Hot Tours: Rush

Billboard.com, October 21, 2010


Rush takes the No. 1 ranking on Hot Tours chart with totals reported from the Time Machine Tour that played North American venues from late June through early October. The tour schedule included concerts at outdoor amphitheaters and arenas along with appearances at state fairs in Minnesota (Aug. 27), New York (Sept. 2), and an Aug. 31 stop at the Great Allentown Fair in Allentown, Pa. which celebrated its 158th year of operation. The top gross among the reported concerts came from a two-performance engagement at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo. The Denver-area outdoor venue sold more than 16,000 tickets for both shows (Aug. 16, 18) grossing just over $1.5 million. The largest amphitheater crowd for a single performance came from the Houston market with 15,225 fans in attendance at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Sept. 25. Among the arenas on the schedule, the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas produced the top gross with $993,351 in sold tickets for a concert on Aug. 14. The best attendance among the arenas was at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The 20,000-seat venue's Aug. 29 performance drew 11,402 fans.

This year's Time Machine Tour is the first major concert outing for Rush since the Snakes & Arrows Tour in 2007-2008 that grossed over $52 million. The Canadian rockers, who are currently working on a new album to be released in 2011, are the 2010 recipient of the Legends of Live Award to be be presented at the Billboard Touring Conference in New York City on Nov. 4.

Country superstar Toby Keith takes the No. 2 spot on the Hot Tours list with over $9.6 million in ticket sales reported from performances during August and September at 13 outdoor amphitheaters and one arena. The Chicago market produced the top attendance and gross totals with 25,221 tickets sold at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre located in the suburb of Tinley Park. The gross total for the Sept. 18 concert was $898,778.

Rank 1

RUSH
$18,989,834
Aug. 5-Oct. 2
USANA Amphitheatre, West Valley City, Utah (1/0)
White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, Wash. (1/0)
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, Calif. (1/0)
Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, Calif. (1/0)
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Irvine, Calif. (1/0)
MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas (1/0)
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colo. (2/0)
INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan. (1/0)
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Maryland Heights, Mo. (1/0)
Qwest Center, Omaha (1/0)
Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul (1/0)
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (1/0)
Great Allentown Fair, Allentown, Pa. (1/0)
New York State Fair, Syracuse (1/0)
PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, N.J. (1/0)
TD Garden, Boston (1/0)
CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh (1/0)
Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, Va. (1/0)
BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla. (1/0)
AT&T Center, San Antonio (1/0)
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, Texas (1/0)
Superpages.com Center, Dallas (1/0)
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, Ga. (1/0)
1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, Tampa (1/0)
Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, Fla. (1/0)
270,757 (319,077)