POP 076/ Sunday, 16 August 2009

Today’s Pop is Isabelle. She just got back from U2′s record breaking gig at Wembley Arena where she took this picture for us…



theclaw



We were intriged right from the start when we heard about “the claw”, a

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360 degree stage that is currently the centrepiece of the show at Wembley Arena. The four armed structure stands 164 foot tall and includes two circular catwalks and two moving footbridges, giving

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U2 a 360 degree view of the crowds circling them.


The architect behind this innovative design, Mark Fisher, explains “Usually a show like this plays to two-thirds of the capacity of the stadium because you put the stage at the end and you don’t sell any of the seats at the back and at the sides. We sell all the way round meaning we do fewer shows to perform to the same number of people”.


And there sure were a lot of people out there to see it. Around 88,000 people were at last nights gig, meaning this Irish quartet have broken all previous attendance records for a Wembley Arena gig, which previously stood at about 83,000. Tonights show is also U2′s tenth performance at Wembley, beaten only by Michael Jackson with fifteen appearances and the Rolling Stones with twelve.


Impressive! We wonder if this 360 degree performance will set a new standard for other large-scale gigs at arena venues around the world?


We sure wouldn’t mind!



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