The stage is set: U2 comes to town

Billed as the “largest show in the history of rock,” U2’s epic 360 Degree Tour arrives tonight at the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium.

The Irish rockers will perform beneath a mind-bogglingly big stage that has been dubbed “the claw” and will offer the anticipated crowd of more than 50,000 a view from any direction.

The stage towers some 150 feet over the Cavaliers’ football field and holds a 54-ton, cylindrical video screen with 500,000 pixels and around 4,300-square feet in size — the equivalent of two doubles tennis courts.

The whole contraption looks a bit like a colossal green-and-orange version of the underwater fortress in “Octopussy.”

“Every stage has a wow factor,” Jake Berry, U2’s tour production manager, said Wednesday. “Ours just lasts a little longer. It’s wow, wow, wow.”

The show was on track Wednesday afternoon to sell out before the gates open tonight at 5 p.m., organizers said. A certain number of tickets were released Wednesday morning. As of Wednesday afternoon, Ticketmaster had tickets remaining at prices ranging from $37.90 to $275.

U2’s concert is the third to take place in Scott Stadium. Dave Matthews Band sold out the stadium in 2001 and the Rolling Stones sold it out in 2005.

“This will be the biggest concert that Charlottesville’s ever seen,” said Craig Evans, U2’s tour director and vice president of global operations for Live Nation Global Touring.

Charlottesville is one of the smaller cities on the North American leg of U2’s tour in support of its 12th studio album, “No Line on the Horizon.” The tour is the band’s first stadium tour of the United States since 1997’s Popmart tour. The band’s last two North American tours, Elevation and Vertigo, took place in indoor arenas.

Berry said Charlottesville was one of the first stops chosen for the tour, as U2 loves playing for college crowds. “The band are really into that college vibe,” he said.

Organizers were somewhat cagey concerning the cost of the 360 Degree Tour, but the BBC has reported that it costs an estimated $750,000 a day. “All I can say is, it’s a lot,” Berry said.

The band has faced criticism for the tour’s massive carbon footprint. Berry, however, pointed out that any major rock concert has carbon emissions, 80 percent of which comes from the audience. He suggested that tonight’s concertgoers try to carpool, drive a hybrid vehicle and remember to turn out the lights before they leave home.

Evans said the band is cognizant of the carbon footprint concerns and will take steps to rectify the environmental impact. “A number of carbon offsets will be purchased with the ultimate goal of being carbon neutral,” he said.

Major traffic is expected around UVa tonight because of the concert. The university, Charlottesville officials and the tour organizers have been working together to try to make things go smoothly.

Starting at 5 p.m., the following roads will be closed to anyone who does not have a valid parking pass:

- Alderman Road/Ma-ury Avenue: Between Ivy Road and Fontaine Avenue

- Hereford Road: Between Stadium Road and Edgemont Road

- George Welsh Way: Between Alderman Road and Stadium Road

- McCormick Road: Between Emmet Street and Alderman Road

- Stadium Road: Between Emmet Street and Alderman Road

- Whitehead Road: Between Alderman Road and Stadium Road.

Tonight’s concert will go, rain or shine, organizers said.

What happens in the event of rain?

“Get wet,” Berry said.

What about high winds?

“At 30 mph, we start thinking about it,” he said. “Forty mph, we run like hell.”