This is the same venue that BJ are playing at. Makes Jons/promoters ticket price excuses look pretty stupid now..

This article is from todays Melbourne Herald Sun paper

SUPERSTAR band U2 is bringing the world's biggest-ever rock show to Melbourne in December.

The 360 Degrees tour eclipses every stadium show to date, including major spectacles by Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi.

U2 will perform at Etihad Stadium on December 1. Tickets go on sale on September 3 from Ticketmaster. They will start from as little as $39.

The band - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr - announced Australian tour dates in Helsinki, Finland.on Saturday.

Other Aussie dates are Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, December 8, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, December 13, Subiaco Oval, Perth, December 18. The centrepiece of 360 Degrees is an imposing 57m-high bug-like spaceship on four legs called The Claw.

In Melbourne, The Claw will jut out of Docklands Stadium and be clearly visible from the city.

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Permits are being sought to leave the roof open on show night for The Claw.

The numbers surrounding the tour are staggering. It takes 120 trucks to cart, and 157 production crew to build the 360 Degrees show.

It costs a reported $750,000 a day to keep the show on the road and The Claw is five times heavier than U2's last stage, double the size of the set for the Rolling Stones' tour A Bigger Bang.

It carries 600 tonnes of cutting-edge sound and light equipment, and an expanding video screen.

U2 will bring four separate stage systems, costing $28 million each, to be built simultaneously in each Australian city over a 10-day period.

"U2 has always been at their best when surrounded by their audience," U2 manager Paul McGuinness said.

Guitarist The Edge said at the launch: "Where we're taking our production will never have been seen before by anybody and that's an amazing thing to be able to say.

"For a band like U2, which really thrives on breaking new ground, it's a real thrill."

The set list includes hits Beautiful Day, With Or Without You, New Year's Day, Pride (In The Name Of Love) and Where The Streets Have No Name.

U2 was forced to postpone the tour when lead singer Bono suffered a back injury in March. The band resumed the tour last month.