July 9, 2013
Following the original mid-60s invasion spearheaded by The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones and the early-80's second led by the likes of Wham!, Eurythmics and Culture Club, a third wave of British acts are now in the midst of conquering both the Billboard charts and the US live scene.
Tipped to be one of the highest-grossing of 2013, One Direction’s mammoth Take Me Home (with other boy band 5 Seconds of Summer) world tour will have taken in 32 cities and 42 dates by the time it concludes its North American leg at Los Angeles’ Staple Center (TicketIQ get-in price $149/average price $467) on August 10. However, the tour’s overall average price of $603 is just one of many expensive figures which initially suggest that being a fan of UK pop music currently comes at a pretty high cost.
Indeed, only highlighting their dominance, One Direction tickets account for an astonishing 34 of the Top 50 most expensive shows by average price this year, including two which exceed a whopping $1000 – Houston’s Toyota Center on July 21 ($1330/get-in price $348) and Dallas’ American Airlines Center on Jul 22 ($1028/get-in price $237).
The only other act to get anywhere near them are another British phenomenon. Equalling the X-Factor boyband’s overall tour average, the highest of 2013 by quite some distance, The Rolling Stones tickets for their recent 50 & Counting tour also appear seven times on the costliest Top 50 average price shows, with the June 24 gig at Washington’s Verizon Center the most expensive at $822.
The huge appetite for Beyonce tickets ensure that there’s at least one home-grown presence near the top of the chain – The Mrs Carter Show world tour achieved the third highest overall average price of 2013 at $341 and features eight times on the Top 50 list.
But although Depeche Mode were the only other name to feature on the Top 50 list, with their June 9 gig at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center coming in at No. 17 at $767, not every act from across the pond costs such an eye-watering amount to see.
The overall average tour price of Paul McCartney tickets for his Out There! world tour is listed at $245, only a small fraction more than relatively newer upstarts Bruno Mars ($223) and Justin Timberlake ($222). Black Sabbath’s reunion tour has an average price of $211, a far lower figure than other 70s rock legends on the comeback trail such as The Eagles ($279) and Fleetwood Mac ($265). While unlike two other ubiquitous chart stars who have joined forces, Maroon 5 & Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran & Taylor Swift’s tour comes in at just under the $200 mark.
And with the likes of Muse, James Blake and Kate Nash all set to visit these shores for a much more affordable price over the next few months, the third British pop invasion needn’t always burn a hole in your wallet.
