KEY POINTS:
The biggest rock band in the world are in town but they won't be playing any secret gigs and they won't meet the Prime Minister either, the band's manager says.
U2 band manager and their long-time friend Paul McGuinness met local media yesterday to set the record straight about the group's visit.
Standing midfield at Mt Smart Stadium in Penrose, McGuinness said the band still loved to play live gigs, even after 30 years in the industry.
"If you're in a band, touring is where it really pays off, and I don't mean financially.
"Writing songs, recording them in the studio and then performing in front of an audience, that's the process and that's what makes being in a band so exciting."
Though U2 appreciate their loyal fan base in New Zealand, McGuinness said the cost of bringing so large a production Downunder is often prohibitive.
"I hope we'll be back pretty soon. It is difficult to include New Zealand on big productions for obvious reasons. Bringing something as big as this in and out of the country by air costs the earth, I have to tell you."
McGuinness has been with the band since they started out in Dublin, but said he can't remember all the shenanigans the group have shared over the years.
"We put out this book recently and during the writing, there was a lot of discussion about incidents and episodes ... No one could really remember what was going on. Usually by consensus we can figure out what happened."
But he did recall there had never been a bust-up in the lengthy history of the band, which consists of lead singer Bono (real name Paul Hewson), guitarist The Edge (Dave Evans), Adam Clayton (bass guitarist) and drummer Larry Mullen.
"They're each other's best friends. They don't spend all their time together but they've found a way of co-existing over 30 years. It's fun being in U2. As Bono often says, they've had, and are having, a great life."
As McGuinness spoke, the final touches were being put in place to the gigantic Vertigo stage, which has been under construction since Sunday.
At 70m wide, 28m tall and 26m deep, it takes more than 88 touring staff, plus 100 local workers, to build.
Production director Jake Berry, who is completing his second world tour with the band, said the event required 700 tonnes of equipment, stored in 22 ocean containers, transported by three Boeing 747 aircraft.
The band provide their own generators, which are powerful enough to service 75,000 light sockets.
Berry said the vast stage and multiple video screens would ensure every concert-goer a view and said it was the band's decision to include a standing, general admission section.
"It was the band's wish not to have seated audiences. They wanted a general admission floor so people could get up close with the band," said Berry.
Within the general admission zone, several crowd barriers have been set up to create security pathways, giving fans easy access to emergency services, should they need them.
"U2 fans aren't like a thrash metal band, where they come and push everyone. There's a bit more general flow.
"But you put 46,000 people in a place, you're going to have somebody pass out or become dehydrated. It's just the law of averages," said Berry.
The zone closest to the stage will hold about the first 4000 people to get there, said Berry.
The concert
Who: U2.
Where: Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland.
When: Tonight and tomorrow night, gates open from 5pm.
