Concert Pulse: Ed Sheeran Wraps North America; Fall Out Boy, Coheed And Cambria / Taking Back Sunday Debut On Chart

– Ed Sheeran
STADIUM PHENOM: “He is constantly working, constantly creating, and doing it with grace, humility, dignity, and a spirit that’s infectious,” Marty Diamond of Paradigm Talent Agency says of Ed Sheeran, here performing at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on March 9, 2018.

As the end of the year starts to take shape, Pollstar’s Global Concert Pulse continues to ebb and flow with boxoffice reports coming in from late-summer tours and year-long juggernauts alike.

This week sees Ed Sheeran’s average gross per city drop to a still-huge $6 million, but that’s only because he’s playing single-night U.S. stadiums rather than multiple-night UK engagements like earlier this summer that saw mammoth grosses like Wembley Stadium in London ($28.7 million, four shows) and Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales ($21.2 million, four shows). 

Recent Sheeran North American boxoffice reports include Minute Maid Park in Houston Nov. 3, which moved just shy of 40,000 tickets and grossed a hair under $4 million. Other big showings included AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Oct. 27 (46,249 tickets, $4.52 million) U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Oct. 20 (49,359, $4.5) and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., which sold out 51,324 tickets and grossed just over $4 million.

Sheeran’s seemingly nonstop touring may have wrapped for the 2018, but his break will be short, with South American stadiums starting in February followed by Asia (and a South Africa stop) and continuing with a full slate of European dates starting in France in May and running clear into the end of August with yet more UK dates. Stops include two nights in Portugal, two in Finland, two in the Czech Republic, two in Iceland as well as stops in Moscow, Latvia and Sziget Festival in Hungary.

Adam Bielawski – Coheed And Cambria
Claudio Sanchez of Coheed And Cambria shows his versatility at Rock On The Range at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, May 20.

New on this week’s chart is Fall Out Boy, which just wrapped a headline North American tour with Machine Gun Kelly, with an average gross of $391,288 on 7,899 tickets. Reports include Honda Center in Anaheim Sept. 29, which sold 10,513 tickets and grossed $528,905, Frank Erwin center in Austin, Texas, Sept. 23 (5,657, $340,797), KFC Yum! Center in Louisville Sept 12 (7,844, 325,698) and Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., which sold 7,750 tickets and grossed just under $400,000.

Coheed And Cambria also recently wrapped  a co-bill North American leg with Taking Back Sunday, which grossed an average of $110,987 with 2,678 tickets sold on eight reports, which included Aug. 9 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, which sold 4,260 tickets and grossed $211,024, Aug. 2 at Smart Financial Center at Sugar Land in Texas (3,258, $131,220) and, earlier this summer, Stage AE in Pittsburgh which sold out at 4,500 tickets and grossed $177,750.

Paradigm agent Matt Galle, who represents Taking Back Sunday, recently talked to Pollstar about the end of Warped Tour and how founder Kevin Lyman was a big supporter of the band early on.

“At the time they both just had demos and were unknown” Galle said of TBS as well as fellow clients My Chemical Romance. “Kevin was one of the main people that first stepped out and took a chance on them. He put them on Warped a bunch of times, profiled them on big stages and as their crowds grew moved them up. 

“We have nothing but respect for Kevin. Taking Back Sunday actually popped up on one of the California dates this year. They weren’t playing that market with Coheed and really wanted to be part of the last Warped. I went to the Connecticut one in Hartford, with my buddies 3OH!3, and Kevin really helped played a part in breaking them too.”