Top tours have moved 1.5 million tickets in Australia this year

The late summer rush of superstar tours through Australia and New Zealand helped the top four touring companies sell over 1.5 million tickets in the first quarter of 2017.

All the figures are for Australia, although some promoters roll New Zealand sales in the overall total.

According to Pollstar’s global report on the first quarter, 1,526,203 tickets were moved by Live Nation Australasia, Frontier Touring Company, TEG Dainty and Chugg Entertainment.

Live Nation Australasia’s figures were not broken out of the overall total – as per the company’s policy, the local numbers are rolled into the global company’s worldwide figures. Live Nation topped the list with 3.4 million tickets worldwide.

At least 600,000 of these were for Adele’s triumphant run through Australia and New Zealand.

Frontier was ranked 6th in the world, with a total of 496,308 tickets sold in Q1. The majority of those were for Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, which shifted 260,000 tickets and grossed $50 million, and Justin Bieber whose ticket tally was 220,000.

Ranked globally at #9 was TEG Dainty, with a total of 341,511 tickets. The company’s roster included the return of the semi-original lineup of Guns N’Roses.

Chugg Entertainment was at #39 with 88,294 tickets. Touring acts included Dixie Chicks, UB40, Alexisonfire and the Laneway Festival sideshows.

However, sales were lower for Australian venues from past years.

The Top 100 arenas list had:

• Perth Arena at #62 with 51,818 tickets
• Brisbane Entertainment Centre was at #69 with 43,886
• Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena at #70 with 43,706
• Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion at #75 with 42,220

ICC Sydney Theatre – which has been open only a few months but has already hosted names like PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, and Blondie and Cyndi Lauper’s “Bitches Are Back” joint tour – was the sole Australian entry of the world’s 50 most successful Theatre Venues. It was at #45 after shifting 45,657 stubs.

Similarly, Melbourne’s Corner Hotel was the only Aussie venue that made it into the Top 50 Clubs list. The long-time live music venue in Richmond notched a #13 ranking from 25,956 tickets.