Pollstar names biggest tours, busiest Atlanta venues so far this year

By the time Ed Sheeran gets to Atlanta in November, he could buy a ton of seat licenses at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The British pop-soul-folk singer is leading the touring charts halfway through the year, having grossed $213.9 million so far (last year’s midpoint leader was Guns N’ Roses, with $151.5 million).

While Sheeran’s worldwide jaunt – he’s been in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. – tops the global rundown, Pink, who played the final show at Philips Arena in April before it closed for a final round of renovations, commands the No. 1 slot on the mid-year North American tours list with a gross of $95.5 million.

Pollstar, the music industry’s touring bible, compiled the data between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2018.

Following Pink’s haul are the Eagles ($84 million); Justin Timberlake ($83.8 million); Taylor Swift ($73.6 million); Kenny Chesney ($62.1 million); U2 ($59.9 million); “Springsteen on Broadway” ($45.8 million); Luis Miguel ($44.1 million); Kevin Hart ($38.7 million) and Bon Jovi ($38 million).

Among the top-grossing concerts worldwide in the first half of 2018, only one Atlanta concert landed on the list, at No. 66: Chesney’s May 26 performance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with Thomas Rhett, Old Dominion and Brandon Lay, which sold 51,312 tickets for a gross of just over $5 million.

Pollstar also ranks worldwide ticket sales among venues and most of Atlanta’s major names made appearances.

The Fox Theatre is an impressive No. 2 on the Top 200 Theatre lineup, having moved 419,539 tickets (obviously a 24-show run of “Hamilton” helped boost its numbers, but the venue was still significantly ahead of No. 3, the Durham Performing Arts Center in North Carolina, with 253,361 tickets). At No. 37, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre clocked in with 93,987 tickets sold.

Among the Top 50 amphitheaters – which don’t really start their seasons until April or May – Verizon Amphitheatre in Alpharetta hit the highest for Atlanta, coming in at No. 22 with 30,841 tickets sold. Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood was No. 39 with 15,671 tickets.

On the list of Top 200 Arenas, Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth nabbed the No. 57 slot with 142,749 tickets sold, with Philips Arena at No. 59 with 139,068. As noted, Philips only operated January through April this year, which meant some larger shows such as U2 and Timberlake, were staged at Infinite Energy.

And the Top 200 Clubs inventory places Variety Playhouse at No. 30 with 36,787 tickets sold; Terminal West at No. 69 with 21,734; and City Winery Atlanta at No. 92 with 13,936.

For the full mid-year report, visit www.pollstar.com.