According to Jay Smith of Pollstar, when it comes to the Top 50 Worldwide Tours, Bon Jovi was the top earner.
Bon Jovi grossed $142.1 million. With an average ticket price of $95.60, the band played 60 shows in 58 cities, sold a total 1,486,726 tickets and achieved an average gross of $2,450,476 per show.
Another New Jersey act captured second place. With an average ticket price of $107.19, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s total tickets sold was 969,504 for 31 shows in 21 cities. The group’s average show gross was $4,948,700 for a total gross of $103.9 million.
A total gross of $87.7 million was enough to put The Rolling Stones in the No. 3 position on Pollstar’s Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart while the same figures enabled the band to capture the top slot on our Top 100 North American tours. Sporting a heart-stopping average ticket price of $346.09, the original bad boys of rock played 18 shows in 11 cities, grossed an average of $7,969,276 per show and sold 253,296 tickets overall.
Taylor Swift followed the Stones in North America, capturing the No. 2 position with a $58.5 million total gross. Ms. Swift earned her money by doing 37 shows in 27 cities, averaging $85.11 per ticket and $2,164,879 per show.
Fleetwood Mac appearing in the third position on Pollstar’s mid-year North American Tours reminds us that the band’s absence from the concert stage only fueled fans’ desires to hear those classic songs performed live one more time. Scoring a total gross of $58.1 million during the first six months of the year, the band played 42 shows in 42 cities with an average ticket price of $107.80, resulting in an average per-show gross of $1,383,333.
But the above figures, while fun to show & tell, merely offer a peak at the concert industry’s past six months. What you really need to do is feast your eyes on all the data contained within Pollstar’s Top 100 Worldwide and North American Tour charts.
source: pollstar.com
31 Responses
I love the fact that I can see most of my metal bands from the 80’s at clubs and casino’s .
Ticketmaster/the artist/ and the fan( that supports these prices) has ruined arena shows for me with the pathetic prices.
At 45 , at least I saw all my bands in their prime for a resonable price
As far as the music being crap from bands as you guys are saying . I dont agree
These bands are in their late 40’s,50,s and approaching 60. There is not a market for them by the youth . The youth dosent want to listen to ” old guys ” . Unless you are the Stones and can put out new material that is crap and get away with it. Or Kiss, where you put out crap and have impersonators on stage and go out on a co-headliner and play the same setlist since 96 to soccor moms at the state fair grandstand.
And the whole thing about metal fans being loyal like Trunk and everybody says is only true to a small group like myself and the people here.
Alot of people I grew up with that listened to metal dont follow it anymore..
‘Or Kiss, where you put out crap’. Bigsled, you’re an idiot. Monster was one of the best new releases from any hard rock band this year. If you don’t like Tommy and Eric, I get it. But that comment is illogical. Last time I checked fans are still buying a lot of tickets to see KISS live. I get it if you don’t like it, but clearly their strategy is working. And in an industry where musical acts are trying to get paid, I won’t argue with their strategy, and I liked their latest album – like many others.
Good for you if you like it . Its dosen’t make me a idiot because I dont…
Its sucks in my opinion compared to revenge and back
Kiss use to sell on their own, not going out on dbl bill’s .
Last time they tried to go out even in the New Jersey / New York area by themselves it didnt sell anything like 96-00 and in their heyday. Kiss is a shell of their former selves. But……. if you and Joe the plumber ( who only owns their greatist hits) want to go see them live, great because thats who kiss appeals to now . Most of their fanbase left in 00. Now, they promote themselves with fashion shows, reality shows, cola ads, etc . Sell their release’s thru Walmart contracts…. Hell, most of their tickets are sold in the cheap seats,lawn seats etc. And when it gets close to the night of the show, ticketking, etc dumps all the good seats back into ticketmaster and they sell them for cheap in package deals ; Fact !
Actually not a fact. KISS is selling out Canada as we speak. Other than their dbl bill with Crue, name the last double bill they’ve done. They are one of the few bands still touring around the world (just came back from Europe and are heading out to Japan after Canada and the US). Your not an idiot for not liking this version of KISS – you’re an idiot for your general statements that you throw out so that you can back up your own emotional feelings towards a band. The fact that they are merchandising themselves even more now than ever supports the point that bands want or need to make money to survive. As for the ‘Joe the plumber’ crack – why don’t you stop thinking your the last of the legitimate metal fan knowitalls. If you’re pissed off that a 10 year old wants to see KISS and wasn’t alive to see them in their heyday, and their parent is going to take them – you’re a fool. Thats who KISS is selling to nowadays. Its sooooo easy for lame asses like you to dump on them for who they are today . So stop quoting yourself as factual and get into the 21st Century.
Mmm.
Poison
Crue X 2 tours
Aerosmith
The alive tour tanked and ticketmaster had to do what i explained.
The rock the empty seats tour tanked and ticketmaster had to do what i explained .
Go to any online broker right now in Canada and tell me if they have any tickets . Oh, they do , well, I guess their not sold out then are they little boy .
General statements ? The ticketmaster ticket drives are true and a fact . Its ok if you want to stick up for your favorite band . I grew up and saw kiss in the 70’s and let me tell ya they aren’t nearly the same band anymore little boy .. Now go drink some more kiss kool-aid and listen to all the spin $immons tells you lol……….
Agreed….Bigsled is a moron !
Kiss co-headlined with Poison….really? I think Poison opened for Kiss on that tour Sourpuss. And did a short tour with Aerosmith (alas Metallica / GNR 20 years ago – wanna whine about them too?).
And because a concert isn’t a complete sell out its now a failure? You’ve got high standards there Littlesled. Guess most bands should pack it in based on that. VH didn’t sell out everywhere either on their NA Tour, guess they shouldn’t have wasted their time. Oh and BTW check out Bon Jovi’s stats for the NA Tour – not exactly selling out every stadium they played. Wanna call them out as well? I too saw KISS in the 70’s so you can pull your pants back up Sledder and find another blog to bitch about and try to show your superiority over. It ain’t kool aid pal. To slag ANY band that has been touring the world for 40 years, through thick and thin is beyond ignorant. You probably think Ace played all the solos on Destroyer too. Best you stay in Moms basement for the rest of the night and find a blog about Maiden, Sabbath or Priest that you can complain about. Apparently if you can’t play in front of 20K a night your now a failure.
You need to learn how to read . Maybe then you can teach your kid then how to read without seeing thing that are not there dude. lol
“Or Kiss, where you put out crap and have impersonators on stage and go out on a co-headliner and play the same setlist since 96 to soccer moms at the state fair grandstand “.
^^^ That was my statement that you got your panty’s in a bunch over … Nowhere did I say Kiss’ attendence figures were a failure . I just explained the facts on what the ” tribute to the makeup kiss ” has to do now to sell tickets and my thoughts on their newer material ( that Gene swore they would never make anymore)
Whe your kid gets older and Gene and Paul retire but dress up new players in the catman,spaceman,etc makeup your kid can continue ,like you , drinking kiss kool-aid , and pretending they were never really a creative band with ” real ” people but only child characters not unlike superman Maybe if something happens to you you can dress up another dude and they can prertend to be your kids dad ……… Hell, if he’s lucky maybe they will still be playing the same setlist……….
I can read just fine. If you could read my comments, you’d see I took offence to your comments about them ‘putting out crap’ and said so in my first response to you. Whatsamatter – can’t you read?!?!? Now you say you’re not questioning their attendance figures, yet stating they are playing at state fairs. So back to very original response to you, you still are an idiot. There’s no kool aid to drink. You’re bitter that its not the original 4 in the makeup. We all get it. So like I say about VH without Anthony, Sabbath without Ward, or GNR without anyone buy Axl – you can take it or leave it. Don’t like it, don’t buy it. Don’t really care. I’m just sooooooo tired of guys like you with your superiority complexes talking like you know so much more than everyone and that the band seems to owe you something because you think you were there first in line way back when. With the millions of dollars at stake and if you were Gene or Paul (remember if you’re going to blame one – then blame both), tell me you’d do anything differently and refuse the money. Please tell me you would – cause then I’ll call you a liar. There are some ‘reunions’ I like, and some I don’t. The ones I don’t, I don’t care about. Monster is a surprisingly good record. Is it Destroyer? No. But guess what, there more impersonators on that album than there are on Monster. So KISS is probably more honest now than they’ve ever been. You just don’t like the truth, so you make up things to bitch about. Save your complaints for Mom – cause nobody here gives a shit Sled.
Speaking of rehashed riffs, the new Kadavar album is full of them.
I like your Big Band analogy, John G. Metal for us is like 50s music was to people in the 80s. Yes, it’s scary but 1983 is 30 years ago, just like 1953 was 30 years ago in 1983. Small venues can be cool. Years ago I saw the Blaze-fronted Maiden in a small venue, and Murray & Harris were right there up close. Still waiting for Metallica to come back down to that level, haha.
The passage of time is a weird thing. I never really sensed it for a long time and I still don’t. I still wear socks with my sneaks and shorts – I’m supposed to wear Tevas or Crocs as a person circa 2013. Socks are for idiots – right? Some people never do get it. But I remeber people talking about Big Band music making a “comeback” in the 1980s. It never really did. Linda Ronstadt did a “rekkid” with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and it put BB music back into the charts for a bit.
I’d bet most of us that follow Eddie are from the same generation. I’m 47 and saw a lot of concerts from 1979 till around 1995 or so. Now I pick and choose. It’s rare I hear something new that really grabs me. I listen to the Boneyard and I’ll hear new KISS, Rush, Black Sabbath (which I thought was pretty good) and Deep Purple and the stuff doesn’t grab me. With great music you don’t usually have to hear it more than once. I still remember getting knocked out hearing VH “Cradle will Rock” or “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” for the first time. Same with a lot of AC/DC, BOC, OZZY. Only had to hear it once. Deep Purple – “Knocking on your Backdoor” and “Perfect Strangers” – great stuff.
MTV ruined rock and roll. They took it from being a subculture and blasted it 24/7. I also blame bands like Twisted Sister for their entertaining, yet incredibly lame videos clearly directed to (as Ace Frehley would say “da kids.” Allowing Michael Jackson and other non-rockers on MTV was the final nail in the coffin. Execs should have just started another channel. Another discussion for another day – and BTW look where our culture is now, for those that think rock was a bad influence. Young people found it much easier to piss off their parents and be rebels by acting like ghetto boys instead of getting into sex.drugs and rock’n roll.
Totally agree and I’m in the same age group as you (44). Its somewhat freaking me out that I’m taking my 8 year old to his first concert this month and its KISS. They were the fist band I saw live as well, and ironically as an 8 year old. He doesn’t care about Peter or Ace. He only cares about the Spaceman and the Cat, and I won’t give him the history lesson. Most new metal does not intrigue me, even from classic artists, although I do enjoy the latest VH, Sabbath, KISS. But like you, I pick and choose now. I can still listen to my favorite albums and enjoy that music. It doesn’t bother me that its ‘really old’. I can still get that ‘feeling’ when I listen to albums like Piece of Mind, British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance, Rage for Order, KISS Alive (and Alive 2) and the list goes on. I don’t lament the fact that the genre is potentially disappearing. Rather I celebrate the music, the culture, the friends and memories it brought me. I would be a totally different person without it. However John, you gotta ditch the socks with the sneaks Dude…..that is kinda lame Bro.
I think it’s fair to make this GENERAL statement: metal bands of the past have to work harder today to keep their fan base active and interested. I think this is great–what I call mid level acts like LA Guns have learned that by making themselves accessible after shows (puctures snd autogrsphs) really helps solidify their reputation as well as boost merchandise sales. Plus it’s just good PR for the band–from a fans standpoint it’s simply really cool to know you’re appreciated and makes me want to see the band next time they’re in town.
True you can get cheap dumped seats just before shows. Bon Jovi will be on their fourth leg of their U.S. tour alone in the Fall, talk about over-kill. Kiss’ latest was a monster, christ Thayer could lead a band himself instead of being the Ace clone. Expect a “Jersey Boys” show with Kiss clones doing the Kisstory on Broadway and worldwide soon….imagine actors doing scenes of Peter & Ace leaving etc.. Don’t expect Kiss to go out solo again in the U.S.. Those Crue-Kiss venues would have been 39% less without the guys from L.A.. It breaks my heart seeing some of these bands playing to 244 people in a club. MTV saved rock, it gave it visual.