In what is shaping up as one of the biggest tours of 2016, Coldplay has announced the addition of 12 North American arena dates to their summer A Head Full Of Dreams world tour. The arena shows augment the previously announced stadium dates already on-sale, most of which are at, or near, sellout.
Coldplay, currently playing to sold out stadiums in South America, added arenas in Las Vegas, Phoenix, St. Louis, Denver, Louisville, Columbus, Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, Indianapolis and Salt Lake City to the tour. The North American leg, produced by Live Nation under the direction of Ryan McElrath, begins on July 16-17 at New York City’s MetLife Stadium. Stadium markets, in addition to New York, include Chicago (two shows), Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles (two shows), Dallas, and San Francisco. Singer/songwriter Alessia Cara will join the tour as a special guest.
The stadium dates in America are Saturday night plays (except where second nights were added), and the arena dates are during the week. This not only keeps the crew busy and revenue flowing as Coldplay makes its way across America, but, more importantly, allows Coldplay to return to many markets where it has history, according to manager Dave Holmes. “We’ve always played a lot of markets in America, so we try to hit as many markets as we can,” Holmes tells Billboard. “This ‘stadium on the weekends and arenas during the week’ model enables us to try to play to as much of our fan base as possible.”
Ticket prices top out at less than $200, below what the top-level superstar acts are currently charging at the high end — which is by design, Holmes says. “We have always charged a reasonable ticket price, yet delivered a world class production,” says Holmes. “On this tour, there is a price point for everyone. We even have a $27.50 ticket.”
Coldplay”s previous tour was Mylo Xyloto in 2011-2012, which grossed $187 million and moved 2.2 million tickets to 77 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore.
A stadium-level act in most of the rest of the world, Coldplay will embark on a stadium run in North America for the first time this summer, which Holmes attributes to his being somewhat “risk-adverse” in plotting previous tours. “On this tour, I knew we were ready to do stadiums in America,” says Holmes. “To be honest, I think we were ready on the last tour, but I have to be 100 percent we can sell every last ticket in every building we play. This band does not like to see empty seats.”
Paradigm’s Marty Diamond is the agent for U.K. in North America, with Steve Strange, X-Ray Touring, handling the rest of the world. Live Nation is producing worldwide with the exception of the U.K. (promoted by SJM Concerts), with Phil Bowdery overseeing Europe and Australia, and Bruce Moran steering the Latin America run, which began Mar. 31 and concludes Apr. 17 with two sold out stadiums in Mexico City. Before coming to America, the tour, which has already sold well in excess of two million tickets worldwide, begins a European leg in Nice on May 31 and ends in Copenhagen Jul. 5-6.
Tickets for the new arena dates go on sale starting Friday, April 15 at www.livenation.com. Citi is the official credit card of the A Head Full of Dreams North American Tour, with Citi cardmembers having access to presale tickets for the new shows beginning April through Citi’s Private Pass Program, with details at www.citiprivatepass.com.
Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams North American tour dates:
Saturday, July 16, 2016 / New York, NY / MetLife Stadium
Sunday, July 17, 2016 / New York, NY / MetLife Stadium
Wednesday, July 20, 2016 / Indianapolis, IN / Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Thursday, July 21, 2016 / St. Louis, MO / Scottrade Center
Saturday, July 23, 2016 / Chicago, IL / Soldier Field
Sunday, July 24, 2016 / Chicago, IL / Soldier Field
Wednesday, July 27, 2016 / Louisville, KY / KFC Yum! Center
Thursday, July 28, 2016 / Columbus, OH / Nationwide Arena
Saturday, July 30, 2016 / Boston, MA / Gillette Stadium
Monday, August 1, 2016 / Buffalo, NY / First Niagara Center
Wednesday, August 3, 2016 / Detroit, MI / The Palace of Auburn Hills
Thursday, August 4, 2016 / Pittsburgh, PA / CONSOL Energy Center
Saturday, August 6, 2016 / Philadelphia, PA / Lincoln Financial Field
Saturday, August 20, 2016 / Los Angeles, CA / Rose Bowl
Sunday, August 21, 2016 / Los Angeles, CA / Rose Bowl
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 / Phoenix, AZ / Gila River Arena
Thursday, August 25, 2016 / Tulsa, OK / BOK Center
Saturday, August 27, 2016 / Dallas, TX / AT&T Stadium
Monday, August 29, 2016 / Denver, CO / Pepsi Center
Wednesday, August 31, 2016 / Salt Lake City, UT / Vivint Smart Home Arena
Thursday, September 1, 2016* / Las Vegas, NV / T-Mobile Arena
Saturday, September 3, 2016 / San Francisco, CA / Levi’s Stadium