Top concert draws long in the tooth, grey in the beard

Enlarge Image

George Strait (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)

The top money earner in the North American concert industry is a 60-year-old country singer who released his first album 32 years ago.

During the week ending Feb. 28, the average gross at a George Strait concert was US$1.34 million, which was good enough for the King of Country to earn Pollstar magazine's crown as the top-touring act on the continent.

And he isn't alone among older artists. Neil Young, who began performing in Winnipeg 50 years ago, was No. 3 on the list. The Who, which also formed five decades ago, ranked No. 5. Leonard Cohen started performing in Montreal in 1948 and recording in the 1960s. He's No. 6 on the list.

Only three of the top 10-grossing artists -- Justin Bieber, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church -- can be classified as new, in that they each released their first album some time during the past 10 years.

By and large, the people earning the big bucks in the music industry continue to be veteran artists, whose fanbase can afford to spend more money.

"The industry still is fuelled to a very significant degree by legacy artists," said Kevin Donnelly, senior vice-president for True North Sports & Entertainment and the general manager of the MTS Centre, which has booked all but one of the North America's top-grossing touring acts.

To some degree, the list of top-grossing tours is distorted by the fact older acts charge more for a ticket, Donnelly explained. Some younger artists may be more popular, in terms of the number of paid customers they attract.

"If you're measuring things by grosses only, then by default, the established acts push the needle up quicker. The argument is the younger guys like Justin Bieber do twice as many gigs, so he closes that spread," Donnelly said.

But even if the list of top concert draws was amended to reflect audience size, only one or two different names would appear, Donnelly surmised.

Other acts would simply change position. The Biebs, for example, ranked No. 2 with an average concert gross of $1.25 million. But since he charged less for an average ticket -- $72.51 vs. $84.13 for Strait -- he actually drew about 1,000 more fans per show.

The week in question saw Cohen charge an average of $99.50 per ticket and gross an average of $889,000 a night. The top ticket price for his Winnipeg date, not including V.I.P. packages, is $250, which actually works out to $269 when you include taxes and agency fees.

Donnelly does not expect nostalgia acts to lose their lustre, even when they can no longer perform.

"I think the need and desire to hear Led Zeppelin performed live will never go away. So what we'll see are acts who can perform the music even though the band no longer (exists)," he said, predicting the proliferation of "replica acts on an arena scale."

If Donnelly is right, new artists will never have a chance at knocking nostalgia bands off the list of top touring acts, as generic versions of the Rolling Stones or AC/DC emerge to fill the demand to hear their music live.

An even more frightening thought: the Justin Bieber Experience could be touring arenas 100 years from now, either in the form of a hologram or a genetic reconstitution of the original.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

THE TOP TEN

Top-grossing North American touring acts for the week ending of Feb. 28, according to concert-industry trade publication Pollstar

1. George Strait

Average gross per city: $1,367,779

Average ticket price: $84.13

Genre: Country

First performance: 1973

First album: 1981

2. Justin Bieber

Average gross: $1,249,114

Average ticket: $72.51

Genre: Pop

First performance: 2007

First album: 2009

3. Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Average gross: $1,006,485

Average ticket: $97.89

Genre: Rock.

First performance: 1969 for the band. Young began performing in 1963.

First album: 1975 for Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Young released his first solo album in 1968.

4. Dave Matthews Band

Average gross: $967,758

Average ticket: $73.76

Genre: Rock

First performance: 1991

First album: 1993

5. The Who

Average gross: $892,620

Average ticket: $91.98

Genre: Rock

First performance: 1962

First album: 1965

6. Leonard Cohen

Average gross: $889,177

Average ticket: $99.50

Genre: Singer/songwriter

First performance: 1948

First album: 1967

7. Cirque du Soleil: Quidam

Average gross: $757,381

Average ticket: $57.28

Genre: Circus

First performance (Cirque du Soleil): 1984

First performance (Quidam): 1996

8. Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Average gross: $559,545

Average ticket: $51.31

Genre: Rock

First performance: 1995

First album: 1996

9. Carrie Underwood

Average gross: $534,340

Average ticket: $58.45

Genre: Country

First performance: 1986, at age three.

First album: 2005.

10. Eric Church

Average gross: $370,588

Average ticket: $45.76

Genre: Country

First performance: 1995

First album: 2006

Additional sources: Pollstar, Associated Press, All Music Guide and official artist biographies.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 9, 2013 G4