REVOLVER:IT'S THE time of year when the rock community sits down to divvy up the dosh from last year's touring excursions. These days, it's the only accountancy worth doing in the music business: acts barely even look at their CD sales anymore, but will keep a keen eye on the turnstile figures.
Overall concert figures may have been slightly down last year due to recession blues and some acts still charging insane amounts to see them run through their greatest hits at a distance of a few miles. There was also Bono’s bad back, which not only temporarily derailed last year’s biggest show but also did a lot of damage to the entire micro- economy of the global tour.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that last year’s highest grossing act globally was Bon Jovi, who raked in just over $200 million for their tour. This was enough to score them an unlikely victory over the still massively popular AC/DC (who came in second) and U2 (third).
What the top 10 tours of last year show is that the live industry has become calcified to the extent that most of the top earners are bands who had their biggest record sales in the 1980s but can still flick away today’s chart toppers and big sellers with the size of crowds they attract to a big field.
Remarkably, only one of today’s big names (Lady Gaga at No 4) makes it into the top 10 despite being one of the most talked-about acts of the past 12 months. And she worked a lot harder, too: Gaga had to do 138 shows to make $133 million, while Bon Jovi only played 80 shows to make their $200 million. If you get the pie-charts and sliderules out, you will find that the real winners here are U2, who, despite playing only 32 shows, still made $160 million.
Lady Gaga doesn’t yet have a big enough back catalogue and a long enough show to justify Bon Jovi/U2 prices. When times are tough, people look closely at those high prices and want guaranteed bang for their buck. Love them or loathe them, Bon Jovi are great value for money. Their RDS show in Dublin next June has already sold out, with another added due to the insane demand.
Bon Jovi may no longer bother the business end of the album charts, and critics may have long ago made their mind up about their “hair rock”, but their live show delivers on so many levels. Bizarrely, I’m in a good position to comment on this because (and this is true) I once appeared on stage with Bon Jovi in Mexico City. It’s one of those things that you have to remind yourself actually happened.
It’s a long story, but at a party in Rome a number of years ago I was sort of “adopted” by Jon Bon Jovi, who then “recommended” me to Donatella Versace and then had me on stage with him in Mexico. No, I don’t know why either, and I’ve long since stopped trying to figure it out.
The stranglehold Bon Jovi and their 1980s peers have on the live global market shows no sign of abating. The likes of The National and Arcade Fire are releasing quality albums and staging magnificent live shows, but they’re years away from making a dent on the big live music sales. Instead, at the lower end of last year’s top 10 live earners, you have veterans such as Paul McCartney, The Eagles and Roger Waters.
Such is the disparity in figures (and it’s massive) between these heritage acts and the new generation coming through, we’re now in a position to tell you, more or less, who will be the 10 top-selling live acts of 2011. The exact same as 2010.
