Tour Rumours and Site Developments
Now that Get On Your Boots is out and the release of the new album is merely a month away in some territories (25/02 in Japan; 27/02 in some European countries), fan attention is naturally turning to the prospect of a tour. Already, Daniel Lanois has spoken of the prospect of U2 performing "in the round" to some extent. The media in Nice, France, have claimed that U2 are booked to play their city on the 15th of July. Fans who have met the band have reported the band intend to begin the tour in late June in Spain. This is just a mere sample of the chatter that is doing the rounds on U2 fan messageboards. However, it is absolutely necessary to emphasise that this information should be viewed with the utmost caution and skepticism.
For U2gigs.com, our primary reason for existence is U2's tours - recording what happened through setlists, photographs, reviews, and other related content. It is not to build up false hopes with rumours that may never come to pass. We are not part of the rumour mill; no concert dates will go into our database until they are officially confirmed. That Nice date above? Don't go looking for it in the tour history section. You won't find it. Don't trust it and don't plan around it. Tour schedules are a delicate balancing act. Venue availability is often limited, as stadiums are heavily booked for sporting events and often have concert restrictions due to the proximity of residential populations, and the logistics of transport play a massive role. Sometimes even the announced schedule can change - on the Vertigo Tour, the 18 July 2005 show was originally scheduled for the 11th, and this change meant the next show had to be moved from the 19th to the 20th of July. If logistics dictate changes after the official announcement, imagine all the particulars that tour organisers must be juggling before the announcement and how dates "set in stone" and "signed off" may need to be altered in light of changing circumstances elsewhere.
Accordingly, our database will not be updated until the dates are official - and in some cases, that could be months away. Fans in the past have been fooled into planning holidays and purchasing tickets for shows that did not happen and were not scheduled. If an official source (such as U2.com or the band's promoter) have not announced the date and it is not listed in our database, don't expect it to happen. It might; it might not. U2 may be in Nice on 15 July, but for all we know, they could instead be in Stockholm or Glasgow, or touring the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in Vaduz, or playing the first punk rock concert on Venus.
However, not all rumours and hints are complete rubbish. Here's a little hint now that isn't nonsense - changes are in the works at U2gigs. By the time No Line On The Horizon has been released, this site will have even more to keep you occupied. Stay tuned for a proper announcement. For now, consider the following to be confirmed rumours: the site's aesthetics are in for a minor tweak, another element of the database will become searchable, and a mainpage article will herald the arrival of a feature that will clarify some of U2's history for you.
For U2gigs.com, our primary reason for existence is U2's tours - recording what happened through setlists, photographs, reviews, and other related content. It is not to build up false hopes with rumours that may never come to pass. We are not part of the rumour mill; no concert dates will go into our database until they are officially confirmed. That Nice date above? Don't go looking for it in the tour history section. You won't find it. Don't trust it and don't plan around it. Tour schedules are a delicate balancing act. Venue availability is often limited, as stadiums are heavily booked for sporting events and often have concert restrictions due to the proximity of residential populations, and the logistics of transport play a massive role. Sometimes even the announced schedule can change - on the Vertigo Tour, the 18 July 2005 show was originally scheduled for the 11th, and this change meant the next show had to be moved from the 19th to the 20th of July. If logistics dictate changes after the official announcement, imagine all the particulars that tour organisers must be juggling before the announcement and how dates "set in stone" and "signed off" may need to be altered in light of changing circumstances elsewhere.
Accordingly, our database will not be updated until the dates are official - and in some cases, that could be months away. Fans in the past have been fooled into planning holidays and purchasing tickets for shows that did not happen and were not scheduled. If an official source (such as U2.com or the band's promoter) have not announced the date and it is not listed in our database, don't expect it to happen. It might; it might not. U2 may be in Nice on 15 July, but for all we know, they could instead be in Stockholm or Glasgow, or touring the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in Vaduz, or playing the first punk rock concert on Venus.
However, not all rumours and hints are complete rubbish. Here's a little hint now that isn't nonsense - changes are in the works at U2gigs. By the time No Line On The Horizon has been released, this site will have even more to keep you occupied. Stay tuned for a proper announcement. For now, consider the following to be confirmed rumours: the site's aesthetics are in for a minor tweak, another element of the database will become searchable, and a mainpage article will herald the arrival of a feature that will clarify some of U2's history for you.
Posted on by Axver