| MercurialFreddie 28.03.2017 06:55 |
Hello everyone! Today I was reading an article in which it was stated that Adele's current international tour became one of the most profitable tours for the artist due to 600 000 tickets sold. Then Dire Straits's Brothers in Arms 86' tour was mentioned and also AC/DC Black Ice Tour from 2010 as being the best selling tours. No word about Queen, really nothing. And when I read that Adele's current tour historically became one of the best selling tours apart from the two mentioned above, my mind shrieked "Wait a minute! The Magic Tour, the crowds, the income, historic significance"..... If we were to compare just the ticket sales of Adele's current tour and Queen's Magic tour then Queen would be the winner here, wouldn't they ? Do we know exactly how many tickets were sold ? Was the precise information about tickets sold for Queen's 1986 Tour mentioned somewhere ? Before you ask, yup, I searched, both QZ and other sources. Cheers! |
| Vocal harmony 28.03.2017 08:16 |
I haven't seen the article, but is it talking about profit that the promoter is making or the artist or even the record company. Selling 600 thousand tickets on any tour is a big amount, but you then have to look at the length of the tour and size of venues. The artist and management and the promoters agreements have influence on what is made. Usually a promoter will agree a price for an artist to tour. That price will either be per gig or for the whole tour. Some bands are big enough to negotiate a bonus system were by they are paid extra for sell outs or above a certain percentage of tickets being sold ahead of a tour. It is the promoter who runs the risk of losing money on gigs, not the artist. The costs of the production, stage, sound, lights, crew,catering and transport is part of the tour negotiations. Some artists foot the bill, some promoters do and some times the cost is shared, this can involve the record company too. Adele, I would imagine won't be touring with anything like the amount of sound and lighting the Magic tour used. So immediately her costs will be less. Also ticket prices in 86 were very different to what they are now. Also PA systems are smaller and take less space to transport and one Vari lite or Clay Paky can do the job of 8 or 10 old Par Cans so lighting doesn't have to take us as much transport space. You said you were surprised by the none inclusion of Queens Magic tour. Yes it was hugely successful but only toured Europe.my guess is this article was about US tours or world tours. U2's Joshua Tree tour (European leg) made more money than Queens Magic tour. It played to the same sized audiences in most cities, but the stage production was much smaller. They used the same Clair Brothers PA but the staging was smaller and the lighting was minimal so crew and transport costs were less. Dire Straits Brothers in Arms was again a smaller production and played multiple nights at some venues which again cuts cost. AC/DC Black Ice can't really be compared to touring costs thirty years ago, although production wise it was similar in size to The Magic tour. |
| oligneisti 28.03.2017 09:46 |
The Magic Tour was a short tour of Europe. If we'd go by profit per show they likely did very well. But the Brothers in Arms Tour was a year long tour with 248 concerts. |
| slightlymad1970 28.03.2017 11:06 |
I'm only guessing but I think the article might be referring to tours of Australia and New Zealand only!! As far as tours go The Rolling Stones and U2 beat just about everybody. The Magic Tour was one of the very first Big Stadium Tours but unfortunately Fred died before the start of the Mega selling Tours! |
| MercurialFreddie 28.03.2017 12:53 |
I read the article on the billboard.com, and yes, slightlymad1970, you're right, it refers only to her concerts in Australia (600 000 tickets sold/ 8 stadiums).... Well the times are changing but it's very hard today, at current shows to feel the grandness which was present at Queen's shows and defined them. But again, we have no information (more or less precise), how many tickets were sold in total to see Queen live in 1986 ? |
| little foetus 28.03.2017 13:47 |
Stockholm, Rasunda Fotboll Stadion: 37500(sold out) Leiden, Groenoor'Dhal: 12800 (sold out) Paris, Hippodrome de Vincennes: 40000 (avail. 80000) Brussels, Foret National: 9200 (sold out) Mannheim, Maimarktgelände: 85700 (sold out) Berlin, Waldbühne: 22600 (sold out) Munich, Olympiahalle: 11200 (sold out) Zurich, Hallenstadion: 11400 (sold out) Dublin, Slane Castle: 95000 (sold out) Newcastle, St.James Park: 38000 (sold out) London, Wembley Stadium: 72000 (sold out) Manchester, Maine Road: 35000 (sold out) Cologne, Müngensdorfer Stadion: 50000 (sold out) Vienna, Stadthalle: 12000 (sold out) Budapest, Nepstadion: 80000 (sold out) Frejus, Amphitheatre: 15000 (sold out, but moved from a bigger venue: stade de l'ouest) Barcelona: some say Monumental Plaza de Toros -some say Mini Estadi de FCBarcelona, never the less: sold out, about 20000 (?) Madrid, Rayo Vallecano: 45000 (sold out) - the offical capacity for this small stadium is much less... so i guess sold out with appr. 20000 (?) Marbella, Estadio Municipal: 37000 (sold out, but also seems way too much, acc capacity I guess 28000 (?)) Stevenage, Knebworth Park: 120000 (more than sold out...appr 180000...) From an old thread: link |
| The Fonz 28.03.2017 14:01 |
Ok, perhaps look at it this way. Queen played Mt Smart Stadium in 1985. Attendance was 35,000. Adele played the same venue on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday this past week. Total ticket sales 130,000. Of course, tickets are also far more expensive these days than they were in the 80's. |
| dysan 29.03.2017 06:09 |
Any reasons the Paris date was half full? Was One Year Of Love in the French chart then? Might explain it. |
| jozef 29.03.2017 07:10 |
John 8 years ago (1978) said about the U.S. Tour '78 (35 gigs): „The American section of the tour alone will cost a million dollars. We estimate that our total will be one-and-a-quarter million, so we shall be left with a profit of only about £125,000. Take away the tax, and there will be very little left to split between the four of us. But we reckon it's worth it, because of the extra record sales it will help to generate. Apart from that, we enjoy it.“ ... those were the old days of their touring story. :) |
| dysan 29.03.2017 08:41 |
OH BOO HOO JOHN. |
| little foetus 29.03.2017 11:50 |
dysan wrote: Any reasons the Paris date was half full? Was One Year Of Love in the French chart then? Might explain it.I don't know why but indeed, it seems tickets did not sell very well for both French shows. Paris was half full and the second show was move from Nice to Frejus, a smaller venue. Two Magic singles were released in France. The single A Kind Of Magic worked quite well in the charts. It is still a very popular song in France and is broadcast on radio today. About One Year Of Love, it was released in october 1986 so many months after the Magic Tour. It hardly made a blip in the charts. |
| Toon_86 29.03.2017 13:18 |
The list only lists 1 x Wembley gig, there were of course 2, both sold out |
| little foetus 29.03.2017 17:36 |
Of course, there were several nights in Leiden, Munich, Wembley, Vienna, etc. All were sold out. You just have to do your maths then. ;) |
| dysan 30.03.2017 01:03 |
RE: One Year Of Love: I did actually hear it on French Radio in about 1990 so maybe it was a 'radio hit' |
| MercurialFreddie 30.03.2017 10:56 |
Thank you all, especially little foetus for providing the information about the ticket sales and reminding me about the difference of the costs! It seems that compared to today's smaller tours, Magic Tour would do quite well, wouldn't it ? |
| little foetus 30.03.2017 11:33 |
dysan wrote: RE: One Year Of Love: I did actually hear it on French Radio in about 1990 so maybe it was a 'radio hit'I've never heard One Year Of Love on French radio, even once. Listening to Queen since 1992-1993. Moreover some radio stations like RTL2 are quite fond of Queen and their songs are broadcast several times a day, even today, and I've never heard OYOL. |
| MercurialFreddie 30.03.2017 11:43 |
The Fonz wrote: Ok, perhaps look at it this way. Queen played Mt Smart Stadium in 1985. Attendance was 35,000. Adele played the same venue on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday this past week. Total ticket sales 130,000. Of course, tickets are also far more expensive these days than they were in the 80's.So am I to understand that the attendance for that show was lower that one of the Adele's show at the same venue (roughly 43.000) ? We have to consider that at that time, Queen weren't that popular in New Zealand or am I wrong ? |
| dysan 30.03.2017 13:32 |
@little Foetus: I remember thinking how fantastic it was hearing it - very French! Coming from a car radio while sat outside a café in Carnac. Lovely. |
| The Fonz 30.03.2017 15:51 |
MercurialFreddie wrote:this is entirely speculative - I have heard a 2nd show was on the cards, but not enough sales to justify it. Also (and in general) shows at Mt. Smart have standing on the field, with seating in the grandstands. Now, in the mid-80's there was more standing room, as at least one of the stands hadn't been built. Adele, however, was fully-seated, with the stage in the middle of the field and plastic chairs set up on the field.The Fonz wrote: Ok, perhaps look at it this way. Queen played Mt Smart Stadium in 1985. Attendance was 35,000. Adele played the same venue on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday this past week. Total ticket sales 130,000. Of course, tickets are also far more expensive these days than they were in the 80's.So am I to understand that the attendance for that show was lower that one of the Adele's show at the same venue (roughly 43.000) ? We have to consider that at that time, Queen weren't that popular in New Zealand or am I wrong ? So yeah, Queen at Mt. Smart was lower than one of Adele's 3 shows at Mt Smart. I'd have to say that yep, Queen's popularity was definitely less than Adele's is now. For a comparison, Bowie played Western Springs (also in Auckland) in 1983 - official figures are approx. 75,000, unofficially over 80,000. Interestingly, NZ had a population of around 3.2 million in 1985, whereas it's 4.4 million now. |
| luthorn 02.04.2017 16:08 |
Adele annoys me. |
| jrd1951 14.04.2017 06:51 |
The profits would never be much from ticket sales back then.Wembley cost about £13.50/£15.00 but the cost of the show was huge.......ironically sponsorship happened the next year in 1987 with Mr Jackson and the Bad tour and everybody else jumped on the bandwagon to tour as they got paid enormously for it,I must had seen about a hundred bands between 1987-1990 in that era.Discussions took place with Queen to tour the Miracle album which would have earned them an enormous sum,but sadly of course could never come tp pass. RIP Freddie xxx |
| jrd1951 14.04.2017 06:58 |
All acts these days tour for money,they get paid for it and charge huge sums,I paid £200 quid to see Bon Jovi ! Queen charged £15 for Wembley 1986,180 clare brothers speaker cabinets,(500,000 watts)£50.000 axminster carpet to cover the stage...you will never see that again....................... |
| Vocal harmony 14.04.2017 10:13 |
jrd1951 wrote: All acts these days tour for money,they get paid for it and charge huge sums,I paid £200 quid to see Bon Jovi ! Queen charged £15 for Wembley 1986,180 clare brothers speaker cabinets,(500,000 watts)£50.000 axminster carpet to cover the stage...you will never see that again....................... |
| little foetus 18.04.2017 03:50 |
The Fonz wrote:The Queen concert in NZ was definitely not sold out.MercurialFreddie wrote:this is entirely speculative - I have heard a 2nd show was on the cards, but not enough sales to justify it. Also (and in general) shows at Mt. Smart have standing on the field, with seating in the grandstands. Now, in the mid-80's there was more standing room, as at least one of the stands hadn't been built. Adele, however, was fully-seated, with the stage in the middle of the field and plastic chairs set up on the field. So yeah, Queen at Mt. Smart was lower than one of Adele's 3 shows at Mt Smart. I'd have to say that yep, Queen's popularity was definitely less than Adele's is now. For a comparison, Bowie played Western Springs (also in Auckland) in 1983 - official figures are approx. 75,000, unofficially over 80,000. Interestingly, NZ had a population of around 3.2 million in 1985, whereas it's 4.4 million now.The Fonz wrote: Ok, perhaps look at it this way. Queen played Mt Smart Stadium in 1985. Attendance was 35,000. Adele played the same venue on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday this past week. Total ticket sales 130,000. Of course, tickets are also far more expensive these days than they were in the 80's.So am I to understand that the attendance for that show was lower that one of the Adele's show at the same venue (roughly 43.000) ? We have to consider that at that time, Queen weren't that popular in New Zealand or am I wrong ? Moreover, it seems the stadium was revamped few years ago and it is bigger today than it was in 1985. So no surprise more people attended Adele shows than Queen shows. |