In the small hours of Sunday morning, Australian time, we confirmed that U2 will tour Australia and New Zealand at the end of this year. Some extra information has now come to light, as listings have appeared on ticketing agencies. (U2.com have merely posted the promoters' press release and did not add any new details, but they do have a video at the end with comments from the band.)

But first, to save you having to click through to anywhere, the dates again:

Thursday, 25 November 2010: Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
Wednesday, 1 December 2010: Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Wednesday, 8 December 2010: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland
Monday, 13 December 2010: ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales
Saturday, 18 December 2010: Subiaco Oval, Perth, Western Australia

Full ticketing details are not yet known, but Ticketmaster and Ticketek have all posted U2 micro-sites. They currently have limited features. Ticketmaster's micro-site is here (Melbourne and Perth shows), Ticketek's Australian micro-site is here (Brisbane and Sydney shows), and Ticketek's New Zealand micro-site for the Auckland show is here.

Tickets will be priced between $39.90 and $349.50. General admission tickets to the standing-only field will be a fairly reasonable $99.90, the same as in 2006. We do not currently have confirmation as to what the exorbitant $349.50 tickets will be.

There will be a pre-sale for U2.com members, but details have not been posted yet. The public sale begins on Friday, 3 September 2010 at 9am, local time of the venue. This means the New Zealand tickets will go on sale first, followed by Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane two hours later, and finally Perth will follow two hours after the eastern Australian cities.

Asian dates are conspicuous by their absence.

And by the way, rumour has it that extra Oceania gigs are pencilled in for all five cities. If a given city's first night sells well enough, its second show will then be added to the itinerary.

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Axver