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Metallica Leads LIVE75 Chart, Def Leppard Breaks Through
Photo by Matthew Baker/Getty Images – Metallica
James Hetfield (R) and Lars Ulrich of Metallica perform on stage at Twickenham Stadium on June 20, 2019 in London, England.
Metallica soars to No. 1 on LIVE75 on the strength of eight recent performances from the band’s ongoing “WorldWired” tour that launched in 2016. Shows at the final six stops on the tour’s European leg that ran from May through late August contribute to the tally for these rankings, as does their two-night event with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the opening of San Francisco’s Chase Center Sept. 6 and 8. Boxoffice revenue from all eight concerts hit $36.6 million from 371,514 sold tickets at seven venues, producing a per show average of 46,439.
The rockers are also the chart’s HOT SHOT, representing the highest charting new active tour. Metallica hit the chart for the first time in the May 20 issue, the first of four consecutive weeks at No. 1. They are still one of only two acts (along with Ed Sheeran) to earn that distinction since LIVE75 was introduced this year.
Pop star Shawn Mendes moves up in the ranking this week – the only artist in the Top 10 to do so – landing in the seventh position after last week’s turn at No. 10. He scores a sold ticket average of 14,692 based on sales from an impressive 17-performance run during the eligibility time period, the most of any artist on the chart. Boxoffice counts from 12 venues (five with two-show engagements) in Canada and the U.S. were the final stops on his current world tour’s summertime trek through North America that spanned 12 weeks, wrapping Sept. 6 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. That event was his biggest show ever at the Boxoffice and marked his first stadium headlining stint. With a hometown crowd of 50,772 in attendance, Mendes grossed $3.4 million at the sold-out concert. Fellow Canadian Alessia Cara was his opening act.
Topping Mendes’ three-place rise on the chart is jazz legend Herbie Hancock who earns NOISE MAKER status with the largest jump in the ranking. He heads upward eight notches to the 40th position with a sales average of 2,674 from performances in three American venues – Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium Aug. 11, San Diego’s Humphreys Concerts By The Bay Aug. 20 and the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., Aug. 23rd.
Hancock, an Oscar and multiple Grammy winner, was joined on the Berkeley stage by contemporary jazz greats Kamasi Washington and Robert Glasper with 5,618 fans present for the concert. It was produced by the Bay Area’s Another Planet Entertainment.
Also from the jazz world, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue joined up with blues rockers Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals for a series of August dates in U.S. markets, and the co-headliners make an entrance on the chart at No. 37 this week. Concerts at Prior Lake, Minn.; Vienna, Va.; and Portland, Maine averaged 3,054 sold seats per show with sales in those venues totaling just under half-a-million dollars.