The Joshua Tree Tours 2017 and 2019
| World tour by U2 | |
 | |
| Location | North America, Europe |
|---|---|
| Associated album | The Joshua Tree (30th anniversary) |
| Start date | 12 May 2017 |
| End date | 1 August 2017 |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 33 total
|
| U2 concert chronology | |
The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 is an upcoming worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. It will be staged to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the band's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. The tour will visit stadiums in 2017 across two legs: North America from May to July, and Europe from July to August. The band intends to play The Joshua Tree in its entirety on each date of the tour, including the first live performance of the song "Red Hill Mining Town".[1] It is the first time the group is touring in promotion of an album from their back catalogue, rather than a new release. The tour was announced on 9 January 2017. Pre-sale tickets were first offered to U2.com subscribers starting on 11 January before going on sale to the general public on 16 January (for European shows) and 17 January (for North American shows). As part of the tour, U2 will be headlining the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee in June.[2]
Background
The inspiration for the tour came in September 2016, while U2 were rehearsing for headlining appearances at the iHeartRadio Music Festival and Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference. Initially, the band were interested in marking the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree with one show in the United States and Europe each, before eventually deciding to expand it into a full tour.[3]
In explaining the reason for revisiting the album with an anniversary tour, guitarist the Edge cited the 2016 US presidential election and other world events for what he judged to be renewed resonance of The Joshua Tree's subject matter.[1] He said that in looking at the record's anniversary, "things have kind of come full circle, if you want. That record was written in the mid-Eighties, during the Reagan–Thatcher era of British and U.S. politics. It was a period when there was a lot of unrest. Thatcher was in the throes of trying to put down the miners' strike; there was all kinds of shenanigans going on in Central America. It feels like we're right back there in a way. I don't think any of our work has ever come full circle to that extent. It just felt like, 'Wow, these songs have a new meaning and a new resonance today that they didn't have three years ago, four years ago.'"[1]
The tour was announced on 9 January 2017.[4] It is the first time the group is touring in promotion of an album from their back catalogue, rather than a new release.[5] Kyle McGovern of Pitchfork interpreted the tour announcement to be an admission by U2 that they were entering the "nostalgia act" phase of their career. He said, "this tour announcement feels like it's coming from a U2 that's ready to put their work behind glass, as so many of their peers did far earlier... And there's no shame in that..."[6] Pre-sale tickets were first offered to U2.com subscribers starting on 11 January before going on sale to the general public on 16 January (for European shows) and 17 January (for North American shows).[7][8] Approximately 1.1 million tickets were sold in the first 24 hours of being on sale. After tickets for the tour sold out quickly, second shows were added in London, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, East Rutherford, Pasadena, and Chicago.[9]
In designing the tour's stage, longtime U2 set designer Willie Williams was initially drawn to the idea of building a proscenium in the mold of a "traditional festival stage" on one end of a venue, much like how the group's original Joshua Tree Tour was arranged. However, he ultimately decided against this, as that design offers limited sight lines of 150–160 degrees within stadium seating. Williams said that the B-stage will be shaped like the Joshua tree from the album sleeve and will represent a projection of the plant's shadow onto the ground.[3]
Tour dates
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening acts | Attendance | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | ||||||
| May 12, 2017 | Vancouver | Canada | BC Place | Mumford & Sons | — | — |
| May 14, 2017 | Seattle | United States | CenturyLink Field | — | — | |
| May 17, 2017 | Santa Clara | Levi's Stadium | — | — | ||
| May 20, 2017 | Pasadena | Rose Bowl | The Lumineers | — | — | |
| May 21, 2017 | ||||||
| May 24, 2017 | Houston | NRG Stadium | — | — | ||
| May 26, 2017 | Arlington | AT&T Stadium | — | — | ||
| June 3, 2017 | Chicago | Soldier Field | — | — | ||
| June 4, 2017 | ||||||
| June 7, 2017 | Pittsburgh | Heinz Field | — | — | ||
| June 9, 2017[a] | Manchester | Great Stage Park | — | — | — | |
| June 11, 2017 | Miami Gardens | Hard Rock Stadium | OneRepublic | — | — | |
| June 14, 2017 | Tampa | Raymond James Stadium | — | — | ||
| June 16, 2017 | Louisville | Papa John's Cardinal Stadium | — | — | ||
| June 18, 2017 | Philadelphia | Lincoln Financial Field | The Lumineers | — | — | |
| June 20, 2017 | Landover | FedExField | — | — | ||
| June 23, 2017 | Toronto | Canada | Rogers Centre | — | — | |
| June 25, 2017 | Foxborough | United States | Gillette Stadium | — | — | |
| June 28, 2017 | East Rutherford | MetLife Stadium | — | — | ||
| June 29, 2017 | ||||||
| July 1, 2017 | Cleveland | FirstEnergy Stadium | OneRepublic | — | — | |
| Leg 2: Europe | ||||||
| July 8, 2017 | London | England | Twickenham Stadium | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds | — | — |
| July 9, 2017 | ||||||
| July 12, 2017 | Berlin | Germany | Olympiastadion | — | — | |
| July 15, 2017 | Rome | Italy | Stadio Olimpico | — | — | |
| July 16, 2017 | ||||||
| July 18, 2017 | Barcelona | Spain | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys | — | — | |
| July 22, 2017 | Dublin | Ireland | Croke Park | — | — | |
| July 25, 2017 | Saint-Denis | France | Stade de France | — | — | |
| July 26, 2017 | ||||||
| July 29, 2017 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Amsterdam Arena | — | — | |
| July 30, 2017 | ||||||
| August 1, 2017 | Brussels | Belgium | King Baudouin Stadium | — | — | |
| Total | — | — | ||||
Notes
- ^ The show on 9 June 2017 in Manchester is part of Bonnaroo Music Festival.
References
- ^ a b c Greene, Andy (9 January 2017). "The Edge Breaks Down U2's Upcoming 'Joshua Tree' Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ Gold, Adam (9 January 2017). "U2 Confirmed to Play Bonnaroo". Nashville Scene. SouthComm Communications. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ a b Greene, Andy (26 January 2017). "U2's Longtime Stage Designer Talks 'Joshua Tree' Tour 2017". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ Greene, Andy (9 January 2017). "U2 Detail 'The Joshua Tree' Summer Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ Boyd, Brian (8 January 2017). "U2 to outline tour dates for The Joshua Tree on Monday". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ McGovern, Kyle (10 January 2017). "U2 Are Finally Acting Their Age". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ Cook-Wilson, Winston (9 January 2017). "U2 Announce The Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour". Spin. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ Coscarelli, Joe (9 January 2017). "U2 Will Revisit 'The Joshua Tree' on 30th Anniversary Stadium Tour". The New York Times.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Roberts, Randall (18 January 2017). "Shut out of U2's Rose Bowl gig? Good news: A second show has been added". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
External links
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