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 .
25-582: The Time Machine Tour was a concert tour by the Canadian rock band Rush that began on June 29, 2010 in Albuquerque , New Mexico and ended July 2, 2011 at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington . The tour was notable for featuring the album Moving Pictures played in its entirety for the first time live, as well as material from the band's then upcoming studio album Clockwork Angels (i.e.
50-772: 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. Setlist A set list , or setlist ,
75-476: A running setlist on one or more Internet forums devoted to the performer of the night. When internet-connected smartphones came about, fans began to post the setlists directly to these forums and websites themselves, often as part of a running play-by-play commentary of their concert experiences on social media sites such as Myspace and later Twitter . Collecting setlists has become nearly as popular for music fans as collecting ticket stubs and show posters, with
100-594: A tribute to the city that first played their music on the radio, the Cleveland performance at Quicken Loans Arena on April 15, 2011 was recorded/filmed and released as a DVD, Blu-ray, and double CD titled Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland . This is the first official full-length live performance filming of Rush in the United States. Set 1 Set 2 Encore: Post Show: Post-show video depicting
125-485: 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
150-400: 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,
175-443: Is a concert tour intended to signal 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
200-439: 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
225-437: Is a retrospective of her career to that point, where each act of 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
250-404: Is done to provide a more accurate record of each individual show, which is later used to differentiate between performances during a tour, as many artists will change their setlist from one night to another. In the pre-smartphone era, devoted followers attending concerts of popular artists such as Bruce Springsteen or Led Zeppelin , which have very large fan bases spanning the globe, often took on
275-445: Is the use of technologies such as instant polling on social media and websites, where fans can choose material to be performed. Many performers also craft their playlists to highlight other elements of their shows, such as visual ambiance, choreography, or to refer to specific albums or phases of their careers. Music fans also refer to the setlist in the non-physical sense of what a performing artist chooses to play. Many artists use
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#1732793233633300-417: Is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any material that can be written or printed on, but are most commonly paper , cardboard or cardstock . They are also often laminated , especially for outdoor venues. The setlist is usually taped onto
325-461: The stage where the musicians can see it, or to equipment such as a monitor or amplifier. Artists and bands use setlists for a variety of reasons beyond the mere order of performance events. They are often used to help create the set's overall mood by establishing a memorable sense of range and variety in tone, tempo and dynamics between songs. They are also used to create sets for specific audiences and locations. An increasingly common application
350-413: The actual physical setlist becoming a treasured and uniquely rare souvenir for concert goers and fans of music, in general. Fans often wait around after a concert just so they can grab one off the stage after a performance or so they can try requesting one from a roadie or other event staff. Crew members also sometimes keep items like original setlists, guitar picks, drumsticks and other items used during
375-402: The artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there 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
400-532: The back. Prior to kicking off the second leg of the tour, the band announced that they would be postponing the April 1, 2011 Greensboro, North Carolina show a day later and as a result, they would move the April 6, 2011 show in Toledo, Ohio to April 13, 2011. 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
425-686: The characters Peter Klaven and Sydney Fife (played respectively by Paul Rudd and Jason Segel ) from the 2009 film I Love You, Man annoying the band members after the gig. The show on July 7, 2010 in Chicago at the Charter One Pavilion was postponed due to inclement weather. It was rescheduled for August 23, 2010. Fans attending the August 23, 2010 makeup show received an embroidered Rush baseball cap with "The Rain Date – Chicago 2010" on
450-434: The local level by concert promoters or by performing arts presenters . Usually, small concert tours are managed by 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
475-474: 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 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
500-441: The same list for every performance on a concert tour . Others prefer to vary their lists during a tour, either for the benefit of fans who attend multiple performances or to avoid a sense of monotony among the musicians. The Grateful Dead was known for never playing the same setlist twice. Some such artists have predetermined "slots" in an otherwise mostly fixed show where different songs can be inserted. Some artists even state that
525-440: The same song will not be played at two shows in a row; and still others, such as Van Morrison , use no predetermined list at all. There are websites that track and report information on such things as the venue and bands on the bill of each date, as well as which band members were in attendance, copies of the show posters and other memorabilia available, and most importantly, the actual setlist used for that particular event. This
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#1732793233633550-466: The songs " Caravan " and "BU2B", which had been released as a single in early June 2010). This tour is one of three where the setlist has been consistent throughout the entire tour, the others being the 1987 Hold Your Fire tour and the 2004 R30: 30th Anniversary Tour . This is also the first Rush tour to not include any songs from Roll the Bones in the set list since that album was released in 1991. As
575-405: The task of tracking which songs were played and in what order, creating their own handwritten version of the correct setlist for the event to be shared later with other fans through fan clubs and other forums. When early cellular phones became commonplace with the general public, people began using text-messaging to report the songs played in real-time to a friend or fellow fan who would then update
600-499: 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
625-577: 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 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)
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