Croker gig on the horizon for U2

U2 are to play Croke Park on July 24th as part of their world tour, it was confirmed this morning.

The U2 360°tour, the band's first stadium outing since 2006 follows the release of their 12th studio album, No Line On The Horizonlast month.

The tour, produced by Live Nation, opens at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona on 30th June and will take in 14 cities across Europe including Milan, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, London, Sheffield and Glasgow before finishing at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on August 22nd.

The European tour will be followed by dates in North America beginning at Chicago's Soldier Field on September 12th, 2009.

Long-time U2 Show Director Willie Williams has worked with architect Mark Fisher, who worked on the ZooTV, PopMart, Elevation and Vertigo tours, to create a 360° design which, the band is promising, will given fans an unobstructed view no matter where they are in the stadium.

"U2 has always been at their best when surrounded by the audience, this staging takes a giant leap forward" the band's manager Paul McGuinness said.

He said 85 per cent of the tickets would be priced at less than €95 with general admission floor tickets priced at €55 and at least 10,000 tickets at every venue priced at €30. "We have worked very hard to ensure that U2 fans can purchase a great priced ticket with a guaranteed great view" he said.

Amongst the support bands announced are Glasvegas, Elbow, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and Black Eyed Peas with additional artists to be announced.