New U2 Tour Rumours and Home Video Updates

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2018-12-11)

We have been getting a lot of questions about the upcoming home video releases of U2’s The Joshua Tree 2017 and The Experience + Innocence tour. We’ll take a few minutes to look at these below, as well as looking at a few of the newer tour rumours that have been shared with us.

New Tour Rumours 2019

  • Tour has not been finalized at this point
  • The band is looking at a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Asia
  • Mentions of China, Hong Kong, Vietnam as possible locations

At the end of the European leg of the Experience and Innocence tour a number of rumours circulated that the band had asked their crew to be available in the back half of 2019 for a possible tour. It was mentioned by a number of crew that this would be a tour of Australia.

We have a few more recent rumours on this tour. First of all, although planning is underway, the tour has NOT been finalized at this point. It is however being planned for a mix of stadiums and arenas, and would be likely held in November and December of 2019 if final approval is given. We are told that the tour details should be finalized after Christmas and a final decision will be made at that time on this tour.

We are told that the tour, if it does happen, may visit some new locations for the band, including a tour through some Asian locations with mentions of China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, as well as Japan. (This does not mean the tour will visit all of these locations, but there appears to be a desire to widen the cities they would play in Asia, and options are being investigated.) A stage is being designed at this time. Both Perth and Sydney were mentioned in the initial rumours. This will not be a continuation of the Experience + Innocence tour, that tour is now considered closed as of the Berlin show in November. Although still rumours at this point, these are coming from sources that have been reliable in the past when it comes to advance information about U2 tours.

Experience + Innocence 2018 Home Video

  • Filmed the recent concert in Berlin, which ended the leg
  • Filming is being done by David Mallet’s Serpent Productions
  • Director of Photography Brett Turnbull

U2 recently filmed their final concert of the Experience and Innocence tour in Berlin on November 13, for a home video release. Earlier in the tour they had filmed additional footage for this release with additional cameras and lighting in use in Manchester, a GoPro style camera on Larry’s shoulder filming him in Belfast, and cameras attached to his glasses on night three in Dublin. The Manchester shows were the official dress rehearsal for the filming crew for this production, but the bulk of the eventual video release should be from Berlin.

The concert in Berlin was filmed by David Mallet’s Serpent Productions. Mallet is a name that may be familiar to you. It was Mallet that directed U2’s “Zoo TV: Live from Sydney” and “PopMart: Live from Mexico City.” Rocky Oldham, one of the producers of “Zoo TV: Live from Sydney” is a producer for Serpent Productions as well. The Director of Photography for the upcoming release is Brett Turnbull. Turnbull is not new to filming U2 either. Turnbull worked on the special effects shots for the video of U2’s “Magnificent” with director Alex Courtes in 2009. But he’s also filmed U2 on this current stage. Turnbull was the camera supervisor on the “Innocence and Experience: Live in Paris” video release, directed by Hamish Hamilton for Done & Dusted.

The film in Berlin was done with 25 traditional cameras as well as a number of non-traditional cameras such as GoPro’s and other body cams. Not only footage of the concert was captured, but footage of people entering and leaving the venue, footage of shopping for merchandise, walking around the concourse, and footage of the band from the bands perspective have all been captured by the video team.

The final footage should be released late in 2019 as a home video, with formats including DVD, blu-ray and digital releases.

The Joshua Tree 2017 Home Video

  • Anton Corbijn has directed the video portion of the film.
  • The film uses footage from Mexico City and San Diego
  • Steve Lillywhite has mixed the audio portion of the film.

The next release of new material we are likely to get from U2 in a physical format is the home video of The Joshua Tree 2017 tour. Originally rumoured to be coming out this fall, the project has now been pushed to an early 2019 date. We are told that this is to accommodate the possibility of showing this on the big screen prior to a home video release, and that there is a hope that a limited release will be done in theatres.

This film has been directed by Anton Corbijn, the man who photographed U2 for the original album, and whose videos graced the screen behind them on the 2017 tour. The film will use footage from two concerts in Mexico City, held in October 2017, although we are told that some footage from San Diego will also be in use for the film. The audio mix for the project has been completed by Steve Lillywhite.

We are told that the home video release should be in the first half of 2019, with the Experience + Innocence video release in the second half of 2019.

You can find additional information on these releases and rumours in our “Ready for Whats Next“ article from mid-November. (Thank you to U2Start.com who shared some of those earlier rumours in that report.

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