Old Dudes Help Save the Concert Business

As an old dude musician who made his first record in the 70's, I especially enjoy this story:

Musical acts whose debut recordings were made three decades ago dominated the North American concert business in 2007, with half of the top 20 grossing performers having started their careers in the 1970s.

The Police topped the chart by taking in $131.9 million from 54 North American shows, far outdistancing No. 2 seller Kenny Chesney, who made $71.1 million on the same number of shows, according to Pollstar, which tracks the concert business. The Police and Chesney were the only acts to sell more than 1 million tickets in 2007; four acts, one of which was Chesney, did it in 2006.

The Police reunion tour had an average ticket price of $114.32 and sold 1.15 million tickets. While their ticket sales were tops as well, the band’s average ticket price was second to Barry Manilow at $141.72. He played the bulk of his 98 shows at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Chesney barely squeaked past Justin Timberlake, who grossed $70.6 million from 60 concerts.

Two other reunited bands, Van Halen and Genesis, landed in the top 10. The David Lee Roth-led edition of Van Halen pulled in $56.7 million from 39 dates to land in fifth place; Phil Collins and his mates scored $47.6 million from 25 shows.

Rod Stewart ($49 million), Billy Joel ($39.1 million), Roger Waters ($38.3 million) and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ($38.2 million) were among the other veteran acts on the list.

Not too long ago The Eagles were headlining shows in Los Angeles for several nights in a row and their opening act was The Dixie Chicks. The old dudes were the real draw on that show. They probably would have sold out anyway with the Ditsy Chicks taking up space. However, they needed the girls to sing for awhile since they couldn't have sung the whole show without collapsing.