Magna Charta Tours: Chart Features Strong Sales Six Weeks Before Shutdown (Boxoffice Insider)

Halsey,
Noam Galai / Getty Images / Budx – Halsey,
pictured during the BUDX Miami by Budweiser on Feb. 2, 2020 in Miami Beach, Fla., was able to complete a six-week run of Europe before the pandemic took hold in 2020, landing her at No. 5 on the Magna Charta Top Artists chart based on ticket sales.

The Script heads up the list of the top 100 tours in the Magna Charta special feature based on tickets sold in European venues during the 12-month period from Feb. 1, 2020 through Jan. 31, 2021, with its top report from the period being a three-show March run at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, that grossed $2.15 million from 36,589 tickets sold. Like most artists on the chart, however, the Irish rock band’s 16 concerts that earned them the No. 1 ranking all fell during the first six weeks of that year-long time period – the beginning of February through mid-March, when the live industry shut down due to the coronavirus.

Among others who were able to perform a significant number of shows during that period of time was Halsey, whose European tour fit neatly in the six-week span, almost as if it was designed for it. Coming on the heels of the Jan. 17 release of her third studio album, Manic, the American pop star hit the road on Feb. 6 with plans for a five-week trek on the continent.
Ultimately, Halsey was able to complete almost all of the European leg of the tour, grossing $4.7 million from 100,594 sold seats to rank fifth among the tours included in the Magna Charta tallies. While she did eventually have to cancel shows in Asia and North America that were scheduled for the spring and summer, Halsey’s opening leg in Europe was largely unaffected and included 16 concerts.
The 1975 also toured early in 2020 in support of a new album, Notes on a Conditional Form, which arrived later in May. The tour, though, included a stretch of arena dates through the UK and Ireland from Feb. 15 through March 3. With a total of 13 headlining shows, the English band ranks third on the chart with 131,537 sold tickets and revenue just topping $7 million.
Madonna had 18 performances at two venues during the six-week period prior to the March shutdown, giving her a ticket total of 42,577 and the No. 15 slot on the chart. However, her gross total of $13.3 million is the largest of all 100 tours during the Magna Charta time period, based in part on ticket prices that topped out at £480 in London and €350 in Paris. The London Palladium hosted the pop superstar for 10 shows from Feb. 1-16 with 21,658 tickets moved, while eight shows at Grand Rex in Paris from Feb. 22 to March 8 drew 20,919 fans.
In February 2020, Jonas Brothers played 12 concerts in European cities, racking up 136,656 total tickets during the month to rank No. 2 behind The Script among Magna Charta touring artists. With a box office take of $9.7 million, the pop trio is second only to Madonna in the top 100 in gross earnings. The shows were the final stretch of dates on the group’s “Happiness Begins” tour, which launched Aug. 7, 2019, and wrapped Feb. 22, 2020. The trek consisted of 88 headlining performances, 1.2 million fans and $121 million at the box office across its six-month run.
Stereophonics ranks No. 9 on the chart with a ticket count of 72,459 from seven concerts, which all occurred in March. Those shows include a two-show stint in the rock band’s home city of Cardiff, Wales, on March 14 and 15, two of the final gigs that went on as scheduled just as the coronavirus was beginning to impact the concert industry.
Finally, a 14-show run during February gives Five Finger Death Punch a fourth-place Magna Charta ranking based on 122,097 sold tickets that produced a $7.1 million gross. The metal band played European arenas in January and February of last year with Megadeth and Bad Wolves supporting.