Chart Scene: Metallica Debuts On Live75 With North American Tour Launch

Metallica makes a debut appearance at No. 1 on LIVE75, scoring “Hot Shot” status as the touring headliner ranked highest in their first week on the chart. The band racked up a total of 224,493 sold tickets at the first three performances on the North American leg of the ”M72” world tour, averaging 74,831 tickets per show to earn the top ranking.

The first of the North American venues was MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with performances slated for Aug. 4 and 6. The first night of the weekend engagement drew a crowd of 80,977 which was surpassed the second night by 82,051 attendees. Together, the sold-out concerts in the New York City metropolitan area grossed $20.8 million. Then the following weekend, the heavy metal veterans played Montreal’s Olympic Stadium for two performances, the first of which earned a $7.2 million gross from 61,465 tickets on Aug. 11.

Metallica kicked off the tour on April 27 with a two-night stint at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, followed by two-show engagements in Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and Gothenburg, Sweden. A headlining appearance at the annual “Download Festival” held in Castle Donington, England was also part of the European leg of the trek that ended on the 18th of June.

On the Artist Power Index, the highest-ranked chart debut belongs to Karol G who joined the ranks of stadium headliners in North America with the launch of her “Mañana Será Bonito” tour. She enters the rankings at No. 15 following the tour’s Aug. 11 opener at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas followed by a performance on the 14th at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

The Colombian singer and Latin Grammy Award winner for Best New Artist in 2018 performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago a week prior to the tour’s kickoff, headlining the opening night of the festival along with Billie Eilish. Her most recent box-office result reported to Pollstar was also from a stadium – a sold-out, three-night engagement at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, produced by Move Concerts and Rimas Entertainment. Her total ticket count from all three shows, March 10-12, reached 70,280 with a gross recorded at $6.1 million.

Lana Del Rey also makes her first appearance on the Artist Power Index, holding the No. 50 position on the strength of two stadium performances in Mexico City. The singer, who also headlined at Lollapalooza in Chicago earlier this month, played the Foro Sol stadium in the Mexican capital city on Aug. 15-16. It was her first appearance at the venue since performing there in 2016 as part of the “Corona Capital Festival.”

The top eight performers ranked on the Artist Power Index hold their same chart position as in last week’s issue with Taylor Swift remaining at No. 1 based on top-four scores in all four chart metrics: Live, Streaming, Social and Airplay where she is ranked the highest. The Weeknd, No. 2 on the chart, keeps his slot in the lineup strengthened by the highest Streaming score, while Beyoncé, No. 6, has the highest Live score among the 50 artists ranked in this issue.

Beyoncé also holds the “Heavy Hitter” tag on LIVE75 for a second consecutive week with the highest gross average among the 75 touring artists on the chart. She is ranked fifth overall based on an average of 46,064 sold tickets per show at 12 performances on her “Renaissance” world tour. With the gross average from those shows totaling $11.8 million, she is one of only two concert headliners, along with Morgan Wallen, with an average of more than $10 million per show. His average totals $10.2 million with a sold-ticket average of 51,600 which earns the fourth spot on the chart.

Texas-born country newcomer Kolby Cooper jumps 12 positions to earn the “Noise Maker” classification on LIVE75 as the artist with the best upward movement on the chart. His ranking at No. 53 comes from a three-show ticket average of 1,422 based on July concerts in three Texas cities: Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels on July 8, Schoepf’s Old Time BBQ Pit in Belton on the 21st and Houston’s White Oak Music Hall on the 22nd.