Pollstar has unveiled the top grossing tours for 2007 so far, and Rod Stewart tops the list.
Let's take a look at the top ten highest earning tours, and some possible reasons why they did so well.
1) Rod Stewart - $48.1 million - His audience consists entirely of girls named Maggie, or guys who are dating girls named Maggie. Also, James Blunt took the year off, so people might have gone for the next closest thing.
2) Justin Timberlake - $42.3 - Watching Timberlake is cheaper than taking dance lessons, and twice as effective.
3) The Police - $41.9 - Perhaps people still think it's 1983?
4) Celine Dion - $41.8 - Irony?
5) Kenny Chesney - $33.2 - Country music is pretty popular.
6) Roger Waters - $32.9 - Engineers created a more efficient method of producing water pipes, and passed the savings directly onto consumers, who then had leftover money to spend on concerts.
7) Christina Aguilera - $30.6 - She has a highly-acclaimed album, and she's hot. This is a no-brainer.
8) Cirque de Soleil "Delirium" - $30 - I think this is one of Pixie's emo bands, you'd have to ask her.
9) Eric Clapton - $35.8 - Maybe people wanted to hear "Wonderful Tonight" and pretend it was their prom night all over again.
10) Josh Groban - $24.4 - Don't his songs have religious undertones? Devout religious people have incredible buying power and brand loyalty. I'm surprised other companies haven't tried to capitalize on this. There should be a Coke Christian or something like that.
For a rundown of the top 50, go here. You've got to hand it to Gwen Stefani. She managed to place 11th despite having ticket prices of just $42, $22 lower than anyone in the top ten and lower than anyone in the top 35. Also, Larry the Cable Guy came in 23rd, one spot below the Chili Peppers. You've got to wonder whether Larry the Cable Guy is that good, or if the Chili Peppers just weren't proficient enough at "getting errrr done."
