liverpool54321

Thanks. Flight and hotel all booked. Here we go again.

Live Nation says no cameras for this tour leg but normally they mean cameras with detachable lenses. No problems in Berlin taking small camera in.

Changing the subject slightly, I noticed that the security for Red Zone on left side was a bit lax last night. Controlled by local security. Despite supposed to be Red Zone only a number of “guests” (red triangle passes) were being brought into the Zone by someone with stadium access pass. If/when tour resumes Live Nation may want to remind pass holders what the rules are for Red Zone.

We must have passed each other in the street as I was on way back from Zoo via Waldorf to see Ross about then.

Live Nation were very strict on no bags policy for Rolling Stones. Caused a bit of chaos as never enough left luggage spaces locally. My advice is don't chance it, no matter how small the bag. Handbags also banned.

And so it begins. Two days only to work out a plan.

It all looks very sad and aimed at maximising ticket revenue. I was at a meeting yesterday listening to the agent for possibly the biggest solo artist in the world right now and he explained how they have put in place their own system to stop secondary sales and touts hoovering up tickets for forthcoming tour. They spent 10 days going through purchases manually to verify 1.1m tickets. Every ticket is personally named and the T&C at time of purchase made it clear any resale attempt would result in cancellation. They also threatened all secondary sellers with legal action if any attempted to list tickets. Only Viagogo ignored this - as they ignore anything legal. They expect some 95% plus of tickets to find fans at face value. And if you can't go and need to sell, they have their own outlet to allow face value only sales. The problem for U2, even if they wanted to do something similar, is that contractually they may be constrained by the deal with Live Nation. I expect they are still in pay back mode and the contract hasn't got much time left to run. The Live Nation model is designed to maximise revenue across all areas which is why they own all aspects, including the band.

Although not planning to do North America I signed up for verified fan under Experience group. For me it all worked perfectly and I received codes a few hours before tickets went on sale. They emailed me as system couldn't cope with UK dialling code for text. Later I also got text as well. Appreciate many seem to be having problems getting the code. When I went to see availability a few hours after tickets went on sale It did seem there was much better availability than in the past and I had to think hard whether to book red zone for Chicago. The key lesson from this for me is the decision to implement changes so soon before tickets went on sale. A minimum 2 week gap should have been in place before tickets on sale to allow time to resolve rejections and have all codes ready to issue. One of my day jobs is to plan some of the biggest global sporting events. The mistakes made here are so basic. Hopefully Live Nation will conduct a full review as they need to get their act together on Customer Experience. For an organisation that is totally reliant on its customer base I have found their approach since taking over U2 a bit bewildering.

I got superfan code on re-ballot but looks like now sold out. Guess they issued more codes than tickets to ensure place will be full. Not too bothered as already got plans on Saturday.

Hi Big Wave finding it hard to follow logic in the statement and not sure it is factually correct. My subscription runs until end March 2018. I purchased my JT tickets using pre sale code that I got issued as part of 2016/17 subscription. That was January 2017. Since then I have renewed in March but not purchased any further tickets. The renewal at the time stated that it would allow me access to pre sale for any future tour dates announced - nothing specific re JT only. On that basis I would say that I don't need to renew at this moment in time as not purchased any tickets during my current subscription. i would say the U2.com statement is misleading stating that you have to renew if you purchased tickets for JT17. It needs re-wording to clarify this only applies where used pre sale code during current subscription. Renewals since last purchase should qualify for future pre sale code. Otherwise U2.com risks being in breach of terms of renewal. good to see you back and busy! emmo

Must get round to posting some pics. One of my favourites as wanted to capture Bono against back drop figure. Finally got it.

Interesting comments about the sound on Saturday. Personally I think Wembley is worse for sound but Twickenham not good, no matter how much you spend on sound equipment. A few people I spoke to said they struggled to hear what Bono was saying. For first time at U2 gig I used a pair of ear plug filters which I have for loud indie guitar driven gigs I have to attend. For the first time ever at Twickenham I had a decent sound. They took out the distortion and gave me a loud, but not too loud sound where I could hear every word clearly. Will definitely be wearing for Red Zone Dublin. For info the pair I used were Senner Pro.

Did wonder if U2/Live Nation would allow BBC news report using drone footage of Twickenham build. Especially as brother in country at the moment with his news drones.

Really good video showing how the screen design is erected, and drone footage of the finished stage setting. Gives a good idea of Red Zone layout for those interested.

Bring back Keane or Stereo MC's - best supports in more recent years I've seen in States and UK. Go back further and Waterboys and The Alarm were pretty good.