Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??

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Smee

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Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« on: July 24, 2023, 06:45:10 AM »
Im hearing there are many many tickets left unsold, for the u2 residency in Vegas. A huge part of me wants the whole thing to be a massive flop. It will be a real poke in the eye for all the greedy people, behind this run of shows. I include the band in this, as they played their part in the money grab. (it saddens me to say that)
Do you think we might have another London Wembley, Zoo TV scenario here, where tickets might well end up being given away, coz there isnt enough interest, for whatever reason (most likely the extortionate prices)?
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Alphane

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2023, 08:03:54 AM »
I think they'll sell eventually. People will wait to get the best price and eventually bite the bullet if prices don't drop.

The fact that many fans are losing interest or walking away from the band should concern them, but I suspect they don't know and are in no shape to analyze what missteps they've made over the years.

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Larry Lovebucket

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2023, 08:15:12 AM »
I agree.

I think they’ll sell. Regardless of the shows quality, I guarantee the media will wet itself over it, who are probably in the pockets of the guys who run the sphere and the dudes in u2. Fellas cleverer than us guys know how this stuff plays out, before it plays out, and plan accordingly.
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laoghaire

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2023, 10:26:49 AM »
If Bono is humbled, we can rest assured he will take the wrong lesson from it.
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wons

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2023, 10:37:13 AM »
Im hearing there are many many tickets left unsold, for the u2 residency in Vegas. A huge part of me wants the whole thing to be a massive flop. It will be a real poke in the eye for all the greedy people, behind this run of shows. I include the band in this, as they played their part in the money grab. (it saddens me to say that)
Do you think we might have another London Wembley, Zoo TV scenario here, where tickets might well end up being given away, coz there isnt enough interest, for whatever reason (most likely the extortionate prices)?


 I never anticipated that U2 would play more than 10 shows in Las Vegas at a 20,000 capacity arena. The 360 tour did one show to 42,213 people in Las Vegas. So doing 10 shows for a total of 200,000 tickets sold would seem to be the edge of what they could do.

Instead, there has been enough demand for them to book 25 shows at the 20,000 capacity arena in Las Vegas. That is 500,000 tickets if every ticket is sold over the course of 25 shows.

Its one think to do lots of repeat business in a theater that only holds 2,000 people or 4,000 people. But 25 shows in the same city at 20,000 people per night is unheard of.

For Michael Jackson's FINAL shows, that did not happen because he passed away before the start, there were to be 50 arena sized shows, 20,000 per night, at the O2 in London United Kingdom. That is the closest comparison I can think of given the number of shows, in the same city, with a 20,000 capacity per show.

The Vegas runs that people think of are done in small theaters, NOT 20,000 capacity arenas.

So U2 has already exceeded expectations many times over. I expected 10 shows max. The band started with the assumption they might only be able to do 5 shows. Being able to do 25 shows far exceeds all expectations.

As for unsold tickets, I think in the weeks and days before shows, tickets will come way down in price in order to be sold. They may not end up selling every ticket but they will probably come close. They only book these shows if the demand is there for it, based on the level of sales from previous shows that went on sale for it. So in terms of sales, they are where they want to be and the only question is how much money they can still get for the tickets that have not sold yet.

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wons

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2023, 10:53:26 AM »
I think they'll sell eventually. People will wait to get the best price and eventually bite the bullet if prices don't drop.

The fact that many fans are losing interest or walking away from the band should concern them, but I suspect they don't know and are in no shape to analyze what missteps they've made over the years.

You would be hard pressed to find a Music artist that has been more successful than U2 over the past 43 years, whether it albums sold or tickets sold, hit songs around the world etc. Lots of fans walked away in the last half of the 90s, but U2 was back rapidly building up the fan base in the 2000s, their 2nd wind so to speak. Since 2012 things have trended downward pretty quickly. The new music in the 10s was of only interest to a fraction of the dedicated fanbase and not casual fans or the general public. But the band has remained one of the top touring acts in the world, although their no longer the #1 touring act in the world, like they were 12 years ago.

Ageism, an aging fan base, and the difficulty of attracting new younger fans is something that all music artist eventually have to contend with. There are some other headwinds U2 face as well, the album format is no longer popular like it once was, Rock music is no longer popular like it once was, Bands/groups are rare and today's music scene is dominated by the SOLO ARTIST. Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, POP, Dance POP, Electronica, and Country are the styles of music that are popular. Rock music has been declining in popularity every year since 1995.

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So Cruel

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2023, 11:14:27 AM »
It’s Vegas Smee. Most of those tickets will be sold to tourists or convention attendees who haven’t made their travel /entertainment plans yet. As the shows get closer ticket prices will come down. Whatever doesn’t get sold will be comped by the hotel to their high roller guests. The shows will be full.

Wons doesn’t seem to get that Vegas is a tourist city and that the vast majority of people who attend these shows won’t live in Vegas. How many people went to a tour show compared to this residency doesn’t matter.
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SlyDanner

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #7 on: July 24, 2023, 11:51:29 AM »
are casual tourists who are not U2 fans really going to go to a U2 show at the Sphere even if the tickets are comped?  I'm not so sure.

U2's brand is pretty tarnished these days and unless you are a hard-core fan, you aren't going to these shows.  There's too much entertainment competition in Vegas for the $$$ of the casual tourists and business travelers.  subjecting yourself to Bono and his bullshit for 2 hours is probably not something a lot of people think of as a good time.

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So Cruel

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #8 on: July 24, 2023, 01:18:49 PM »
are casual tourists who are not U2 fans really going to go to a U2 show at the Sphere even if the tickets are comped?  I'm not so sure.

U2's brand is pretty tarnished these days and unless you are a hard-core fan, you aren't going to these shows.  There's too much entertainment competition in Vegas for the $$$ of the casual tourists and business travelers.  subjecting yourself to Bono and his bullshit for 2 hours is probably not something a lot of people think of as a good time.

If someone passes on the tickets they’ll just hit up the next person on the list. And U2 isn’t even the main attraction for a lot of the people, the Sphere is.

When I’m in Vegas I’ve spent money on shows and concerts I wouldn’t bother with at home.
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Soloyan

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #9 on: July 24, 2023, 02:11:35 PM »
Rich tourists will be more than happy to spend cash on that new venue. U2 is consensual enough so that they’ll cave in.

They will fill the venue. Not with U2 fans, though. And people will applaud the fireworks as much, if not more than the band.

It fits the Vegas market all right.
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an tha

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #10 on: July 24, 2023, 03:00:32 PM »
Rich tourists will be more than happy to spend cash on that new venue. U2 is consensual enough so that they’ll cave in.

They will fill the venue. Not with U2 fans, though. And people will applaud the fireworks as much, if not more than the band.

It fits the Vegas market all right.

Is right.

They'll pretty much sell - but it isn't really about u2 either way.



The people i do feel a bit sorry for are the u2 fans who jumped through all sorts of hoops when these tickets first went on sale, many to be really badly treated and also many to be stung by premium pricing.

Many panicked instead of waiting for the initial bullshit that was designed to drive interest and play on their loyalty to die down....
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The Exile

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #11 on: July 24, 2023, 03:09:08 PM »
If Bono is humbled, we can rest assured he will take the wrong lesson from it.

"Croikey, the Sphere didn't sell out? Soooo... more flash and less substance it is!"
Listen as Hope and Peace try to rhyme,
Listen over marching bands playing out their time.

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So Cruel

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #12 on: July 24, 2023, 03:29:46 PM »
If Bono is humbled, we can rest assured he will take the wrong lesson from it.

"Croikey, the Sphere didn't sell out? Soooo... more flash and less substance it is!"

“We had an image of the moon….what if we PLAYED ON THE MOON! … shit, I gotta call the Edge!”
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The Exile

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #13 on: July 24, 2023, 03:37:07 PM »
If Bono is humbled, we can rest assured he will take the wrong lesson from it.

"Croikey, the Sphere didn't sell out? Soooo... more flash and less substance it is!"

“We had an image of the moon….what if we PLAYED ON THE MOON! … shit, I gotta call the Edge!”

"Fook! Looks like Edge is already in the process of suing the moon in order to build one of his new properties."
Listen as Hope and Peace try to rhyme,
Listen over marching bands playing out their time.

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Amor fati

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Re: Are u2 on the verge of being humbled??
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2023, 03:54:49 PM »
Rich tourists will be more than happy to spend cash on that new venue. U2 is consensual enough so that they’ll cave in.

They will fill the venue. Not with U2 fans, though. And people will applaud the fireworks as much, if not more than the band.

It fits the Vegas market all right.

Is right.

They'll pretty much sell - but it isn't really about u2 either way.



The people i do feel a bit sorry for are the u2 fans who jumped through all sorts of hoops when these tickets first went on sale, many to be really badly treated and also many to be stung by premium pricing.

Many panicked instead of waiting for the initial bullshit that was designed to drive interest and play on their loyalty to die down....

Lucky for u2 fans who sprung for the premium pricing there is a cheap hostel just down the road from the Sphere.   8)