Biggest Money-Making Tours of 2009

Pollstar, the concert industry’s premiere trade magazine, has released figures for the year just gone by, and it’s no surprise to see U2 sittin’ on top of the list – by a verrry wide margin.

So how many of the Top 10 concert tours made a stop in Nippertown?

Fewer than half of ’em, as it turns out. Four out of ten landed in town, including Bruce Springsteen, who hit two different venues in 2009 – first the Times Union Center and later the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

SPAC also hosted two shows by the Dave Matthews Band, while the TU Center welcomed AC/DC and Metallica. (In fact, the TUC also had Fleetwood Mac booked, but the plug was pulled on that show due to low ticket sales.)

Here’s the rundown of the Top 50 biggest grossing North American concert tours of 2009, according to Pollstar:

RANK           TOTAL GROSS*             ARTIST
1                 123.0             U2
2                  94.5             Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
3                  88.0             Elton John / Billy Joel
4                  82.5             Britney Spears
5                  77.9             AC/DC
6                  71.1             Kenny Chesney
7                  69.8             The Jonas Brothers
8                  56.9             The Dave Matthews Band
9                  54.5             Fleetwood Mac
10                 53.4             Metallica
11                 47.4             Nickelback
12                 46.2             "Walking With Dinosaurs"
13                 45.0             Miley Cyrus
14                 43.7             The Trans-Siberian Orchestra
15                 42.8             The Eagles
16                 42.7             Keith Urban
17                 42.6             Celine Dion
18                 42.2             Rascal Flatts
19                 40.8             Coldplay
20                 40.7             Paul McCartney
21                 37.2             Phish
22                 35.4             Brad Paisley
23                 34.6             Jeff Dunham
24                 33.9             No Doubt
25                 33.2             Cher
26                 32.1             Lil' Wayne
27                 30.5             Kiss
28                 30.1             "American Idols Live"
29                 29.7             Toby Keith
30                 29.1             Bette Midler
31                 28.1             Dane Cook
32                 26.7             Blink-182
33                 26.4             The Dead
34                 26.4             Beyoncé
35                 26.0             Il Divo
36                 25.5             Taylor Swift
37                 24.8             Def Leppard
38                 24.2             Cirque du Soleil's "Saltimbanco"
39                 23.5             Mötley Crüe
40                 22.3             Depeche Mode
41                 22.0             George Strait
42                 21.9             Eric Clapton / Steve Winwood
43                 21.8             Kings Of Leon
44                 21.3             Leonard Cohen
45                 20.4             Bob Dylan
46                 19.7             "So You Think You Can Dance"
47                 18.8             Journey
48                 18.7             Jimmy Buffett
49                 18.5             Luis Miguel
50                 18.4             The Killers
* totals in millions of U.S. dollars