A concert tour (or simply tour ) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product. Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist .
24-813: The World Magnetic Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by American heavy metal band Metallica in support of the band's ninth studio album, Death Magnetic , which was released on September 12, 2008. The tour officially kicked off in October 2008 in San Francisco , United States, following three European promotional dates in September and two U.S. rehearsal shows. By September 2010, the tour had reached North America, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania. The tour culminated with three dates in Melbourne , Australia, in late November 2010. The tour ended up being
48-463: A road manager whereas large concert tours are managed by a tour manager . The main challenge in concert tours is how to move the performance's logistics from one venue to another venue, especially for a transcontinental tour. Tour logistics should be very organized and everything has to happen on time and in the right order as planned. Autoweek magazine estimated 30 to 50 trucks were required by Taylor Swift 's The 1989 World Tour to bring all
72-825: A new form of theatrical entertainment, a fusion of song, performance art, innovative stage craft, and state-of-the-art technology. She managed to popularize the Las Vegas residency as a desirable way for top artists to essentially tour in place, letting their fans come to them. American singer Lady Gaga , who cancelled the 2018 European leg of her Joanne World Tour , signed for a Las Vegas residency to help manage her fibromyalgia illness, which can be exacerbated by touring. The 2015 study by charity Help Musicians found that over 60% of musicians suffered from depression or other psychological issues, with touring an issue for 71% of respondents. Fran%C3%A7ais Pour Une Nuit Français pour une nuit (English: French for One Night )
96-451: A promotional campaign to support an album release. Hence, new songs from the respective album are included on its tour's setlist . Some tours are known as "greatest hits tours" or "reunion tour" without any new material or specific album release, such as Fleetwood Mac 's 2009 Unleashed tour and No Doubt 's 2009 Summer Tour . Taylor Swift 's The Eras Tour (2023–2024) is a retrospective of her career to that point, where each act of
120-485: Is Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour , with $ 2.089 billion earned from 125 shows. In 2024, Coldplay 's Music of the Spheres World Tour became the second tour to gross $ 1 billion in revenue. In third place is Elton John 's Farewell Yellow Brick Road , with a total gross of $ 939 million from 2018–2023. On fourth place is Ed Sheeran 's ÷ Tour , with a gross of $ 776.2 million. On fifth place
144-400: Is U2 's 360° Tour , with $ 736.4 million. Global touring revenue reported to Billboard Boxscore exceeded $ 5.5 billion in 2016. Due to the collapse of record sales in the 21st century, concert tours have become a major source of income for recording artists. Besides the tickets, touring also generates money from the sales of merchandise and meet-and-greet packages. However,
168-680: Is a live DVD by the American heavy metal band Metallica , recorded in Nîmes , France, in the Arena of Nîmes on July 7, 2009, during the World Magnetic Tour . It was released in three formats: A standard DVD in a digipak including a 16-page booklet , a Blu-ray , and a digipak with the booklet and a deluxe limited edition box set including the DVD, a copy of Death Magnetic on CD,
192-414: Is a long break at some point), countries and/or continents, or different opening acts. In the largest concert tours, it has become more common for different legs to employ separate touring production crews and equipment, local to each geographical region. Concert tours are often administered on the local level by concert promoters or by performing arts presenters . Usually, small concert tours are managed by
216-439: Is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things." A concert residency concept is offered as an alternative to performers who just need to stay in one venue and the fans come to see them. The concept has been revitalized in the 21st century by Canadian superstar Céline Dion with the success of her A New Day... residency (2003–2007). Her residency introduced
240-774: The 2010 editions of the Sonisphere Festival , which featured exclusive billings of the "Big Four" of thrash metal : Slayer , Megadeth and Anthrax , as well as Metallica. The events took place in Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey. The band also returned to Israel in May, for the third time in their career. In September 2010, the band kicked off one of three legs in Oceania, followed by two dates in Tokyo. In mid-October and late November 2010,
264-1078: The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The leg began in Helsinki and finished in early August in Knebworth , England. In September 2009, the band kicked off a third North American leg, beginning in Nashville, Tennessee , and finishing in mid-November in New York City. The act resumed touring duties in December, performing five dates in the Western U.S. In January 2010, the band headed to South America, playing mostly outdoor shows. The leg kicked off in Lima and finished in São Paulo , Brazil. In March,
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#1732776581308288-459: The U.S. and select cities in Europe, Canada and South America on June 22, 2010. The live video was later released on DVD and Blu-ray in October 2010, entitled The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria . According to concert magazine Pollstar , the tour was the tenth highest-grossing for 2009 with revenue of US$ 89.1 million from 78 shows, and ranked fifth in 2010 with revenue of $ 110.1 million. Overall,
312-579: The band commenced a European tour. The group played three rounds of dates, resuming in late March and then returning again in May. In between the first and second legs, the band performed a small promotional show in Austin, Texas , U.S. to support the video game release Guitar Hero: Metallica . The European legs began in Nottingham , England, and eventually culminated in Cologne , Germany. In June 2009,
336-574: The band had played. (Taken from the Sofia, Bulgaria, Vasil Levski Stadium show on June 22, 2010) (Taken from the Christchurch, New Zealand, CBS Canterbury Arena show on September 21, 2010) Concert tour Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs". The different legs of a tour are denoted in different ways, dependent on the artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there
360-408: The concert represents one of her albums . In another case, artists embark on a concert tour to celebrate the anniversary of their past albums, such as U2 's 2017 tour to mark the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree (1987) and Janet Jackson 's 2019 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). A farewell tour is a concert tour intended to signal
384-587: The group played three dates in Mexico City . The shows reached a total capacity of 158,349 and were the band's first shows in Mexico in ten years. Later in the month, the group returned to Europe, performing a mixture of indoor and outdoor shows, and festival appearances. The leg featured headline slots at the first iterations of the Sonisphere Festival , a new festival event which took place in Finland, Germany,
408-642: The group returned for additional concerts in Oceania. The group also played a show in the United States in early November for the Call of Duty: Black Ops launch party. The entire tour culminated with three dates in Melbourne, Australia. The dates in Mexico City were recorded and later released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray with the title, Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria ("Pride, Passion and Glory"). Additionally,
432-636: The group returned to Mexico, performing in Guadalajara and Monterrey . The leg continued on with additional dates in South America, as well as shows in Central America. The band also performed for the first time in countries such as Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Guatemala. In April 2010, the act once again returned to Europe, beginning with two dates in Oslo . The leg included appearances at
456-935: The most successful by Metallica, grossing roughly $ 217.2 million, with the top grossing location, Acer Arena in Sydney , Australia, taking more than $ 14 million over four shows. A North American leg, their first since the Madly in Anger with the World Tour in 2004, began in Phoenix, Arizona, and wrapped up in late December in Oakland, California . The leg continued in early January 2009, starting in Milwaukee and finishing up in Newark, New Jersey , in early February. In February 2009,
480-406: The retirement of a singer, the disbanding of a band, or the end of a show's run. Many of the tours end up not being the last tour, with frequent regroupings, or revivals of shows. Luciano Pavarotti 's 2004 tour and Kenny Rogers 's 2015–2017 tour are examples of farewell tours which were the last to be staged before their deaths. As of October 2024, the highest-grossing concert tour of all time
504-613: The show in Nîmes , France, was filmed and subsequently released on DVD and Blu-ray entitled, Français Pour Une Nuit ("French for One Night"). Both titles were released to retail in November 2009 only in their respective markets (South America and France) and through the band's official website. The band's performance at the Sonisphere Festival in Sofia was beamed to more than 450 movie theatres in more than 140 markets in
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#1732776581308528-520: The stage, sound equipment, instruments, props, and clothes. When Beyoncé visited the United Kingdom with her 2016 The Formation World Tour , it took seven Boeing 747 air freighters and a fleet of more than 70 trucks to get her stage set and other gear to the venues. The logistics phase of that tour did not include transportation of the backstage staff, musicians, performers, and the singer herself. The majority of concert tours are part of
552-520: The tour grossed $ 217,245,629 from 164 reported shows across two years with an attendance of over 2.6 million people. This was the first time Metallica ever played in Puerto Rico. They were originally going to play on April 28, 1993, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on the Nowhere Else to Roam Tour , but the rains that day reached a level of over two feet, which would have been a hazardous situation if
576-499: The touring business suffered in the early 2020s because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Pollstar estimated the total lost revenue for the industry in 2020 at more than $ 30 billion. The mobility of concert tours requires a lot of costs, time, and energy. It is very common for musicians to not see family members for over a year during their touring. British singer Adele expressed her unhappiness of concert tours, saying "Touring
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