Features
Just Can’t Get Enough: Depeche Mode’s World Tour Tops $202 Million
Getty IMages – Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode’s highly expressive Dave Gahan at Chicago’s United Center on June 1, 2018.
After a final sweep through Europe this summer with appearances at 13 festivals, Depeche Mode brought an end to its Global Spirit world tour that accrued over $202 million in boxoffice earnings during a 15-month span. The veteran English band performed for 2.5 million fans at headlining dates in stadiums, arenas and outdoor venues worldwide – as well as a half-million more at the festivals – in support of its 14th studio album Spirit.
The tour launched in Sweden in May of 2017 behind the album’s release seven weeks earlier and continued through this summer, wrapping in Germany in late July. At 130 shows, it was the longest-running tour in Depeche Mode’s multiple-decade history, surpassing the 124 performances of the group’s “Touring the Angel” jaunt in 2005-06.
The Global Spirit tour covered more than 30 countries on three continents during its run. It began with a stadium date at Friends Arena near Stockholm on May 5, 2017, a sold-out concert that drew 36,400 fans. Venues in 32 European cities were booked for the opening leg that ran through July. Even though the bulk of the dates were in stadiums, the best-attended concert during the first series of shows was an outdoor event in Leipzig, Germany at Festweise.
Depeche Mode drew a crowd of 70,002 and racked up $5.2 million in revenue for the May 27 performance in Leipzig, but the top-grossing single show last summer was a sellout at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. The band played the German capital city on June 22, earning $5.6 million from 68,157 total tickets.
The second leg of the tour covered 25 cities in North America from Aug. 23, 2017, through the end of October. It included one two-show engagement at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sept. 9 and 11 with 28,713 sold seats. The highest boxoffice numbers, however, came from a four-night stand in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl (Oct. 12-18). A total gross of $7.4 million from 65,808 sold seats made Depeche Mode the highest-grossing touring artist at the amphitheater in 2017. The late rock legend Tom Petty followed as the second-highest grosser at the L.A. venue last year with $5.3 million from his three-show run in September just days prior to his death.
For the tour’s third leg, the band returned to Europe for an arena run that began in Dublin on Nov. 15 and continued on Jan. 9, after a three-week holiday break.
That stretch of shows ended with a Feb. 25 concert in Moscow. Among the highlights was the group’s return to Berlin following its successful stadium performance the previous summer. For the winter run, Depeche Mode played a two-night engagement at the city’s Mercedes-Benz Arena on Jan. 17 and 19 with 27,958 in attendance. The total number of sold tickets from both Berlin venues reached 96,115.
A seven-show stint in six Latin American cities followed in March with stadium dates in all markets except Bogotá, Colombia, where the band played at Simón Bolívar Park. The highest-grossing engagement from the entire tour came during the Latin leg with $7.6 million earned at Mexico City’s Foro Sol stadium. The venue moved 128,521 tickets for shows on March 11 and 13, the greatest number of sold tickets at one venue during the whole trek.
The tour’s last hurrah in North America was a nine-date arena run in May and June that led into the final stand in Europe. After main- stage appearances at festivals in 13 European cities – culminating with the Lollapalooza
Paris event on July 21 – Depeche Mode closed out the trek with a third trip to Berlin.
The Global Spirit tour’s finale was set at Waldbühne, the city’s 82-year-old outdoor amphitheater. From concerts July 23 and 25, the band earned $3.8 million from 43,783 sold seats, bringing the overall sold ticket count in that one German market to 139,898.
Along with Berlin, Depeche Mode also made three trips to Paris during the tour with appearances at a stadium, an arena, and, finally, the Lollapalooza festival. Numerous markets hosted the group for two visits during the run.