TicketNetwork Blog

The tour landscape changes a lot over the course of a few months, so it's sometimes hard to keep up. It certainly has changed quite a bit since we last issued an update in April, just before the launch of this blog. Since then Paul McCartney announced a set of dates and Incubus has announced their first tour in two years. Don't worry! We've been keeping tabs on the schedule, so keep on reading to find out what's going on during the rest of the summer.

If you like Paul McCartney or Incubus, you'd better hurry up and get tickets, because the Brit and the band start tours on Friday. McCartney, who has been selling a whole lot of tickets, is visiting five cities. Meanwhile, Incubus' much longer 31-date tour is traversing the U.S. Also beginning a tour this weekend is country legend Dolly Parton. Finally, Kings of Leon will begin their latest tour on July 26.

As everyone knows (unless you live under a rock), Paul McCartney is coming back to the U.S. this month for a five-city tour! Sir Paul begins his On the Run tour with two days at Yankee Stadium on July 15 and 16. After that, he'll visit Detroit, spend two days in both Chicago and Montreal, and then cap things off in Cincinnati. The tours mark McCartney's first performance at the new Yankee Stadium.

Although he's only playing eight shows, McCartney typically doesn't leave the States without selling out every venue. He's one of the few performers who can completely take over the lead on ticket sales by just announcing a few dates. As an example, see the chart below of the top five artists from last month.

As you can see, the McCartney tour completely dominated ticket sales for several days, though demand tapered off later. Still, the sales on those few days made McCartney the top-selling artist of June. The most recent mid-month takeover of this magnitude that I can think of was the Jay-Z and Eminem dates from last year.

Of course, McCartney does so well because he's a former Beatle, but also because he's led a very successful solo career. His ability to continue leading in ticket sales, even after more than 50 years of playing music, is nothing short of amazing.

It seems like 2011 is the year that bands are getting back together again. Every month I feel like I hear about another group that is going on a new tour after “x” amount of years, or ones that are rumored to return. This spring, Soundgarden, The Monkees, The Cars, and Buffalo Springfield all announced tours. The latter two completed short runs in May and June respectively, and Buffalo Springfield is planning more dates for the fall.

Some bands are the frequent subject of rumors about possible reunions. Most turn out to be fruitless, but occasionally something actually happens. For example, Davy Jones of the Monkees denied rumors of a reunion for several years, and then in January he announced one. So, with that in mind, I thought of five bands that I think should tour again, and judged the possibility of it happening.

Led Zeppelin

Why They Should Do It: Since breaking up in 1980, they've occasionally gotten back together. Unfortunately, every time they've worked together (1985, 1988, 1995, and 2007), it's ended in disaster. But I think there's hope. Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham (son of the late drummer John Bonham) seem willing to work together. So it's only a matter of convincing Robert Plant to get on board.

Why It Might Happen: While a full tour seems unlikely, a one-off gig is certainly possible. As I mentioned above, they've done it before. Also, even though Plant insists that a tour will never happen again, that doesn't exclude the possibility of a single performance. The prospect of anything from these guys is slim right now, but time will tell.