What if the Dublin rumour is true?
If you have been hanging around U2-related corners of the Internet in the past day, you will have probably bumped into the rumour first revealed (in Portuguese) by U2 Brasil that U2 will play ten shows in Dublin at the end of this year to wrap up the European leg of the Innocence + Experience Tour. According to this rumour, the shows will be associated with Music Generation and will take place at the 3Arena with support from Kodaline.
If this rumour is true, it will be the most shows U2 have played in a single city on one leg of a tour. The record is currently held by Sydney on the first leg of Lovetown, with eight shows; on the forthcoming first leg of I+E, New York will equal this total, and unlike Sydney the run of eight shows in New York will be unbroken.
So, when could these hypothetical ten shows happen? We do not know yet - the rumour doesn't clarify that detail. However, we can try to guess and make some assumptions. Currently the final show of the European leg is in Paris on 15 November, so the Dublin gigs must be afterwards. U2 so far have booked the I+E Tour according to a pattern of two shows in two days followed by two rest days. Let's assume that pattern remains, which means that 16 and 17 November will be rest days.
Many fans have wondered what bookings 3Arena currently has. Imagine Dragons and Van Morrison are performing on 18 and 20 November respectively, so 21 November becomes the earliest likely date for U2's first show in Dublin. The 19th can only be used if they break the two on/two off pattern, so let's scratch that as a possibility for now.
There are more bookings at the 3Arena in December: Simply Red on the 1st, André Rieu on the 4th and 5th, Def Leppard and Whitesnake on the 6th, and "How Now Mrs Brown's Cow" from the 15th to the 19th. There are then no further bookings announced until mid-March.
That leaves U2 with two options: either book shows that work around the existing events, or book an unbroken run after 19 December that stretches into January 2016. At most, using the two on/two off pattern, six shows can squeeze in between Van Morrison and Simply Red - 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, and 30 November. Another two can be scheduled on 2 and 3 December between Simply Red and André Rieu, but that gives only one day off and breaks the pattern, so let's forget that (though those days can be used if they only book four shows in November, with the fourth no later than the 29th). More likely the remaining shows would come after Def Leppard/Whitesnake in the gap before Mrs Brown starts on the 15th, e.g. on 7, 8, 11, and 12 December.
U2 could be planning an end-of-year spectacular. Remember the last time U2 played Dublin at the end of a year? (Incidentally, that was at the old, smaller Point Depot that sat where the 3Arena is now located.) If so, to fit in ten shows with the two on/two off pattern, and to work around the Mrs Brown booking and Christmas, the latest the run of shows can begin is 9 December. That would give shows on 9, 10, 13, 14, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30 and 31 December.
There are, of course, other combinations of dates that are possible - and the 3Arena may have other bookings in this time period yet to be announced that U2 have to work around. This article simply aims to answer the questions many fans have asked about when the shows could possibly be if the rumour is true, and what dates are already impossible as a result of other bookings. We will keep you updated on any further news and rumours.
If this rumour is true, it will be the most shows U2 have played in a single city on one leg of a tour. The record is currently held by Sydney on the first leg of Lovetown, with eight shows; on the forthcoming first leg of I+E, New York will equal this total, and unlike Sydney the run of eight shows in New York will be unbroken.
So, when could these hypothetical ten shows happen? We do not know yet - the rumour doesn't clarify that detail. However, we can try to guess and make some assumptions. Currently the final show of the European leg is in Paris on 15 November, so the Dublin gigs must be afterwards. U2 so far have booked the I+E Tour according to a pattern of two shows in two days followed by two rest days. Let's assume that pattern remains, which means that 16 and 17 November will be rest days.
Many fans have wondered what bookings 3Arena currently has. Imagine Dragons and Van Morrison are performing on 18 and 20 November respectively, so 21 November becomes the earliest likely date for U2's first show in Dublin. The 19th can only be used if they break the two on/two off pattern, so let's scratch that as a possibility for now.
There are more bookings at the 3Arena in December: Simply Red on the 1st, André Rieu on the 4th and 5th, Def Leppard and Whitesnake on the 6th, and "How Now Mrs Brown's Cow" from the 15th to the 19th. There are then no further bookings announced until mid-March.
That leaves U2 with two options: either book shows that work around the existing events, or book an unbroken run after 19 December that stretches into January 2016. At most, using the two on/two off pattern, six shows can squeeze in between Van Morrison and Simply Red - 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, and 30 November. Another two can be scheduled on 2 and 3 December between Simply Red and André Rieu, but that gives only one day off and breaks the pattern, so let's forget that (though those days can be used if they only book four shows in November, with the fourth no later than the 29th). More likely the remaining shows would come after Def Leppard/Whitesnake in the gap before Mrs Brown starts on the 15th, e.g. on 7, 8, 11, and 12 December.
U2 could be planning an end-of-year spectacular. Remember the last time U2 played Dublin at the end of a year? (Incidentally, that was at the old, smaller Point Depot that sat where the 3Arena is now located.) If so, to fit in ten shows with the two on/two off pattern, and to work around the Mrs Brown booking and Christmas, the latest the run of shows can begin is 9 December. That would give shows on 9, 10, 13, 14, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30 and 31 December.
There are, of course, other combinations of dates that are possible - and the 3Arena may have other bookings in this time period yet to be announced that U2 have to work around. This article simply aims to answer the questions many fans have asked about when the shows could possibly be if the rumour is true, and what dates are already impossible as a result of other bookings. We will keep you updated on any further news and rumours.
Posted on by Axver