Touring
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) once again rules Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart in December, with the act now ringing the No. 1 bell for the final month of the year in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2019. (Of note, there was no chart in 2020 due to COVID-19’s impact on touring.) Over 73 shows between Dec. 1-30, the classical holiday collective grossed $51.5 million and sold 657,000 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
With ensembles on both the East and West Coasts, TSO was able to play at least two shows per day — and used the additional bandwidth to its advantage, squeezing the most performances into this December than it has in any year since 2016. Despite a 6% dip in attendance compared with last year, revenue increased by 1%, marking the highest grossing month for TSO in its illustrious 25-year touring history.
Overall, TSO grossed $68.2 million and sold 873,000 tickets on its 2023 tour. The group saw consistent increases in its annual grosses through the end of the 2010s, up 10%, 13%, and 18% in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The 2021 season, flanked by the first wave of COVID-19’s Omicron, dipped back by 18%, while last year’s tour came within half a percentage point of the 2019 peak. Finally, with the effect of COVID in the rearview mirror, this year’s revue establishes a new high dating back to the collective’s 1999 touring debut.
TSO hit 21 markets in November and another 42 in December. As always, major markets prime for double-headers are saved for mid-to-late December when seasonal hype reaches its apex. The average gross per city in November was $835,000, while December’s pace rose to $1.2 million.
Cleveland and Tampa were standout markets, and the first to ever generate more than $2 million in TSO history. Two shows at the former’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse grossed $2.02 million from 26,000 tickets, and a double-header at the latter’s Amalie Arena earned $2.08 million from 25,600 tickets.
Including its Y2K launch (Dec. 10, 1999, to be exact), TSO has grossed a reported $802.4 million and sold 15 million tickets from 1,893 shows. While that situates it just outside the top 20 grossing acts in Boxscore history, its rank based on attendance makes it one of the top 10 artists since Boxscore’s late-‘80s start.
TSO’s fourth month at No. 1 ties Bad Bunny and Beyoncé. Only Elton John has spent more time on top, having reigned for seven months, spread between 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. While its annual touring window is limited to holiday months, its dominance is reliable, likely to be repeated in Decembers to come.
Given the sheer abundance of shows in TSO’s calendar throughout all of December — compared with most tours wrapping up halfway through the month — the group’s victory this time of year can feel inevitable. Still, the No. 1 spot was claimed by just a 3% margin, narrowly fending off U2’s eight-show run at Las Vegas’ Sphere.
U2 earned just over $50 million and sold 133,000 tickets during the Dec. 1-16 leg of its residency at Sphere, claiming the No. 1 spot on Top Boxscores. Combined with the first leg, which stretched from late September to early November, the rock legends have earned $159.8 million at the groundbreaking Vegas arena. Beginning this weekend, Bono & Co. are slated for 15 more shows through March 2.
U2 isn’t the only Vegas residency act to impact the December recap. Bruno Mars is No. 4 on Top Boxscores with a five-show return to MGM’s Dolby Live. The pop-R&B chart-topper grossed $10.3 million toward the end of the month, including a New Year’s Eve performance. At the same venue, Usher is No. 30 with the final two shows of a 12-date leg that began in early November. At Resorts World Theatre, Carrie Underwood pops up at No. 22, with $4.1 million from eight of nine shows that kicked off on Nov. 30.
While Vegas leads the way, half of the 30-position Top Boxscores chart took place outside of the mainland U.S., ranging from Latin America (RBD) and Europe (Madonna) to Asia (SEVENTEEN) and Australia (50 Cent). Paul McCartney takes up the most real estate with four appearances, all of which were in Brazil. Shows in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba rank at Nos. 3, 12-13 and 18, respectively. Three shows at Allianz Parque lead the pack with a $16.2 million gross and 149,000 attendance count over three shows.
And while Sphere enjoys a commanding lead over the Top Venues (15,001+ capacity) chart, it’s a New York theater that reigns over all concert halls in December. Radio City Music Hall crowns the Top Venues (5,001-10,000 capacity) list with $80.6 million and 133 shows. Even more efficient than TSO, The Radio City Rockettes headlined this year’s annual Christmas Spectacular, earning a gargantuan $116.7 million over 193 shows between Nov. 17 and Jan. 4.
Elle King has rescheduled four additional concerts following the backlash she faced for a recent performance at the Grand Ole Opry in honor of Dolly Parton. On her Instagram Stories Thursday (Jan. 25), the singer-songwriter revealed newly rescheduled dates for shows in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, in addition to the now Sept. 21 date for her previously rescheduled show at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Stories post noted that her show in Shipshewana, Ind. is now slated for March 21, followed by a March 22 show in Waukegan, Ill., and two shows on March 29-30 in Harris, Mich. The shows were originally scheduled for Feb. 22, Feb. 25 and Feb. 23-24, respectively.
“Your tickets will be valid for the new dates. If you can’t make the new date, refunds are available at point of purchase. See you there!” the post read.
King’s website currently shows tour dates running from March 1 through Oct. 18.
Billboard has reached out to King’s rep for comment.
The news comes after King’s recent profanity-laced performance during a tribute show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in honor of Dolly Parton’s 78th birthday. Video from the performance shows her attempt to cover Parton’s “Marry Me,” during which King slurs her words and forgets the lyrics to the song. At one point, King herself tells the audience that she is “f–king hammered.”
The singer has yet to offer a statement on the performance, though the Grand Ole Opry did share a public apology on X in response to a fan comment, saying, “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used.”
In 2023, King released her debut country album, Come Get Your Wife, which includes the Dierks Bentley collaboration “Worth a Shot.” She earned a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015 with “Ex’s & Oh’s,” and has since had two No. 1 Country Airplay hit collaborations: “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert, as well as “Different for Girls” with Bentley.
As alcohol consumption declines among young adults and awareness about the mental health benefits of sobriety grows, nonalcoholic cocktails could prove key to finding new food and beverage revenue for the concert business.
In 2023, CMA Fest, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Danny Wimmer Presents’ Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond were among a dozen festivals to include mocktails and sober spaces at their events; Live Nation introduced the “no-jito” to its venue menus; and Oak View Group launched an elevated nonalcoholic beverage program at its Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. And while conventional wisdom held that nonalcoholic drinks beyond soda and water would diminish alcohol sales, venues are finding that’s not the case.
“Since launching the mocktail program, our alcohol sales have remained steady, and overall beverage sales have increased by a margin that we are very pleased with,” says Daniel Griffis, president of global partnerships at Oak View Group. It has gone so well that OVG plans to start rolling out the program at other venues.
After launching in October in the premium level and expanding to the entire arena in January, Acrisure has sold more than 2,000 mocktails at $14 each — including the Blackberry Smash and the Firebirds Spritz, which use Lyre’s nonalcoholic spirits — says John Page, senior vp of Acrisure Arena, AHL team Coachella Valley Firebirds and OVG360 Facilities. “There have been a lot of positive comments that we are recognizing people that want to really experience the live event and have something different in terms of the beverage space, not soda or water,” he says. “This is one way that we can continue to show that we are aware and we have something for everyone in the venue.”
These activations were all launched in partnership with the nonprofit Stand Together and its 1 Million Strong initiative founded with sober community The Phoenix. They follow an open letter published in Billboard in January 2023 that featured 50 music industry leaders pledging support to 1 Million Strong.
“What I am excited to see, a year after, are those people actually doing it,” says Colette Weintraub, head of Stand Together Music, Sports & Entertainment.
At Live Nation, the initiative has brought a new corporate focus as well. Last May, the concert giant launched its Sober Nation program focused on fostering sober-inclusivity and destigmatizing addiction at their venues and offices. On Jan. 30 the company will host a Grammy-week brunch with 1 Million Strong and DMC of Run-DMC to raise awareness among staff and connect employees to available recovery and mental health resources.
On Jan. 30 the company will host a Grammy-week brunch with 1 Million Strong and DMC to raise awareness among staff and connect employees to available recovery and mental health resources.
For an industry that places a lot of emphasis on alcohol — from beverage sales to alcohol sponsors — Weintraub says the initiative has received a warm welcome so far. “We’re not saying ‘sober music industry,’ ” she says. “We’re saying this is an opportunity to expand and open the doors to more people and let more people participate in what’s important in life and supporting more people in achieving their full potential.”
A little more than three months since it kicked off at the O2 Arena in London, Madonna’s Celebration Tour arrived at Madison Square Garden this week. While the Celebration Tour previously hit New York City in December for three dates, those were all at the Barclays Center – a venue that opened in Brooklyn 12 […]
Boiler Room is going global, again, in 2024.
The dance culture event series and streaming platform announced a world tour on Tuesday (Jan. 23) that will feature rising acts, local artists and scene stars playing across 25 cities.
Expanding on the platform’s first-ever world tour last year, in 2024 Boiler Room will return to London, Mumbai, Manchester, Milan, New York, Seoul, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne. The tour will also touch down in cities including Amsterdam, Auckland, Barcelona, Bogota, Buenes Aires, Paris, Tokyo, Glasgow, São Paulo, Shanghai, Delhi, Lagos and U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami.
Dates will be announced in the forthcoming months. Organizers say that the 2024 events will be bigger than on the 2023 tour, and will include weekend takeovers in addition to one-off shows.
Artists to be featured on the tour include Avalon Emergson, Chase & Status, Flowdan, Optimo, Rico Nasty, Skream & Benga, Armand van Helden, SHERELLE, Sara Landry and many more. Like the 2023 tour, the 2024 event series will also focus on local artists and rising stars.
Boiler Room’s 2023 tour hosted more than 200,000 attendees across 20 shows. In addition to the live events, streams of the events have aggregated millions of views.
Since launching in 2010, Boiler Room has created an archive of more than 8,000 performances bymore than 5,000 artists across 200 cities. This archive now aggregates more than 283 million streams per month. Boiler Room was acquired by ticketing platform Dice in 2021.
See the complete city and artist roster below.
Courtesy Photo
RBD and Guillermo Rosas, the group’s business partner who helped reunite the band after 15 years, have officially parted ways, Billboard can confirm. The news of the split comes just a month after the Mexican pop group — composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Christopher von Uckermann and Christian Chávez — wrapped their massive […]
Offset will be hitting the road for the first time as a solo act and not under the Migos umbrella. The Atlanta native announced plans for his Set It Off Tour on Tuesday (Jan. 23); it is slated to kick off in March.
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Pre-sale tickets are set to go on sale starting on Wednesday (Jan. 24) at 10 a.m. local time, while the general public will have their chance on Live Nation’s website on Friday (Jan. 26).
“SET IT OFF is more than a phrase, it’s a vibe we’re creating together. This tour is not just a series of concerts, it’s a journey into my mind,” Offset relayed in a statement. “I’m ready to hit the road on my first solo headlining tour, bringing the heat and most importantly, giving the fans a new way to experience my music.”
Offset’s first North American trek sans Quavo and the late Takeoff will begin in Philadelphia on March 10, and makes stops in New York City, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston before wrapping up in his hometown of Atlanta.
There’s still no word on possible openers. The tour announcement comes in support of Offset’s sophomore album of the same name, Set It Off, which arrived in October.
The LP debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 70,000 album-equivalent units moved in the first week and 59.1 million on-demand streams.
To execute his vision, Offset recruited a plethora of superstar guests on the expedition including Travis Scott, Cardi B, Don Toliver, Future, Latto, Chloe Bailey, and more.
See the list of tour dates below:
March 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
March 12 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
March 14 – New York, NY @ Palladium Times Square
March 15 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
March 17 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
March 19 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
March 20 – Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
March 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
March 23 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
March 27 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
March 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
March 30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
April 1 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues Anaheim
April 3 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
April 5 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
April 7 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
April 10 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
01/22/2024
Joining the duo will be David Lee Murphy and ERNEST.
01/22/2024
Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas One and All! tour grossed $29.6 million and sold 214,000 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. On a per-show basis, the tour’s 15 dates sold more tickets than any Carey tour in 25 years, dating back to the Butterfly World Tour in 1998.
Carey released Merry Christmas in 1994, featuring the iconic and evergreen smash single, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” That would be enough to cement her status as the Queen of Christmas, but Carey has put in the work each year and assumed her throne on stage as well. For every year since 2014 (except for the 2020-21 COVID years), she has toured and/or held mini residencies honoring her holiday material.
For four years, Carey played a stint at New York’s Beacon Theatre, building from 16,200 tickets in 2014, to 20,700 in 2015, and to 23,400 in 2016. She cut down to just three shows at the Beacon in 2017, before rebuilding at Madison Square Garden in 2019, 2022 and 2023. Her two shows there in December sold a combined 28,700 tickets and grossed $4.5 million, both of which are bigger than ever.
Not only has Carey increased her efficiency in New York, she’s built out across the country and into Europe. What began as a NYC-only event in 2014, expanded to Europe in 2017 and 2018, plus more North American cities in 2019. After last year’s post-pandemic return focused on just New York and Toronto, the 2023 tour boasts Carey’s biggest holiday routing yet, never playing to fewer than 12,500 fans across the U.S. and Canada. Holiday classics or not, it’s her first such major arena tour since 2006.
Considering “All I Want for Christmas Is You” re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 based on the tracking week of Nov. 10-16, and stayed at No. 2 through the first week of 2024, it’s possible she could expand beyond the Nov. 17-Dec. 17 window of this year’s run.
The Merry Christmas One and All! tour averaged $2 million and 14,200 tickets per show. Those revenue figures are Carey’s biggest ever, dating back more than 30 years since she crashed the Billboard charts.
But while a bustling concert economy and decades of inflation can explain some of her recent success, Carey’s reach – the sheer number of tickets she sold – is also sky high. That 14,200 average is the best per-show attendance for any of her tours since 1998, when she was supporting the previous year’s Butterfly.
Leading up to that 1998 tour, Carey amassed four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and 12 No. 1 songs on the Hot 100. Since then, there have been another two No. 1 albums and seven No. 1 songs, including 14 weeks on top, spread across the last five holiday seasons, for “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” In 2019, one month before that track reached the summit, Carey ranked No. 4 on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Artists chart, leading among women and Black artists.
Still, Carey has never toured with the same intensity as many of the acts that surrounded her on that list, such as Elton John, Madonna or Taylor Swift. Her first three concert tours, in the midst of her ‘90s chart-topping spree, each lasted for no more than 11 shows, almost one eighth of Swift’s calendar for 2024.
It’s encouraging that Carey has arguably been busier than ever on the road in the last decade, including her annual holiday series, two Las Vegas residencies and three international tours. Far removed from releasing her last chart-topper, her 2023 upswing in concert attendance, not to mention the all-time-high grosses, tells a positive story about Carey’s legacy as the Queen of Christmas, using her unique niche (and 19 No. 1 hits – a record among soloists – expanding their presence in the holiday show setlist) to fill arenas.
Coachella has always flexed its muscle as one of the world’s most influential music festivals by booking big-name reunions and comeback shows that fans can’t see anywhere else. The desert fest hosted the reunion of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg (and the now-fabled 2Pac hologram) in 2012 and the return of Outkast in 2014. Prince […]