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FYI

Canadian Highlights Included In Pollstar's Annual Concert Rankings

Four concert firms and two Canadians ranked high in the trade magazine's annual ranking of box-office grosses and ticket sales.

Canadian Highlights Included In Pollstar's Annual Concert Rankings

By David Farrell

Trade publication Pollstar issued its list of top-grossing tours and busiest venues in 2017, ranking B.C. Place 9th in North America, and number 1 in Canada for ticket sales in the category of outdoor stadiums and festival sites.


The downtown venue came in at number 27 worldwide, topping Seattle’s CenturyLink Field and Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium. Mexico City’s Foro Sol was number 1 in the world. – Georgia Straight

Four Canadian concert presenters placed in the Top 100. Quebec-based Evenko placed 13th with ticket sales of 1,342,142 in the year; in second place, at 40, Montreal’s Greenland Productions with ticket sales just shy of 450K; Toronto theatrical presenter Broadway Across Canada placed 74th with almost 200K ticket sales; and Jim Cressman’s BC-based Invictus Entertainment Group placed 82nd, with 156,262 tickets sold.

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Of the top 200 concert grosses, Coldplay’s Aug. 21/22 concert at Rogers Centre Toronto came in 10th place, grossing $8.7M, selling 94,857 tickets over the two nights.

Celine Dion placed 11th overall on the list with 12 shows at Caesar’s Colosseum pulling in $8,579,400 with 50,227 tickets sold over 12 shows in April.

Justin Bieber’s three shows in Feb. at Mexico City’s Foro Sol placed ninth on the list, selling 155,201 tickets to earn a gross of $9,340,236.

– Read more Pollstar annual ranking breakouts here.

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David Wiffen
Courtesy Photo

David Wiffen

FYI

Obituaries: Peers Pay Tribute to Canadian Folk Great David Wiffen

This week we also acknowledge the passing of controversial hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, U.S. guitar ace Wayne Perkins and Hamilton musician and author Douglas Carter.

David George Wiffen, an Ottawa-based folk singer-songwriter revered by his peers and best known for his classic tune "Driving Wheel," died on April 5, at age 84.

A Globe and Mail obituary reports that "Wiffen was born in 1942, in Redhill, Surrey, a market town south of London. He first arrived in Canada as a 16-year-old with his family when his father, an engineer, was transferred to Toronto. Wiffen returned to England but eventually doubled back to Canada to stay."

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