I feel like over the years on this forum and other places, there have been remarks over empty seats specifically on this tour. It's not like every show the band have played in the last 35 years has been a sellout, nor should it be expected to be. But in the grand scheme, was Voodoo Lounge considered a misstep as a tour? Has Michael Cohl or the band ever eluded to such? Wikipedia (which isn't always accurate) does identify only a very small handful of shows that fell short from their sellable capacity, but these are also giant football stadiums. Should the band have been expected to sell 50,000 seats a night or they're a failure? If there is more to the story, feel free to discuss.

Rome 1990 is a classic example.
The pre-sale was a total failure and the promoters spread the rumor that the Italian rock star Vasco Rossi was going to save the RS, as support act.
No need to say, he said ‘no’.
The stadium was empty! All at once, the place was filled by thousands who entered the stadium half a hour before the concert. They all had a wonderful (no joke) invitation to attend the show for free. I believe I have one of the invitations, somewhere.

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1963luca0
Rome 1990 is a classic example.

That was 1990, Steel Wheels, and an isolated incident.

Quote
Jbeckerfan
I feel like over the years on this forum and other places, there have been remarks over empty seats specifically on this tour. It's not like every show the band have played in the last 35 years has been a sellout, nor should it be expected to be. But in the grand scheme, was Voodoo Lounge considered a misstep as a tour? Has Michael Cohl or the band ever eluded to such? Wikipedia (which isn't always accurate) does identify only a very small handful of shows that fell short from their sellable capacity, but these are also giant football stadiums. Should the band have been expected to sell 50,000 seats a night or they're a failure? If there is more to the story, feel free to discuss.

1994 was the first year fans were asked to pay more than $35-40 for a ticket to any show. And prior to the Stones going on sale, we had the Eagles (top price $125) and Pink Floyd ($75) and suddenly the Stones (third to go on sale at $55) weren't the hottest ticket and instantly selling out everywhere.

Sales were a little sluggish at first (there were hold dates for 4, and then 3 Rose Bowl shows before finally playing 2) but picked up later on, most notably when the Eagles were no longer on the road and Pink Floyd - a much faster selling but shorter tour - was months in the rearview mirror. This was in addition to a massive amount of overhyped "reunion" tours including Traffic which saw many empty seats, downscaling and cancelations.

Think 2007 was the worst one. Werchter, nijmegen, paris where very poorly visited. German gigs too, they changed stadium layout from stage on short side to long side for some. Also pretty mixed reviews. Think the first half of the tour was the worst stones ever to be honest.


Also some good business for madrid and slane. Esp slane was sold out very fast.

No idea on voodoo though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-06-02 21:36 by PaintMonkeyManBlack.

Voodoo Lounge is with 6.5 million people still the most attended Rolling Stones tour. And for over 10 years it was the highest grossing tour by any artist. I thank that says everything about this tour.

The played 2 shows in Atlanta in 1994.

I only attended Miami 1994, the one from the PPV, and I recall it being a sellout.

Never occurred to me that ticket sales were soft elsewhere.

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rlj1010
I only attended Miami 1994, the one from the PPV, and I recall it being a sellout.

Never occurred to me that ticket sales were soft elsewhere.

Most glaringly and considering it was the 2nd and 3rd stops might have induced a bit of panic at the office.

Birmingham, AL 19,893 compared to 55,169 / 55,169 for Pink Floyd or 63,523 / 63,523 for Steel Wheels tour

Indianapolis 22,533 when they did 2 shows on Steel Wheels tour 89,078 / 89,078 and Pink Floyd 44,762 / 44,762

and a lot of shows in the 30-40k indicates a lot of empty seats whether reported as a sellout or not.

Quote
Dan

Quote
rlj1010
I only attended Miami 1994, the one from the PPV, and I recall it being a sellout.

Never occurred to me that ticket sales were soft elsewhere.

Most glaringly and considering it was the 2nd and 3rd stops might have induced a bit of panic at the office.

Birmingham, AL 19,893 compared to 55,169 / 55,169 for Pink Floyd or 63,523 / 63,523 for Steel Wheels tour

Indianapolis 22,533 when they did 2 shows on Steel Wheels tour 89,078 / 89,078 and Pink Floyd 44,762 / 44,762

and a lot of shows in the 30-40k indicates a lot of empty seats whether reported as a sellout or not.

It happens. I recall seeing U2’s Popmart tour twice in 1997. Miami sold out by showtime, but the Tampa attendance was really bad. Only about 20,000 people in a stadium that held like 75,000. I remember Edge commenting ‘feel free to spread out’.

I don't know, but I remember that the VLtour didn't have any dates in Italy, so I went to see them in Basel Switzerland, the first date was sold out, but I found tickets for the second date and it was the best Stones concert I've seen, with some songs they had never played live like shine a light and others.
It was fantastic!!!

They did 2 shows in Vancouver at BC Place for Steel Wheels and 2 for Voodoo Lounge. All four were sold out. But by 98, they only did 1 show and it "only" drew 38k or so. Over saturation of the market.

Most of the shows sold out. Why people would decide to point out at very few that did not sell well is surprising. The woodoo lounge was a commercial success.
Rockandroll,
Mops

on that chart the 2 numbers before the $ dollar amount are : first one # of seats available second # ; number of tickets sold


Most of the shows sold outDate City Country Venue Opening act(s) Tickets sold / available Revenue
North America
1 August 1994 Washington, D.C. United States Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Counting Crows 108,960 / 108,960 $3,990,966
3 August 1994
6 August 1994 Birmingham Legion Field 19,893 / 50,000
10 August 1994 Indianapolis RCA Dome 25,000 / 50,000
12 August 1994 East Rutherford Giants Stadium 201,547 / 201,547 $9,531,214
14 August 1994
15 August 1994
17 August 1994
19 August 1994 Toronto Canada CNE Stadium Stone Temple Pilots 97,197 / 97,197 $3,281,367
20 August 1994
23 August 1994 Winnipeg Winnipeg Stadium Colin James 50,397 / 50,397 $1,720,849
26 August 1994 Madison United States Camp Randall Stadium Lenny Kravitz 51,201 / 51,201 $2,420,485
28 August 1994 Cleveland Cleveland Stadium —
30 August 1994 Cincinnati Riverfront Stadium 34,137 / 55,000 —
4 September 1994 Foxborough Foxboro Stadium 97,923 / 97,923 $4,633,901
5 September 1994
7 September 1994 Raleigh Carter–Finley Stadium 38,738 / 38,738 $1,797,502
9 September 1994 East Lansing Spartan Stadium 47,797 / 47,797 $2,128,825
11 September 1994 Chicago Soldier Field 90,303 / 90,303 $4,194,320
12 September 1994
15 September 1994 Denver Mile High Stadium Blind Melon 48,981 / 48,981 $2,570,574
18 September 1994 Columbia Faurot Field 39,363 / 39,363 $1,789,824
22 September 1994 Philadelphia Veterans Stadium 80,976 / 80,976 $3,818,719
23 September 1994
25 September 1994 Columbia Williams-Brice Stadium 42,223 / 42,223 $1,919,442
27 September 1994 Memphis Liberty Bowl 41,079 / 41,079 $1,955,284
29 September 1994 Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium 49,332 / 49,332 $2,311,297
1 October 1994 Ames Cyclone Field 30,029 / 30,029 $1,234,605
4 October 1994 Edmonton Canada Commonwealth Stadium Colin James 121,604 / 121,604 $4,327,764
5 October 1994
10 October 1994 New Orleans United States Louisiana Superdome Bryan Adams 32,687 / 40,000 $1,464,250
14 October 1994 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena Buddy Guy 21,674 / 21,674 $4,184,050
15 October 1994
17 October 1994 San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Seal 49,139 / 49,139 $2,331,250
19 October 1994 Pasadena Rose Bowl Red Hot Chili Peppers
Buddy Guy 119,140 / 119,140 $6,153,301
21 October 1994
23 October 1994 Salt Lake City Rice Stadium Seal 33,478 / 33,478 $1,678,855
26 October 1994 Oakland Oakland Coliseum 199,285 / 199,285 $9,431,700
28 October 1994
29 October 1994
31 October 1994
3 November 1994 El Paso Sun Bowl Bryan Adams 38,732 / 42,000 $1,996,710
5 November 1994 San Antonio Alamodome 42,687 / 42,687 $2,231,085
11 November 1994 Little Rock War Memorial Stadium 39,844 / 39,844 $2,020,770
13 November 1994 Houston Astrodome Bryan Adams
Ian Moore 38,737 / 38,737 $1,996,745
15 November 1994 Atlanta Georgia Dome 81,160 / 81,160 $4,185,425
16 November 1994
18 November 1994 Dallas Cotton Bowl 47,372 / 47,372 $2,530,185
22 November 1994 Tampa Tampa Stadium Spin Doctors 46,628 / 46,628 $2,204,750
25 November 1994 Miami Joe Robbie Stadium 55,935 / 55,935 $2,574,810
27 November 1994 Gainesville Ben Hill Griffin Stadium 35,149 / 40,000 $1,678,114
1 December 1994 Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome 38,274 / 38,274 $1,815,325
3 December 1994 Toronto Canada SkyDome 49,129 / 49,129 $1,744,279
5 December 1994 Montreal Olympic Stadium 82,089 / 82,089 $2,879,798
6 December 1994
8 December 1994 Syracuse United States Carrier Dome 36,038 / 36,038 $1,662,825
11 December 1994 Minneapolis Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 46,519 / 46,519 $2,176,400
15 December 1994 Seattle Kingdome 49,303 / 49,303 $2,311,900
17 December 1994 Vancouver Canada BC Place 93,273 / 93,273 $3,176,009
18 December 1994
14 January 1995 Mexico City Mexico Foro Sol Caifanes 204,020 / 204,020 $11,784,755
16 January 1995
18 January 1995
20 January 1995
South America
27 January 1995 São Paulo Brazil Estádio do Pacaembu Spin Doctors
Barao Vermelho
Rita Lee 131,253 / 131,253 $4,527,556
28 January 1995
30 January 1995
2 February 1995 Rio de Janeiro Estádio do Maracanã 141,053 / 141,053 $3,067,410
4 February 1995
9 February 1995 Buenos Aires Argentina River Plate Stadium Las Pelotas
Ratones Paranoicos
Pappo 344,144 / 344,144 $19,796,750
11 February 1995
12 February 1995
14 February 1995
16 February 1995
19 February 1995 Santiago Chile Estadio Nacional de Chile 45,945 / 45,945 $1,386,195
Africa
24 February 1995 Johannesburg South Africa Ellis Park — 86,209 / 86,209 $4,588,405
25 February 1995
Asia
6 March 1995 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome — 285,294 / 285,294 $27,613,380
8 March 1995
9 March 1995
12 March 1995
14 March 1995
16 March 1995
17 March 1995
22 March 1995 Fukuoka Fukuoka Dome 42,483 / 42,483 $4,234,300
23 March 1995
Oceania
27 March 1995 Melbourne Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground Cruel Sea 87,609 / 87,609 $5,879,683
28 March 1995
1 April 1995 Sydney Sydney Cricket Ground 78,187 / 78,187 $5,237,710
2 April 1995
5 April 1995 Adelaide Adelaide Football Park 29,148 / 29,148 $1,888,537
8 April 1995 Perth Perry Lakes Stadium 35,144 / 35,144 $2,335,502
12 April 1995 Brisbane ANZ Stadium 36,388 / 36,388 $2,335,541
16 April 1995 Auckland New Zealand Western Springs Stadium — 70,533 / 70,533 $3,277,067
17 April 1995
Europe
26 May 1995 Amsterdam Netherlands Paradiso — — —
27 May 1995
3 June 1995 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Olympic Stadium 34,590 / 34,590 $1,583,176
6 June 1995 Helsinki Finland Helsinki Olympic Stadium Robert Cray Band 52,607 / 52,607 $2,957,269
9 June 1995 Oslo Norway Valle Hovin 39,690 / 39,690 $2,080,123
11 June 1995 Copenhagen Denmark Idraetsparken 46,521 / 46,521 $2,790,481
13 June 1995 Nijmegen Netherlands Stadspark de Goffert 124,665 / 124,665 $5,152,429
14 June 1995
18 June 1995 Landgraaf Draf en Renbaan 72,000 / 72,000 $2,975,774
20 June 1995 Cologne Germany Müngersdorfer Stadion The Tragically Hip 62,733 / 62,733 $2,938,005
22 June 1995 Hanover Niedersachsenstadion 62,592 / 62,592 $2,930,504
24 June 1995 Werchter Belgium Rock Werchter 140,000 / 140,000 $8,222,222
25 June 1995
30 June 1995 Paris France Hippodrome de Longchamp Bon Jovi
Éric Lapointe 160,605 / 160,605 $8,612,247
1 July 1995
3 July 1995 Olympia ("club show") —
9 July 1995 Sheffield England Don Valley Stadium Del Amitri 49,308 / 49,308 $2,020,211
11 July 1995 London Wembley Stadium The Black Crowes 207,340 / 207,340 $8,666,640
15 July 1995
16 July 1995
19 July 1995 Brixton Academy — — —
22 July 1995 Gijón Spain Estadio Municipal El Molinón The Black Crowes — —
24 July 1995 Lisbon Portugal Estádio José Alvalade — —
27 July 1995 Montpellier France Espace Grammont The Black Crowes
Bob Dylan 70,360 / 70,360 $3,782,797
29 July 1995 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob Stadium The Black Crowes 98,955 / 98,955 $5,561,673
30 July 1995
1 August 1995 Zeltweg Austria Österreich-Ring Andrew Strong 86,470 / 86,470 $3,651,768
3 August 1995 Munich Germany Olympiastadion München Andrew Strong 67,509 / 67,509 $3,161,077
5 August 1995 Prague Czech Republic Strahov Stadium Andrew Strong
Lucie 126,742 / 126,742 $3,152,637
8 August 1995 Budapest Hungary Népstadion Takacs Tamas Dirty Blues Band 46,598 / 55,000 $1,470,023
12 August 1995 Schüttorf Germany Schüttorf Open Air Big Country
Runrig
Action Directe[citation needed]
Rüdiger Hoffmann
Jimmy Barnes 84,896 / 84,896 $4,584,171
15 August 1995 Leipzig Leipziger Festwiese Big Country 83,105 / 83,105 $3,894,202
17 August 1995 Berlin Olympiastadion 76,689 / 76,689 $3,588,645
19 August 1995 Hockenheim Hockenheimring 90,871 / 90,871 $4,251,518
22 August 1995 Mannheim Maimarktgelände 78,034 / 78,034 $3,671,769
25 August 1995 Wolfsburg VW-Werksgelände/Parkplatz 90,000 / 90,000 $4,210,752
27 August 1995 Luxembourg City Luxembourg Kirchberg 58,634 / 58,634 $2,936,166
29 August 1995 Rotterdam Netherlands Feijenoord Stadion 93,959 / 93,959 $4,372,814
30 August 1995
Total — —

The New Orleans show in 1994 was poorly attended. I see the totals but it's highly unlikely even that many people showed up.

I was able to sit wherever. There were thousands of empty seats.

Their first time in the Superdome was July 1978, with a record setting attendance of 80,173 at the Superdome.

Their next visit was December 5, 1981, with a crowd of "87,500, breaking the U.S. record at the time for the largest attendance at an indoor concert."

59,339 November 13,1989. Much bigger stage then.

The lack of attendance in 1994 very likely influenced Mick to not go back to New Orleans for any tours until 2019 (U2 had a terrible turn out as well in 1997, most of their shows were poorly attended, and didn't come back until 2017, which maybe Mick noticed and saw the results - a sell out). That's 25 years of 8 tours!!!

That's a really long time to avoid a city because of extremely poor attendance for one show. Yet the Stones still wound up with their highest attended tour ever and, with Taylor blowing everything up, now the 5th most attended tour ever.

Quote
GasLightStreet
The New Orleans show in 1994 was poorly attended. I see the totals but it's highly unlikely even that many people showed up.

I was able to sit wherever. There were thousands of empty seats.

Their first time in the Superdome was July 1978, with a record setting attendance of 80,173 at the Superdome.

Their next visit was December 5, 1981, with a crowd of "87,500, breaking the U.S. record at the time for the largest attendance at an indoor concert."

59,339 November 13,1989. Much bigger stage then.

I was at the 2019 show. I thought Mick remarked it was their 8th time in the Superdome. So what were the 8 shows?

If you believe some folks...


...they should be playing theatres and clubs.

Chance would be a fine thing

Voodoo Lounge tour when it hit Toronto had 17 shirt designs, I counted em. I went to Toronto & Vancouver shows.

Landgraaf Holland 18 juni 1995 was sold out. I had to pay almost double the original price via a ticket company.

I think it is physiological that tours like those of that period with many dates, have some concerts and they are not sold out, especially because they were the first tours with quite expensive tickets.
I remember many people who couldn't afford it, were outside the stadium hoping to find cheap unsold tickets.

HD Tour is not sold out.

***
I'm just a Bad Boy Boogie

Quote
Jbeckerfan

Quote
GasLightStreet
The New Orleans show in 1994 was poorly attended. I see the totals but it's highly unlikely even that many people showed up.

I was able to sit wherever. There were thousands of empty seats.

Their first time in the Superdome was July 1978, with a record setting attendance of 80,173 at the Superdome.

Their next visit was December 5, 1981, with a crowd of "87,500, breaking the U.S. record at the time for the largest attendance at an indoor concert."

59,339 November 13,1989. Much bigger stage then.

I was at the 2019 show. I thought Mick remarked it was their 8th time in the Superdome. So what were the 8 shows?

NO FILTER was their fifth show in the Supe.

Between 1994 and 2019 they did 8 tours withouth going to New Orleans.

Quote
GasLightStreet

Quote
Jbeckerfan

Quote
GasLightStreet
The New Orleans show in 1994 was poorly attended. I see the totals but it's highly unlikely even that many people showed up.

I was able to sit wherever. There were thousands of empty seats.

Their first time in the Superdome was July 1978, with a record setting attendance of 80,173 at the Superdome.

Their next visit was December 5, 1981, with a crowd of "87,500, breaking the U.S. record at the time for the largest attendance at an indoor concert."

59,339 November 13,1989. Much bigger stage then.

I was at the 2019 show. I thought Mick remarked it was their 8th time in the Superdome. So what were the 8 shows?

NO FILTER was their fifth show in the Supe.

Between 1994 and 2019 they did 8 tours withouth going to New Orleans.

OK, what is the total amount of shows in the Superdome >

Wasn’t Voodoo Lounge the highest grossing tour for about 10 years or until whenever U2’s Vertigo tour took over that crown?