Elton John lands at No. 1 on the weekly Hot Tours tally with box office totals reported from four dates in Brazil on his concert tour that launched last November in Australia. The tour, dubbed 40th Anniversary of the Rocket Man Tour, celebrates the 1972 release of the single “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)” and features other hits from the veteran singer’s long career.
The South American leg of John’s tour kicked off in São Paulo in late February and included stops in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay before returning to Brazil for a March 5 concert at Porto Alegre’s Estádio Zequinha, the first performance reported for this week’s recap. Adding the shows in the Brazilian cities of Brasília, Belo Horizonte and Recife that occurred on March 8, 9 and 10 respectively, gross sales from all four concerts totaled $6.3 million.
The first date from Kenny Chesney’s No Shoes Nation Tour hits the Hot Tours chart this week earning the No. 2 ranking. The tour’s inaugural show was held on March 16 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, marking the country star’s fourth stint as headliner at the venue. He performed there in 2006, 2011 and also in June of last year when he kicked off his co-headlining tour with Tim McGraw. The No Shoes Nation Tour is set to play a variety of venues: stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters and festivals before wrapping at the end of August.
George Strait’s ongoing Cowboy Rides Away Tour follows Chesney in the third slot on Hot Tours with box office stats reported from two more venues on the trek that continues for three more weeks. Grosses from concerts in Knoxville, Tenn. on March 1 and Lexington, Ky. on March 2 bring the overall tour gross to $17 million since launch in mid-January. In 12 performances, more than 200,000 fans have seen the veteran country star on his farewell tour.
Eric Clapton, No. 5, recently kicked off a month-long string of concerts at U.S. venues that will run through mid-April. New Orleans-based concert promoter Beaver Productions has reported two performances from the tour, a March 16 concert at the Toyota Center in Houston and a show at Austin’s Frank Erwin Center the following evening. With the Wallflowers providing support, the concerts were both sellouts with ticket sales revenue topping $1.8 million. The brief arena tour will end at New York’s Madison Square Garden with a two-night event dubbed the Crossroads Guitar Festival featuring a host of legendary guitarists on stage with Clapton on April 12 and 13.
Weekly .com Boxscores – March 20, 2013
ACT
Total Gross
Show Dates
Show Venue/City (Shows/Sellouts)
Total Attendance (Capacity)
1) ELTON JOHN
$6,332,640
March 5-10
Estádio Zequinha, Porto Alegre, Brazil (1/0)
Centro de Convenções, Brasília, Brazil (1/0)
Estádio do Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (1/1)
Chevrolet Hall, Recife, Brazil (1/0)
52,492 (57,176)
2) KENNY CHESNEY
$4,271,090
March 16
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa (1/0)
47,492 (51,243)
3) GEORGE STRAIT
$3,413,562
March 1-2
Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn. (1/1)
Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky. (1/1)
41,836 (41,836)
4) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
$2,192,159
March 5-6
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City (2/0)
41,038 (41,118)
5) ERIC CLAPTON
$1,803,114
March 16-17
Toyota Center, Houston (1/1)
Frank Erwin Center, Austin (1/1)
23,049 (23,049)
6) MAROON 5
$1,797,508
Feb. 25-March 15
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich. (1/1)
Staples Center, Los Angeles (1/1)
26,770 (26,770)
7) KID ROCK
$1,184,107
Feb. 9-15
BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla. (1/1)
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville (1/0)
22,103 (23,760)
8) MANÁ
$860,193
March 6
Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica (1/0)
15,158 (20,000)
9) SHINEDOWN & THREE DAYS GRACE
$726,360
March 12-18
Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, Ga. (1/0)
Pensacola Bay Center, Pensacola, Fla. (1/0)
Mississippi Coliseum, Jackson, Miss. (1/0)
Verizon Arena, North Little Rock, Ark. (1/0)
River Center Arena, Baton Rouge, La. (1/0)
18,802 (30,048)
10) THE JACKSONS
$622,227
March 16
Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney (1/0)
5,305 (9,715)