RHCP set world record
Thanks to xfm.co.uk and Universally Speaking…
The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ recent shows at Hyde Park in London set a new world record as the highest grossing concert event at a single venue in music history, bringing in an astonishing $17 million.
The three shows (June 19, 20 and 25) sold out within hours of going on sale, had a paying audience of 258,000 punters, bringing in $17,187,234 (approximately ‘9,115,282) setting a new world record.
The Bonnaroo Music Festival in Nashville had previously held the record, with a gross of approximately $14.5 million, but the Clear Channel Entertainment UK promoted and produced RHCP shows, blew the competition out of the water.
“It blew our minds,” CCE Europe president Michael Rapino said to Reuters, “The first show sold out in a couple of hours, then we put up a second show and it went clean just as quickly. I think we could’ve done another two or even three,” he explained, ‘if the venue had been available.
The band also sold out three other huge capacity events Manchester (58,000), Cardiff (61,000) and Edinburgh (50,000). “And we could’ve sold more,” Rapino says, “The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an incredibly huge band in Europe.”
Rapino went on to explain that while there has been a drop off in interest in US festivals (most obviously the cancelled Lollapalooza event) the European concert market is still going strong, saying.
“We’re still going to have growth this year, which is amazing. David Bowie, Madonna, Sting, Britney Spears and others have done well in Europe in 2004, and festivals like Download and the Isle of Wight are also strong.
“We’ve had a few slow shows here and there, but we haven’t felt anywhere near the pain of US markets. We haven’t seen that same level of drop-off.”
As previously reported The Chili Peppers will be releasing their first ever live album ‘Live In Hyde Park’ in August which will only be released in Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand (not the US).
