Las Vegas Weekly

October 26, 2009 · 8:21 AM

The nuts and bolts of U2’s 360 Degree Tour stage spectacular

By Robin Leach

U2 performs at Sam Boyd Silver Bowl Stadium in Las Vegas on Oct. 23, 2009.

Photo: Erik Kabik/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Everybody who has witnessed the U2 stage spectacular for the Irish band’s 360 Degree Tour has been in awe at the size and scope of the production. So much so that it was worth digging out some of the behind-the-scenes fun facts as to exactly what it takes to present.

Some 120 huge tractor trailers in one long convoy are required to move the entire production at a cost of about $750,000 a day between cities. After U2 played Las Vegas on Friday night at Sam Boyd Stadium -- click HERE for our coverage posted Saturday, and click HERE for Senior Editor John Katsilometes’ full report -- they moved on to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., with 137 crew members getting assistance from 100 additional workers in each city as part-timers.

The monstrous cylinders of the giant video projection system require 30,000 cables to hold it together. At the center of the magic is “the claw,” a praying mantis-type metal sculpture that stands 165 feet tall, equivalent to 10 stories, above the circular stage at the stadium center.

U2’s concert was so state-of-the-art that residents and tourists alike grumbled about the aging Sam Boyd Stadium and wondered why Las Vegas doesn’t have a modern-day stadium for major league sports and other big events.

Well hope might be on the way. I can report that Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid has had discussions with a Nevada and California investment group interested in building a sports and TV studio complex at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip past Mandalay Bay and the airport access roads.

No date has been determined, but negotiations are continuing for what could become one of America’s most modern and technologically advanced arenas.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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