U2 Tour Experience To Light Up 2015

U2 frontman Bono endured an eventful end to 2014. His band courted controversy on the release of their latest album Songs of Innocence thanks to a marketing move that was labelled a PR disaster, and he finished the year in hospital due to a high speed cycling accident.

With a world tour pencilled in for 2015, he will be hoping that things run a little smoother.

Songs of Innocence was released in September 2014 to great fanfare in a marketing tie-up with Apple’s iTunes. In a world where people are becoming less used to the idea of paying for music, the furore that U2’s album giveaway caused took both the band and the brand by surprise.

The idea obviously excited Bono, who said at the time: “The most personal album we’ve written could be shared with half a billion people – by hitting send,” he said. “If only songwriting was that easy.”

Many iTunes customers were not so keen. Apple hastily prepared a removal tool for the offending item that had found its way into consumer’s libraries overnight.

Despite the problems, many millions still downloaded the album—within one month 81 million users had listened to at least a portion of the album and 26 million had downloaded it.

A tour announcement swiftly followed the release. U2’s tours are usually spectacular stadium events featuring staggering visuals and pyrotechnics. Their Innocence + Experience tour is set to a slightly smaller scale. Although, with a band the size of U2, these things are always relative: they have stepped down from stadia to play arenas around the world and are to experiment with the idea of alternating shows from acoustic (Innocence) to “explosive” (Experience).

Now all that remains is for Bono to recover from an accident that resulted in him having to undergo extensive surgery to repair an arm that was broken in six places and a fractured eye socket, among other maladies.

In an open letter to fans recently, he stated that he would have to “concentrate hard to be ready for the U2 tour in fitness terms.” Bono is nothing if not a consummate professional; it is safe to say that he will be ready.

U2′s iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015 tickets are on sale now – and the band have announced more than 60 shows already. In their own words on their website, 2014 was “no ordinary twelve months” – 2015 looks set to be spectacular.

U2 – Innocence + Experience World Tour 2015

14 May Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena

15 May Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena

18 May San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose

19 May San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose

22 May Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

23 May Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

26 May Los Angeles, CA Forum

27 May Los Angeles, CA Forum

30 May Los Angeles, CA Forum

31 May Los Angeles, CA Forum

12 June Montreal, QC Bell Centre