2 was 1983 on the War tour. The Alarm opened, before they had even released a single in the US. Great show.

 

Saw U2 on The Joshua Tree tour in 1987. Awesome show. I'll go again next year.

 

Tell me about U2 opening acts. In Providence, Lone Justice and the Pixies (saw them at a small college between U2's Boston and Providence gigs on their last pre-breakup tour). A few years ago, they picked up Arcade Fire for the Canuckistan swing. And this year, they had Interpol scheduled for a bunch of dates.
Interpol is playing Lupo's in late July. Yikes. Last time they were around here, they played the 7.000-plus Taj Agganis at my alma mater.

 

Kanye West opened for them when I saw U2 a few years back in St. Louis.

It was kinda cool and kinda weird all at the same time.

 

Speaking of odd opening acts ...

I have a good friend who was attending what's now Rhodes College in Memphis in, I think, the fall of 1981 or 1982. Big music fan, one of the first people I knew who was listening to U2 regularly. In fact, I'd never heard of U2 before he made me aware of them.

He saw U2 that year in Memphis as the opening act for ... the J. Geils Band, which was riding high with the "Love Stinks" LP.

 

Just Walk On, WolvEagle.

 

I believe all tickets will be honored for the rescheduled dates. At least that's what they're doing in Denver.

 

I hope that Bono will get well soon and we'l see some great concerts in 2011. I think the members of U2 are so rich, they don't care that much about ticket sales, they can't even spend all the money they have earned in the last 25 years.

 

It sure looks like they've never lost the passion to put on a great show every night, even after all these years. Even though they're richer than rich, that's awesome that they still love what they do. They make great music, and they've got a passion for it. What a great combination.

I hope Bono gets well soon so they can keep rolling next year.

Speaking of all these years, the "Under a Blood Red Sky" DVD (I also had it on VHS) was taped a week or so before I graduated from high school in 1983. I have to shake my head when I look at the "fashion" choices that were made then. But, I'm also amazed that U2 is still going so strong.

 

The South Park guys were right. Bono is just a giant piece of crap.