DVS Will be ready

55,000 people packed out the Millers temporary home last night, and work is continuing today to desmantle the stage and get the Don Valley pitch something like ready for Sundays league 2 game against Rochdale.

With over 100 trucks and a 130 tonne stage, the task is massive, but Pat Smith from Sheffield International Venues insists DVS will be ready for the game on sunday.

"U2 have different teams in different cities so they can leapfrog forward. The team that we've got is the team that did the get-out at Milan. For the equivalent time they got out of Milan, we know they will have Don Valley clear completely by 7pm tomorrow night (Saturday). And that's at the beginning of the tour, so we know they'll get quicker." Chief Operating Officer Paul Douglas told the Advertiser.

"Remember we're not inexperienced at staging concerts. We've done many of them here-Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones three times, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and the Spice Girls twice. When we did Michael Jackson, that was a midweek event on a Wednesday night and on the Friday morning the English Schools Athletics Championships started. We just didn't get the area cleared, everything was set and ready to go by 9am on the Friday morning." he added.

"We know we can do quick turn-arounds. The issue with this show is that it's a bigger production. It's the biggest production show that's ever gone on tour; bigger even than the previous Rolling Stones shows. It's an absolutely huge structure. We've liased with the U2 production people and it's reassuring to know how quickly they've cleared previous tour venues."

The pitch has been well covered and protected and apparently there will be no damage, just a little discolouration: "By the time they've cleared the area tomorrow night, we'll have done most of the pitch because we'll be following it as they go. We'll have plenty of time to get everything ready."

"I've always said there will be discolouration of the grass but the risk of damage will be minimal."

"With a stadium with a capacity of 50,000, you're only going to get the top artists coming here, We do as many shows as we can at the right time but it's about who is on tour and the logistics of the tour. We get lots of enquiries every year and they don't always fit but we're always in the mix for doing it."

I drove past the stadium at 3pm and the frame of the claw stage was still up, with 4 cranes helping to dismantle it.

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