U2 sets stage for OU concert
Tour stop in Norman to be ‘spontaneous, exciting’

BY GEORGE LANG Comments 8
Published: October 18, 2009

NORMAN — While the Sooners battled against their Red River rivals on OU-Texas weekend, a massive superstructure seemingly aimed at space dominated the team’s home turf Saturday afternoon. The central peak of "the claw” towered beyond the north and south bleachers at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as crews put finishing touches on the stage colossus for today’s U2 concert in Norman.

Jake Berry, production director, speaks as crews work on the U2 stage at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Photo by Jaconna Aguirre, The Oklahoman

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Attendees urged to arrive early

NORMAN — About 50,000 to 60,000 people are expected to attend the U2 concert that begins at 7 tonight at the Gaylord Family — Oklahoma

Memorial Stadium. Doors open at 5 p.m. As traffic volume demands it, Lindsey Street will be one-way east before the concert and one-way west afterwards, Capt. Michael Praizner said. Officers will be posted at major intersections to help direct traffic. Those attending the concert are urged to arrive early. Parking at the Lloyd Noble Center is recommended. The cost is $15, which includes round-trip shuttle service. Concertgoers who choose to park in residential neighborhoods should be aware that parking is limited to one side of the street, Praizner said. Officers also will be on the lookout for drunk drivers, Praizner said. "If you plan to include alcohol in your concert experience, you are encouraged to have a designated driver or make other transportation arrangements,” he said.

The massive "U2 360” stage is, as the name implies, designed so that the tens of thousands of attendees at tonight’s concert can all see the Irish rock band from every angle. At the center of the stage, a cylindrical video screen will magnify every move as the band members move around a circular runway.

Thanks to the screen, if lead singer Bono is performing to one side of stadium, the other side will still have an unobstructed view of the singer.

The concept first wasdeveloped in the last days of the band’s previous string of arena dates, said Jake Berry, tour production manager for the tour.

"We were all sitting down at the load-in just before the last show, and I was there with Willie Williams, who is the art director, the lighting designer and the show designer, and Bono came in for the last sound check and said to the two of us, ‘Can we play a show in the round?’” Berry said during a Saturday tour of the stage construction. "And we looked at each other and told him, ‘You can do anything you want.’”

The final result consists of three separate stage superstructures, allowing the band to play at one venue while the previous stage is being torn down and a new one is built for the next stop.

While the center of "the claw” is 150 feet above the ground and creates an imposing image, Berry said the band wanted to create an illusion of intimacy for fans — no mean feat in a football stadium.

"They could make the stadium look small, therefore making the show more intimate,” said Berry, who also oversaw the Rolling Stones’ "Bridges to Babylon” show at the stadium in 1997. "That was the direction given to the design team.”

As for the concert, which begins at 7 p.m. with an opening set by the Black Eyed Peas, tour director Craig Evans said that U2 had singled out Norman early on as a prime stop because of the energy the band gets from college audiences.

"This is one of a very small number of college markets that the band had long ago decided they wanted to visit,” Evans said. "Their show really reacts more to the college crowd and the liveliness of and the interaction of it. They’re going to see a very spontaneous and exciting show.”

Gates open at 5 p.m., and Evans said his best advice to concertgoers is to arrive early and get parked long before the stadium lights go down.

"Plan your time accordingly,” he said. "You don’t want to have to rush in, and you’ll want to take in a lot of what’s sitting in front of you, because it’s quite an experience.”