Q’s With Arthur Fogel: What A 360-Degree Difference Eight Years, 200 Trucks And Three ‘Claws’ Can Make

Arthur Fogel: Yeah, the tour spanned three years, 2009, ‘10 and ‘11. It was originally supposed to span two, but in the midst of that timeframe, Bono had [back surgery]. We were supposed to play America in 2010 and then we had to move the whole thing back a year, because obviously you can only play outdoors in the summer and early fall so we had to wait basically a full year.

Yes, it is but, listen, all props to them. It’s a great accomplishment. It’s funny because at the time people in the moment go, “This’ll never be broken.” And it’s like, “Well, you know, fucking Babe Ruth, right?” Records get broken. And it’s a good thing. It’s certainly not a bad thing. So props to him, it’s a great achievement. But yes, it is apples to oranges.

What’s interesting is U2 has never played Southeast Asia. We’re going there later this year with the “Joshua Tree” for the first time ever to Singapore, Seoul and Manila. If 20 years ago there were 20 to 30 markets, or countries, that were sort of regular touring stops, now there’s probably 50 to 60. We didn’t play Japan because the cost then to move the Claw was extraordinary. It was an incredible undertaking just in its mass. We had three of those stages and it was just logistically, in terms of size and costs, insane to try and go too far afield.

Well, from memory, each steel claw took approximately 40 trucks. So three times 40 is 120 trucks. Plus, you had your universal production, sound, lights and other stuff that went to every show, which again, if memory serves, was around 50. So, with everything you were somewhere between 175 and 200 trucks. At any given time, you’d have 200 trucks on the road, because different claws were leapfrogging. 

God bless him. But it’s definitely a different equation.

We did multiple shows in some places. There were a couple of reasons why the 360 came about: One was just the notion of playing 360 degrees in a stadium. Clearly it had been done in arenas numerous times over the years, but it never been done in stadium. So, it was one of those groundbreaking conceptual ideas thinking we could do an in-the-round show in a stadium where you have to create your own support structure for everything to hang on. There’s no roofs per se, so that was one side of the equation. And another side of the equation was the ability to play, like the Rose Bowl. There we sold about 97,000 tickets for one show which is like two normal configuration Rose Bowls. So the notion was, “Okay, how do you do less shows to more people, to make sense of it all?” On average the increased capacity was anywhere from say 30% to 50%.

None. 

Yeah, for sure. And it was interesting because I remember it was kind of like the code was cracked on how to engineer it and then you sit there, and you’re asked the question, “There’s nowhere to hide, right? You can’t hide empty seats in a 360 configuration. So the question was posed, “Will we sell all the tickets?” And I, of course, say yes. And then for weeks and months before we actually put tickets on sale, I’m shitting my pants because it’s like even if you come up 5,000 tickets short, you see the empty seats. To me that was probably the most stressful part of it as it all unfolded.

No.

No, it was totally about, “Hey, this has never been done. It’s groundbreaking. It’s going to be a great experience.” Nobody thought about the potential for setting a record.

I remember all the initial stress of just getting it all together and getting it on sale, but once it started rolling, I don’t recall it being that crazy. It was intense, no question, because it was big and complicated, but ultimately, when you put together the best possible team for this stuff, like Jake Berry [production manager] is a master, they got it down.

No. Although, when Bono had his accident it was literally a couple of days before we were to open the U.S. leg, I believe in Salt Lake City. And they had already started building the claw.

Everybody was there and everything was happening. And that’s when I remember getting the call at like four in the morning from [then U2 manager] Paul McGuinness going, “Sorry to tell you this, but it’s not good.”

Clearly, with the record-setting gross of $700 million plus you would hope. While the costs were incredible, it ended up being a very successful venture. But everything was big. The show was big, the numbers were big, the costs were big.

Yeah, that was incredible. I remember Brazil and Mexico City were unbelievable. I think we did three shows and like 270,000 tickets or something insane like that at the Azteca Stadium. When you’re there it’s just like the numbers are so insane, particularly the ticket sales numbers. It was  pretty staggering.

That may not ever be beaten and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it was an incredible challenge and we pulled it off. And it was quite amazing. It’s funny because we’re starting to build an internal 

database and I first got involved with U2 in 1997 on the “PopMart Tour” and then I became the global promoter/producer. 

So that’s 20 years ago. Not including the “Joshua Tree” tour that’s going to happen later this year, they have sold 21,062,755 tickets over seven tours. 

Wow, that’s incredible.

It’s a great concept. And I give them all the credit, and God bless youth because doing 250-plus shows, it’s a lot of shows at any age, but it certainly gets harder as artists age. Maybe not Elton John, but everybody else in the world.

Well that’s a very nice comment to make, very nice.