Q1 Boxoffice Insider: Measuring Success In Challenging Times

Q1 totals compared to the same 13-week period last year reflect the severe drop in all metrics and at all levels that one would expect due to the pandemic. The number of shows that were reported total 382 compared to 18,177 in 2020. Ticket sales that reached almost 39 million last year only hit 397,388 for this year’s Q1. Likewise, gross earnings dropped from $2.5 billion to $18.9 million. (For more, see the Q1 Recap package that begins on page 22.)

Yet, there are highlights and positives to point out during the Q1 time period, which spans from Nov. 19, 2020 to Feb. 17, 2021. In January and February, the New Zealand band SIX60 was the first headliner to perform for audiences at full capacity since the beginning of the shutdown in March 2020. The group’s “SIX60 Saturdays” tour staged outdoors included a performance at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Feb. 13 for 30,022 fans, by far the largest crowd for a live show in Q1 or since the beginning of the pandemic.

SIX60’s unique tour was possible at full capacity because it occurred in New Zealand, where active cases of COVID-19 are well under 100. Most events in the first-quarter tallies were socially distanced shows indoors in smaller venues with limited capacities, mask mandates and extra cleaning procedures.

Large venue touring has been virtually nonexistent in most areas of the world during the pandemic era with arenas hardly making any impact on Q1 numbers. Indeed, only 10 facilities earn a slot on the Arenas chart. American Airlines Center in Dallas heads up that list on the strength of three events that occurred at the arena, all with socially distanced seating configurations. The best attended was a Golden Boy boxing event on Jan. 2 that drew a sellout crowd of 4,218 and a gross of $353,835, with tickets priced from $35 to $200.

The highest-ranked concert at an indoor arena was a two-show engagement by Spanish singer Raphael, who performed at Madrid’s WiZink Center on Dec. 19-20, 2020, where he moved a total of 7,921 tickets. The shows earn the veteran Latin pop artist the No. 9 position on the top 100 tours chart while also making the venue the second-highest ranked arena.

Christian rap artist TobyMac is one headliner who kicked off a string of arena shows in Q1, playing seven socially distanced concerts at five arenas during the quarterly time frame. His annual “Hits Deep” tour, ranked third, registered 15,132 sold tickets at seven performances with a per show gross of $90,751.

Drive-in concert sites were common for live shows in 2020, beginning as early as April in certain European locations but not arriving widely in North America until the summer months. Yet there were still drive-in dates on the schedule for some artists when first-quarter eligibility began in mid-November. The Australian group For King & Country was one band that continued with drive-in shows into Q1, as part of their Christmas tour schedule. The Christian music duo lands at No. 2 on the top tours chart.

In response to the pandemic, Pollstar launched the Top Livestreams chart last May, each week presenting the 50 most popular streams of live performances viewed on numerous virtual platforms. 

The chart is ranked by the total number of views recorded within the first 48 hours after the event airs. Since the weekly chart’s debut, the most views for a single streamed event came during Q1, a New Year’s Eve performance by French musician Jean-Michel Jarre viewed by 75 million fans around the world. It stands at No. 1 on Q1’s Top 100 Livestreams chart.