U2′s first UK gig in their current tour will break all previous attendance records for a Wembley Stadium concert, organisers have claimed.
Around 88,000 are expected at the Irish group’s concert on Friday – 5,000 more than what is believed to be its biggest previous crowd for a musical event.
U2′s radical “claw” stage has enabled tour organisers Live Nation to increase the capacity for the sold-out show.
As many as 170,000 are expected to see U2 on Friday and Saturday.
Wembley’s previous biggest crowd is believed to be the 83,000 who saw Rod Stewart perform there in 1995.
That figure was matched last summer by the Foo Fighters when the US band played at Wembley following its rebuilding.
Tickets are still available for U2′s Saturday show, which will see them supported by Glasgow-based rockers Glasvegas.
Elbow, who won the Mercury Prize last year with their fourth studio album The Seldom Seen Kid, will support U2 later.
Watch a tour of U2′s ‘claw’ stage with tour architect Mark Fisher
Michael Jackson holds the record for Wembley concerts, the late singer having notched up 15 appearances at the legendary venue.
The Rolling Stones come next with 12 concerts, followed by Madonna with nine.
However, U2 will exceed the American singer’s tally when they play their 10th night at the stadium on Saturday.
The band’s current 360 tour uses three different stage structures, each in the shape of a giant claw.
‘Fewer shows’
The three steel structures cost between £15m and £20m each and offer a largely unobstructed view of the veteran rock quartet.
“Usually a show like this plays to two-thirds of the capacity of the stadium because you put the stage at the end and you don’t sell any of the seats at the back and at the sides,” tour architect Mark Fisher told the BBC on Thursday.
“We sell all the way round, so we carry about 25% more stuff than a normal stadium rock show.
“We have a video screen round the back, lights that light the band when they go to the back and loud speakers both on the sides and behind in addition to those that are on the front.
“We do fewer shows to perform to the same number of people.”
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