Industry News

U2’s Joshua Tree Tour surpasses 2.5m ticket sales

U2 this weekend begin the European leg of their Joshua Tree Tour 2017 with promoter Live Nation confirming they have now sold 2.4 million tickets this year.

The Irish band play Twickenham in London on Saturday and Sunday before concerts in Berlin and Rome in the coming week. Dates in Spain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Belgium follow before the band returns to North America in September.

Live Nation said U2 played to more than a million fans during the first leg of the tour, which began in Vancouver in May. The 21st and final concert of the leg took place at Cleveland’s 73,000-capacity FirstEnergy Stadium earlier this week.

U2’s tour is “easily” the top grossing schedule of the year with the band grossing around $6m (£4.6m/€5.3m) per show, according to Billboard magazine.

IMAGE: U2 in Seattle (U2start)

The tour’s limited return to North America in the autumn will include stops in Buffalo, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New Orleans, St. Louis, Phoenix and San Diego. The tour will then head to Mexico City followed by concerts in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Sao Paulo.

Live Nation said in a statement: “With ticket sales surpassing 2.4 million across North and South America, the UK and Europe, and Mexico, The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 has reaffirmed its standing as the most commercially and critically successful tour of the year.”

U2’s 360° tour, which ran from 2009 to 2011, is the highest grossing tour of all time. The band took more than $736m from 110 shows attended by 7.3m people.

MAIN IMAGE: Francois Mulder