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.
First up, let's see how much Guns N' Roses made for their two sold out shows in Las Vegas:
Artist: Guns N’ Roses & Alice In Chains
Venue: Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
Date: Apr. 08th-09th, 2016
Gross Sales: $6,265,076
Attendance/Capacity: 28,849 / 28,849
Ticket Prices: $350, $250, $199.50, $79.50
Six. Million. Dollars! For two nights! Now of course, this doesn't take into account production costs, but also it doesn't account for the merchandise that the band sold, likely to add at least another few hundred thousand to the get.
Just to give you an idea of how crazy this, check out the numbers for Iron Maiden's equally large sold out world tour, playing the same type of venues:
Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Sao Paulo, BRA – Allianz Parque
Date: Mar. 26th, 2016
Gross Sales: $2,844,250
Attendance/Capacity: 39,583 / 39,583
Ticket Prices: $168.17, $27.12Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Santiago, CHL – Estadio Nacional
Date: Mar. 11th, 2016
Gross Sales: $2,181,940
Attendance/Capacity: 54,911 / 56,674
Ticket Prices: $123.01, $28.94Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Buenos Aires, ARG – Estadio Velez Sarsfield
Date: Mar. 15th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,558,520
Attendance/Capacity: 32,629 / 32,629
Ticket Prices: $77.08, $37.03Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Date: Mar. 30th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,472,331
Attendance/Capacity: 13,289 / 13,289
Ticket Prices: $125, $64.50Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Fortaleza, BRA – Arena Castelao
Date: Mar. 24th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,449,220
Attendance/Capacity: 23,531 / 23,531
Ticket Prices: $215.35, $13.84Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: San Salvador, SV – Estadio Nacional Jorge Magico Gonzalez
Date: Mar. 06th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,331,925
Attendance/Capacity: 22,041 / 22,041
Ticket Prices: $175, $15Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Belo Horizonte, BRA – Esplanada do Mineirao
Date: Mar. 19th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,165,280
Attendance/Capacity: 16,844 / 16,844
Ticket Prices: $157.31, $34.50Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: Chicago, IL – United Center
Date: Apr. 06th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,085,976
Attendance/Capacity: 13,968 / 13,968
Ticket Prices: $89.50, $39.50Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: San Jose, CR – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma
Date: Mar. 08th, 2016
Gross Sales: $996,194
Attendance/Capacity: 16,655 / 18,000
Ticket Prices: $100.36, $32.84Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
Date: Apr. 03rd, 2016
Gross Sales: $889,288
Attendance/Capacity: 13,734 / 13,734
Ticket Prices: $74.91, $38.03Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Date: Apr. 01st, 2016
Gross Sales: $866,918
Attendance/Capacity: 14,963 / 14,963
Ticket Prices: $67.47, $42.02Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Cordoba, ARG – Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes
Date: Mar. 13th, 2016
Gross Sales: $857,309
Attendance/Capacity: 17,680 / 18,600
Ticket Prices: $80.43, $36.86Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Rio de Janeiro, BRA – HSBC Arena
Date: Mar. 17th, 2016
Gross Sales: $844,709
Attendance/Capacity: 12,219 / 12,219
Ticket Prices: $156.12, $29.11Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
Date: Apr. 08th, 2016
Gross Sales: $842,035
Attendance/Capacity: 12,813 / 12,813
Ticket Prices: $74.40, $22.51Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Date: Apr. 09th, 2016
Gross Sales: $794,762
Attendance/Capacity: 12,478 / 13,405
Ticket Prices: $74.59, $22.57Artist: Iron Maiden & The Raven Age
Venue: Auburn Hills, MI – Palace Of Auburn Hills
Date: Apr. 05th, 2016
Gross Sales: $750,508
Attendance/Capacity: 10,232 / 10,900
Ticket Prices: $89.50, $29.50Artist: Iron Maiden & Anthrax
Venue: Brasilia, BRA – Ginasio Nilson Nelson
Date: Mar. 22nd, 2016
Gross Sales: $631,263
Attendance/Capacity: 10,942 / 11,380
Ticket Prices: $132.45, $27.59
A million a night isn't too shabby either, but wow those GNR numbers. I still can't! Some more…
Artist: Black Sabbath & Rival Sons
Venue: Inglewood, CA – The Forum
Date: Feb. 11th, 2016
Gross Sales: $1,237,836
Attendance/Capacity: 14,013 / 14,013
Ticket Prices: $165, $150, $95, $35
Black Sabbath doesn't do too bad either.
Artist: Slayer, Testament & Carcass
Venue: Las Vegas, NV – The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel
Date: Mar. 26th, 2016
Gross Sales: $192,572
Attendance/Capacity: 3,794 / 4,286
Ticket Prices: $125, $79.50, $49.50, $39.50Artist: Slayer, Testament & Carcass
Venue: Columbus, OH – Express Live!
Date: Mar. 08th, 2016
Gross Sales: $83,600
Attendance/Capacity: 2,200 / 2,200
Ticket Prices: $40, $38
Slayer making better returns than on Mayhem Fest. But notice the steep drop off between GNR, Maiden and Slayer. A few less zeros at the end.
Artist: Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Deafheaven & Power Trip
Venue: Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Date: Jan. 15th, 2016
Gross Sales: $80,500
Attendance/Capacity: 2,300 / 2,300
Ticket Prices: $39, $35Artist: Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Deafheaven & Power Trip
Venue: Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Date: Jan. 26th, 2016
Gross Sales: $65,553
Attendance/Capacity: 1,816 / 2,000
Ticket Prices: $45, $39.50
Lamb of God's returns are comparable to Slayer. Imagine a co-headlining tour?
Artist: Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, Children Of Bodom & Havok
Venue: Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
Date: Mar. 20th, 2016
Gross Sales: $115,525
Attendance/Capacity: 2,353 / 2,812
Ticket Prices: $275, $45
Megadeth making as much as Slayer in slightly smaller venues.
Artist: Nightwish, Sonata Arctica & Delain
Venue: Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Date: Mar. 08th, 2016
Gross Sales: $82,140
Attendance/Capacity: 2,003 / 2,003
Ticket Prices: $38, $35Artist: Nightwish, Sonata Arctica & Delain
Venue: Birmingham, AL – Iron City
Date: Mar. 21st, 2016
Gross Sales: $40,285
Attendance/Capacity: 995 / 1,300
Ticket Prices: $169, $14.50
Nightwish make as much as Lamb of God and Slayer?!
Artist: Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria & While She Sleeps
Venue: New York, NY – PlayStation Theater
Date: Feb. 23rd, 2016
Gross Sales: $70,177
Attendance/Capacity: 2,150 / 2,150
Ticket Prices: $38, $34.50Artist: Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria & While She Sleeps
Venue: Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Date: Feb. 24th, 2016
Gross Sales: $65,130
Attendance/Capacity: 1,990 / 2,300
Ticket Prices: $35, $32.50Artist: Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria & While She Sleeps
Venue: Birmingham, AL – Iron City
Date: Feb. 28th, 2016
Gross Sales: $49,214
Attendance/Capacity: 1,300 / 1,300
Ticket Prices: $41.50, $37.50
I'm truthfully surprised how well BFMV still does.
Artist: Trivium
Venue: Charleston, SC – Music Farm
Date: Jan. 08th, 2016
Gross Sales: $8,556
Attendance/Capacity: 509 / 750
Ticket Prices: $22, $9.81
Trivium didn't too bad for a one-off headliner.
Artist: 1349, Tombs & Full Of Hell
Venue: Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
Date: Jan. 16th, 2016
Gross Sales: $3,225
Attendance/Capacity: 215 / 300
Ticket Prices: $15
Black metal bands have a limit to how much they make.
Artist: ‘Generation Axe‘ (Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai, etc.)
Venue: Las Vegas, NV – The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel
Date: Apr. 09th, 2016
Gross Sales: $59,920
Attendance/Capacity: 842 / 2,280
Ticket Prices: $170, $120, $74.50, $34.95
The shredders are making bank.
Artist: Between The Buried And Me, August Burns Red & The Faceless
Venue: Austin, TX – Emo’s
Date: Apr. 05th, 2016
Gross Sales: $26,330
Attendance/Capacity: 1,077 / 1,500
Ticket Prices: $26, $24
BTBAM do respectable numbers themselves.
Artist: Napalm Death, Melvins & Melt Banana
Venue: Birmingham, AL – Iron City
Date: Apr. 03rd, 2016
Gross Sales: $8,450
Attendance/Capacity: 338 / 750
Ticket Prices: $25
Surprised how little this earned because the shows in NY sold out, but then I realized it was in Birmingham.
[special thanks to ThePRP]
