U2 to rock TCF in June

Twin Cities U2 fans have finally found what they were looking for: The Irish rock gods will land their spaceship-like 360° Tour at TCF Bank Stadium on June 27.

Tickets to the inaugural rock concert at the University of Minnesota's new football stadium will go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m, concert promoter Live Nation announced Monday morning. A small number will sell for $250 -- the price to essentially get inside the tour's mothership -- with the rest going for $95, $55 and $30, plus fees. The band has pledged that at least 10,000 tickets in each city on its tour will be available at the lowest price.

More tickets will be set aside in pre-sale bundles for university students and season ticketholders to all Gophers teams, university officials said. The show's rollout is part of what U of M athletics director Joel Maturi called "a perfect opportunity to demonstrate that our stadium is not just about football.

"Concerts are one more way the stadium benefits the student body, and we get to start out with one of the most iconic rock bands out there," Maturi bragged. He would not go into what the financial benefits of the event would bring to the university except to say, "We will make some money, but it's not just about that."

The Gophers stadium holds about 50,000 people for football games, and thousands more will be housed on the field for the concert. U2 will have to perform under the same noise-level limits as a football game.

Another rule that will carry over from games: Unless the university or state Legislature adopts different rules for concerts at the stadium before June 27, even Bono won't be allowed to buy a beer at the show.

Live Nation's regional president Mark Campana said the alcohol ban is not unique for campus gigs, and he described it as "a fair tradeoff."

U2 kicked off the first leg of its 360° Tour in June and played in 44 cities before wrapping on Oct. 28, breaking attendance records along the way at the Rose Bowl and Giants Stadium. The band will not resume the tour until June 6 in Anaheim, Calif.

Adorned with a 150-foot-high "bridge" with four claw-like arms, U2's production is said to be the largest and costliest ever for a rock tour, with about $750,000 in daily costs alone. It has been widely reported the tour will not break even until the second leg.

The band's guitarist, the Edge, told Rolling Stone magazine, "We're at the limit in terms of economics and practicality. We're really as big as we could ever get."