Nah, Bono's earned it. According to Flanagan's book U2 tours were barely profitable until the mid-90s - they sunk so much money into the visuals, or whatever the hell they did pre-Achtung Baby, that they had to sell every ticket to pretty much break even.
On a related note, was it Madonna who raised the bar on ticket prices? I dimly recall top-act prices virtually trebling overnight at some point, and have a feeling she was the first to realise the Market could take it.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 29 March 2013 15:55 (eleven years ago) link