U2 to sell 360° tour 'claw' stages

U2 are going to sell off their claws. As soon as their world tour ends in July, the Irish rockers plan to "recycle" the 390-tonne steel structures in which they performed for the last two years, converting them into amphitheatres across "four different continents".

At the moment U2 own four separate claw stages, each of which cost between £15m and £20m to build. The claws have been vital to the success of the band's 360° tour, allowing sets to be constructed in four different cities at the same time. But after the final date of the tour on 30 July, these gargantuan structures will suddenly stop being so useful. The tour will be over and U2, inevitably, declawed.

"It's certainly our intention to see these things recycled into permanent and usable ventures," U2 tour director Craig Evans told Billboard.biz. "It represents too great an engineering feat to just use for [the tour] and put away in a warehouse somewhere."

This isn't just a matter of ego: it's not easy finding a warehouse big enough for four 29,000 sq ft monoliths, each of which requires 120 transport lorries. The hope is that the claws could be transformed "into full interior pavilions and amphitheatres", Evans said. "Some major events have shown interest in these, from four different continents ... They're something you can put up on a waterfront and become an instant skyline icon."

Architect Mark Fisher, who designed the claws, has been proposing similar ideas for years. "We'll leave them around the world in places that would be convenient," he told the BBC in 2009. "[Spots] where people could use a nice concert pavilion in a park." That same summer, Bono jokingly offered a claw to the city of London, for use at the 2012 Olympics. "We'll give you a good deal when the tour finishes," he said.

Whereas Fisher originally proposed the claws could be donated to cities "for free" – "We would have beaten [the tour] to death by that point," he quipped – such philanthropy no longer seems to be on the table. The claws will be sold, according to Billboard. After all, the 360° tour has only grossed, er, about £450m. "Having been part of the biggest tour of all time, they're pretty well tried and tested," Evans said. "We know that the inquiries will keep coming in."