U2 GO 'POPMART'

U2 begin the first leg of their international PopMart tour in America at Las Vegas' Sam Boyd Stadium on April 25.

The PopMart tour - a giant, sci-fi disco supermarket setting - will play in stadiums in 62 cities in 20 countries through December 1997, and extends into an additional 20 countries in 1998. POP, U2's 11th album, is released March 4 in North America and March 3 in the rest of the world, on Island Records.

PopMart will visit Las Vegas, San Diego, Denver, Salt Lake City, Eugene, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis, Clemson, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Washington D.C., Raleigh, New York, Philadelphia, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Oakland, Los Angeles, Madison, Chicago, Boston, Rotterdam, Werchter, Cologne, Leipzig, Mannheim, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Katowice, Prague, Wiener Neustadt, Nurnburg, Hannover, London, Leeds, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Montpellier, Reggio Emilia, Thessaloniki, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Minneapolis, Detroit, Montreal, St, Louis, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Indianapolis, New Orleans, San Antonio, Atlanta, Houston, Mexico City, Vancouver, Seattle.

On tour with U2 will be the world's largest video screen, a high technology, state-of-the-art structure using 22 miles (35 kilometres) of cable, 21,000 circuit boards, 120,000 connectors, and 150,000 pixels made up of 1,000,000 LEDs. The enormous screen is 150 feet x 50 feet, covering 833 square yards (700 sq. metres) yet weights only 65,000 pounds.

The PopMart stage design includes a single Golden Arch 100 feet high, a 35 foot high Mirrorball Lemon, a 12 foot wide internally illuminated Stuffed Olive (on a 100 foot tall toothpick) - and a 3 inch tall Squeaky Nun.

On hand for the band to work with will be 1,000 lighting fixtures including over 5,000 feet of disco rope lighting, a large Plexiglas dance floor, six lighting machines, six broadcast TV cameras, one headset camera, 20 Xenon searchlights, 100 strobe lights - in addition to the 35 foot high Mirrorball Lemon.

The touring ensemble, consisting of over 200 people, and the stage set (including a 30 ton PA system as part of 1,200 tons of equipment) will travel on 15 buses and 52 trucks.

Ticket details and on-sale dates will be announced at a later date.

U2 POPMART TOUR DATES

North America 1st Leg

Friday     25 April    Las Vegas           Sam Boyd Stadium 
Monday     28 April    San Diego           Jack Murphy Stadium 
Thursday   1 May       Denver              Mile High Stadium 
Saturday   3 May       Salt Lake City      Rice Stadium 
Tuesday    6 May       Eugene              Autzen Stadium 
Friday     9 May       Phoenix             Sun Devil Stadium 
Monday     12 May      Dallas              Cotton Bowl 
Wed        14 May      Memphis             Liberty Bowl 
Friday     16 May      Clemson             Memorial Stadium 
Monday     19 May      Kansas City         Arrohead Stadium 
Thursday   22 May      Pittsburgh          Three Rivers Stadium 
Saturday   24 May      Columbus            Ohio State Stadium 
Monday     26 May      Washington DC       RFK Stadium 
Thursday   29 May      Raleigh             Carter Finley Stadium 
Saturday   31 May      New York            Giants Stadium 
Sundaty    8 June      Philadelphia        Franklin Field 
Thursday   12 June     Winnipeg            Winnipeg Stadium 
Saturday   14 June     Edmonton            Commonwealth Stadium 
Wed        18 June     Oakland             Oakland Coliseum 
Saturday   21 June     Los Angeles         LA Memorial Coliseum 
Wed        25 June     Madison             Camp Randall 
Friday     27 June     Chicago             Soldier Field 
Tuesday    1 July      Boston              Foxboro

Europe

Friday     18 July     Rotterdam           Feynoord                 Holland 
Friday     25 July     Werchter            Festival Site            Belgium 
Sunday     27 July     Cologne             Butzweiler Hof           Germany 
Tuesday    29 July     Lipzig              Festweise                Germany 
Thursday   31 July     Mannheim            Malmarkt                 Germany 
Saturday   2 Aug       Gothenburg          Ullevi                   Sweden 
Monday     4 Aug       Copenhagen          Parken                   Denmark 
Wed        6 Aug       Oslo                Vallehovin               Norway 
Saturday   9 Aug       Helsinki            Olympic Stadium          Finland 
Tuesday    12 Aug      Katowice            Slaski Stadium           Poland 
Thursday   14 Aug      Prague              Strahov                  Czech

Republic 
Saturday   16 Aug      Wiener Neustadt     Airfield                 Austria 
Monday     18 Aug      Nurnburg            Zeppelinfeld             Germany 
Wed        20 Aug      Hannover            Expo                     Germany 
Friday     22 Aug      London              Wembley Stadium          England 
Thursday   28 Aug      Leeds               Roundhay Park            England 
Saturday   30 Aug      Dublin              TBA                      Ireland 
Tuesday    2 Sept      Edinburgh           Murrayfield              Scotland 
Saturday   6 Sept      Paris               Parc des Princes         France 
Monday     15 Sept     Montpellier         Espace Grammont          France 
Saturday   20 Sept     Reggio Emilia       Festival Site            Italy 
Friday     26 Sept     Thessaloniki        Kaftatzoglio             Greece 
Tuesday    30 Sept     Tel Aviv            Hayarkon Park            Israel

North America 2nd Leg

Sunday     26 Oct      Toronto             Skydrome 
Wed        29 Oct      Minneapolis         Metrodome 
Friday     31 Oct      Detroit             Silverdome 
Sunday     2 Nov       Montreal            Olympic Stadium 
Saturday   8 Nov       St Louis            Trans World Dome 
Monday     10 Nov      Tampa               Tampa Stadium 
Wed        12 Nov      Jacksonville        Municipal Stadium 
Friday     14 Nov      Miami               Pro Player Stadium 
Wed        19 Nov      Indianapolis        Hoosier Dome 
Friday     21 Nov      New Orleans         Superdome 
Sunday     23 Nov      San Antonio         Alamodome 
Wed        26 Nov      Atlanta             Georgia Dome 
Friday     28 Nov      Houston             Astrodome 
Tuesday    2 Dec       Mexico City         Autodromo 
Tuesday    9 Dec       Vancouver           BC Place 
Thursday   11 Dec      Seattle             Kingdome

Also Playing

Spain                  Portugal            Brazil 
Chile                  Argentina           Australia 
New Zealand            South Africa        Japan

South EAst Asia

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SOURCE U2