December 10, 2010 - Touring
By Ray Waddell
The struggles of the touring business in 2010 often threatened to overshadow the good news: As the recap of the top tours of the year shows, plenty of acts did stellar business on the road.
And the intriguing mix of pop, rock, country, veteran and new artists on the top tours tally shows a broad range of attractions and gives reason for optimism.
Billboard's year-end touring recaps are compiled from Boxscore data reported for the Nov. 28, 2009, issue through the Nov. 20, 2010, issue.
Ten of the top 25 tours of the year were logged by artists who have risen to headlining status in the past decade, and three of the top tours are by artists in their earliest days of touring: Lady Gaga (No. 4), Taylor Swift (No. 15) and Justin Bieber (No. 19). In fact, all three of them have yet to hit their 25th birthday.
But, as is typical, the road veterans ring up the biggest box office. Bon Jovi's Circle tour (which has morphed into a greatest-hits tour that extends into 2011) leads all touring artists. Grossing $146.5 million, the four New Jersey boys played for 1,591,154 people at 69 reported shows.
Not far behind is the mighty U2, whose 360° world stadium tour came in at more than $131 million with attendance of 1,312,784 from a mere 22 shows. Had U2 not been forced to postpone the tour's second North American leg due to Bono's back surgery, the trek would probably have already ranked as the highest-grossing tour ever. The band will likely reach that milestone when it resumes the 360° schedule in 2011.
Even without the second North American leg, U2 kept shattering box-office records across Europe with its massive "in the round" staging concept that allows capacity to satisfy the huge demand for tickets. For U2, the return of 360° to European markets was a triumphant one, and sales for the return to America are similarly strong.
"This tour is big, so successful, so great, you have think, 'This is as good as it gets,' " says Arthur Fogel, chairman of Live Nation Global Touring, the tour's producer. "It so far eclipses anything in the past. How do you top this?"
AC/DC's run through its home country capped off the incredibly successful Black Ice tour, the band's first in eight years. The Aussie rockers put up an impressive $122.6 million in grosses and logged more than 1 million in attendance to just 28 shows.
Another hard-rocking mainstay is Metallica, a band that remains a must-see for metal fans. This year, Metallica grossed $62 million from mostly international dates, for the most part wrapping a 200-plus-show tour in support of its latest album, "Death Magnetic." With just 33 shows reported, Metallica drew attendance of more than 700,000.
Nickelback, which has become an arena-level standard during the past few years, repeated the feat in 2010. The Canadian band grossed $35 million and nearly 500,000 in attendance to 41 shows reported to Boxscore.
Perhaps the biggest story of all this year was the massive breakout of Lady Gaga, whose Monster Ball tour, produced by Live Nation Global Touring, reported $116.2 million in grosses and 1.4 million in attendance to 122 shows.
"Right now, she's the biggest pop artist in the world, and arguably there's never been one bigger at this point in her career," says Marc Geiger, contemporary music head at Gaga's agency, William Morris Endeavor (WME).
The Black Eyed Peas also stepped up to the touring big leagues, reporting $81.6 million in gross and nearly 1.1 million in attendance to 82 shows. The tour was produced globally by AEG Live. "This tour started off a little bit slow on the on-sales, and people were writing them off and saying I stepped on a land mine," AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips says. "And it came home with flying colors."
AEG also produced Justin Bieber's breakout My World tour, which grossed $35.6 million and moved 740,000 tickets to 62 shows reported to Boxscore. Bieber moved from an unknown entity on the touring circuit to an arena headliner, and a sellout-level headliner at that.
"When I made the original deal [with Bieber] it was before the record came out," recalls Phillips. "It was a pretty large deal, and we had to figure out how to get to that number. We had phase one, which was small venues and theaters, and phase two, which was bigger theaters and cut-down areas, and a phase three, which was full-blown arenas and multiple nights. We never got to phase one or phase two; it happened so fast."
Of course, not all of the unique touring concepts involved young artists. One of the year's biggest successes was the James Taylor/Carole King tour, which grossed $62.3 million with attendance of 700,000 to 54 reported shows.
Chip Hooper, head of the music department at King's agency Paradigm, says the "must see" tours are what did well in 2010, and Taylor/King was one of them. "It's not something that will be back every year like some of these other bands," Hooper says. "It was a special, unique moment and you had to see it."
The Eagles have been a must-see since reuniting in 1994, and whenever they tour, they are among the highest-ranked treks. The band's efforts in 2010 are no exception, with the Eagles reporting $62 million in ticket sales and attendance of 600,000 to nearly 40 shows, including a run through stadiums with such support as Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban.
"What can you say? They're the Eagles," says Geiger at WME, which books the act. "You can't have a catalog like that and then go out and not be among the top [tours]."
Another WME client, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, showed they still have the box-office goods while touring in support of their new "Mojo" album, with 46 shows putting up a gross of $45 million and attendance of 657,000, according to Boxscore.
The band went out with "amazing selection of support acts," Geiger says, including Crosby, Stills & Nash; Drive-By Truckers, ZZ Top and Joe Cocker. "Like the Eagles [Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers] have a set list that is just undeniable," Geiger says. "When you're the Eagles or Tom Petty... I'm not sure I should say anything. They're the Eagles and Tom Petty!"
Speaking of catalog, few could top the body of work of Paul McCartney, who grossed $55.7 million and moved 400,000 tickets in just 21 sellouts. Dates were split pretty much evenly between Live Nation and AEG Live as promoters.
"What Paul has tapped into is not only how important his solo career and that material is, but it's the only way for people to touch the Beatles in a way they never can any more," AEG Live's Phillips says. "It's the blend of those copyrights that makes this tour so special. When you have the greatest songs in the world and a star that doesn't tour that often, when he tours it's ... a must-see show."
Dave Matthews Band, the top-grossing act for the 2000s, continued to show remarkable consistency this year, with $61.2 million in gross and again topping 1 million in attendance to 57 shows.
The shows kicked up the energy level as the band announced that, for the first time, it would be taking the year off in 2011.
DMB has remained one of the top draws in the world in the wake of the death of founding member LeRoi Moore in 2008.
"Roi's last year with us was the best year we'd had in a long, long time and what he left us with, and the determination he left us wth, lasts," says Matthews. "I miss him every day, but I think the band has honored him the last couple of years by acting out the things he had grumpily demanded over the years, and I look forward to many years of doing this together still."
Since it first cracked the Top 25 Tours list in 1996, DMB has finished in the top 25 every year except 1997, when it ranked 27th.
Next year," Matthews says, "although we're not going to hop on the same train of buses and drive around North America, I have no doubt we're going to get together, whether it's in front of people or whether it's in some room somewhere, and make music together, because this is my second family."
Phish, in its second year of touring after a five-year hiatus, remains a powerful box-office draw, with $33.2 million in gross and 658,000 in attendance to 43 shows.
"They will always do business," says Paradigm's Hooper, who is Phish's agent. Of the 2010 tour, he says, "They were having fun, the fans were having fun, they were great shows, they were very thoughtfully booked, and it did really well."
Country music maintains its status as one of the most consistent genres in music, ranking six tours among the top 25: Tim McGraw (No. 13), Swift, Brad Paisley (No. 17), George Strait/Reba McEntire (No. 18), Rascal Flatts (No. 23) and Carrie Underwood (No. 24).
"Country music has been huge, will continue to be huge, and the exciting thing is there is a turnover of artists continuing the success, and to watch them grow is fulfilling," Geiger says. "They just work hard. They work the fans, they give value, they typically don't overprice, they create a fan connection. They always have and they'll continue to do that, and that's why [country tours] are among the top."
Tops in the genre this year is Tim McGraw, who grossed $45 million and more than 880,000 in attendance to 71 shows, with the red-hot Lady Antebellum and Love & Theft supporting him. "Tim McGraw has always had an incredible ability to pick great songs and new emerging acts," says Rod Essig, McGraw's agent at Creative Artists Agency. "The Southern Voice tour was no different."
The 2010 leg of Taylor Swift's Fearless tour rolled on, with $40 million in gross and 643,000 in attendance. Swift has added the accolade of top-notch arena-level headliner to her multiplatinum status, and her massive 2011 Speak Now tour-which, like the Fearless trek, will be promoted by TMG/AEG Live-will likely be her most lucrative to date.
Strait/McEntire was a pairing of country music royalty, that was made even stronger with Lee Ann Womack as opening act, and fans responded to the tune of $37 million in grosses and 440,000 tickets sold to just 27 shows. That tour, like Swift's, was promoted by TMG/AEG Live.
"It's real simple: Give the people what they want, and don't disappoint them when they come," TMG/AEG Live president Louis Messina says. "Taylor, George and Kenny [Chesney, another TMG/AEG touring artist that will return to stadiums in 2011] are special. They all are one of a kind. Everyone should go to school on what they have done and are doing."
The biggest story in country touring for 2010 is arguably Brad Paisley, whose Water tour ironically had to contend with a major flood that wracked Nashville-and Paisley's touring gear-just before it hit the road. Even so, Paisley reported nearly $40 million in gross and 842,000 in attendance to 62 shows.
"What an amazing year for Brad," says Rob Beckham, Paisley's agent at WME. "He was able to rebuild a stadium-type tour in just a couple weeks after losing everything-from guitars and amps to lighting and state-of-the-art video-to the Nashville floods in May. He won major awards, including entertainer of the year at the [Country Music Assn. Awards], and sold out arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums in North America and Europe."
Having developed into one of the most consistent acts of the past decade, Rascal Flatts upheld that title in 2010, racking up $31.5 million in box office and 630,000 in attendance to 54 shows. "Rascal Flatts continues to go into uncharted territory," says WME agent Beckham, who's responsible for the trio. "They have such diverse fans and continue to grow year by year."
Carrie Underwood rounds out the country field in the top 25, with $30 million in gross and 608,000 in attendance to 81 shows. "Carrie Underwood is unquestionably becoming one of the most important touring artists and one of the most important stars on the road," AEG Live's Phillips says.
Some artists aren't so easily categorized, including Michael Bublé, who has become an international touring powerhouse. For 2010, he reported $52.8 million and a whopping 650,000 attendance to 60 shows. "This has been a fantastic year," says Don Fox, president of Beaver Productions, Bublé's primary promoter in North America. "His audience is growing and growing. Every time we go back into a market it's bigger. Michael Bublé is the real thing."
André Rieu has become the most consistently strong classical-genre artist ever, this year reporting $40 million in grosses and 444,000 tickets sold to 86 shows. "We are convinced that André Rieu has become part of the top touring artists and that his popularity will only increase for the coming years," says Roel van Veggel, who is CFO and concert tour director for Rieu.
"In this respect, we are continuously working on creating a bigger [touring] world by opening up new markets, as we did in 2010 with South Africa and Mexico," he says. "In this way we create André's dream of opening classical music for a broad audience worldwide."
Finally, the growing power of electronic/dance music as a live attraction is evidenced by Tiësto, who cracks the top 25 with $28.6 million in gross and more than 525,000 in attendance to 110 shows on his Kaleidoscope tour. "Some of the highlights would be closing the main stage at Coachella after Muse, performing to 20,000-plus in Red Square in Moscow and another sold-out Ibiza residency at the world's largest nightclub, Privilege," says Paul Morris, worldwide agent for Tiësto at AM Only.
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