**UPDATE**

This morning, I wrote the blog article you’ll see below the stars. Later on in the day, word came that the 2nd show has been all but “officially” cancelled. (Of course you can’t cancel something that was never officially scheduled.) The reason: oversaturation of the marketplace. For whatever reason, Hawaii has turned into a concert mecca in a short amount of time and the tickets aren’t selling like concert promoters would like. Over a span of 3 weeks in April, Hawaii will host The Crater Festival with The Steve Miller Band, Linda Ronstadt and more acts to be announced.

You also have Elvis Costello performing with the Honolulu Symphony Pops, as well as the new music event called Kokua Festival starring Hawaii’s own native, Jack Johnson, along with Ben Harper and Willie Nelson (and others).

Match this with U2. For a state that very rarely ever gets major artists to perform, this is an amazing lineup of talent in a short amount of time. To put the concerts into perspective, U2’s ticket prices range between $49.50-$165. The Crater Festival is asking for $125-$175. Elvis Constello’s gig is pricing in at between $40-$90 and finally, Kokua Festival tickets range between a mere $35-$50.

That said, the ticket sales have been slow for U2 (you can *still* pull 4 tickets in a row for the 4/8 show on Ticketmaster). Early reports on ticket sales for the Crater Festival also show sluggish results. People may be choosing to go to the hometown gig for their own Jack Johnson, whose ticket prices are at most $50 and bypassing the more expensive tickets.

So, even though the local promoter wants to see a 2nd U2 show, the venue they’re holding the gig in has already been downsized to accommodate the smaller audience. At this rate, tickets still are not selling at the rate of speed TNA would like - and given TNA’s practice to not put on sale the full ticket allotment on the first date of a ticket onsale, one could approximate that there are still thousands of tickets available for U2’s show. Time, sadly, has not helped the ticket sales.

All of these elements need to be taken into consideration, and as of a few hours ago, the hope that there would indeed be a 2nd U2 show in Hawaii has just about completely faded. From a financial standpoint, it doesn’t make sense for the parties involved. From a PR standpoint, it would look really bad to have a less-than-favorable turnout for the last show of a very successful tour. We all remember PopMart’s third leg and the lack of ticket sales - the band vowed to never do that again. Those three points alone would point the decision in the direction of “no” in regard to the 2nd gig.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has been following the soap opera saga of the end of the tour. This has been a learning experience of how touch-and-go these decisions can be.
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From earlier in the day….
File this in the category of “make up your minds already!”

The proposed ticket onsale date for the proposed April 9 Hawaiian has been put on indefinite hold pending more details from U2 and their management, according to an industry source. Apparently, there are still concerns that the first Hawaiian date has not sold out and management is worried about the 2nd show not selling well at all and fear having U2’s best selling tour in history to end on a sour note. In the meantime, the promoter is still very much committed to bringing a 2nd U2 show to Hawaii.

I share the same feelings as many fans on the various mail lists and online chat boards: Hawaii is a destination where it’s a very far location to travel to for only ONE show; however if there are TWO, then it makes it far more appealing to travel out for.

More news as it comes along.