U2 announce groundbreaking 2015 tour iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE

The dates for U2’s upcoming iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour have been announced by Live Nation. The iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour, which begins in 2015, will see U2 play indoor arenas for the first time in a decade. It will visit 19 cities worldwide during its first year, with pairs of shows in each city. Tickets for all shows went on general sale on Monday 8^th December.

In addition, special shows are being planned for Dublin for the end of next year – to benefit the partially U2-funded Music Generation project – details of which will be announced as soon as they are finalised (complete tour itinerary follows).
 
The tour follows the recent release of U2’s 13^th studio album Songs of Innocence, which was given to U2.com subscribers and gifted by Apple to over half a billion iTunes Music Store customers worldwide. To date, Songs of Innocence has been streamed 81 million times and has been downloaded by 30 million fans.
 
“We are going to try to have a completely different feeling from night one to night two,” said Bono, “and have some fun playing with the idea of innocence and experience. More to be revealed!”
 
“The anticipation for a U2 tour is always extraordinary, as it should be,” said Arthur Fogel, president of Global Touring and chairman of Global Music. “Following the record-setting 360° tour I’m amazed that they still want to be groundbreaking, this time on a more intimate scale.”
 
Tickets for the U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour 2015 went on general sale on Monday 8^th December after the traditional, exclusive priority presale for U2 fan-club subscribers at U2.com.

Tickets will be general admission on the floor and reserved seating in the stands.
 
Ron Rogowski, vice president of logistics supplier UPS, said: “We’re excited to work closely with U2 and Live Nation on this amazing tour in the most sustainable and environmentally responsible manner while providing them speed, efficiency and reliability.”

The Irish band has also announced another artistic initiative, Films of Innocence, that according to U2.com is “a visionary collection of 11 films by the world’s most vital urban visual artists, each inspired by one of the 11 tracks on U2’s Songs of Innocence album … celebrating the visceral power of urban art”. 

After a 24-hour premiere that took place on 8^th December, Films of Innocence is now available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon.

The directors who worked on the films are Robin Rhode for Every Breaking Wave, Maser for Cedarwood Road, Chloe Early for Iris (Hold Me Close), Todd James for The Troubles, D*Face for California (There Is No End to Love), Vhils for Raised by Wolves, Mode 2 for Song for Someone, DALeast for This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now, Ganzeer for Volcano, ROA for Sleep Like a Baby Tonight and Oliver Jeffers for The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).

U2 took the political murals of Northern Ireland as a reference point, chose the artists, and gave them complete creative freedom to create personal responses to the music of their latest album.

Films of Innocence takes these artists and their works from the streets to the screen, with all their power and conscience, as they scale the globe, play with time, and weave between heightened reality and animated dreamscapes. The result is an essential visual counterpoint to the album.

The editorial unit
Photo: Olaf Heine

Watch the trailer for Films of Innocence here: