The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. The tour visited stadiums in 2017 across four legs: North America from May to July and in September, Europe from July to August, and Latin America in October. It began on 12 May 2017 in Vancouver, Canada, and ended five months later on 25 October 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil. The band played The Joshua Tree in its entirety on each date of the tour, marking the first live performances of the song "Red Hill Mining Town". It was the first time the group toured in promotion of an album from their back catalogue, rather than a new release. As part of the tour, U2 headlined the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, in June.
U2 originally wanted to play a set of one-off shows in the US and Europe to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, but ultimately decided to stage a full concert tour instead. The band cited world events, such as the 2016 US presidential election, for what they perceived to be renewed resonance of the album's subject matter and a reason to revisit it. The stage featured a 7.6K resolution video screen measuring 200 ft × 45 ft (61 m × 14 m), making it the largest and highest resolution video screen of any concert tour, according to The Guardian. A silhouette of the Joshua tree from the album sleeve was painted on the screen, while a Joshua tree-shaped B-stage represented the plant's shadow. Photographer Anton Corbijn, who photographed the album sleeve, provided films that accompanied performances of the album's songs.
The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 grossed $317 million, making it the year's highest-grossing tour globally, and it sold more than 2.71 million tickets from its 51 shows.
Video The Joshua Tree Tour 2017
Conception
The inspiration for the tour came in August 2016, during show production rehearsals for U2's headlining appearances at the iHeartRadio Music Festival and Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference. Initially, the band were interested in marking the 30th anniversary of their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, with one show in the United States and Europe each, but they eventually decided to expand it into a full tour. The band members gave various reasons for the tour. Lead vocalist Bono said, "it was just to honor this album that meant so much to us" and that at first there was no "grand concept". However, once they realised the record was still relevant thematically, "the thing just ran away with itself". Guitarist the Edge cited the 2016 US presidential election and other world events for what he judged to be renewed resonance of The Joshua Tree's subject matter. He said, "things have kind of come full circle, if you want. That record was written in the mid-Eighties, during the Reagan-Thatcher era of British and U.S. politics. It was a period when there was a lot of unrest. Thatcher was in the throes of trying to put down the miners' strike; there was all kinds of shenanigans going on in Central America. It feels like we're right back there in a way. I don't think any of our work has ever come full circle to that extent. It just felt like, 'Wow, these songs have a new meaning and a new resonance today that they didn't have three years ago, four years ago.'"
Longtime U2 set designer Willie Williams said that the idea for the tour "was accompanied by a myth that, because of the nature of the show, the staging could be very simple, which meant it would be achievable with a reduced lead time". He rejected the notion that the stage would be simple but did realise that much of the lead time required for U2 tours is spent defining the ideas behind them. With The Joshua Tree's anniversary as the idea, the development process was simplified, as the band and their creative team were able to begin with several assumptions: that half of the concerts' set list would consist of The Joshua Tree songs; that they could use the original Joshua Tree Tour stage as a reference point; and that photographer Anton Corbijn, who shot the photographs from the album sleeve, would create video content. In October 2016, the band began initial conversations with Stufish Entertainment Architects, the firm behind the set design.
Williams said, "After talking over many possible approaches, we looked at the original Joshua Tree stadium stage and then allowed its bold, simple aesthetic to guide the design." On the original Joshua Tree Tour, the stadium stage was built on one end of the venue as a large proscenium, flanked on the sides by fabric sheets depicting branches of a Joshua tree. Only at the largest North American stadiums was video reinforcement used, but it was located behind the sound mixing station and visible to only half the audience. Williams called it "maximal minimalism", and after the growing production values of concerts in the time since then, he was initially drawn to returning to the simplicity of a "traditional festival stage". However, he ultimately decided against that design for the anniversary tour, as it offers limited sightlines of 150-160 degrees within stadium seating. Instead, he said, "We took the spirit of that kind of minimal CinemaScope idea where the look was a huge stretched image of the Joshua Tree... and ran with it." Williams said using the original tour's stage for inspiration was a "get out of jail free card" for him, as he was not sure how he could follow up the extravagance of the stage he designed for the band's previous stadium tour, the U2 360° Tour. Williams called the creative process "pedal to the metal for six months".
The first designs for the stage were presented by Stufish in December. U2 expressed their preference for a large video screen similar to the one that had been erected for their performance at the Dreamforce conference in October; that screen was an homage to the Geneva Drive-In Theater that previously stood on the site of the conference. While reviewing design proposals in one of the band's creative meetings with Stufish and Williams in December, Bono drew an outline of a Joshua tree breaking through the top of the video screen. Lipson said, "At that point, we didn't know what the kit would be, beyond the hope that technology just on the cusp of being possible would be invented in time for the start of the tour in May." To see their ideas through to fruition, the band and the creative team traveled to Lititz, Pennsylvania, the site of the corporate campus of Tait Towers, the architectural engineering behind many music tours. Ultimately, the tour concept was finalized in February 2017.
Corbijn enlisted cinematographer Sebastian Wintero to film video content for the tour. The duo used Arri Rental's Alexa 65 camera, since it captured resolutions higher than 6K but was not too technically complicated to operate that it interfered in the creative process. The duo shot in a special 4.5:1 wide aspect ratio, filming mostly single takes of limited action that could play during concerts for 5-6 minutes. Due to Corbijn's experience with black-and-white photography and the camera's features, the duo were able to instantaneously color grade and design lookup tables, allowing them to experiment with various looks for the footage as they shot.
Despite knowing they would be performing songs from The Joshua Tree, U2 felt challenged in structuring the set list. Bassist Adam Clayton said, "People react a little differently when they know what's coming next, and they also react a little differently when they're having an internal relationship with that particular running order". Early in the creative process, Williams presented eight set list options to the band. These included: playing The Joshua Tree songs first; playing them last; playing them in the middle; playing songs in chronological order of their release; and grouping songs thematically. According to Williams, there were never internal discussions of breaking up the album into sections. The group considered starting shows with the album, but this would have meant leading with the song "Where the Streets Have No Name", which is usually the climax of a U2 concert. Williams also noted that it would still be daylight at the beginning of shows in Europe. Another challenge in structuring the set list was that the second half of The Joshua Tree is "relatively downbeat". Ultimately, the band chose a three-act format, with the album in the middle.
Despite honouring a 30-year-old album with the tour, U2 and their creative team rejected characterisations of the venture as "nostalgic", as they wanted it to feel forward looking and the band wanted to perform at least one new song. To aid in this, the team decided against showing archival footage of the band from their younger days in the visuals. They also decided that due to the older age of the band members and the size of the video screen, close-up shots of them would be limited.
Maps The Joshua Tree Tour 2017
Planning, itinerary, and ticketing
The tour was announced on 9 January 2017, initially consisting of a North American leg from May to July and a European leg from July to August. It was the first time the group toured in promotion of an album from their back catalogue, rather than a new release. Kyle McGovern of Pitchfork interpreted the tour announcement to be an admission by U2 that they were entering the "nostalgia act" phase of their career. He said, "this tour announcement feels like it's coming from a U2 that's ready to put their work behind glass, as so many of their peers did far earlier... And there's no shame in that..." Pre-sale tickets were first offered to U2.com subscribers starting on 11 January before going on sale to the general public on 16 January (for European shows) and 17 January (for North American shows). Approximately 1.1 million tickets were sold in the first 24 hours of being on sale. After tickets for the tour sold out quickly, second shows were added in London, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, East Rutherford, Pasadena, and Chicago. As part of the tour's itinerary, U2 headlined the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, in June.
Additional dates for the tour were announced on 6 June 2017, halfway through the opening leg; a second North American leg was added to the itinerary for September 2017, initially consisting of seven dates, while a Latin American leg initially consisting of five dates was added for October. Tickets for these legs were offered to U2.com subscribers in a pre-sale starting June 8, while public sales began on 12 June for North America and 14 June for Latin America. A show in New Orleans scheduled for 14 September, a show in Glendale scheduled for 19 September, and extra shows in Mexico City, La Plata, and São Paulo were added in the weeks after the tour's extension was announced. Tour production director Jake Berry said the second North American leg was not originally planned and that the group were scheduled to have a two-month break between the European leg and the Latin American leg. However, since the tour was a "success... beyond everybody's wildest dreams", the group added North American dates in September and shortened their break to four weeks.
The tour used a "paperless ticket" system requiring concert attendees to present the credit card they used to purchase tickets as well as a photo ID upon entry at the venue. The measures were meant to combat ticket resellers. However, on the tour's opening night in Vancouver on 12 May 2017, attendees faced long queues to enter BC Place; some fans missed the performance of opening act Mumford & Sons. Live Nation officials blamed the delays on a mix-up regarding which gates at the stadium would accept paperless tickets. To recompense affected concertgoers, Ticketmaster offered $50 gift cards for use against future events, while BC Place offered free attendance to a Vancouver Whitecaps FC or BC Lions sporting event with a $20 food/beverage voucher.
According to Music Generation, an Irish music education programme for children, some of U2's earnings from the tour will benefit the programme, allowing it to expand to nine new areas in the country within five years. The band will also donate a portion of its Mexico City earnings to a relief fund benefiting victims of the 2017 Central Mexico earthquake.
In the wake of terrorist attacks across Europe, Ireland's Gardai police force deployed its Regional Support Units to act as "terrorist spotters" at U2's show in Dublin.
Due to safety concerns caused by the 2017 St. Louis protests, the tour's 16 September show in St. Louis was canceled earlier that day. In a joint statement, U2 and Live Nation said, "We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size."
Stage design and show production
The set was designed by Stufish Entertainment Architects and built by Tait Towers. Willie Williams provided creative direction for the firms and served as the tour's lighting director. The set featured a stage measuring 192 feet (59 m) wide. It utilised a touring frame design called "SPACEFRAME" that was created by Production Resource Group (PRG), which has been involved in each U2 tour since 1992. The SPACEFRAME system was made of carbon fibre and was designed to be lightweight, collapsible, and fully wind braced. U2 were PRG's first client for the product, which was delivered from prototype to final product in 17 weeks. As a result of the system's smaller profile, the band were able to reduce the number of trucks required to transport the framing system; a PRG press release claimed a reduction from seven to three trucks, while a Popular Mechanics article said the final tally of trucks was four, saving $225,000.
The framing system was used to build an LED video screen measuring 200 feet (61 m) wide by 45 feet (14 m) high. The screen comprised 1,040 individual ROE Visual CB8 LED video panels. The screen had a resolution of 7,200 × 1,560 pixels. According to The Guardian, it was the largest and highest resolution video screen used on a concert tour. Williams said it was similar in size to the one used on the band's 1997-1998 PopMart Tour but 400 times the resolution. A "delicate curve" in the screen gave what he described as the illusion of the visuals appearing 3D.
The screen was painted gold with a silver silhouette of a Joshua tree, matching the colour scheme of The Joshua Tree album sleeve. A 30-foot-high (9.1 m) scenic header extended from the top of the video screen, completing the plant's silhouette. Ric Lipson of Stufish said that the screen "looks like a piece of golden cardboard with a sprayed on silver tree" early in the concert, but during the portion of the set list when U2 performed The Joshua Tree in sequence, the screen turned on and displayed high-resolution imagery. A 75-foot-long (23 m) walkway connected the main stage to a B-stage, which was shaped like a Joshua tree and represented a projection of the plant's shadow onto the ground. The B-stage featured lifts that could lower a piano and drum kit below the stage for better sightlines of the band when they performed on the main stage.
PRG provided the tour's 4K (UHD) Broadcast Camera System, the first time it was used on a concert tour. A combination of several products, it connected cameras and LED wall processors via optical fibre cable, a necessity due to the large amount of data transferred and the long distance over which it needed to travel. Designed to operate at the highest broadcast standards, the system provided video at 60 frames per second at a resolution of 3,840 × 2,160 pixels. The broadcast system could be assembled in an hour and be operated by a single video engineer. A terabyte of video was broadcast on the video screen every minute.
The lighting and sound systems were cantilevered over the video screen from behind on custom-built Stageco towers, removing any obstructions in front of the screen. The design was suggested by production manager Jake Berry and sound engineer Joe O'Herlihy. Lipson said, "We wanted to create a vast background behind the band that would be completely unobscured and pure." One of the innovations implemented on the tour was a new type of spotlight that Williams developed with PRG. By outfitting the spotlights with cameras, an operator using the control unit at ground level could see the fixtures' point-of-view on a video monitor, allowing operators to control more than one spotlight. Without the need for lighting riggers, the spotlights could be placed in locations where a human would not fit, thus "negating the need to hoist burly men in yellow T-shirts high into the air".
To accommodate the time required to transport the steel framework between cities and the two-and-a-half days required to build it, three separate sets of steel were used on tour, each one travelling on 16 trucks. As a result, while one structure was in use for a concert, another one was being erected elsewhere while a third was being dissembled. The lighting, sound, and video systems traveled on 30 trucks and required about eight hours to assemble. Tour director Craig Evans estimated that approximately 196 people were employed on tour, including 84 crew members and 42 entourage members who traveled on nine buses.
Several environmentally-friendly initiatives were encouraged amongst tour personnel and concertgoers in an attempt to reduce the band's carbon footprint. Some of the efforts included: encouraging fans to use public transportation; offering compostable merchandise bags; requesting venues to offer paper straws (instead of plastic ones) and reusable beverage cups; offering tour personnel vegan and vegetarian meals; providing reusable water bottles to tour crew and making water stations available to attendees; recycling guitar strings; and using hydrogen vehicles. Tour environmental advisor Michael Martin tracked the model of each tour vehicle and the mileage they accrued in an attempt to calculate the tour's total carbon dioxide emissions. All of the tour's carbon offsets were validated to meet the CDM Gold Standard.
Show overview
During the pre-show, poems scrolled on the video screen, including: "The Border: A Double Sonnet" by Alberto Ríos; "Kaddish for Leonard Cohen" and "Ain't You Scared of the Sacred" by George Elliott Clarke; "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman; "Ghazal for White Hen Pantry" by Jamila Woods; and works by Pedro Pietri, Lucille Clifton, and Langston Hughes.
U2 began shows on the B-stage by playing some of their earliest hits, including "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", and "Pride (In the Name of Love)". The third verse of "New Year's Day" was performed for the first time, as majority of the songs were presented as they appeared on the albums. Bono said this act of the show was "songs that got [the band] to The Joshua Tree", and they were played in the sequence in which they were released. These songs were performed with no video reinforcement, as the group wanted their fans to concentrate on the music. Bono said he was forced to "make the singing be the connective tissue", adding, "It's nice being ants for a few songs since you've just got to focus on the music since there's nowhere else to look." Williams described this portion of the show as "U2 opening for U2", much like how they performed at music festivals with a lower billing earlier in their career.
For The Joshua Tree portion of the show, the band performed on the main stage against a backdrop of visuals on the video screen. Many of the songs were accompanied by short films depicting desert landscapes that were created by Corbijn. The photographer said his objective was "putting The Joshua Tree into America now". The album's opening song "Where the Streets Have No Name" was accompanied by a slow tracking shot of a desert highway featuring migrants walking. For "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", a forest of trees was depicted; many of the trees were burnt, which to Corbijn represented a "burnt American dream". During "With or Without You", images of Zabriskie Point were displayed. For "Bullet the Blue Sky", the visuals showed men and women of various ages putting on army helmets while standing in front of an American flag. During the song's performance, Bono shined a handheld spotlight on the Edge, evoking the cover image of the band's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum. For "Trip Through Your Wires", the visuals showed the Edge's wife, choreographer Morleigh Steinberg, dressed as a cowgirl while an American flag was painted on a wooden shack.
Prior to "Exit", a clip from the 1950s Western TV series Trackdown was shown; in the clip, a con man named Trump visits a town and promises he can build a wall around them to protect them from a supposed apocalypse. The band were pleased when Bono discovered it, as they wanted to make a reference to US President Donald Trump during the show without belabouring their point. The clip was followed by an image of hands tattooed "LOVE" and "HATE", inspired by the fanatic preacher/killer character in the film The Night of the Hunter. During the performance of "Exit", Bono wore a black suit and preacher hat and adopted the persona of the "Shadow Man". Taking influence from author Flannery O'Connor, whose works originally inspired the writing of the song, Bono used the Shadow Man to recite lines from O'Connor's novel Wise Blood and the "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" rhyme.
The encore was described by Bono as a "denouement" intended as an ode to women. Speaking about the inspiration behind the idea, Williams said, "The thought was that we are currently living in a time when we could really use a more feminine spirit in our leadership and a way to illustrate this might be to celebrate some of the great female pioneers of the past." Bono wanted to find "the sort of women that aren't welcome, that President Trump doesn't want in America" and commissioned French artist JR to find such a person. After traveling to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, he found a 15-year-old Syrian refugee named Omaima. Performances of "Miss Sarajevo" were preceded by a clip of her speaking of America as a dreamland, which Bono said "gives you a kick in the balls, but in the most velvet way". The song was accompanied by footage of the camp's bleak conditions, while audience members passed a large sheet of fabric printed with Omaima's passport photo around the venue. For "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)", the video screen displayed images of historical female figures and achievers. Prior to "One", Bono promoted the ONE Campaign by discussing the fight against HIV/AIDS. Many concerts concluded with a performance of the new song "The Little Things That Give You Away", which was included on the group's subsequent album Songs of Experience. Another song from the album, the lead single "You're the Best Thing About Me", was also performed. Some concerts closed with "I Will Follow", from the band's first album, Boy (1980).
Reception
Critical response
The tour received critical acclaim from critics, many of whom praised the band's performances, the production, and setlist. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian complimented the group for keeping older material contemporaneous through lyrical changes and thematic reinterpretations. He said, "But more striking still is how commanding and confident their performance seems, particularly given that it's not without risks." He concluded his review by describing them as "totally in their element". The Evening Standard and The Independent also gave five star reviews, with the latter calling it "a triumphant experience".
Accolades
At the 2017 Billboard Touring Awards, the tour won for Top Boxscore (at Stade de France on 25-26 July), while receiving nominations for Top Tour and Top Draw. At the LOS40 Music Awards 2017, U2 won the Tour of the Year Award. At the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards, U2 won the award for Best Tour. The tour also received nominations at the American Music Awards of 2017 for Tour of the Year, and at the 2017 BBC Music Awards for Live Performance of the Year.
Commercial performance
On the opening leg, the band's two concerts at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena drew 123,164 attendees, grossing $15.7 million. In Chicago, the two shows at Soldier Field sold 105,078 tickets and grossed $13.4 million. The first North American leg of the tour, comprising 20 concerts excluding Bonnaroo, grossed $123.7 million from 1,043,414 tickets sold, ranking the band first among all 2017 global touring artists with an average gross of $7,276,551 per city. The European leg grossed $83 million from 744,454 tickets sold. The second North American leg grossed $38,585,915 from 350,292 tickets sold, maintaining the band's top rank globally with an average gross of $7,229,076 per city. The Latin American leg grossed $70 million from 574,976 tickets sold; the leg and the tour ended with four sold-out shows in São Paulo that sold around 280,000 tickets. In total, the Joshua Tree Tour 2017 drew 2,713,136 attendees from 50 shows and grossed $316,990,940, making it the highest-grossing tour of the year. It also ranked as the year's highest-grossing North American tour with $176.1 million earned.
Set list
This setlist was performed at the 22 September 2017 concert held at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour.
Tour dates
Cancelled shows
Notes
See also
- List of highest-grossing concert tours
References
External links
- The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 on U2 Official Website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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