Stones take back seat to McCartney

Paul McCartney is rewarding fans who bought his recently released “Back in the U.S. Concert Tour” DVD with a Web cast today featuring 30 minutes of bonus concert and behind-the-scenes footage. It’s accessible through a link embedded in the DVD.

He has good reason to be thankful. The Rolling Stones might have conducted one of the year’s most high-profile tours, but it’s the former Beatle who gets the satisfaction: His was the top-grossing U.S. tour of 2002, leaving the Stones in the No. 2 slot, according to Pollstar, the concert-industry tracking publication.

“It’s the first time since we’ve been ranking the concert business that the Rolling Stones went on the road and did not have the No. 1 tour,” says Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni.

McCartney’s tour, divided into legs titled “Driving Rain” and “Back in the U.S.,” grossed $103.3 million, solidly ahead of the roughly $90 million for the Stones. He didn’t, however, dislodge Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company from their spot at the top of the list of all-time tour grosses. McCartney is now fourth on the overall list. The Stones’ 1994 tour took in $121.2 million, the highest ever. U2’s tour last year ranks behind the Stones with gross ticket sales of $109.7 million, and Pink Floyd is No. 3 with $103.5 million on its 1994 tour.

Many of the 2002 tour figures are still being finalized, but Bongiovanni said that Cher’s farewell tour probably will wind up as the year’s third biggest. Others expected to finish in Pollstar’s Top 10 -- the year’s results will be in the issue sent out Jan. 2 -- are the Billy Joel-Elton John teaming, the Dave Matthews Band, Bruce Springsteen, Creed, the Eagles, Aerosmith and Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

Those names add up to a big endorsement of veteran rockers who appeal to baby boomers, and a sign that music fans preferred playing it safe in a year with a shaky economy.

“People in the industry are pretty unanimous about business not being very good this year,” Bongiovanni says. “We’re probably looking at gross revenues from last year hitting record levels for the third year in a row. But the number of tickets sold has declined. The rise in ticket prices is responsible for the increased revenue.”

One highly anticipated tour that won’t make the Top 50: Guns N’ Roses’ aborted “Chinese Democracy” tour. Bongiovanni said that before canceling the remainder of their ill-fated tour last week, Axl Rose and his bandmates did sell enough tickets to finish in the Top 100.