U2 WILL play a concert in Dublin on August 30th, the original date for its abandoned Phoenix Park event. The venue for the concert is likely to be either the RDS or Lansdowne Road. The proposed Phoenix Park concert was cancelled last Friday, due to the financial implications of staging the event.
"We're definitely going to play Dublin by hook or by crook," said Mr John Giddings, the tour's European co-ordinator. "I think there's been a lot of negative press which has given the impression that U2 are not playing an Irish date.
"We haven't cancelled anything, we've just dropped the idea of doing Phoenix Park. We're looking at alternative venues, and we've already booked the support act. We're bringing the entire POPMart show to Dublin on August 30th. Why would we do anything less?
U2's Irish promoter, Mr Jim Aiken, will handle the Dublin date and Mr Giddings praised Mr Aiken's efforts to arrange U2's Phoenix Park concert. He also criticised the media for their negative coverage of U2's American tour, which he said was a success.
"We're doing 100 shows around the world, and by the time we reach Rotterdam, we'll have sold two million tickets. Some people in the press are having a go at the group, but I defy anyone to see the POPMart show and not enjoy it. This is one of the greatest rock bands in the world and we're proud to be involved in this tour."
A statement from Mr Arthur Fogel, president of TNA, the tour's worldwide promoters, said: "From our perspective, having been involved in the world's most successful tours, no tour in history has ever done 100 per cent on every show.
"To focus on the few gigs that have not sold out is to misrepresent the success of this tour. We've sold in excess of $100 million worth of tickets in the US, Canada and Europe alone. We're extremely pleased with ticket sales to date. By the end of PopMart in spring `98 it will rank as one of the most successful tours of all time."
U2 are due to play gigs in Oakland and California next week, with support by Oasis.
