U2 Announces 2019 ‘Joshua Tree’ Dates In Oceania, Asia

Amy Harris/Invision/AP – U2
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

U2 announced another leg of itself massively popular “Joshua Tree” tour on Thursday. Come November and December, the iconic rock group will perform in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

The itinerary kicks off Nov. 8 with a performance at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. From there, U2 will play five Australian markets – Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth – between Nov. 12 and Nov. 27.

U2 will play two shows at Tokyo’s Saitama Super Arena – the band’s only multi-show stand of the announced dates – before concluding the string on Dec. 8 with its first South Korean gig, at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome.

The New Zealand and Australia dates represent U2’s first in Oceania since 2010, while the Tokyo performances will be its first since 2006.

According to a press release, the group’s itinerary will also eventually include its first Singaporean date, although specifics have yet to be announced.

“Our audience has given the Joshua Tree a whole new life on this tour,” singer Bono said in a statement. “Doing these shows has been very special for us, a lot of emotion… From the despair of how relevant some of the dark songs still are, to the joy, pure fun of the staging… it’s quite a ride. And now we get to do it all over again. Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul… We’re coming for you.”

U2’s 2017 “Joshua Tree” tour, launched to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its seminal 1987 of the same name, grossed $316 million over 50 shows, according to Pollstar Boxoffice data. The figure made U2 the top-grossing act of 2017 and, even more impressively, the first act to surpass $300 million grossed in a single year this decade. (In 2018, both Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift broke the $300 million mark and surpassed U2’s 2017 figure of $316 million.)

Following the December 2017 release of its 14th studio album, Songs of Experience, U2 hit the road again in 2018 for the “eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE” tour. The band grossed $126.2 million in 2018, which landed it at No. 9 on Pollstar‘s Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart.

Arthur Fogel, who as Live Nation’s president of global touring oversees U2’s tours – as well as those of Madonna, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and more – was honored in Pollstar‘s inaugural Impact 50 list earlier this month as one of the live industry’s “maestros.”

“With Madonna, U2, my longtime clients, Gaga, I’m also the producer, so there’s both sides of the equation,” Fogel told Pollstar earlier this month. “There’s this kind of traditional promoter side, but there’s also the producer, production side.”

When it came to U2’s 2019 plans, Fogel demurred, telling Pollstar that “I can’t go there on that one.”

Now, U2’s 2019 has started to take shape.

Tickets for U2’s Oceania, Japanese and South Korean dates go on sale to the general public on June 11, July 20 and June 12, respectively, though all dates presale options. Find the fresh dates below.