abstract:
The Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation was an independent French organization
founded by Isaac Schneersohn in 1943 in the town of Grenoble, France during the Second World War to preserve the evidence of Nazi war crimes for future generations. Upon the Liberation of France, the center was moved to Paris. In 2005 it fused with the Mémorial de la Shoah. The goal of the CDJC was to conduct research, publish documentation, pursue Nazi war criminals, seek restitution for victims of the Nazis, and to maintain a large archive of Holocaust materials, especially those concerning events affecting French Jewry. Part of the efforts of the CDJC include providing educational materials to students and teachers, guided museum visits and field trips, participation in international conferences, activities and commemorations, maintaining monuments and sites like the Mémorial de la Shoah and the monument at Drancy, and most importantly collecting and disseminating documentation about the Holocaust in their extensive archives.

text:
# Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation

The **Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation** was an independent French organization founded by Isaac Schneersohn in 1943 in the town of Grenoble, France during the Second World War to preserve the evidence of Nazi war crimes for future generations. Upon the Liberation of France, the center was moved to Paris. In 2005 it fused with the Mémorial de la Shoah.

The goal of the CDJC was to conduct research, publish documentation, pursue Nazi war criminals, seek restitution for victims of the Nazis, and to maintain a large archive of Holocaust materials, especially those concerning events affecting French Jewry. Part of the efforts of the CDJC include providing educational materials to students and teachers, guided museum visits and field trips, participation in international conferences, activities and commemorations, maintaining monuments and sites like the Mémorial de la Shoah and the monument at Drancy, and most importantly collecting and disseminating documentation about the Holocaust in their extensive archives.

## Background

While the Second World War was still underway, the Nazis had already formed a contingency plan that in case of defeat they would carry out the total destruction of German records of the extermination of millions of victims, per Heinrich Himmler's statement to SS officials that the history of the Final Solution would be "a glorious page that will never be written". They largely succeeded in this attempt. In France, the situation with respect to preserving war records was not much better, partly as a result of French state secrecy rules dating back to well before the war aimed at protecting the French government and the state from embarrassing revelations, and partly to avoid culpability. For example, at Liberation, the Prefecture of Police destroyed nearly all of the massive archive of Jewish arrest and deportation.

France's Jewish population before the war was around 300,000, of which 75,721 were deported, with only 2500 surviving. Political deportees fared better, with 37,000 returning. By the 1950s, the Jewish population was half what it was before the war, most of them from Eastern Europe. In the aftermath of the shock and trauma of the war, many Jews converted to Christianity, Frenchified their names, and the number of Jewish ceremonies performed (including circumcision which could identify males as Jewish) dropped precipitously. Many just wanted to forget, and disappear into French society; for most, gathering a history of the Holocaust was not a priority.

It was in this context, that a very small number of Jews first took on the task of preserving the record of events in order that it not be lost to history. In France, this occurred first at Drancy where camp registers were carefully preserved and turned over to the new National Office for Veterans and Victims of War; which however then held them in secret refusing to release copies even to the CDJC.

## Founding and early efforts

Already before the end of the war, Isaac Schneersohn, anticipating the need for a center to document and preserve the memory of the persecution for historical reasons and also support claims post-war, gathered 40 representatives from Jewish organizations together at his place at rue Bizanet in Grenoble which was under Italian occupation at the time in order to form a *centre de documentation*. Exposure meant the death penalty, and as a result little actually happened before liberation. Serious work began after the center moved to Paris in late 1944 and was renamed the **Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation** (*Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine*, CDJC).

Its stated goal was to document the persecution and martyrdom of French Jewry by collecting massive amounts of documentation, to study discriminatory laws, to support attempts at recovery of confiscated Jewish property, to document the suffering as well as the heroism of the Jews, and to record the attitude of governments, administrations, and various sectors of public opinion.

Early efforts received little recognition for a number of reasons. One was that these were grassroots movements to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, much of it by people who were not part of academia or trained as historians and thus looked down on by professionals. Another reason was that much of the early historiography focused on the perpetrators, with little effort aimed at documenting the experience of victims, which was relegated to the domain of "memory" rather than that of "history". In addition, early efforts consisted of collecting and publishing primary sources and survivor testimonies, and rarely on analysis and thematic interpretation of events which might have attracted more attention from academia. Finally, Schneersohn wanted CDJC to be the sole repository and outlet for historiography on the Holocaust, and when for example Poliakov published outside the CDJC in 1951, they had a falling-out. However, the early efforts in collecting, documenting, and preserving the basic information laid the groundwork for all future Holocaust historiography. The Nuremberg trials presented the opportunity for its first public appearance on the world stage.

## Relocation to Paris

After the liberation in 1944, the CDJC moved to Paris. In 1956 it moved to the Marais, the Jewish district of Paris in the 4th arrondissement, sharing space in the building containing the memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr. Renovations were undertaken in 2004 to handle expansion and to be able to host conferences and have exhibition space.

## Publications

### Early publications

Early publications in the 1940s had limited exposure, such as *Les Juifs sous l'Occupation: Recueil de textes francais et allemands 1940-1944* and *La Condition des Juifs sous l'occupation allemande 1940-44*. Starting in 1951, works such as Poliakov's *Bréviaire de la haine* (Harvest of Hate), the first major work on the genocide, first began to reach a wider audience and receive some good reviews in opposition to the prevailing opinion in studies at the time that a major genocide of six million Jews was logistically impossible and thus could not have happened. Most CDJC publications were not in bookstores and were not widely available. There was little public interest in the Holocaust, and financial returns were minimal.

**Reaction to early CJDC publications in early postwar France**

During the first period until 1955, most publications depended on German archives to document anti-Jewish persecution in France going back to the Dreyfus period, and served both Vichy and the Nazis. However any indication in new scholarship that attempted to pin any amount of culpability on the French ran counter to public feeling in France at the time, which was that the Germans were responsible for all persecution and that the French were either blameless victims or members of, or helping the Resistance. Vichy was considered an unpleasant aberration, and the general feeling was to avoid discussion about it so as to avoid poking old wounds. The three-volume *Le commissariat General aux Question Juives* by Joseph Billig published in 3 volumes in 1955-60 showed that the French response to roundups of Jews when they were not actively profiting from the spoils, was apathetic at best. The book was mostly ignored due to the prevailing feeling at the time but since has been considered a seminal work. Because of these factors and the general atmosphere at the time, the CDJC operated almost in an underground manner. Poliakov said in his *Memoires* that even the word *genocide* was considered unfit for publication in 1951 when his groundbreaking work was first published.

### Periodicals

The CDJC began publishing a periodical bulletin in 1945 which continued appearing under various names, into the 21st century. It began in April 1945 as the *Bulletin du Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine* (Bulletin of the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation) which printed eight issues through January 1946. These were not sold openly. It stopped publishing temporarily in September 1945, when Schneersohn applied to the French Minister of Information for permission to publish, under the new name *Revue du Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine* (Journal of the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation). This, in turn, officially changed its name to *Le Monde Juif* (Jewish World) in July 1946, and was published as a monthly, 24-page magazine with about 1500 charter subscribers. Its first issue was published in August 1946. In 1995, it was renamed as *Revue d'histoire de la Shoah – Le Monde Juif* (Journal of the History of the Shoah–Jewish World) and finally ending up as the *Revue d'histoire de la Shoah* in 2005. The CDJC initials had disappeared from the cover and were incorporated instead as part of the new logo adopted by the Mémorial de la Shoah, Musée, Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine.

## War crimes trials

One of the core missions of the CDJC is to bring perpetrators of war crimes to justice. CDJC played a role at Nuremberg, and has participated in several high-profile and numerous other actions. The most well known cases are those of Adolf Eichmann, Klaus Barbie, and Maurice Papon.

### Nuremberg trials

The Nuremberg trials began in November 1945. Schneerson sent Léon Poliakov who had recently joined CJDC as a historian to Nuremberg as an expert researcher, along with an assistant, Joseph Billig. They founded Jewish World War II historiography alone with no training. Many documents in evidence at Nuremberg ended up in the Center, and became the kernel of their photo and document archives. These, in turn, were used in France in the post-war years in many war crime trials, such as those of Klaus Barbie, Maurice Papon and others. The Center was also responsible for bringing a key document to light, the original order for the 1944 roundup of Jewish refugee children of Izieu who were later deported to Auschwitz and murdered upon arrival.

Contrary to the opinion that there was no serious scholarship about the Holocaust before the early 1960s, the CDJC had been active going back to the 1940s and 50s, although their efforts were little noted even by historians and were almost totally unknown to the public. The Eichmann trial in 1961 changed all that, and the decision to televise it brought the trial and the history of the Holocaust into millions of homes and riveted the attention of the world. The Barbie trial in Lyon in 1987 once again brought the history of World War II onto the front pages of newspapers and public awareness, and again the proceedings were filmed, due to their exceptional historical importance. In both cases, the archives maintained by the CDJC played a role.

### Adolf Eichmann

The trial of Adolf Eichmann for crimes against humanity began in Jerusalem on 11 April 1961. The Israeli government arranged for the trial to have prominent media coverage, and the worldwide press was there. CDJC science director Georges Wellers served as a witness in the Eichmann trial. One of the goals of the trial was to disseminate information about the Holocaust to the public, and for the great majority of people around the world watching or reading about it, the Eichmann trial was their first confrontation with anything having to do with the Holocaust. As a result of all the coverage, it sparked interest in wartime events, which ultimately resulted in an increase in coverage of the war in public school education, publication of memoirs as well as academic studies which helped promote public awareness of the Holocaust. Eichmann was sentenced to capital punishment, and the sentence was carried out on 1 April 1962.

### Klaus Barbie

Klaus Barbie was a Gestapo member, known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally sadistically tortured French prisoners including men, women, and children, in Lyon, France. He was responsible for arresting French Resistance member Jean Moulin, and for signing the deportation order for the children from the orphanage at Izieu. He was wanted for crimes committed in Lyon between 1942 and 1944.

After being tracked and discovered by the Klarsfelds (Serge and Beate Klarsfeld) living in Bolivia in 1971, Barbie was eventually extradited and returned to France in 1983. He faced trial 11 May 1987 in Lyon before the *Cour d'assises*. As in the case of the Eichmann trial, the court recognized the great historical importance of the trial, and very exceptionally allowed it to be filmed.

The CDJC was in possession of a key document relating to the deportation of the children from Izieu, and provided a copy to the French courts, which enabled the prosecution of Barbie for Crimes against Humanity. Barbie had been tried in absentia in 1952 and 1954, and French law prohibits double jeopardy. But the charges did not include events at Izieu, and so it was this charge, backed by the evidence provided by the telegram supplied by the CDJC, which enabled his prosecution and conviction. Faure had actually read the Barbie telegram in his summation to the jury at Nuremberg but without naming him as he was not on trial there, but merely as a way of describing the routine, administrative nature of the killing that was carried out by the Nazis. It wasn't until the Barbie trial, that his name was linked to the telegram.

Barbie was sentenced to a life term, and died of natural causes in prison in 1991.

## 1970s and 80s

Until the 1970s, almost all Holocaust studies emanating from France came from the CDJC and its historians, and no serious works appeared from French universities or other historical scholarship from within France. When serious studies finally did come out in the 1970s and 1980s outside the CDJC, they came from abroad, including the United States, Canada, and Germany, such as Robert Paxton's seminal *Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944*  which hit France like a hurricane and sparked the "Paxtonian revolution", as it was known in France, in Vichy historiography. Attacked vehemently at first by French historians and others, he ended up being awarded the Legion of Honor in 2009.

## CDJC and Yad Vashem

Before 1982, only one conference was held in France on the subject of the Holocaust, and it was one organized in 1947 by the CDJC. Schneersohn wanted to make Paris the primary world center for the memory of the genocide, but Zionists had other ideas and ultimately Schneersohn agreed in 1953 to a division of responsibilities with the Yad Vashem memorial center in Israel with the latter holding most of the responsibilities.

## Memorials and monuments

Part of the CDJC's mission is to establish and maintain monuments or memorials to promote the remembrance of the Holocaust.

### Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr

A tradition of honoring the unknown soldier existed in France since the post-World War I era. As a way of combatting forgetfulness of the genocide, Schneersohn added a Memorial Tomb to the CDJC Center which was inaugurated in October 1956. The Memorial of the Unknown Jewish martyr (*Mémorial du martyr juif inconnu*) was dedicated at the CDJC and became the central memorial and symbol of Jewish memory in France, serving as the venue for Holocaust commemorations.

In 2005, the CDJC and the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr merged, and was renamed the Mémorial de la Shoah; the new entity opened its doors on January 27, 2005.

### Memorial at Drancy

During the Occupation 90% of Jews and others deported to the concentration camps passed through the Drancy internment camp. From 1942 to 1944, about 63,000 Jews were interned here and sent east.

Land for a memorial at Drancy was donated by Drancy City Hall, and funded by the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah. The memorial was billed as an adjunct to the one in Paris, and a way to introduce the public to the former internment camp there—a place of history, and of remembrance.

The Shoah Memorial was inaugurated September 21, 2012 at Drancy by François Hollande, President of the Republic.

## Holdings and selected works

The Center has a large library and has published many documents, including some from the French Gestapo, the German Embassy in Paris, the German Supreme Military Command in France, and the French General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs (CGQJ). The original holdings stemmed from a huge collection of documents and photos received from the Allies after Nuremberg.

A selection of some individual documents and publications of historical interest include:

* *Breviaire de la Haine*, by L. Poliakov; 1951
* *Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives (1955–57)* by J. Billig
* *La Revue de l'histoire de la Shoah*, a semi-annual journal by CDJC

## Timeline

Selected chronology related to the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation or in the context of current events:

* 1880 Isaac Schneersohn born in western Ukraine. Becomes a rabbi, enters politics.
* 1920 Schneersohn Immigrates to France, and acquires French nationality. Marries, has three sons, lives in Paris.
* 1939 Schneersohn moves to Bordeaux, then to the Dordogne in 1941.
* 1940 May France invaded; falls to Germany a month later
* 1940 June 22 Armistice signed with Germany; creation of Occupied France, Vichy Regime, and the Italian zone
* 1940 July 16 Jewish denaturalization law begins series of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Vichy regime
* 1942-44 The Holocaust in France
* 1943 April 28 creation of CDJC as Schneersohn calls meeting at his home in Grenoble under the Italian occupation with 40 leading Jews
* 1944 June 6 D-Day Allies land at Normandy
* 1944 August 25 Liberation of Paris
* 1944 August Schneersohn and Poliakov return to Paris, and during the turmoil seize five important caches of documents, creating the kernel of the CDJC archives
* 1944 October CDJC is moved to Paris
* 1945 Feb Yalta conference \- Allies state intention to dispense justice after war's end
* 1945 May 8 Victory in Europe Day
* 1945 Nov-1946 Oct Nuremberg Trials
* 1945-1951 first publications of CDJC have limited exposure; 3-5 books per year for next six years
* 1946 Oct 14 IVth Republic declared in France, creation of new Constitution
* 1947 first conference on the subject of the Holocaust in France was organized by CDJC—France would not see another before 1982
* 1951 Léon Poliakov publishes *Harvest of Hate* in 1951; *genocide* still too sensitive a word to see in print
* 1953 Schneerson agreement with Yad Vashem on division of responsibilities
* 1953 cornerstone laid for Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr at CDJC Paris; inaugurated in Oct 1956
* 1955-60 blockbuster work by Joseph Billig published in 3 volumes over six-year period
* 1956 CDJC moves to Paris, takes space in Marais in building of the memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr
* 1961 Eichmann trial in Jerusalem
* 1969 June 25 Schneersohn dies in Paris.
* 1972 Robert Paxton's seminal Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944 sparks the "Paxtonian revolution" in French Holocaust historiography
* 1987 Klaus Barbie tried in Lyons
* 2005 CDJC and the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr merge, become the new Shoah Memorial
* 2012 Drancy Shoah Memorial inaugurated by President of the Republic

## InfoBox

Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation
| Centre de documentation juive contemporaine | |
| --- | --- |
| Abbreviation | CDJC |
| Formation | 28 April 1943 (1943-04-28) |
| Founder | Isaac Schneersohn |
| Type | NGO |
| Legal status | foundation |
| Purpose | documenting World War II genocide |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Location | * 17 Rue Geoffroy l'Asnier, 75004 Paris |
| Region | France |
| Services | archives, education, monuments, commemorations |
| Website | memorialdelashoah.org |


title: Experience + Innocence Tour

abstract: The Experience + Innocence Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of the band's 2017 album, Songs of Experience, the tour visited arenas throughout 2018. Comprising two legs and 60 concerts, the Experience + Innocence Tour visited North America from May through July, and Europe from August through November. It began on 2 May 2018 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and ended on 13 November 2018 in Berlin, Germany. The tour followed U2's 2015 Innocence + Experience Tour as the second in a pair of tours in support of the group's companion albums, Songs of Innocence (2014) and Songs of Experience. The 2018 tour reprised the loose autobiographical narrative from the 2015 tour, along with the original's multifaceted stage comprising a rectangular main stage, circular B-stage, connecting walkway, and doubled-sided LED video screen with an interior walkway. Several enhancements were made to the set, such as a higher resolution and more transparent video screen and the addition of LED panels to the B-stage floor. The band incorporated augmented reality into the tour, building it into a mobile app for fans to use, as well as using it to revive lead vocalist Bono's demonic stage character "MacPhisto" from the Zoo TV Tour in 1993. During the Experience + Innocence Tour, the group performed their oft-requested 1991 song "Acrobat" for the first time in their career, and they focused setlists on their Songs of Experience and Innocence albums. Having toured in 2017 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, the band decided not to perform any songs from that record on the Experience + Innocence Tour, leaving out some of their most well-known tracks. Ticket purchases for the Experience + Innocence Tour included copies of Songs of Experience, helping the album reach number one on the US Billboard 200. The tour made use of Ticketmaster's "Verified Fan" platform in an attempt to combat ticket scalping, making U2 the first group to do so for an arena tour. The Experience + Innocence Tour received positive reviews and grossed $126.2 million from 923,733 tickets sold.

text:
# Experience + Innocence Tour

The **Experience + Innocence Tour** (styled as **eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour**) was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of the band's 2017 album, *Songs of Experience*, the tour visited arenas throughout 2018. Comprising two legs and 60 concerts, the Experience + Innocence Tour visited North America from May through July, and Europe from August through November. It began on 2 May 2018 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and ended on 13 November 2018 in Berlin, Germany. The tour followed U2's 2015 Innocence + Experience Tour as the second in a pair of tours in support of the group's companion albums, *Songs of Innocence* (2014) and *Songs of Experience*.

The 2018 tour reprised the loose autobiographical narrative from the 2015 tour, along with the original's multifaceted stage comprising a rectangular main stage, circular B-stage, connecting walkway, and doubled-sided LED video screen with an interior walkway. Several enhancements were made to the set, such as a higher resolution and more transparent video screen and the addition of LED panels to the B-stage floor. The band incorporated augmented reality into the tour, building it into a mobile app for fans to use, as well as using it to revive lead vocalist Bono's demonic stage character "MacPhisto" from the Zoo TV Tour in 1993. During the Experience + Innocence Tour, the group performed their oft-requested 1991 song "Acrobat" for the first time in their career, and they focused setlists on their *Songs of Experience* and *Innocence* albums. Having toured in 2017 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of *The Joshua Tree*, the band decided not to perform any songs from that record on the Experience + Innocence Tour, leaving out some of their most well-known tracks.

Ticket purchases for the Experience + Innocence Tour included copies of *Songs of Experience*, helping the album reach number one on the US *Billboard* 200. The tour made use of Ticketmaster's "Verified Fan" platform in an attempt to combat ticket scalping, making U2 the first group to do so for an arena tour. The Experience + Innocence Tour received positive reviews and grossed $126.2 million from 923,733 tickets sold.

## Background

In 2014, U2 released their thirteenth studio album, *Songs of Innocence*, which they supported with the Innocence + Experience Tour in 2015. The group originally began it with the intent to tour in two phases, one with material primarily taken from *Songs of Innocence* and one with material that would eventually be from its follow-up, the companion album *Songs of Experience*. However, slow progress on the *Experience* record delayed the second tour. Bassist Adam Clayton said, "By the time we finished the *Innocence* tour and came full circle to focus on the \[*Songs of Experience*\] album, it was clear we weren't going to be able to flip it really quickly into the *Experience* side of the material and put it right back out on tour." When asked in 2017 about plans to continue the Innocence + Experience Tour, guitarist the Edge said, "We feel like that tour wasn't finished. So right now, we'd love to finish that tour. I would imagine it's gonna be with very similar production components... But we like that tour and that project wasn't completed. It is still alive in our minds creatively."

Several other factors contributed to a delay. Due to the shift of global politics in a conservative direction, highlighted by the United Kingdom's Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election, the band decided to delay *Songs of Experience* from its planned release in the fourth quarter of 2016 to reassess its tone and whether it was still communicating what they wanted it to. The group also committed to a 2017 concert tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their album *The Joshua Tree*. Furthermore, lead vocalist Bono suffered what he referred to as a "brush with mortality" shortly after Christmas 2016, further affecting the direction of *Songs of Experience*.

## Development

Both the 2015 and 2018 tours were structured around a loose autobiographical narrative about U2, grounded in the story of the death of Bono's mother and the violence of the Troubles that shaped the band members' youths in Ireland. Whereas *Songs of Innocence* explicitly revisits memories of their adolescence, *Songs of Experience* took "a more macro narrative stance, almost as if the narrator is writing from beyond life", according to tour designer Es Devlin. Accordingly, the narrative for the 2018 tour was reframed, using the lyric "Now you're at the other end of the telescope" from the *Experience* song "Love Is All We Have Left" as a guiding principle. Bono said the group intended the 2018 tour to be "less self-indulgent" and wanted to stay current by incorporating new technology and audience interaction into the production.

Production Resource Group (PRG), which has been involved in each U2 tour since 1992, began planning the Experience + Innocence Tour in September 2017. The firm started by trying to solve the weight problem from the original tour, an issue further complicated by the band's request to make the LED screens higher resolution, more transparent, and able to support an augmented reality (AR) element. The firm re-thought how to design an LED screen and devised a new system called Pure10.

## Set design and show production

The tour reprised the same multi-faceted stage setup from the Innocence + Experience Tour. At one end of the venue was the rectangular main stage, which measured 19.4 metres (64 ft) wide by 10.8 metres (35 ft) deep. At the opposite end was a circular B-stage, which measured 7.3 metres (24 ft) in diameter. Connecting the two stages was a 36.5-metre-long (120 ft) walkway. Suspended above it was a double-sided LED screen with an interior walkway, called the "barricage", which measured 29 metres (95 ft) long by 7 metres (23 ft) high.

Several technological enhancements were made over the original version of the set. PRG's Pure10 video panels featured a pixel pitch of 10 millimetres (0.39 in), which alone nearly tripled the display resolution of the "barricage" screen and thus enabled an AR event to be triggered. Ordinarily, this would have decreased the transparency of the display, since the printed circuit boards (PCBs) attached to the LED panels were moved closer together. PRG solved this problem by slicing the PCBs into strips, rotating them 90 degrees, and mounting the LEDs on the sides. Jeroen Hallaert, director of PRG Projects North America, explained that the result was "giant venetian blind" that provided 75 percent transparency, compared to the 45 percent transparency of the original screen. Overall, the video screen for the 2018 tour had a resolution nine times greater than the original. The Pure10 video tiles were 1 m × 2 m (3 ft 3 in × 6 ft 7 in) and were about a quarter the thickness of those from the 2015 tour.

PRG used their experience building the SPACEFRAME framing system for U2's Joshua Tree Tour 2017 to design a carbon fibre structure to hold the Pure10 panels, rather than one made from conventional metal. This reduced the weight by almost 2 pounds per square foot (9.8 kg/m2) of panels, resulting in a total weight reduction of almost half. As a result, the number of trucks needed for transportation was also halved, compared to the Innocence + Experience Tour. The "barricage" weighed 45,000 pounds (20,000 kg), and was suspended by eight hoist motors by Tait, each weighing 3 short tons (2.7 t), built into a custom truss. With the weight reduction of the "barricage", the interior walkway could move independently from the two video displays, compared to the 2015 version; the 18 Tait Nav Hoists built into a truss inside the structure allowed the walkway to be raised, lowered, or tilted by 5 degrees. Other Tait products built into the interior truss were: a T-Winch, to raise and lower a staircase near the main stage; a Nav Hoist, to control a "performer platform" near the B-stage; and a Big Tow Winch, to raise and lower a drum set inside the structure.

The B-stage at the end of walkway was upgraded from the 2015 tour to include high-definition LED displays in the floor. To accommodate the B-stage's round shape, PRG upgraded its Rolling Video Floor Riser product that had been unveiled in 2017. Each riser contained two ROE Visual Black Marble LED units with a 4 mm (0.16 in) pixel pitch. The risers had built-in magnets, allowing the tour crew to quickly set them up—1,076 sq ft (100 m2) of flooring could be assembled in under 20 minutes. The risers were transported in custom 1.6-metre-tall (5.2 ft) dollies, enabling them to be shipped via air cargo for significant cost savings. Above the B-stage, an "automation grid" featured a Smart Winch and six Nav Hoists by Tait to vertically move props, such as an LED ring, a light bulb, and a mirror ball.

The AR segment of the show was viewed using the "U2 Experience" mobile app for iOS and Android devices, which overlaid computer generated imagery over footage captured by a phone's camera. The AR event was triggered by pointing the camera at the "barricage" video screens while they were displaying charcoal drawings. Fans can also trigger it by pointing their phone's camera at the *Songs of Experience* album cover. Long-time U2 stage designer Willie Williams collaborated with Nexus Studios on the AR technology and with Treatment Studio to design the 3D avatar of Bono. During the pre-show music, the AR experience saw "the stage recast as an enormous iceberg" that began to melt and flood the audience; the imagery was a precursor to the tsunami wave that displayed on the video screens during the final song of the show's first act, "Until the End of the World". For the opening song, "Love Is All We Have Left", the app displayed an avatar of Bono hovering above the audience, accompanying the real-life Bono as he performed the song. Williams justified the use of the phone in this way by saying, "If you're going to look at your phone we're going to give you something to look at that's part of the narrative rather than you just making a movie that nobody is ever going to watch."

AR was further used during the concerts through a camera filter that helped Bono revive his old stage character "MacPhisto", a representation of the devil that he previously portrayed on the Zoo TV Tour in 1993. The filter, called the "MacPhisto Effect", was created by Marc Wakefield on the Facebook for Developers AR Studio platform, in collaboration with the tour architect Ric Lipson and his design studio Treatment Ltd. Wakefield drew the attention of U2's creative team after creating a popular "creepy clown" filter and receiving an invitation to Facebook's annual developers conference. He was tasked with taking the original design of MacPhisto from 1993 and imagining how 25 years of hard living would change his appearance. After several iterations and feedback provided by Bono, the resulting likeness featured sharper, more misshapen teeth, cracked and peeling skin, a beaten up top hat, a longer nose and chin, and a large blemish on his cheek. During testing, the filter occasionally disappeared, revealing Bono's face underneath, but rather than try to fix it, the creative team relented when they realised this gave the impression that "MacPhisto was fighting for control over Bono". The filter was made publicly available on the Facebook mobile app in July 2018.

Just as with the original tour, the omnidirectional nature of the production and the possibility of the band members being spread out during performances presented a challenge for the sound design. Ultimately, the sound engineers hung the sound system from the venue ceilings in an oval ring, placing 12 arrays of Clair Global Cohesion CO-12 loudspeakers around the perimeter of the venue floor, each alternating between left and right channels for full stereo sound. Additionally, eight arrays of Clair Cohesion CP-218 subwoofers, each comprising three speaker cabinets, were hung from the ring. Each cabinet was no more than 75 feet (23 m) from the audience. For downfill and centerfill sound to the general admission attendees, 32 Clair Cohesion CO-10 cabinets were suspended above the B-stage, walkway, and front of the main stage, while 18 Cohesion CO-8 cabinets were built into the walkway and stages. The levels of the speakers were time-aligned for optimal quality. In total, more than 200 loudspeakers were used. With the sound system designed to provide omnipresent audio, the front of house mixing station could be positioned nearly anywhere in the venue as long as it was equidistant between CO-12 arrays. During the tour, the station was usually positioned within the audience seating, from which sound engineer Joe O'Herlihy operated a DiGiCo SD7 digital mixing console, one of eight used by the production staff. The others were operated underneath the main stage; Alastair McMillan operated a mixing station for Bono, CJ Eriksson for Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr., and Richard Rainey for the Edge.

The crew, consisting of 90 traveling members and 120 local labourers, could build the stage in about ten hours while disassembling it in four. In total, the equipment hung from the venue ceilings weighed 178,000 pounds (81,000 kg). The show traveled continentally in 27 trucks, and overseas required 37 maritime transport containers or four Boeing 747 freight airplanes to transport.

## Planning, itinerary, and ticketing

U2 officially announced the Experience + Innocence Tour and its North American dates on 1 November 2017, the same day they announced the release date for *Songs of Experience*. The band decided not to open the tour in a large market such as New York or Los Angeles but instead to do so somewhere where they would face less pressure. The band chose Oklahoma, where Donald Trump received 65.3% of the state's votes in the 2016 US election. The group were curious how their progressive messages would be received in a conservative part of the US.

The North American leg of the tour used Ticketmaster's "Verified Fan" platform for combating ticket reselling, making U2 the first group to do so for an entire arena tour leg. The platform requires fans to use their email address to register for a ticket sale weeks in advance, and then to use a code sent to them later to access the sale. Verified Fan's engine uses a "behavior predictor" to offer codes only to registrants it determines are likely to use the tickets rather than resell them. Subscribing members of U2.com's fan club were offered the first opportunity to purchase tickets for the North American dates during a presale from 14 to 16 November, with Verified Fan registration required by 12 November to participate. A special presale was offered to holders of Citi credit cards from 16 to 18 November, with registration required by 14 November. Public sales of tickets began on 20 November, with registration required by 18 November.

The first European dates were announced on 16 January 2018. U2.com subscribers were given the first opportunity to purchase tickets from 18 to 20 January, before public sales began on 26 January. Initial shows for Dublin and Belfast were announced on 29 January, with two additional Dublin concerts announced the following day. Ticket sales for these Irish dates began on 2 February. After the Belfast show sold out, a second date was added, tickets for which went on sale on 9 February.

Every ticket purchased for the North American leg also came bundled with a copy of *Songs of Experience*, which helped the album debut at number one on the US *Billboard* 200; it was the band's eighth number-one album in the US and made them the first group to attain number-one albums in the US in four consecutive decades—the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Leading up to the European leg of the tour, Bono wrote an op-ed for the German newspaper *Frankfurter Allgemeine*, in which he stated his support for the European Union and promised to fly its flag during the band's shows. Whereas most of the venues visited during the tour were sports arenas, the 3Arena in Dublin is designed as a theatre and is smaller in size, requiring the tour's production to be reconfigured to fit inside the venue. Consequently, the barricage was shortened and the B-stage was moved from the end of the dividing walkway to the centre of it.

The group's 1 September show in Berlin was prematurely ended after five songs due to Bono suffering a "complete loss of voice". After consulting a doctor, he said that they had ruled out any serious ailments and that he would be able to continue with the tour under proper care. A make-up concert was scheduled for 13 November, making it the final date of the European leg.

## Concert synopsis

Several political and social issues were discussed by Bono during the concerts, from racial issues to feminism. These issues were also addressed through the messages displayed on the video screens during the pre-show, such as "Don't shoot", "Herstory", "Refugees welcome", "Give peace a chance", "Vote", and "None of us are equal until all of us are equal".

Prior to the band taking the stage, "Winter Beats" by Swedish band I Break Horses was played as introduction music. After five shows, the song was replaced by "It's a Beautiful World" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds for the rest of the tour. After the song was over, an introduction video featuring an MRI scan of a brain was shown as the voice of a nurse said, "Breathe in, exhale". On the European leg, the introduction video included footage of war-torn ruins of the European cities that the tour was visiting, interspersed with clips of Charlie Chaplin's character in the film *The Great Dictator* giving a speech at a mass rally about peace and tolerance.

Each show on the North American leg opened with a trilogy of songs from *Songs of Experience*. For "Love Is All We Have Left", Bono performed on the "barricage" walkway by himself. During "The Blackout", the screens displayed silhouettes of the band members that *Stereogum* said resembled "characters in a horror movie trying to break free of a glass chamber". The images flickered and during the chorus revealed U2 inside the "barricage" performing the song. During "Lights of Home", Bono sang on the "barricage" walkway as it inclined and he reached for the titular lights. The visuals showed a custom particle map that morphed into a nighttime image of the city in which the concert was taking place. The images were captured from the International Space Station and provided by astronaut Tim Kopra, who personally shot many of them. For the European leg, "Love Is All We Have Left" and the accompanying AR segment were dropped from the opening sequence as a result of Treatment reworking the introduction video for Europe.

This sequence was followed by "I Will Follow" and then a slot for a rotating song, most often "Gloria", "All Because of You", or "Red Flag Day". After "Beautiful Day", the band performed "The Ocean", during which Bono introduced the show's narrative. For a majority of the tour, the remainder of the first act reprised the "Innocence suite" from the 2015 tour relatively faithfully: "Iris (Hold Me Close)" revisited the death of Bono's mother during his childhood; "Cedarwood Road" featured him performing inside the "barricage" amidst animated visuals of his childhood street; "Sunday Bloody Sunday" revisited the violence of the Troubles during the band members' youth; and "Until the End of the World" concluded the first act.

About midway through the European leg of the tour, U2 abandoned the "Innocence suite" and replaced it with a so-called "Berlin suite" of songs from their 1990s albums *Achtung Baby* and *Zooropa*. These tracks included "Zoo Station", "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)", "The Fly", and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses". Williams explained that the "Berlin suite" originated after the rescheduling of the second Berlin show to the end of the tour. The band had been discussing which concert to film for the tour's video release and decided the rescheduled Berlin show would be optimal, since it would be the tour finale and in a city friendly to the band. However, they did not want to repeat the "Innocence suite" for a second video release, as it was already depicted in *Innocence + Experience: Live in Paris*. U2 instead chose a new segment of songs with the tour's end destination in mind.

During a brief intermission, St Francis Hotel's "Gotham Experience Remix" of U2's song "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" was played, featuring vocals from Gavin Friday and Arcade Fire's Régine Chassagne. It accompanied a comic book–style animated video that depicted the members of U2 evolving from innocence to experience through their encounters with a shadowy figure who presented a business card for "Wormwood & Macphisto Inc. Bespoke Atonement Services".

U2 began the second act of the shows on the B-stage, with Bono wearing eye makeup and a top hat, a look that  described as "part Mick Jagger in The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus; part the 'preacher stealing hearts at a travelling show'" described in U2's song "Desire". This segment began with performances of "Elevation", "Vertigo", and "Desire". Afterwards, Bono slipped into character as his devilish persona "MacPhisto". The character was depicted through a video filter applied to Bono's face on the video displayed on the screens. As MacPhisto, he commented on recent sociopolitical events and movements such as the Charlottesville rally by riffing on the lyrics from the Rolling Stones' song "Sympathy for the Devil". MacPhisto punctuated this monologue by saying, "when you don't believe that I exist, that's when I do my best work". This segued into a performance of the 1991 song "Acrobat", which the band had never performed live prior to the tour. Bassist Adam Clayton confirmed that part of the reason for finally playing the song was because devoted U2 fans had been requesting it. Critics noted the relevance of the song's opening lines "Don't believe what you hear/Don't believe what you see" in the post-truth world of the time.

The band then performed an acoustic version of "You're the Best Thing About Me". Bono and the Edge remained on the B-stage for an acoustic version of "Staring at the Sun". Bono introduced it as a song about "willful blindness", as footage of the Charlottesville rally and white nationalists marching is played. The main set of the concert concluded with "Pride (In the Name of Love)", "Get Out of Your Own Way", "American Soul", and "City of Blinding Lights".

Prior to the encore, a recording of the song "Women of the World" by Jim O'Rourke played, accompanied by images of the Edge's daughter, Sian. The segment was part of the #WomenOfTheWorldTakeOver social media campaign for the ONE Campaign, Bono's charitable organisation. The band returned for an encore of "One, "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way", and "13 (There Is a Light)". During the final song, Bono walked out to the B-stage and opened a small replica of his childhood home to reveal a hanging lightbulb that he swung around the venue. The lightbulb prop was previously used at the beginning of shows on the original Innocence + Experience Tour, bringing the two companion tours full circle.

Having played their 1987 album *The Joshua Tree* in its entirety at each show of the prior year's Joshua Tree Tour 2017, U2 decided not to play any songs from the album on the Experience + Innocence Tour. The Edge, Bono, and Williams had begun discussing set list ideas for this tour while still touring in 2017, and thought that by dropping songs that were staples of the group's live act, they would force themselves to take a fresh approach to structuring their shows. The Edge acknowledged the effect that omitting some of U2's most popular songs might have, saying the Experience + Innocence Tour was for "the more committed fans who really listen to everything and go to everything".

## Promotions, broadcasts, and releases

On 1 June 2018, Sirius XM Satellite Radio launched a limited-time U2-exclusive radio station called "The U2 Experience" on channel 30. It featured the band's music as well as interviews with the members. Initially intended to last until 30 June, the station was later extended through 31 July.

Sirius XM organised a contest in which the service's subscribers could win tickets to a special U2 concert at New York's Apollo Theater on 11 June 2018. The band were accompanied by the Sun Ra Arkestra for performances of "Angel of Harlem", "Desire", "When Love Comes to Town", and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of". For the latter song, Bono also paid tribute to the recently deceased celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. The show was broadcast in North America on Sirius XM's U2 channel. A recording of the show was distributed on CD to subscribing members of U2.com in 2021.

Subscribers of U2.com for 2019 received an exclusive live album entitled *Live Songs of iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE* on double CD and via digital download. The record contained live renditions of 23 songs from the *Songs of Innocence* and *Experience* albums that were performed between 2015 and 2018.

The band were filmed for a concert video, *eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE: Live in Berlin*, during the 13 November 2018 show in Berlin that concluded the tour. A 75-minute cut of the concert was screened on New Year's Day 2020 on broadcast networks worldwide. The full concert was distributed on DVD to subscribing members of U2.com.

## Reception

### Critical response

The tour received generally positive reviews, with critics praising both the staging and content of the tour. Jennifer O'Brien of *The Times* praised the group for delivering a message that espoused tolerance and denounced the political climate, and she thought the reliance on new material and absence of *The Joshua Tree* songs did not hurt the setlist. O'Brien said the group were "still at the top of their game, embracing state-of-the-art technologies and moving forward, a direction they clearly hope the US can go". Dave Egan in the *Irish Independent* called the opening night "One of the bravest, most powerful and even angriest performances U2 have ever done" and praised the reintroduction of MacPhisto after an absence of 25 years since Zoo TV. Reviewing the first show at the Forum, Roy Trakin in *Variety* said that "when it comes to performing live, the band remains the gold (and platinum) standard" and noted that U2 refused to rely on nostalgia, with almost half the set being taken from the last two albums. His review also said that the band were performing as a well-oiled machine despite being on the road for only two weeks at that point.

Greg Kot of the *Chicago Tribune* called one of their Chicago concerts "sometimes stupefying, sometimes riveting, and brimmed with ideas, if not always the most proficient means of realizing them", while singling out the quietest moments as the most resonant. Kot lauded the *Innocence* suite in the act's first half, as well as the "series of songs that savaged the reawakening of the white-supremacist movement in America", but said the latter was undercut by the performance of "American Soul", which he called U2's "clumsiest and least persuasive" political song. *Nashville Scene* said, "When it comes to matching musical themes with jaw-dropping visuals, U2 concerts are the Steven Spielberg films, the James Cameron epics, the *Star Wars*-sized events of rock." The publication praised the group for being "determined not to rest on its laurels", but judged that their emphasis on newer material towards the end of the show at the expense of well-known hits was the one flaw of the concert. Dan DeLuca of *The Philadelphia Inquirer* found the segment of the show that addressed the rise of white nationalism the most moving, believing it showed the U2 songs most relevant in 2018 were their older ones. He thought the use of their newer tracks to tell a coherent narrative worked "well enough" and closed by saying "U2 still delivers the goods and can be truly thrilling at times". Dave Simpson of *The Guardian* said, "It is also the most visually spectacular outing yet for a band who have previously toured with a mirrorball lemon and a giant claw". He judged that their social campaigning was more effective during this tour than in the past due to its relative subtlety. Simpson wrote, "It is not necessarily their best show... but it is certainly their most human."

### Accolades

U2 received a nomination at the American Music Awards of 2018 for Tour of the Year. For the 30th Annual Pollstar Awards, the tour was nominated in the Major Tour of the Year and Best Rock Tour categories, while Jake Berry was nominated in the Road Warrior category. At the 2019 *Billboard* Music Awards, U2 were nominated for Top Rock Tour.

### Commercial performance

According to *Billboard*, the North American leg of the tour grossed $61.5 million from 27 shows, with an average of $2.3 million per concert. U2's three shows at Madison Square Garden sold 55,575 tickets and grossed $8,705,673, while two shows at the Bell Centre in Montreal sold 42,974 tickets and grossed $4.58 million. The European leg of the tour grossed $64.7 million from 32 shows with box score data, with an average of $2 million per concert. In Paris, the tour's four concerts at AccorHotels Arena grossed $9,437,998 and sold 72,412 tickets, the highest gross of any market on the tour. The four shows at Milan's Mediolanum Forum grossed $7 million from 50,661 tickets sold, while the four-show run in the band's hometown of Dublin grossed $6.4 million from 46,529 tickets sold. In total, the tour grossed $126,188,344 from 923,733 tickets sold, with an average gross of $2,138,785 per concert, according to *Billboard*. During the magazine's reporting period from 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018, U2 grossed $119,203,900, ranking the Experience + Innocence Tour as the top-grossing rock tour and the seventh-highest overall.

## Set list

These setlists were performed at the 25 June 2018 concert held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and at the 10 November 2018 concert held at 3Arena in Dublin. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour.

North America   Europe

## Tour dates

| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Gross |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **North America** | | | | | |
| 2 May 2018 | Tulsa | United States | BOK Center | 16,570 / 16,570 | $2,188,948 |
| 4 May 2018 | St. Louis | | Scottrade Center | 16,300 / 16,300 | $2,001,462 |
| 7 May 2018 | San Jose | | SAP Center | 28,579 / 28,579 | $3,703,304 |
| 8 May 2018 | | | | |
| 11 May 2018 | Las Vegas | | T-Mobile Arena | 30,766 / 30,766 | $5,104,662 |
| 12 May 2018 | | | | |
| 15 May 2018 | Inglewood | | The Forum | 32,163 / 32,163 | $4,432,426 |
| 16 May 2018 | | | | |
| 19 May 2018 | Omaha | | CenturyLink Center Omaha | 14,742 / 14,742 | $1,735,259 |
| 22 May 2018 | Chicago | | United Center | 32,463 / 32,463 | $4,135,008 |
| 23 May 2018 | | | | |
| 26 May 2018 | Nashville | | Bridgestone Arena | 16,717 / 16,717 | $2,700,706 |
| 28 May 2018 | Duluth | | Infinite Energy Arena | 12,982 / 12,982 | $2,420,795 |
| 5 June 2018 | Montreal | Canada | Bell Centre | 42,974 / 42,974 | $4,580,121 |
| 6 June 2018 | | | | | |
| 9 June 2018 | Uniondale | United States | NYCB Live: Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 14,629 / 14,629 | $2,260,713 |
| 13 June 2018 | Philadelphia | | Wells Fargo Center | 31,238 / 31,238 | $3,549,210 |
| 14 June 2018 | | | | |
| 17 June 2018 | Washington, D.C. | | Capital One Arena | 32,053 / 32,053 | $4,319,994 |
| 18 June 2018 | | | | |
| 21 June 2018 | Boston | | TD Garden | 35,139 / 35,139 | $5,539,769 |
| 22 June 2018 | | | | |
| 25 June 2018 | New York City | | Madison Square Garden | 55,575 / 55,575 | $8,705,673 |
| 26 June 2018 | | | | |
| 29 June 2018 | Newark | | Prudential Center | 16,612 / 16,612 | $2,523,388 |
| 1 July 2018 | New York City | | Madison Square Garden |  |  |
| 3 July 2018 | Uncasville | | Mohegan Sun Arena | 8,557 / 8,557 | $1,594,446 |
|
| **Europe** | | | | | |
| 31 August 2018 | Berlin | Germany | Mercedes-Benz Arena | 29,260 / 29,260 | $3,844,620 |
| 1 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 4 September 2018 | Cologne | | Lanxess Arena | 34,844 / 34,844 | $4,423,431 |
| 5 September 2018 | | | | |
| 8 September 2018 | Paris | France | AccorHotels Arena | 72,412 / 72,412 | $9,421,781 |
| 9 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 12 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 13 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 16 September 2018 | Lisbon | Portugal | Altice Arena | 37,518 / 37,518 | $4,279,811 |
| 17 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 20 September 2018 | Madrid | Spain | WiZink Center | 30,248 / 30,248 | $3,888,306 |
| 21 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 29 September 2018 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Royal Arena | 31,012 / 31,012 | $4,219,513 |
| 30 September 2018 | | | | | |
| 3 October 2018 | Hamburg | Germany | Barclaycard Arena | 27,190 / 27,190 | $3,568,595 |
| 4 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 7 October 2018 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Ziggo Dome | 33,542 / 33,542 | $4,300,638 |
| 8 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 11 October 2018 | Milan | Italy | Mediolanum Forum | 50,660 / 50,660 | $7,051,462 |
| 12 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 15 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 16 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 19 October 2018 | Manchester | England | Manchester Arena | 36,850 / 36,850 | $4,923,501 |
| 20 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 23 October 2018 | London | | The O2 Arena | 36,632 / 36,632 | $5,255,512 |
| 24 October 2018 | | | | |
| 27 October 2018 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | SSE Arena | 18,996 / 18,996 | $2,521,846 |
| 28 October 2018 | | | | | |
| 5 November 2018 | Dublin | Ireland | 3Arena | 46,529 / 46,529 | $6,405,471 |
| 6 November 2018 | | | | | |
| 9 November 2018 | | | | | |
| 10 November 2018 | | | | | |
| 13 November 2018 | Berlin | Germany | Mercedes-Benz Arena |  |  |
| Total | | | | 923,733 / 923,733 | $126,223,605 |
|

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66. O'Brien, Jennifer (4 May 2018). "Pop review: U2 Experience and Innocence tour, Tulsa, Oklahoma". *The Times*. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
67. Egan, Dave (3 May 2018). "U2's opening night of eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour in Tulsa review: 'One of the bravest, most powerful and even angriest performances U2 have ever done'". *Irish Independent*. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
68. Trakin, Roy (16 May 2018). "Concert Review: U2 Light Up the Forum on Experience + Innocence Tour". *Variety*. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
69. Kot, Greg (24 May 2018). "Elegance and some excess". *Chicago Tribune*. section Arts + Entertainment, pp. 1, 6. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
70. DeLuca, Dan (15 June 2018). "U2 keeps the faith with dramatic flair". *The Philadelphia Inquirer*. pp. C1, C5. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
71. Simpson, Dave (21 October 2018). "U2 review – eye-popping show finds rock icons at their most human". *The Guardian*. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
72. "Cardi B and Drake lead American Music Awards shortlist". *RTÉ.ie*. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
73. "30th Annual Pollstar Awards Nominations Announced". *Pollstar*. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
74. Warner, Denise (4 April 2019). "Cardi B Leads 2019 Billboard Music Awards Nominations With 21". *Billboard*. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
75. Frankenberg, Eric (20 November 2018). "U2 Wraps Experience + Innocence Tour With $125 Million Earned". *Billboard*. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
76. Borba, Ryan (25 June 2018). "Concert Pulse: U2 Lights Up The East Coast; Willie Nelson, John Prine Hit The Chart". *Pollstar*. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
77. Allen, Bob (14 November 2018). "U2 Grosses $126.2 Million With 'Experience + Innocence' Trek". *Pollstar*. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
78. Frankenberg, Erik (5 December 2018). "The Year in Touring Charts: Ed Sheeran Claims 2018's Top Tour; Taylor Swift, Beyoncé & Jay-Z Do Big Business". *Billboard*. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
79. Olivier, Bobby (26 June 2018). "Hits be damned, U2 doubles down on spectacle for tech-heavy new tour: review". *NJ.com*. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
80. "Gli U2 Salutano Dublino: Nella Quarta Serata in Scaletta Altre Rarità" \[U2 Greets Dublin: Fourth Evening Includes Other Rarities\]. *Rockol.it* (in Italian). 11 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
81.
82.

## InfoBox

Experience + Innocence Tour
| World tour by U2 | |
| --- | --- |
| Promotional poster for the tour | |
| Location | * North America * Europe |
| Associated album | *Songs of Experience* |
| Start date | 2 May 2018 (2018-05-02) |
| End date | 13 November 2018 (2018-11-13) |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 60 |
| Attendance | 923,733 |
| Box office | $126.2 million |
| U2 concert chronology | |


title: Sefë Kosharja

abstract: Sefë Mahmut Kosharja, also known as Sefë Qorri, was an Albanian resistance fighter and leader during the Albanian National Awakening, serving as a prominent member of the League of Prizren.

text:
# Sefë Kosharja

**Sefë Mahmut Kosharja**, also known as **Sefë Qorri**, was an Albanian resistance fighter and leader during the Albanian National Awakening, serving as a prominent member of the League of Prizren.

## Early life and Ottoman Army

Born Sefë Mahmuti sometime around 1825 in the village of Koshare near Ferizaj, Kosharja was recruited into the ranks of the Ottoman army at around 1855, serving for a total of 5 years. As a result of his military merits during his service, he was assigned to a unit of military reserves. He then served another 2 years in Istanbul. Around 1867, he returned to his homeland, married and began a family.

Together with other Albanians that were called to serve in Istanbul for Osman Pasha in 1876, he was stationed in Bulgaria, specifically Plevne, the site of a fierce battle. He led a group of men granted to him by Osman Pasha. During the intense fighting against the Russians, Bulgarians, Moldovans, and Romanians at the battle of Plevna, Sefë was injured and lost one eye. After that he was nicknamed Sefë Qorri meaning "Sefë the blind". After the fighting, he was granted passage home to Koshare, close to Ferizaj. As a veteran of war, he enjoyed the respect of Osman Pasha who had admired Sefë's courage.

Sefë Kosharja was also said to have participated in the extermination of Greek bands that had massacred Muslim Albanian civilians; he is also said to have killed a Greek commander during one of these skirmishes, and thereafter taking the commander's sword as his own weapon. It is possible that he had lost his eye during his battles with the Greeks.

## League of Prizren

Sefë Kosharja was one of the most notable figures of the League of Prizren, an Albanian political organisation that sought to create an independent Albania, free from the Ottomans, South Slavs, and the Greeks. He was also close with Mic Sokoli, and is believed to have freed him from the prison of Peja before the Ottoman soldiers could send him to Istanbul. He was a leading figure in the Battle of Slivova.

While serving in the Ottoman army, he was an artilleryman; he had managed to seize Turkish cannons and placed them in front of the hill of the village of Koshare. Along with several other artillerymen, Sefë built two catapults that hit Dervish Pasha's army from behind, enabling fighters like Mic Sokoli to attack the positions of the Ottoman cannons. After Mic Sokoli sacrificed himself by pressing his body towards a Turkish cannon, Sefë Qorri was seriously wounded in the leg and in one hand. He was captured alive by the Ottoman Turks and a military trial led by Dervish Pasha quickly sentenced him to death; he was hung on a tree. The Ottomans warned Sefë's family that there would be consequences if they tried to take his body down before 7 days had passed. During the night, three days past his hanging, his nephews - Asllan and Shaban Emini from the neighbourhood of Hysiqi in Shtime \- removed his body from the rope and buried their uncle in a secret location. Afterwards, they contacted their other uncles and showed them where they had buried him. He was given the title of Sefë Kosova for his bravery during his lifetime.

## Hero

Sefe Qorri is remembered today as an Albanian National Hero.

## InfoBox

| Sefë Kosharja | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| Born | c. 1825
Koshare, Ottoman Empire, (modern Kosovo) |
| Died | 1881
Ottoman Empire, (modern Kosovo) |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Other names | Sefë Qorri |
| Occupation | Military |
| Years active | 1860-1881 |
| Known for | Siege of Plevna
Participation in the League of Prizren
Battle of Slivova |


title: Ettrick (town), Wisconsin

abstract: Ettrick is a town in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. The population was 1,284 at the time of the 2000 census. The town surrounds the village of Ettrick. The unincorporated communities of Beaches Corners, Chapultepee, Hegg, Iduna, and Upper French Creek are also located in the town.

text:
# Ettrick (town), Wisconsin

**Ettrick** is a town in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. The population was 1,284 at the time of the 2000 census. The town surrounds the village of Ettrick. The unincorporated communities of Beaches Corners, Chapultepee, Hegg, Iduna, and Upper French Creek are also located in the town.

## Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 77.1 square miles (199.6 km2), all of it land.

## Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,284 people, 488 households, and 375 families residing in the town. The population density was 16.7 people per square mile (6.4/km2). There were 526 housing units at an average density of 6.8 per square mile (2.6/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 99.45% White, 0.08% Black or African American, 0.08% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.08% from two or more races. 0.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 488 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 3.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.0% were non-families. 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the town, the population was 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,625, and the median income for a family was $43,214. Males had a median income of $28,500 versus $20,382 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,593. About 2.5% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.7% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

## Notable people

1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
3. *BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF La Crosse, Trempealeau AND Buffalo Counties, WISCONSIN*. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. 1892. p. 769.
4. 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1909,' Biographical Sketch of Albert Twesme, pg. 1141

## InfoBox

| Ettrick, Wisconsin | |
| --- | --- |
| Town | |
| Ettrick Town Hall | |
| Location of Ettrick, Wisconsin | |
| Coordinates: 44°11′28″N 91°14′58″W / 44.19111°N 91.24944°W / 44.19111; -91.24944 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Trempealeau |
| Area | |
| Total | 77.1 sq mi (199.6 km2) |
| Land | 77.1 sq mi (199.6 km2) |
| Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 791 ft (241 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| Total | 1,284 |
| Density | 16.7/sq mi (6.4/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 608 |
| FIPS code | 55-24425 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1583175 |
| Website | http://townofettrickwi.com/ |


title: Bukit View Secondary School

abstract: Bukit View Secondary School (BTVSS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Bukit Batok, Singapore.

text:
# Bukit View Secondary School

**Bukit View Secondary School** (BTVSS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Bukit Batok, Singapore.

## History

The building of the school began on 30 September 1984 and was completed on 29 December 1985. It started classes with 450 students in the Secondary One and Two levels and 15 teachers on 3 January 1986, headed by the school's first principal, Ow Chiong Hoo. In the same year, the school saw the first Investiture of the BTVSS Student Council, the formation of the school's military band and the library. The school was fully functional with the completion of the outdoor fitness stations and the landscaped garden. In 1987, BVSS held its first track-and-field meet, and also was the convenor of the West Zone Secondary Schools Badminton Tournament. The school facility also installed an electric kiln installed for students to explore their artistic talents through pottery. On 15 July 1988, BVSS was officially opened by Chai Chong Yii, Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok. A school lecture hall was built and officially opened by Ong Chit Chung, Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok, on 6 November 1989. In 1997 BVSS also participated in the two-day Pesta Sukan National 10's Rugby Tournament for the first time.

On 13 November 1999, BVSS, along with seven other schools and the National Institute of Education, adopted the two-hectare Mandai Forest near Upper Seletar Reservoir to help restore the forest patch that was devastated by invasion of the Smilax-variable creeper plant on its grounds, over the years. The adoption project also planned to use forest habitat restoration to facilitate hands-on learning of forest ecology and biodiversity and equip students and teachers with field-based learning strategies. It was also an opportunity for students from different schools to collaborate on a project that is both about learning and saving the natural environment.

A student team led by Maziyan Abdullah participated in the 2008 World Media Masters on 28 March 2008, organised by IT Leisure and Education and supported by Creative Community Singapore, an initiative of the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts. The team, along with those from 15 other schools participating in the programme, had been provided with professional training on producing computer games since August 2007, enabling them to experience real-life computer game production work and a chance for the selected winning team to market their game product commercially international.

### Host of important events

BVSS played host to a number of educational activities for their educational zone. In 1987, the school organised the first Annual West Zone Inter-Primary Schools Languages, Maths & Science competitions. The school was also the host for the finals of the inaugural Primary Inter-School Chinese Debate between Pei Chun Public School and CHIJ on 23 June 1990. The debate, organised by BVSS principal Ow Chiong Hoo, saw CHIJ emerging as winners for the first of the biannual competition.

Between the years 1989 and 1991, the school hall was the venue of choice for important speeches delivered by VIPs from various social levels. They were organised by the Bukit Batok Community Centre Current Affairs Club, and chaired by Ong Chit Chung, Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok. Members of the public heard S. Vasoo, Member of Parliament for Tiong Bahru, delivering his thoughts on having a social network to help the needy, in his speech titled "Perspectives on the lower-income group" on 23 October 1990. On 23 August 1991 a speech on China's foreign policy was delivered by Zhang Qing, China's Ambassador to Singapore. Singapore's Ambassador to the United States Chan Heng Chee also co-chaired a public forum titled "The Challenges of Democracy" on 12 November 1991.

### Redevelopment of campus

The Ministry of Education launched PRIME on 11 May 1999 to upgrade or rebuild about 290 schools built over the last 20 to 30 years, and as part of the Ministry's "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" vision ensuring all schools have a conducive physical environment to enhance teaching and learning. Schools constructed before 1997 are upgraded with the construction of extension blocks and alteration of existing school buildings, or rebuilding that involves the construction of new buildings either on existing site or on available vacant sites. The project was implemented over a period of seven years from 1999 to 2005, in three phases with an estimated cost of S$4.46 billion.

BVSS's upgrading programme took place in June 2005, in Phase 6 of the PRIME project. This upgrading consisted of the building of the New Block housing the new library, professional sharing room and computer labs. The Old Block and School Hall/Canteen were being refurbished. The Technical Block was expanded to include Chemistry, Biology and Physics Labs, F&N department and the Design & Technology (D&T) Department by December 2006. The upgrading of the main school area was completed by May 2008, and seeing through the completion of the school field and a new indoor sports hall.

## Achievements

In 1989, the school won Best Award and prize money of $3,000 in the 1989 National Mural Competition, an event held in conjunction with the Community Week '89 themed at social cohesion and racial harmony.

A micromouse entry from Bukit View Secondary School, along with entries from Catholic Junior College and St. Joseph's Institution, was named overall winners for their shortest timings and intelligent maze-escaping strategies, in the fourth Singapore Inter-school Micromouse Competition held at Ngee Ann Polytechnic on 9 April 1994.

BVSS also made it as one of the ten finalists in the 2nd National Schools Newspaper Competition organised by *The Straits Times*. The school's team also came in 2nd place in the Gears Of War (GOW) tournament at the Interschool eGaming Challenge organized and held at Funan DigitaLife Mall in March 2007.

The school's principal, Vasuthevan K. Ramamurthy, was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) at the National Day Awards in 2016.

### Young Designers' Award

BVSS culture encourages art and design with its students. This culture resulted in a total of 19 awards for their innovate designs, in the 12 years' of the Young Designers Award. In the years 1997 - 2000 alone, the school produced seven winners consecutively in the competition.

## InfoBox

| Bukit View Secondary School
百德中学
Sekolah Menengah Bukit View | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| Location | |
|  | |
| 16 Bukit Batok Street 21, Singapore 659633 | |
| Coordinates | 1°20′45″N 103°45′09″E / 1.345841°N 103.752631°E / 1.345841; 103.752631 |
| Information | |
| Type | Government, Co-ed |
| Established | 3 January 1986 (1986-01-03) |
| Session | Single |
| School code | 3040 |
| Principal | Mr Jaswant Singh |
| Enrolment | Approx. 1,000 |
| Color(s) | Green   Yellow   Blue |
| Website | Bukit View Secondary School |


title: Cape lion

abstract: The Cape lion was a population of lions in South Africa's Natal and Cape Provinces that was extirpated in the mid-19th century. The type specimen originated at the Cape of Good Hope and was described in 1842. Traditionally, the Cape lion was considered a distinct subspecies of lion, Panthera leo melanochaita. However, phylogeographic analysis has shown that lion populations in Southern and East Africa are closely related. In 2017, the subspecies Panthera leo melanochaita was recircumscribed to include all lion populations in Southern and East Africa. Genetic analysis published in 2023 suggests that Cape lions were not particularly distinctive from other Southern African lion populations.

text:
# Cape lion

The **Cape lion** was a population of lions in South Africa's Natal and Cape Provinces that was extirpated in the mid-19th century. The type specimen originated at the Cape of Good Hope and was described in 1842.

Traditionally, the Cape lion was considered a distinct subspecies of lion, *Panthera leo melanochaita*. However, phylogeographic analysis has shown that lion populations in Southern and East Africa are closely related. In 2017, the subspecies *Panthera leo melanochaita* was recircumscribed to include all lion populations in Southern and East Africa. Genetic analysis published in 2023 suggests that Cape lions were not particularly distinctive from other Southern African lion populations.

## Taxonomy

*Felis (Leo) melanochaita* was a black-maned lion specimen from the Cape of Good Hope that was described by Ch. H. Smith in 1842. In the 19th century, naturalists and hunters recognised it as a distinct subspecies because of this dark mane colour. In the 20th century, some authors supported this view of the Cape lion being a distinct subspecies. Vratislav Mazák hypothesized that it evolved geographically isolated from other populations by the Great Escarpment.

This theory was questioned in the early 21st century. Genetic exchanges between lion populations in the Cape, Kalahari and Transvaal regions, and farther east are considered having been possible through a corridor between the escarpment and the Indian Ocean. Results of phylogeographic studies support this notion of lions in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa being genetically close. Based on the analysis of 357 lion samples from 10 countries, it is thought that lions migrated from Southern to East Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Analysis of 194 lion samples from 22 countries suggest that populations in Southern and East Africa are distinct from populations in West and North Africa and Asia. In 2017, lion populations in Southern and East Africa were subsumed under *P. l. melanochaita*.

### Zoological specimens

A few natural history museums keep Cape lion specimens in their collections:

## Characteristics

The type specimen of the Cape lion was described as very large with black-edged ears and a black mane extending beyond the shoulders and under the belly. Skulls of two lion specimen in the British Natural History Museum from the Orange River basin were described as a little shorter in the occipital regions than other lions in South Africa and with a tendency to develop the second lower premolar.

American zoologist Edmund Heller described the Cape lion's skull as longer than those of equatorial lions, by at least 1.0 in (25 mm) on average, despite being comparatively narrow. He considered the Cape lion to have been 'distinctly' bigger than other lions in Africa. Lions approaching 272 kg (600 lb) were shot south of the Vaal River. 19th century authors claimed that the Cape lion was bigger than the Asiatic lion.

Results of a long-term study indicate that the colour of lion manes is influenced by climatic variables and varies between individuals. Manes are darker and longer in cool seasons, with a 2023 study finding that the colour of Cape lion manes exhibited the same dark-light colour variation found in other lions and that mane colour was not a distinctive characteristic of this population.

## Distribution and habitat

In the early 19th century, lions still occurred in the Karoo plains and in the Northern Cape. In 1844, lions were sighted south of the Riet River. The last lions south of the Orange River were sighted between 1850 and 1858. In the northern Orange Free State, lions may have survived into the 1860s.

In 2003, six lions from Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park were relocated to Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape Province.

## In captivity

In 2000, specimens asserted to be descendants of the Cape lion were found in captivity in Russia, and two of them were brought to South Africa. South African zoo director John Spence reportedly was long fascinated by stories of these grand lions scaling the walls of Jan van Riebeeck's Fort de Goede Hoop in the 17th century. He studied van Riebeeck's journals to discern the Cape lion's features, which included a long black mane, black in their ears, and reportedly a larger size. He believed that some Cape lions might have been taken to Europe and interbred with other lions. His 30-year search led to his discovery of black-maned lions with features of the Cape lion at the Novosibirsk Zoo in Siberia, in 2000. Besides having a black mane, the specimen that attracted Spence had a "wide face and sturdy legs". Novosibirsk Zoo's population, which had 40 cubs over a 30-year period, continues, and Spence, aided by the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, was allowed to bring two cubs back to Tygerberg Zoo. Back in South Africa, Spence explained that he hoped to breed lions that at least looked like Cape lions, and to have DNA testing done to establish whether or not the cubs were descendants of the original Cape lion. However, Spence died in 2010 and the zoo closed in 2012, with the lions expected to go to Drakenstein Lion Park.

## InfoBox

| Cape lion | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| Male at Jardin des plantes, Paris circa 1860 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Pantherinae |
| Genus: | *Panthera* |
| Species: | *P. leo*<br> |
| Subspecies: | *P. l. melanochaita* |
| Population: | **Cape lion** |


title: Protein fragment library

abstract: Protein backbone fragment libraries have been used successfully in a variety of structural biology applications, including homology modeling, de novo structure prediction, and structure determination. By reducing the complexity of the search space, these fragment libraries enable more rapid search of conformational space, leading to more efficient and accurate models.

text:
# Protein fragment library

**Protein backbone fragment libraries** have been used successfully in a variety of structural biology applications, including homology modeling, de novo structure prediction, and structure determination. By reducing the complexity of the search space, these fragment libraries enable more rapid search of conformational space, leading to more efficient and accurate models.

## Motivation

Proteins can adopt an exponential number of states when modeled discretely. Typically, a protein's conformations are represented as sets of dihedral angles, bond lengths, and bond angles between all connected atoms. The most common simplification is to assume ideal bond lengths and bond angles. However, this still leaves the phi-psi angles of the backbone, and up to four dihedral angles for each side chain, leading to a worst case complexity of *k*6\**n* possible states of the protein, where *n* is the number of residues and *k* is the number of discrete states modeled for each dihedral angle. In order to reduce the conformational space, one can use protein fragment libraries rather than explicitly model every phi-psi angle.

Fragments are short segments of the peptide backbone, typically from 5 to 15 residues long, and do not include the side chains. They may specify the location of just the C-alpha atoms if it is a reduced atom representation, or all the backbone heavy atoms (N, C-alpha, C carbonyl, O). Note that side chains are typically not modeled using the fragment library approach. To model discrete states of a side chain, one could use a rotamer library approach.

This approach operates under the assumption that local interactions play a large role in stabilizing the overall protein conformation. In any short sequence, the molecular forces constrain the structure, leading to only a small number of possible conformations, which can be modeled by fragments. Indeed, according to Levinthal's paradox, a protein could not possibly sample all possible conformations within a biologically reasonable amount of time. Locally stabilized structures would reduce the search space and allow proteins to fold on the order of milliseconds.

## Construction

Libraries of these fragments are constructed from an analysis of the Protein Data Bank (PDB). First, a representative subset of the PDB is chosen which should cover a diverse array of structures, preferably at a good resolution. Then, for each structure, every set of *n* consecutive residues is taken as a sample fragment. The samples are then clustered into *k* groups, based upon how similar they are to each other in spatial configuration, using algorithms such as *k*-means clustering. The parameters *n* and *k* are chosen according to the application (see discussion on complexity below). The centroids of the clusters are then taken to represent the fragment. Further optimization can be performed to ensure that the centroid possesses ideal bond geometry, as it was derived by averaging other geometries.

Because the fragments are derived from structures that exist in nature, the segment of backbone they represent will have realistic bonding geometries. This helps avoid having to explore the full space of conformation angles, much of which would lead to unrealistic geometries.

The clustering above can be performed without regard to the identities of the residues, or it can be residue-specific. That is, for any given input sequence of amino acids, a clustering can be derived using only samples found in the PDB with the same sequence in the *k*-mer fragment. This requires more computational work than deriving a sequence-independent fragment library but can potentially produce more accurate models. Conversely, a larger sample set is required, and one may not achieve full coverage.

## Example use: loop modeling

In homology modeling, a common application of fragment libraries is to model the loops of the structure. Typically, the alpha helices and beta sheets are threaded against a template structure, but the loops in between are not specified and need to be predicted. Finding the loop with the optimal configuration is NP-hard. To reduce the conformational space that needs to be explored, one can model the loop as a series of overlapping fragments. The space can then be sampled, or if the space is now small enough, exhaustively enumerated.

One approach for exhaustive enumeration goes as follows. Loop construction begins by aligning all possible fragments to overlap with the three residues at the N terminus of the loop (the anchor point). Then all possible choices for a second fragment are aligned to (all possible choices of) the first fragment, ensuring that the last three residues of the first fragment overlap with the first three residues of the second fragment. This ensures that the fragment chain forms realistic angles both within the fragment and between fragments. This is then repeated until a loop with the correct length of residues is constructed.

The loop must both begin at the anchor on the N side and end at the anchor on the C side. Each loop must therefore be tested to see if its last few residues overlap with the C terminal anchor. Very few of these exponential numbers of candidate loops will close the loop. After filtering out loops that don't close, one must then determine which loop has the optimal configuration, as determined by having the lowest energy using some molecular mechanics force field.

## Complexity

The complexity of the state space is still exponential in the number of residues, even after using fragment libraries. However, the degree of the exponent is reduced. For a library of *F*-mer fragments, with *L* fragments in the library, and to model a chain of *N* residues overlapping each fragment by 3, there will be *L*\[*N*/(*F*-3)\]+1 possible chains. This is much less than the *K**N* possibilities if explicitly modeling the phi-psi angles as *K* possible combinations, as the complexity grows at a degree smaller than *N*.

The complexity increases in *L*, the size of the fragment library. However, libraries with more fragments will capture a greater diversity of fragment structures, so there is a trade off in the accuracy of the model vs the speed of exploring the search space. This choice governs what *K* is used when performing the clustering.

Additionally, for any fixed *L*, the diversity of structures capable of being modeled decreases as the length of the fragments increases. Shorter fragments are more capable of covering the diverse array of structures found in the PDB than longer ones. Recently, it was shown that libraries of up to length 15 are capable of modeling 91% of the fragments in the PDB to within 2.0 angstroms.