Industry News

U2 are StubHub’s biggest US draw of 2017

U2, the veteran Irish rock band, have edged out Ed Sheeran as the top-selling live music act in the US for summer 2017, according to StubHub.

U2 will make 13 stops across the country with the ‘The Joshua Tree Tour 2017’, with the June 3 Chicago appearance the most in-demand concert of the entire summer.

After U2 began the tour in Canada on Friday, the US leg kicks off on Sunday at Seattle’s 68,000-capacity CenturyLink Field, before dates in California, Texas and Florida.

The US leg of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Divide’ tour came in second place in StubHub’s list, but while ticket sales figures were not released, he apparently shipped 65 per cent fewer than U2 despite performing eight more shows.

U2 is playing at venues upwards of 65,000 seats, while Sheeran will perform at smaller venues averaging a 20,000-capacity.

StubHub also noted that Sheeran tickets cost fans about $231, while U2 tickets average around $246.

U2 also outsold last year’s top summer act, British singer Adele, by 15 per cent, while also dominating in this year’s average sales per-show. U2 outsold the second highest per-show performer Lady Gaga by 118 per cent.

The top 10 also included pop star Bruno Mars, American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, heavy metal band Metallica, rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar, American rock band Tool, as well as Justin Bieber and former Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters.

Bieber is the only act to return to the list from the 2016 edition, while also selling the least expensive ticket out of all the performers.

In addition to the top-10 selling concerts, StubHub also released the top-five most in-demand US summer music festivals. In order from first to fifth these include, CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, BottleRock Napa in California, Lollapalooza in Chicago, The Classic East in Flushing, New York and The Classic West in Los Angeles.