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(Ageing) Rock Stars
on the Road
Adulatory audience, the adrenaline rush, stunning audio-visual gimmicks…live
concerts have never been sexier. Some of the icons of rock music are lapping it up.
For them it is one long curtain call. And there is good money to be made, too
Peter Frampton
61 years
Played more than 45 gigs
between March and
August this year. Touring
Europe this month with 15
concerts lined up. To
embark on tour in June
next year
Mark Knopfler
62 years
Teamed up with
Bob Dylan for a 30-show
European tour in Oct-Nov
this year
Get Lucky Tour: Over 80
concerts between April
and July 2010
Bob Dylan 70 years
Never Ending Tour: Since June 1988;
90 live shows in 2011;
Over 100 live shows in 2010;
Elton John
62 years
Metallica played in Bangalore as part of the 2011 Vacation Tour.
Between 2008 and 2010, the group played 187 concerts
113 concerts in 2011
114 concerts in 2010
15 lined up in the first
4 months of 2012
Neil Young 65 years
26 live shows in 2011
13-concert Twisted Road Tour in 2010
Joan Baez 70 years
35-day European tour
since March 2011;
14 concerts US tour lined up in Nov 2011;
21concerts UK tour in Feb-Mar 2012
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09
10
11
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14
Rock Stars
Who Have
Toured India
✮ Scorpions in 2001
✮ Bryan Adams in 1994, 2001,
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So Beautiful or So What Tour: Has
been playing live shows since April
this year to promote his latest album.
Nearly 80 shows. Likely to team up
with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and
hit the road next year to celebrate
the 25th anniversary of his Grammywinning album Graceland.
(Mick Jagger 68, Keith Richards 67, Charlie Watts 70,
Ronnie Wood 64)
Deep Purple
Have not toured for the past few years.
A Bigger Bang Tour: 147 concerts
between August 2005 and August 2007;
Licks Tour (2002-03) 116 concerts
(Ian Gillan 66, Roger Glover 65, Ian Paice 63)
Eric Clapton 66 years
13-concert Japan tour in Nov-Dec 2011;
nearly 40 concerts in 2010
The Songs That Built Rock Tour: 54 concerts (from
June-Dec 2011)
Rapture of the Deep World Tour (2006-11): Nearly
500 shows in six years
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The Beatles’ last concert
was at Candlestick Park
(San Francisco) on
August 29, 1966.
The concert lasted just
33 minutes
2004, 2006 and 2011
✮ Deep Purple in 2001
✮ Elton John in 2002
✮ Roger Waters in 2002
✮ The Rolling Stones in 2003
✮ Mark Knopfler in 2005
✮ Joe Satriani in 2005
✮ Sting in 2005
✮ Flipsyde, 2006
✮ Uriah Heep in 2006
✮ Jethro Tull in 2006 and 2008
✮ Iron Maiden in 2007 and 2009
✮ Aerosmith in 2007
✮ Sepultura in 2007
✮ Megadeth in 2008
✮ Machine Head in 2008
✮ Satyricon in 2008
✮ Mr. Big (band) in 2009
✮ Amon Amarth in 2009
✮ Textures in 2009 and 2010
✮ Lamb Of God in 2010
✮ Nervecell in 2010
✮ Lacuna Coil in 2010
✮ De Profundis in 2010
✮ Purified in Blood in 2010
✮ Meshuggah in 2010
✮ Enslaved in 2010
✮ Tesseract in 2010
✮ The Prodigy in 2011
✮ Putrid Pile in 2011
✮ Orphaned Land in 2011
✮ Foreigner in 2011
✮ Cradle of Filth in 2011
Top 10
HighestGrossing
Rock
Tours
U2 ✮ Vertigo Tour ✮ 2005-06
Madonna ✮ Sticky & Sweet Tour ✮ 2008-09
AC/DC ✮ Black Ice World Tour ✮ 2008-10
Rolling Stones ✮ A Bigger Bang ✮ 2005-07
U2 ✮ 360 degree ✮ 2009-11
The Edge (L) and Bono of U2 perform on stage
during the Perth leg of their 360 Degree Tour
Why Tour?
Economics of
a Concert
The Rolling Stones
21
!
Sales of music CDs have been sliding over the past few
years. A growing number of listeners prefer to buy
individual songs over Amazon or Apple’s iTunes.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers CD sales in the
US slid 20% in 2010. Concerts help bump up revenue
for the singers as they reach out to newer fans
Paul Simon 70 years
20
Bon Jovi ✮ The Circle Tour ✮ 2010-11
The Police ✮ The Police Reunion Tour ✮ 2007-08
Rolling Stones ✮ Bridges of Babylon Tour
✮ 1997-99
A concert is organised by a promoter. He guarantees the artist
an advance (the bigger the artist, the bigger the advance). The
promoter recovers his expenses as well as a “guaranteed” profit
from ticket receipts, sale of F&B, parking, etc. If there is money
left after this, then it is split between the two parties. Revenues
from merchandise sales go to the band
Rolling Stones ✮ Voodoo Lounge Tour
✮ 1994-95
$456 mn
06
Rolling Stones ✮ Licks Tour
✮ 2002-03
$358 mn
05
Land of unequal
opportunity? p.32
centrespread
$398 mn
04
17
$441 mn
03
The Economic Times on Sunday
NOVEMBER 6-12, 2011
$424 mn
$366 mn
$443 mn
02
centrespread
$736 mn
01
16
$592 mn
$418 mn
The Economic Times on Sunday
NOVEMBER 6-12, 2011
Gross inflation adjusted
Text: Yusuf Begg
Design: Mukesh
Source: Various websites