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 .
21-631: The Fragile Tour was a concert tour by progressive rock band Yes in promotion of their 1971 album, Fragile . Lasting from 24 September 1971 until 27 March 1972, and including 115 performances, the tour began at the Queen's Hall in Barnstaple , Devon , and ended at the Aquarius Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts — Bill Bruford 's last performance with the band before returning for 1991's Union . The tour
42-643: A 16 March 1972 concert in Tucson, Arizona, the band supported Black Sabbath . Setlist: Wilkinson (2003) lists only three shows from the tour as being cancelled. The first, on 9 October 1971 at the Edinburgh Empire Theatre , was cancelled after the PA system failed to arrive at the venue. A newspaper story at the time reported that the equipment van, travelling to Scotland from the Royal Festival Hall from
63-418: 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 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
84-449: 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 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
105-489: A show on 29 October in Rotterdam , Netherlands, that was also cancelled. 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 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
126-435: 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 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
147-572: Is produced outside of the presenting organization. Performing arts presenters are typically found in three varieties: Many organizations also experiment with performances of a more conceptual nature or work across genres. The Association of Performing Arts Presenters , located in Washington, D.C., is the largest organizing body of performing arts presenters in the United States. The primary international organizing body of performing arts presenters
168-830: Is the International Society for the Performing Arts. [1] Performing arts presenters as a segment of the live performance market confronted particular difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic . National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) chair, Maria Rosario Jackson was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying, "Few areas of the U.S. economy were hit harder than the performing arts, with the value added by performing arts presenters (including festivals) to Gross Domestic Product falling by nearly 73% between 2019 and 2020." A press release from
189-574: 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. Performing arts presenters Performing arts presenting organizations facilitate exchanges between artists and audiences through creative, educational, and performance opportunities. The work that these artists perform
210-515: 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 is U2 's 360° Tour , with $ 736.4 million. Global touring revenue reported to Billboard Boxscore exceeded $ 5.5 billion in 2016. Due to
231-501: 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 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
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#1733085081283252-481: The band's 1973 live album, Yessongs . The band's 3 October 1971 performance at the Hemel Hempstead Pavilion was recorded for television broadcast on BBC's Sounding Out . The recording was broadcast on 10 January 1972, shortly before the commencement of the second European leg of the tour. The line-up for the tour unchanged throughout its duration, though sources are contradictory as to whether Wakeman
273-479: 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, 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
294-579: 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 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
315-439: 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 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
336-590: The previous evening's concert, broke down in Birmingham. Similarly, two replacement vans also broke down. The band rescheduled the date for 23 October, with original tickets still valid. The band offered free posters to fans attending the 23 October show. The second appearance to be cancelled was on 2 November at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California —the first show of the tour's North American leg. The concert
357-455: 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) 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
378-430: 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 is Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour , with $ 2.089 billion earned from 125 shows. In 2024, Coldplay 's Music of
399-502: Was Rick Wakeman 's first with the band; sources differ as to whether his first live appearance with the band was on 24 September at the Queen's Hall in Barnstaple, or on 30 September—the third tour date—at Leicester 's De Montfort Hall . Three songs from the tour (from unknown dates)—" Perpetual Change ", " Long Distance Runaround ", and " The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) "—were included on
420-784: Was cancelled as the band's PA system was stolen. Other sources state that it was the 8 November show at the San Francisco Winterland Ballroom that was cancelled due to the stolen PA system, implying that the band appeared that night at the Oakland Coliseum (with a rented sound system) instead. The concert in Richmond VA on 3 March 1972, was also cancelled, and supposedly the band played at the TownshipAuditorium in Columbia S Carolina instead. Additionally, reports exist of
441-665: Was present for the first two concerts. The line-up was the sixth incarnation of Yes. Rick Wakeman had joined the band the previous month, spending August and early September in recording sessions for Fragile at London's Advision Studios . The tour saw the band play a total of 111 concerts in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and Belgium over four legs—two European legs and two North American legs. Support came from Jonathan Swift, Ten Years After , Mary Wells , Emerson, Lake and Palmer , The J. Geils Band , King Crimson , The Blues Project , and Shawn Phillips . At
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