Analysis of U2's Concert Performance Location Choice

The rock band U2, based in Dublin, Ireland, has become one of the most successful touring acts in the history of live music. Treating U2 as a global business enterprise, this paper provides a brief descriptive analysis of the geography of the band’s tours, then employs linear regression models to analyze country choice for live performances. Over 33 years, U2 played more than one thousand six hundred concerts at locations in 40 countries. Over several world tours with multiple legs, U2 has developed and adapted a geographical pattern, performing mainly in Europe, North America, and Oceania. The models analyzed here indicate that the band is attracted by market size (presence of large urban areas) and market strength (country income). In addition, the band’s location choices appear to be governed by cultural proximity. Counter to expectations, neither geographical distance nor country risk appear to play a significant role in the selection of tour destinations, especially in the most recent U2 360 ̊ tour of 2009-2011. The band’s present affluence permits its members and top staff to overcome the friction of distance by traveling in a private jet while local crews in host cities assemble and break down three elaborate stages that leap-frog from city to city using surface transportation infrastructure.