Trying to put my bitterness about U2 not touring Australia for so long, I would be genuinely interested to hear the band's honest view of why they do endless laps of the US with the odd European jaunt to break up the US monotony. I'm over the patronising "oh, we'd love to play Australia' guff they've been putting out for years. If they genuinely wanted to tour Australia they'd make it happen. Wouldn't make enough money? Can't be bothered getting on a long-haul flight in First Class or on a private jet? Just a bit of honesty for once would be refreshing...
my guess is they don't have their logistics base set up there. Maybe there is no Principal Management Australia to familiarly and effectively handle their touring needs. As a downflow result (which the band obviously do not have to choose themselves), they don't know their favorite hotel/private plane charter co/caterers/ local crew co and truck ing co in Australiasia.
Also, their spending and investments are in USD and euros. Not AUD or some Asian currency. Yeah, currency can obviously be converted easily when you have lots of it earned.
Edit: what affects the band more is the comfort and familiarity of their homebase. U2 don't know Aust well enough to know if they like the posh hotels in Byron Bay? Surfers Paradise? Etc.
I bet they have 3 familiar home base locations in USA (NY, Malibu, maybe a third being Miami?) And at least 3 touring home base spots in EU (Dublin duh, Eze France homes, London)
I understand your thinking, but they managed to tour up to and including 360, so I'm not sure the logistics argument carries much weight.
I would be willing to bet it's a money thing - I just wish they were honest about it.
Live Nation gave U2 that figurative BJ back in 2008 when they forked out $19M for that 12 year contract.
Live Nation makes much higher profits when U2 performs in the US. This is because Live Nation own many venues in the US, & have rights to promote a very large number of other venues.
So the band members have reciprocated, getting down on their knees & returned the favour to Guy & Live Nation.
It’s all about money. The fact that the Aussie dollar has lost 20% of it’s value since late 2014 hasn’t helped. LOL, maybe they should have started the i+e tour in Oz back at the beginning of 2015
