The X Factor Live, the U.K. arena tour featuring finalists from the sixth season of the hit British television singing competition, tops our latest tally of Hot Tours, becoming the first ensemble show to do so since the chart launched last July.  Box office totals from the first eight venues on the tour have been reported by London-based promoter 3A Entertainment.  Seven of the venues hosted the tour for multiple performances with a total of twenty-five sold out concerts occurring in all eight markets.  Top numbers came from the Manchester Evening News Arena with a total gross of $2.3 million (£1.5 million) and 56,560 in attendance for two evening and two matinee performances on March 13-14.  The tour also played four show runs at Cardiff International Arena (Feb. 23-26) and Brighton Centre (Feb. 27-28) and a total of six performances at Aberdeen Press & Journal Arena (March 4-7).

Promoter Live Nation's U.K. office has reported totals from December and February performances by veteran English band Depeche Mode, landing them in the No. 2 spot on the Hot Tours list.  London's O2 Arena had the top numbers among the five reported venues with a total of $3.5 million (£2.1 million) in combined grosses from two shows on Dec. 15-16 and one performance held on Feb. 20.  The February show was a rescheduled date from May 2009 when the band had to cancel a performance due to illness.  They also played arenas in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester in December as well as another London appearance on Feb. 17 at Royal Albert Hall.

Four more dates on the Jay-Z Blueprint 3 Tour were reported during the past week giving the rap star the No. 3 ranking for the second week in a row.  57,498 tickets were sold at four arenas earning $4.9 million at the box office.  All four shows were sellouts with New York's Madison Square Garden (March 2) claiming the top gross of $1.3 million.  The other performances were held at Philips Arena in Atlanta (Feb. 27), Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum (Feb. 28) and Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (March 3).