Where's U2's 'Claw' that wowed fans at MSU's Spartan Stadium?
Eric Lacy
EAST LANSING - U2's massive stage setup known as "The Claw," which mesmerized fans during its three-year 360º World Tour, has been purchased by an ambitious aquarium in Utah.
It may be the same one the band used during its June, 26, 2011, show at Michigan State University's Spartan Stadium.
The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City confirmed its purchase Tuesday and said Wednesday it's working to determine which stops the monstrous 190-ton, 165-foot-high structure made.
“We’re going to try and give it a history," said Brent Andersen, the aquarium's founder and CEO. "The safe thing is we know the band played on this stage.”
The Claw, its 14,000-square-foot cylinder-shaped video screen and platform underneath it is considered the largest stage setup in music history. It was used by U2 from 2009 to 2011 during its tour.
More than 7 million people in 68 stadiums around the world saw the Claw during the tour, according to the aquarium's website.
Once assembled, the Claw is expected to be the only one of its kind in the U.S. and be the visual catalyst for the aquarium's $25-million renovation project of its campus.
The aquarium bought the Claw from Panther Management, a Boston real estate firm.
Sandy Thomley, an MSU facilities manager, was in charge of the work crews that prepared for the U2 show at Spartan Stadium in 2011. She said Wednesday she's excited for the Claw's new destination.
"I think it’s awesome that it can be put to use rather than chop it up and turn it into something different," said Thomley, Wharton Center's senior production manager.
Andersen said the aquarium purchased one of two Claws that U2 used during its North American tour stops. Another was used during the Irish rock band's European dates, he said.
The aquarium in Salt Lake City opened four years ago, is 136,000 square feet and attracts about 830,000 visitors per year.
Andersen said about 9 acres of land were recently purchased to create the campus and an accompanying meeting and performance space will be where the Claw is installed.
He's hopeful the renovation project will be complete in spring 2019 once all pieces of the Claw are trucked from the East Coast to the location and put together.
Andersen was drawn to the Claw in June 2009 when he attended a U2 concert in Barcelona, Spain.
At the time, Andersen thought of it as a sculpture and "work of art like nothing I have ever seen."
The Claw will be assembled in a plaza-like setting in front of a mountain range and get repainted so it can last for several decades.
"Those kinds of aesthetic experiences — especially large-scale ones — bring people into that (creative) frame of mind," Andersen said, "whether it’s a 3-year-old or a 93-year-old.
"Being in that state of mind is key to learning.”
U2 in 517
U2's concert setup in East Lansing for the 2011 show required MSU crews to remove four sections of a stadium wall so the Claw and stage could fit.
The Claw's pronged feet needed extra room because they extended beyond the stadium's original field of play.
U2 paid the university $253,000 so it could install a new natural grass football field after the concert.
During the concert at MSU, frontman Bono paid homage to East Lansing's support of the band during its early years.
The band performed at Dooley's, a now closed bar, on Dec. 7, 1981, according to the website setlist.fm. It's considered one of U2's first U.S. shows.
"Where is Mr. Dooley?'" Bono said at the concert. "I believe he's still around."
Richard Dooley Jr., 76, of Evanston, Illinois, was the bar's primary investor and said Wednesday he thinks often of the history that his establishment made on Albert Avenue. He still appreciates Bono's shout-out.
Dooley's had a capacity of about 1,000 people and was open for over 20 years.
"You might say we had a discovery on our hands," Dooley said about booking U2 in 1981. "I don't think we knew it at the time, but we had quite a discovery on our hands."
East Lansing resident Gary Foltz sold the bar in 1996 after the East Lansing City Council and state Liquor Control Commission refused to renew his liquor license.
Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact Eric Lacy at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.
'The Claw' facts
There's nothing quite like U2's massive stage setup it used during its three-year 360º World Tour from 2009-11. Here are some facts about the structure.
- Weight: 190 tons
- Height: 165 feet
- Made of 165 truckloads of steel
- Strength: Supports up to 200 tons
- Area: 28,287 square feet
- Offers 360º open site lines
- Seen by over 7 million people in 68 stadiums
- Can accommodate up to 3,000 people when covered
- Carried on tour a 14,000 square foot cylindrical video screen
- Able to have multiple floors with ceilings from 10 to 100 feet