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Rolling Stones Jump To No.1, Metallica, McCartney Debut on Concert Pulse
The Rolling Stones have jumped straight to the top after submitting their full “No Filter” European tour to Pollstar, with an average gross of $10 million per event and an average of 62,945 tickets sold.
– Rolling Stones No Filter Tour
The mammoth gross per night puts the Stones above the already mighty U2 on the Pollstar Global Concert Pulse, which ranks tours by average gross per event over the last three months.
“Every artist’s tour needs to be designed differently and designed properly,” he said. “We do have to marry with art with commerce, that’s our job.
Average ticket price for Metallica was $104, putting them within a few dollars of No. 3 Coldplay ($101), and No. 5 Guns N’ Roses ($105).
Also new on the chart, Paul McCartney is not far behind at No. 7, with an average gross of $3.18 million and 25,884 tickets sold per event. Average ticket price was $123.
South American promoter T4F – Time For Fun handled Brazil. Oct. 20 at Itaipava Arena Fonte Norte sold 39,868 tickets and grossed $3.53 million. Other dates include Oct. 17 at Mineirao Stadium (41,374, $4.23 million), Oct. 15 at Allianz Parqu in Sao Paulo (46,070, $5.56 million) and Oct. 13 at Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, which sold 45,774 tickets and grossed $6.07 million).
Since debuting on Pollstar’s Concert Pulse in our 7/24/17 issue, U2 has topped the chart 15 times. Coldplay debuted at No. 1 on the 8/14/17 Concert Pulse and topped the chart three times.
U2 is at $9.15 million, with 21 cities reported on the chart and averaging 79,510 tickets sold. U2’s average ticket price of $115 puts them behind the Stones by gross, who charge an average of $158 per ticket. Concerts West Co-CEO John Meglen told Pollstar about the Stones tour, and addressed ticket prices, saying the Concerts West / AEG Presents tour found the “sweet spot.”
“Every artist’s tour needs to be designed differently and designed properly,” he said. “We do have to marry with art with commerce, that’s our job.
“It’s one of the greatest things in your career when you get to do Rolling Stones tours,” Meglen continued, also noting recent tours by Roger Waters and Celine Dion. “For us it’s more about, when they say they want to do it, we get so excited and want to make sure that we do it right. We’ve been really fortunate.”
The Stones played 14 European shows from Sept. 9 to Oct. 25, kicking off at the Freilictbuhne Stadtpark in Hamburg, Germany, which sold 81,193 tickets and grossed $11.95 million. Other shows included Olympiastadion in Munich (72,639, $11.79 million), Red Bull Ring in Austria (95,004, $11.2 million), and Amsterdam Arena in the Netherlands Sept. 30, which sold 54,791 tickets and grossed $8.76 million.
The Global Concert Pulse numbers slightly differ from the total tour numbers because the Sept. 23 Lucca Summer Festival in Italy is not counted as a headline appearance on the Global Pulse chart.
Also new on top 5 of the Concert Pulse this week is Metallica, which went to No. 4 after its “WorldWired Tour” of the U.S. and Europe. Differing a bit from other top tours this year, Metallica played U.S. stadiums but was mostly indoors for Europe. Pollstar spoke to Metallica show director Dan Braun about the indoor production, which includes the first drone swarm for a major touring act.
Those newly reported dates include North American stadiums like BC Place in Vancouver, which sold 31,075 tickets and grossed $3.4 million Aug. 14. Other dates include Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal July 19 (29,218 tickets, $3.17 million), SunTrust Park in Atlanta July 9 (39,024, $4.53 million) and Camping World Stadium in Orlando, which moved 39,961 tickets and grossed $4.01 million.
Average ticket price for Metallica was $104, putting them within a few dollars of No. 3 Coldplay ($101), and No. 5 Guns N’ Roses ($105).
Although indoors for the Europe portion of the tour, Metallica made up for the smaller venues by playing multiple nights, including two shows at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany (Sept. 14 and Sept. 16), which sold a combined 36,326 tickets and grossed $3.85 million. Another double was AccorHotels Arena Sept 8 and Sept 10, which sold 36,765 and grossed $3.65 million, as well as the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam Sept 4 and Sept. 6, which sold 33,498 and grossed $2.77 million). The tour, promoted by Live Nation, continues into May taking in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia, ending at Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena May 9.
Also new on the chart, Paul McCartney is not far behind at No. 7, with an average gross of $3.18 million and 25,884 tickets sold per event. Average ticket price was $123.
The McCartney data is split between recent Brazil shows as well U.S. summer arena dates promoted by Marshall Arts / AEG Presents and Beaver Productions.
The data include sold-out secondary and tertiary markets including CenturyLink Center in Louisiana July 23, (12,053 tickets, $2.1 million) Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines July 21 (13,549, $2.16 million), Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita July 19 (12,053, $2.09 million), and Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Ga., which sold 10,992 tickets and grossed $2.32 million.
South American promoter T4F – Time For Fun handled Brazil. Oct. 20 at Itaipava Arena Fonte Norte sold 39,868 tickets and grossed $3.53 million. Other dates include Oct. 17 at Mineirao Stadium (41,374, $4.23 million), Oct. 15 at Allianz Parqu in Sao Paulo (46,070, $5.56 million) and Oct. 13 at Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, which sold 45,774 tickets and grossed $6.07 million).
Pollstar’s Global Concert Pulse ranks each artist by its average boxoffice gross per city worldwide and is based on data reported within the last three months. All figures in U.S. dollars.