Touring
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LONDON — As international president of Oak View Group (OVG), Jessica Koravos has a clear vision of how she wants the U.S.-based facility management and development firm to grow its already rapidly expanding global business.
“We’re trying to be the best venue operators, offering the best entertainment experiences in the world,” she says confidently. “That’s what our goal is.”
Just over six months ago, OVG’s long-planned pivot to international markets took an embarrassing stumble with the repeatedly delayed launch of Co-op Live – the United Kingdom’s biggest indoor music venue and the firm’s first major project outside the United States.
When the official opening for the 23,500-capacity arena, located in Manchester, was pushed back by three weeks following a series of highly publicized delays — including part of a ventilation system falling from the roof just prior to a show by rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Co-op Live became the butt of jokes on social media and generated a slew of negative headlines.
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“It looked worse in the media than it felt on the ground,” reflects Koravos, half a year on from the venue’s troubled launch. “In the grand scheme of things, when you have been working on a project for five years, spent £400 million ($505 million) on it and it’s three weeks late, there’s a long-term perspective that says: ‘This is not the end of the world.’ When you look at it in the context of other big infrastructure projects in the U.K. I don’t think it’s going to go down in history anywhere on the list of problematic deliveries.”
Co-op Live eventually opened its doors May 8 with a headline show by local rock group Elbow. Since then, the venue has quickly become established as a key destination in the European touring circuit, selling over one million tickets and staging over 60 shows to date, including stopovers by Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Liam Gallagher, Keane, Janet Jackson, Charli XCX and the Eagles‘ five-night sellout run – the group’s only U.K. dates on its farewell tour.
A general view of the Co-op Live arena as Elbow performs the inaugural live show at Co-op Live on May 14, 2024 in Manchester, England.
Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage
In November, Co-op Live hosted the MTV European Music Awards (EMAs), featuring performances from Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Tyla and Busta Rhymes, which had a global digital reach (excluding broadcast) of over 7 billion, according to the venue’s post-event analysis. Upcoming shows at the arena include Paul McCartney, Slipknot, Cyndi Lauper and Sabrina Carpenter.
Co-op Live is one of seven new arenas that OVG has built and opened in the last two years, including the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena in New York and Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif. The fast-growing firm, co-founded in 2015 by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and ex-Live Nation chairman Irving Azoff, which operates more than 400 buildings globally, also has arenas under development in Nigeria, Canada and Wales, and is “actively looking” for opportunities to further expand its global footprint, says Koravos.
This fall saw the launch of a new division, OVG Stadia, headed by Chris Wright, dedicated to growing the company’s global stadium business. Its remit includes identifying international markets to develop and build new multi-purpose stadiums, as well as expanding OVG’s roster of stadium clients, which includes London’s Wembley Stadium, Scotland’s Murrayfield Stadium, Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego and the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. The company is additionally pursuing arena development and partnership opportunities in the U.K., Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“That showcase of Co-op Live is very helpful and we have a lot of other cities [around the world] now saying, ‘Can we have one of those?’” says London-based Koravos, who served as president of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and formerly held senior roles at AEG Live and AEG Europe before joining OVG.
Ballooning construction costs means “it’s easier said than done,” she cautions, “but we’ll find a way.”
Koravos declines to discuss Leiweke’s publicly stated aim of building a new music arena in London, saying only that there are “announcements to come in the U.K. and continental Europe.”
In the meantime, Oak View Group is looking to grow its share of the live music business by making its full suite of venue services, including hospitality, management, booking, marketing, facility development and sponsorship sales, available to non-OVG affiliated venue owners and third-party operators in Europe, like it already does in the U.S.
To support the rollout, OVG International has bulked up its executive team with recent appointments including former Co-op Live interim general manager Rebecca Kane Burton as executive vice president of venue management and Michalis Fragkiadakis as vice president of hospitality strategy, responsible for driving forward OVG’s food and beverage business following last year’s acquisition of U.K.-based hospitality provider Rhubarb Hospitality Collection. They will be supported by Sam Piccione, international president of sales, Alex Reese, commercial and brand strategy director, and Gary Hutchinson, vice president of booking and commercial partnerships.
“We take pride in the fact that we think about third party business in the same way that we think about our own,” says Koravos. She points to OVG completing “$5 billion worth of naming rights and sponsorship [deals] in the last three years” as evidence of the “industry-leading expertise” that it is offering to venues and live music businesses. Current venue service clients outside North America include football clubs Birmingham City FC, Real Betis and AS Roma, Manchester-based arts venue Aviva Studios and Lloyd Webber Theatres.
“There are lots of facilities, arenas and stadiums all around Europe who would like to host concerts and that’s something that we’re trying to help to see if we can open up more markets for music internationally,” says Koravos. “Our goal is not to win all the contracts and to be everywhere. It’s to be with the right partners that share our values.”
Zayn Malik canceled a solo gig in Newcastle, England just minutes before showtime on Tuesday night (Dec. 3). In the past few weeks the former One Direction member has embarked on a solo tour throughout the U.K., his first headline run of shows since leaving the pop group in 2015. Metro reported that an announcement […]
Fresh off teaming up for a pair of tracks on Kendrick Lamar’s GNX album, K. Dot and SZA are joining forces for the co-headlining 2025 Grand National Tour. Presented by Live Nation, pgLang and Top Dawg Entertainment, the North American trek featuring the former TDE running mates is set to invade 19 stadiums across the […]
In 2025, Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas will set out on the group’s first tour together in a decade when The Arcadia 2025 Tour finds the storied group performing 73 dates across the United States and Canada.
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The new slate of tour dates starts with a two-night stint at The Louisville Palace in Louisville, Ky., on April 17-18. The tour dates continue through late September, with stops in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Oklahoma City, San Diego, and Nashville. The trek will feature special guest Willie Watson, a co-founder of Old Crow Medicine Show. Two decades into his career, Watson recently released his self-titled solo album in September.
Alison Krauss & Union Station are also set to release new music next year, marking the group’s first new release since 2011’s Paper Airplane, which earned a Grammy for best bluegrass album.
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“I’m so grateful to get to make music again with my comrades of 40 years,” Krauss said in a statement. “They’ve always accomplished incredible work individually and have been constantly traveling because of it. We’re very inspired to experience this new exciting chapter in the band’s history.”
This new chapter also features a lineup shift for the group, with the addition of vocalist-guitarist Russell Moore, who is best known for his work as frontman for IIIrd Tyme Out. Moore replaces Union Station’s former member Dan Tyminski. Moore has earned six male vocalist trophies from the International Bluegrass Music Awards, making him the most awarded male vocalist in the history of the IBMA Awards. He’s also led IIIrd Tyme Out to seven IBMA vocal group of the year honors. Moore will join longtime Union Station members Ron Block (banjo, guitar, vocals), Barry Bales (bass, vocals) and newly inducted Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals).
“To say I’m excited about recording and touring with Alison Krauss & Union Station would be a huge understatement,” Moore said in a statement. “After 40 years of playing music full-time and leading my own group for 34 years, this opportunity is among the few things at the top of the list that my music career has offered me. My hopes and desires are to fill this spot in AKUS with the same professionalism, precision, and thoughtfulness as other members who have held this position before me, and I’m looking forward to the ‘ride’!”
Tickets for The Arcadia 2025 Tour will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Dec. 6, with presales available from Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 10 a.m. local through Thursday, Dec. 5, at 10 p.m. local time.
See a list of the group’s tour dates for 2025 below:
Drake is heading back to Australia and New Zealand in early 2025.
On Thursday (Nov. 28), the Canadian superstar revealed the dates for his upcoming The Anita Max Win Tour, which marks first visit to the region since 2017.
The Live Nation-produced tour launches with two nights at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Feb. 9-10 and wraps with back-to-back shows at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Feb. 28 and March 1. The seven-date tour will also make stops in Sydney and Brisbane. See the full tour itinerary below.
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Tickets will be available for purchase through various presales beginning Tuesday (Dec. 3). The general onsale begins Dec. 6 at 12 p.m. local time.
The Anita Max Win Tour is named after a viral moment from Drake’s December 2023 livestream on Kick, where he introduced a new “alter ego” named Anita Max Win. The name is a playful pun on the gambling phrase “I need a max win,” referring to hitting the maximum payout on a slot machine.
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Drizzy first hinted at the tour on Nov. 24 during a livestream with gaming streamer xQc, saying, “February 9th for anybody that’s watching from Australia, I’m coming back to Australia for the first time in eight years. Coming back to Australia on tour. Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast… February 9 ’til like… March something.”
This marks a major return for Drake’s Australian and New Zealand fans, who last saw him live during the Boy Meets World Tour in 2017. “Funny enough, it’s actually called the Anita Max Wynn Tour,” the Toronto MC said during the xQc livestream.
In August, Drake also announced his forthcoming collaborative album with PARTYNEXTDOOR. PND recently went live on Instagram, sharing exciting news about the joint project. “Guys, I have one more show left on this tour,” PARTYNEXTDOOR told his followers. “Then the album is getting finished. That’s all I gotta say.”
Drake’s tour announcement is especially noteworthy as it coincides with Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated Super Bowl Halftime Show performance on Feb. 9 — the same date as the start of Drake’s tour. The two rappers have been at the center of a well-publicized rivalry in 2024, trading shots through diss tracks like Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Drake’s “Push Ups.” Lamar also recently dropped his surprise album GNX, adding more fuel to the fire.
See Drake’s Anita Max Win Tour dates below.
Feb. 9: Melbourne, Australia (Rod Laver Arena)Feb. 10: Melbourne, Australia (Rod Laver Arena)Feb. 16: Sydney, Australia (Qudos Bank Arena)Feb. 17: Sydney, Australia (Qudos Bank Arena)Feb. 24: Brisbane, Australia (Brisbane Entertainment Centre)Feb. 28: Auckland, New Zealand (Spark Arena)March 1: Auckland, New Zealand (Spark Arena)
11/28/2024
The singer launched her ‘Brat’ tour at the northern city’s 23,500-capacity Co-op Live venue.
11/28/2024
It looks like Brat Summer will roll well into 2025: Charli XCX has been announced as a headliner at another U.K. festival, this time heading up the bill at Manchester’s Parklife Festival (June 14-15), the largest city festival in Europe.
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The British star leads the announcement for the Heaton Park festival, which includes other electronic names such as Confidence Man, Interplanetary Criminal, salute, DJ Heartstring and more. Elsewhere Girls Don’t Sync, Prospa, Chaos In The CBD, KI/KI, Antony Szmierek, Sim0ne, Bakey, Jodie Harsh and Gina Breeze will join the bill. The festival’s full lineup will be announced in January.
Tickets for the event go on general sale at Parklife’s website on Nov. 29 at 10 a.m. (GMT) and can be purchased here. 2024’s edition of the festival was headlined by Doja Cat and Disclosure.
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It’s the latest booking for Charli following an announcement that she will be bringing her Party Girl series to London’s new LIDO Festival in Victoria Park, which takes place over the same weekend on June 14.
The announcement comes ahead of a run of arena dates in the U.K. this week, kicking off in Manchester this evening (Nov. 27) before heading to London, Glasgow and Birmingham. She’s also announced a new run of North America arena dates for next spring, where she’ll perform in Brooklyn, Chicago, Minneapolis and Austin, as well as a big slot at Coachella Festival.
Charli’s Brat album was recently nominated for seven Grammys at the upcoming ceremony in February, including a nod for album of the year. She recently appeared on Saturday Night Live as host and the performing musician, as well as completing a co-headline tour throughout North American with close collaborator Troye Sivan.
Charli XCX revealed as the first headliner at PL25 next June, confirming Brat summer 2.0 is officially back for 2025 💚The iconic partygirl will be joined by Confidence Man, Girls Don’t Sync, Interplanetary Criminal, KI/KI and 100+ artists revealed in January 👀 pic.twitter.com/a2ESeu153m— Parklife 🪩 (@Parklifefest) November 26, 2024
Travis Scott closed out the Circus Maximus Tour on Halloween after more than a year of cross-continental shows. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the trek grossed $209.3 million and sold 1.7 million tickets over 76 dates.
Those numbers are massive without qualification, but they are monumental in hip-hop. No solo rapper has ever sold that many tickets on one tour. Previously, Jay-Z cracked two million while co-headlining the On the Run II Tour with Beyoncé in 2018. The only other unaccompanied rapper to report more than a million tickets on a single tour is 50 Cent on last year’s The Final Lap Tour (1.1 million), celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Get Rich or Die Tryin.’
Though the Circus Maximus Tour began in arenas, Scott interspersed stadium dates as 2023 rolled into 2024. First, amid 43 arena shows in the U.S. and Canada, he sold out SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. (12 miles from downtown Los Angeles). And while his European leg began indoors, he broke stadiums in London, Koln, and Milan, selling more than 71,000 tickets in the lattermost city.
Stadiums followed in Sao Paulo, Mexico City, New York and across Oceania. The last nine shows of the tour in September and October moved 415,000 tickets, or 24% of the tour’s total attendance, despite accounting for just 12% of the trek’s shows.
Melbourne, Australia, was the biggest stop of Scott’s tour. Two shows on Oct. 22-23 grossed $12.6 million and sold 115,000 tickets.
The scale of the Circus Maximus Tour – stadiums on four continents – is unprecedented in hip-hop. 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj, each of whom cracked $100 million on tours of their own over the last two years, played in North America and Europe. Drake, who has crossed the nine-figure mark multiple times, only played in the U.S. and Canada on It’s All a Blur. The language barrier for a particularly wordy genre could mean that extensive touring in Europe and Latin America is difficult, but Scott’s global hits and onstage spectacle helped translate his show to international audiences.
Even stateside, Scott’s 2023-24 stadium shows are groundbreaking for rappers. Eminem and Jay-Z have played similar venues, but the former toured alongside Rihanna and the latter has done it next to Beyonce and Justin Timberlake. Eminem and Jay-Z did play stadiums together in 2010 during a commercial boom for both, but just two in Detroit and two in New York on The Home & Home Tour.
As a soloist, Eminem played two shows at Detroit’s Ford Field in 2003, plus a show in Hawaii in 2019. He’s also a proven stadium sellout in Australia and New Zealand. 50 Cent has one reported solo stadium show in Sao Paulo.
Scott’s world tour improved upon his previous outing in every conceivable way. Scott sold 53% more tickets per show on The Circus Maximus Tour than on Astroworld: Wish You Were Here in 2018-19 (22,494 vs. 14,692), he played more than 20 more shows (76 vs. 55) and commanded 65% more per ticket ($122.46 vs. $74.43).
In total, the Circus Maximus Tour sold more than twice the tickets of its predecessor (1.7 million vs. 808,000) and grossed more than three times as much ($209.3 million vs. $60.1 million).
The Circus Maximus Tour was in support of Utopia, Scott’s fourth studio album. The set debuted atop the Billboard 200 and stayed there for four weeks, and sent three songs – “Meltdown,” featuring Drake; “FEIN!,” featuring Playboi Carti; and “K-Pop” featuring Bad Bunny and The Weeknd – to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Dating back to a sold-out show at Los Angeles’ The Fonda Theatre ($42,000; 1,200 tickets), Scott has grossed $275.3 million and sold 2.6 million tickets.
On Nov. 20, P!nk played the last of 128 shows over the last year and a half. The run was sprawling, from the Summer Carnival Tour, which took place in stadiums, to the Trustfall Tour and P!nk Live, both of which brought her to arenas. Altogether, she earned $693.8 million and sold more than 4.8 million tickets, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. One of her many box office achievements is recent: The nine shows she played in October make her the biggest touring act of the month.
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Across nine shows between Oct. 1-18, P!nk grossed $44.2 million and sold 254,000 tickets, putting her at No. 1 on Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart. That haul includes four stadium dates, including an Oct. 3 show at MetLife Stadium ($9.1 million; 60,400 tickets), and three arena stops, including double-headers at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena and St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
Another nine shows in November make P!nk eligible for one last monthly chart in 2024, when the November report is published next month.
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When separated by tour, P!nk’s 2023-24 run breaks down to $584.7 million for the Summer Carnival Tour, $60.8 million for last year’s Trustfall Tour and $48.3 million for this fall’s Live 2024 run. Since launching last June, Luis Miguel is the only musician who has played more shows.
The Summer Carnival is the second-highest grossing tour in history among women, accounting for Billboard’s billion-dollar-plus estimate for Taylor Swift’s as-yet-unreported The Eras Tour. P!nk narrowly passes Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, which grossed $579.8 million last year during a comparatively brief 56-show sweep. Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008-09) and P!nk’s own Beautiful Trauma World Tour (2018-19) follow next, hovering on opposite sides of the $400 million threshold.
Among all artists, and including estimates for Swift, The Summer Carnival Tour ranks eighth in revenue, and just outside the top 10 based on attendance.
The Summer Carnival Tour spanned five legs – each of which grossed at least $100 million – across three continents. The biggest was a 22-show run in North America, bringing in $150.7 million from July to October of 2023. Ultimately, the U.S. and Canada delivered $266 million, Europe accounted for about $214 million and 20 shows in Oceania added $104.3 million.
Travis Scott follows on October’s Top Tours chart, scoring the highest monthly rank for a rap artist since returning from the pandemic shutdown. He grossed $41.2 million and sold 352,000 tickets on the final dates of the Circus Maximus Tour.
Scott kicked off the month with an Oct. 9 show at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (13 miles from New York City), bringing in $8.7 million from 61,700 tickets sold. That’s $400,000 less, but 1,300 more tickets than stats for P!nk’s October show at the same venue.
He then brought his world tour to three cities in Australia, plus a closing-night performance in Auckland, New Zealand. The Oceania leg grossed $32.5 million and sold 291,000 tickets, which is slightly more than half of the European leg (June-August), but more than double the Latin American run from September.
Usher is next at No. 3, with $36.6 million for Usher: Past Present Future. Since kicking off on Aug. 20, the tour has earned $90.6 million. With North American shows scheduled through mid-December and a European leg in the spring, it’s likely to close in on $150 million.
Future tourmates Post Malone and Jelly Roll round out the top 5 at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. Last week, Post announced The Big Ass Stadium Tour with Jelly Roll as direct support, which will bring both acts to – you guessed it, stadiums – for the first time in their careers. Combined, they’ve brought in over $130 million this year, but they’ll head closer to $200 million in 2025.
And just outside the top five, Sabrina Carpenter makes her Top Tours debut at No. 6. The first handful of dates from the Short n’ Sweet Tour left her just outside the top 30 in September, but a full slate of shows lifts her into the top 10 for October, with a full gross of $27.8 million from 221,000 tickets sold. The first leg wrapped up on Nov. 18 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and 14 shows are set for March throughout Europe.
Melbourne, Australia’s Marvel Stadium the month’s top-grossing concert venue, thanks to a trio of double-headers. On Oct. 5-6, The Weeknd sold 92,100 tickets and earned $12.5 million. A couple weeks later, Travis Scott played on Oct. 21-22, upping the ante to 115,000 tickets and $12.6 million. And on Oct. 30-31, Coldplay played the first two shows of a four-night run, bringing in $14.4 million from 115,000 tickets. All three are among the top five on Top Boxscores.
Madison Square Garden returns to the summit among indoor venues, grossing $23.4 million from 13 shows in October. That includes a Halloween show by Duran Duran, a farewell performance from Cyndi Lauper (Oct. 30), and a get-out-the-vote concert from Stevie Wonder (Sept. 10).
MSG’s banner month pushes its Las Vegas sister-venue Sphere back to No. 2, supported by just four shows of Eagles’ residency. Those dates grossed $18.9 million, adding to the $23.2 million in September.
A quartet of American venues top the smaller-capacity rankings. Austin’s Moody Center is tops among rooms with a cap of 10,001-15k, Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colo., Is No. 1 on the 5,001-10k chart, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre rules the 2,501-5k tally, and Grand Rapids, Mich., wins gold on the 2,500-or-less survey via DeVos Performance Hall.
In a blaze of green neon, Fontaines D.C.’s fourth LP, Romance, tumbled down to Earth in August, ushering in a majestic new era for an act ready to level up in all aspects of its career.
In the months that have followed, the groundswell of adoration behind the Dublin band has felt formidable: A cursory scroll through TikTok will show videos of young fans mimicking the five-piece’s space-grunge aesthetic, clad in baggy, brightly colored sportswear while belting out the band’s songs from the heart of the mosh pit. Fontaines D.C.’s story has been one of resolve, of growing in confidence and spirit and always trying to stand taller than before.
This sea change in the band’s global popularity has signaled a crossroads for the group in more ways than one. Upon release, Romance charted at No. 97 in the U.S. – the band’s highest entry to date on the Billboard 200 – while earlier this month, the group was nominated for two Grammys (best rock album; best alternative music performance for lead single “Starburster.”) Fontaines D.C. has invested the resources afforded by a new deal with seminal label XL Recordings (FKA Twigs, King Krule) into exploring the depths of its creativity, expanding on the gnarly, tender guitar anthems of the band’s first three records by leaning into elements of pop and nu-metal.
Fontaines at Alexandra Palace on Nov. 22, 2024.
Pooneh Ghana
When the band first emerged onto the festival touring circuit with 2019 debut Dogrel, Fontaines D.C. often looked uneasy on stage, permitting only the briefest of smiles. Frontman Grian Chatten would grasp the air, stare into the middle distance and swing his feet in small, lolling circles — vibrating with discomfort and nervous energy, barely muttering a word to his audience. The feeling remained, though, that these early shows were only speed bumps on the road to somewhere else.
Five years on, as Fontaines D.C. headlined the first of two nights at London’s Alexandra Palace on Nov. 22, the chat may have remained at a minimum, but elevated stage production added to a rich, ubiquitous feeling of a band in its imperial phase. The addition of touring member Chilli Jesson on keyboard and backing guitar, too, only deepened the songs’ darkness.
These were the very best moments from the night.
There’d Better Be a Mirrorball