How much money does a band make on the road? Billboard hopes to answer that question, somewhat, by providing gross sale reports in their weekly Boxscore report. We like to check in every once in a while to see how metal bands are doing. Keep in mind, these are gross sales, meaning this is before the venue, promoter, etc. get the cut. This doesn't mean the band gets the entire piece of the pie and their profits vary based on the deals they make. Check out our previous Earnings & Attendance Reports.
Artist: ‘KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas‘: Linkin Park, System Of A Down, Weezer, Incubus, etc.
Venue: Inglewood, CA – The Forum
Date: Dec. 13th-14th, 2014
Gross Sales: $1,793,640
Attendance/Capacity: 22,250 / 22,250
Ticket Prices: $155, $100, $80
Wow, Christmas radio fests draw in big money! No wonder stations keep pumping them out.
Artist: ‘Dave’s Rock & Roll Club‘ (aka Foo Fighters)
Venue: Inglewood, CA – The Forum
Date: Jan. 10th, 2015
Gross Sales: $774,700
Attendance/Capacity: 15,494 / 15,494
Ticket Prices: $50
Foo Fighters scheduled a "secret" gig that acted as a birthday party for Dave Grohl at the Forum in Inglewood, and look at that, it turned a pretty penny.
Artist: Slayer, Exodus & Suicidal Tendencies
Venue: Inglewood, CA – The Forum
Date: Nov. 14th, 2014
Gross Sales: $328,909
Attendance/Capacity: 7,074 / 7,074
Ticket Prices: $49.50, $39.50
Slayer play the same venue, with slightly different ticket prices, but draw about half the gate. It's interesting they only opened about 7,000 seats for this one. Regardless, not a bad day's worth of work for a hometown artist.
Artist: Alice Cooper
Venue: Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
Date: Feb. 16th, 2015
Gross Sales: $112,506
Attendance/Capacity: 2,028 / 2,028
Ticket Prices: $68.25, $41.25Artist: Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, Pvris & Mallory Knox
Venue: St. Paul, MN – Myth
Date: Feb. 04th, 2015
Gross Sales: $75,640
Attendance/Capacity: 2,529 / 3,090
Ticket Prices: $35, $29.50
We live in a world where Alice Cooper draws the same amount of people in Clearwater, FL as Pierce the Veil do in St. Paul.
Artist: Black Label Society, Hatebreed & Butcher Babies
Venue: Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
Date: Jan. 16th, 2015
Gross Sales: $49,883
Attendance/Capacity: 1,800 / 1,800
Ticket Prices: $35, $27.50
…and Pierce The Veil outdraw Black Label Society and Hatebreed.
Artist: Mastodon
Venue: Guadalajara, MEX – Teatro Estudio Cavaret
Date: Mar. 13th, 2015
Gross Sales: $19,157
Attendance/Capacity: 1,221 / 2,800
Ticket Prices: $15.69
Mastodon with a respectable showing in Mexico.
Artist: Machine Head
Venue: Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot
Date: Feb. 09th, 2015
Gross Sales: $15,740
Attendance/Capacity: 608 / 1,000
Ticket Prices: $30, $25
This Machine Head tour was nuts. Thousands of people one day, only hundreds of people the next. I guess that's what happens when you book eight straight weeks of touring.
Artist: HELLYEAH, Devour The Day & Like A Storm
Venue: Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
Date: Mar. 03rd, 2015
Gross Sales: $14,407
Attendance/Capacity: 646 / 700
Ticket Prices: $25, $22Artist: Helmet
Venue: Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
Date: Mar. 12th, 2015
Gross Sales: $6,800
Attendance/Capacity: 400 / 400
Ticket Prices: $17
Artist: Trash Talk, Ratking & Lee Bannon
Venue: San Francisco, CA – The Independent
Date: Mar. 17th, 2015
Gross Sales: $3,660
Attendance/Capacity: 244 / 550
Ticket Prices: $15Artist: Pallbearer, Solstafir & Mortals
Venue: Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Social Club
Date: Dec. 17th, 2014
Gross Sales: $3,366
Attendance/Capacity: 270 / 363
Ticket Prices: $14, $12
It's interesting to see how these four artists, not at all identical, but still arguably metal, all stack up against each other.
Artist: Mayhem, Watain & Revenge
Venue: Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights
Date: Jan. 17th, 2015
Gross Sales: $12,545
Attendance/Capacity: 540 / 750
Ticket Prices: $25, $22.50, $11.25
Wow, Mayhem is still a pretty decent draw.
Artist: Coal Chamber, Filter, Combichrist & American Head Charge
Venue: San Francisco, CA – Regency Center Grand Ballroom
Date: Mar. 08th, 2015
Gross Sales: $9,645
Attendance/Capacity: 344 / 1,424
Ticket Prices: $30, $27.50
Coal Chamber on the other hand had some problems in Frisco.
Artist: Veil Of Maya, Upon A Burning Body, Volumes, Gideon & The Last Ten Seconds Of Life
Venue: Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights
Date: Jan. 20th, 2015
Gross Sales: $7,562
Attendance/Capacity: 399 / 1,200
Ticket Prices: $20, $18, $9
This tour package must've been sold to a national promoter, otherwise, I can't understand why Veil would be booked in such a large venue.
Artist: Marilyn Manson & Unlocking The Truth
Venue: Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Date: Jan. 30th, 2015
Gross Sales: $110,400
Attendance/Capacity: 2,300 / 2,300
Ticket Prices: $48
A sell out is a sell out. Can't knock Manson for being a draw 15 years after his peak.
Artist: Enslaved, YOB & Ecstatic Vision
Venue: Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
Date: Mar. 06th, 2015
Gross Sales: $9,394
Attendance/Capacity: 427 / 771
Ticket Prices: $22
Enslaved come all the way from Europe to play for about 400 people a night. Sounds about right.
[Special thanks to ThePRP]
