Lobmans

Where exactly do you stay in Brussels? As far as I know there is no direct line from Brussel Central to KB-stadium, but there is a direct metro (underground) to the stadium from Brussels South (Brussel Midi). To get from Brussel Grand Place to Brussel Midi/South you can walk (1,5-2km), or you can take the metro from "Beurs/Bourse" to Brussel Midi: https://www.google.be/maps/dir/Grote+Markt,+Brussel/Brussel-Zuid,+Avenue+Fonsny+47B,+1060+Brussel/@50.8418584,4.3369032,2703m/am=t/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x47c3c47f4614f1f1:0xb03c355d8fe2cfb6!2m2!1d4.3524138!2d50.8467316!1m5!1m1!1s0x47c3c4e87f85c5b9:0xa3b206161a5f91a8!2m2!1d4.3347878!2d50.8364411!3e3!5i1 At Brussel Midi/South you have to take metro line 6 with direction "Koning Boudewijn". : http://m.stib.be/line.php?lang=nl&line=6&iti=2 Don't forget: with your concert ticket you can have a free "event pass" for the metro at all ticket machines: https://www.stib-mivb.be/article.html?_guid=30fa3e16-098e-3410-a38a-c8fdc3647d64&l=en After the concert there will be extra metro services to Brussel Midi/South, so you won't have a problem to go back to the city centre! Feel free to ask if you have further questions or if you need any tips, and enjoy your trip to Belgium and the concert! :-)

You're welcome!! It would be a pity if only dutch speaking people could read this nice interview, so I did it with a great deal of pleasure!

a teaser... can't get google translate to work on that, anyone fancy doing a translate? As promised, I've made a translate of the interview. My english isn't that good, so don't mind the faults! ;-) Here you are! You’ve heard it already: The Irish rock band U2 is celebrating the 30Th anniversary of it’s iconib album “The Joshua Tree”. Bono & co wil play the full album live during a stadium tour and they will play their final concert on 1st August in our own “King Baudoin” Stadium. Party! How that party will look like, is for a significant part determined by the belgian Stefaan “Smasher” Desmedt, U2’s video director. Together with the band he’s staying in LA for the moment where the show is being prepared in the greatest secrecy. Are the preparations going as wished? For the moment they do. Within two weeks there is a creative meeting with the band and then I will present my video plans for the show. I can’t tell much about it, but it will be “rawer” and more basic as the 360 Tour. How did your adventure by U2 started? It was in ’93. With my graduation “Electronics” I started at a little company in Torhout that had developed a unique technology. Somehow, U2 did heard about that technology. I still remember that I was on winter holidays and was enjoying the snow, when I got a phone call “You need to come back, U is coming to watch!!” What was your first achievement for U2? When I was 22 I started as video assistant for the Zoo TV Tour. My first official meeting with the band and crew was in a zeppelin wharehouse in Carlington. The stage was set up in there, and there ware about hundreds of people and there also was catering, could you imagine? Really impressive for someone who had been installing televisions in clubs a year before. U2 always have been a pioneer when it comes to stage and video art, how did you saw them evolving? For Zoo TV whe ware with about 211 big projectors on the road, all prototypes from “Barco”. In 93 you needed a lot of budget and work to do some small changes in a video clip, nowadays you only need a regular laptop. The Popmart Tour had a gigantic LED-screen, 18x50meters, with visuals by Roy Lichtenstein, costumes by Walter Van Beirendonck and a huge disco ball with a lemon shape. For my personally, this tour wasn’t the most challenging one on technical side, but visually it was one of the strongest. The Elevation Tour in 2001 was really back to basics: only 4 camera’s, 4 screens and a heart-shaped stage. The fans really appreciated this tour. For the Vertigo Tour we worked with a central curtains of light, with 189 chains with more than 12 000 LED-lights that were be used both for lights as visuals. Hours, days and months we have been worked to bring this to a good end. It isn’t unusual with U2: a repetition last about 6-8 weeks, that is as long as full tour lengths of other bands (haha). But the highlight for my was the most recent I&E Tour from 2015. While the band was still recording the album, I was already involved in the story by which I had the chance to adjust the visuals and set-up of the show completely with the music. It was an fantastic privilege! Highlights here where the catwalk and the video “cage” which divided the floor in two parts and on which we could project visuals about the younger years of the band. For me, the story was perfect. You are almost working 25 years for U2, did the collaboration get stronger during the years? Sure, during the years the trust did get stronger, that’s a fact, although I still have to prove myself every show. Standards are very high for U2. Even if I only think about having a coffee for a couple of minutes, there definitely will be a request to test something new. It never stops for these guys. Also in personal ways things get stronger and closer with the guys. For my 40Th birthday Bono sang “Happy Birthday” to me during a 360-show. In Belgium, it is some kind of “tradition” to put a lot of doors in front of the house when somebody turns 40, so Bono made disassemble one of the doors in my house, and made travel the door to Helsinki so every member of the band and crew could sign it. But, the thing that was the most emotional for me, was the fact that Bono dedicated a song to my mother when she died last year. I will never forget that…

a teaser... can't get google translate to work on that, anyone fancy doing a translate? Only part about the next tour is the info I already mentioned in my post, the rest of the interview is about previous tours. But I will try to doing a translate when I'm home this evening!

On a Belgian website, there is an interview (in dutch) with "Smahser", the guy that is responsible for the visuals during U2-gigs since ZOOTV: http://www.cultureclubmagazine.be/editie/16/verhaal/5/een-belg-bij-u2 Most part of the article is about the past, but in the first part he says that he is in LA for the moment where he and the band are preparing the tour. Within two weeks he will have a meeting with the band where he will reveal his plans to the band about the video designs for the tour. He can't say much about it, but it will be much more basic and "rawer" as during previous tours. So I think it will be a (for nowadays) basic stage just as in the 80's, but with a big video screen as backdrop.

Amsterdam "ArenA" is actually a stadium. Not sure why they decided to name it an arena which most associate as an indoor venue, even though the stadium has a retractable roof. In Europe, a lot of stadiums has "arena" in their name, so "arena" is used both for indoor venues and big stadiums.

What's the point of having a discount coupon, if you have to pay more then 20 euro's for shipment to Europe...

The B-stage looks very big on most venue maps, bigger as B-stages on other concerts. On the maps it looks like one black shape, but I think/hope it won't be a solid, round stage. I think it will be multiple parts that forms together a "tree", and fans can stand between the "branches" of this tree.

That part will be used for the "PA" (where they control lights and sounds). Normally it's situated on the field, but with this layout it would be to close to the stage, so that's why it will be on the stands.

Do you have any sources or confirmation about that?! The only floormap where you can see a barrier on the pitch, is the map of Croke Park Dublin. All other maps only seems to have 1 big GA-area (+ Red Zone). Although it makes sense for me if the GA-floor in ALL STADIUMS will be seperated into two parts by a barrier, just for safety reasons. That would be an extra advantage for fans who are queuing early because with a barrier (and wristle bands to enter this area) it will be easier to leave your place to get some drinks or going to the toilets. If there is only one big area on the floor, it's really a hell to leave your spot to get some drinks etc, so it means you have to stay on your spot the whole evening (and that's a long time because doors will be open already at 16h30, and I don't see U2 taking stage before 21h)

Ah, ok, this one only indicated the blocs of seats, not the different price categories ... Here's the official map with different price categories:

They do show Guinness in their drinks menu? http://www.thechurch.ie/main-bar/drinks/

It's impossile to avoid such thing. They can't do full body checks on every single person. Someone who wants to do bad things, will always find a way, no matter what.

My order status also keeps saying "being processed" although I've received them already weeks ago. As long all the rest is fine, you are safe.

TIcket drops haven't anything to do with cancelled tickets, the tickets that become available for the moment are tickets that were blocked for VIP/Travel-packages, commercial partners,... Don't worry about your tickets, as far as I know, Ticketmaster hasn't cancelled tickets during this European leg, and IF they would have cancelled ticket, it already happened so they won't cancel your tickets lastminute.

The only reason would be the cheaper price of GA instead of the 190 euro/ticket we've paid for our seats. But we did 2 X GA in Antwerp so not sure if we want to do it again so we have to think about it...

I have two seated tickets for Dublin 2, block J, face value 399 euro for both tickets together. If you want to pay the price difference, I maybe want to THINK about swapping tickets...

Mine (seats Dublin2 purchased during fanclub presale) arrived already more than a month ago.

Maybe Bono will do something scary and dye his hair blond? Oh, wait...

Of course they will do something special for the Dublin-shows, but I don't expect too much surprises in the setlist. All the SoI-songs will keep their place in the setlist, no doubt about that. I only expect some more "special" songs in the "rotation"-slots on the e-stage instead of Elevation, Angels of Harlem,... But I don't expect very rare B-sides, just the song theys have already played like Two Hearts, All I want Is you,... A Sort Of Homecoming would also be perfect in Dublin, especially as intro, although I don't see them change the introsong. The one thing I really really hope for, is that they will give évery night a special ending, so I really hope to hear Bad/40. Maybe as an extra song, so everry night One/ISHFWILF as usual, followed by Bad&40...

You are allowed to walk anywhere in GA, but if you CAN walk anywhere in GA? That's another question... Keep in mind that GA-floors in Europe are a lot more packed than GA-floors in US, so it won't be that easy to go from Red Zone to I-stage and back again.

Nice! Hopefully they can also arrange some live-bands on Monday & Tuesday! (or if somebody knows another fan-party on Monday & Tuesday, shoot!)

When do you leave to Europe? Lot of tickets have already been shipped, I received my Dublin2 tickets last week. So maybe the person who bought your tickets will receive the tickets also very soon before you leave to Europe?

If there is a problem or delay with the delivery of your tickets, they just will cancel your shipped tickets and ask you to pick up new tickets at the venue before the show, simple as that. Also, dunno how situation is in other countries, but in Belgium for most concerts there is a option to choose for e-tickets which will avoid problems with bad postal delivery.

It looks like tickets already have been sent out? Did anyone here already received his tickets?