Over the last year-and-change, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan launched two album campaigns, topped Billboard charts, earned Grammy Award nominations, and took their careers to new heights. The pinnacle of their synergized success was their North American co-headlining arena tour.
Charli XCX and Troye Sivan Present: Sweat played 22 shows in the U.S. and Canada in September and October, wrapping with $28 million and 297,000 tickets sold, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. This surpasses Billboard’s own projections of $23.5 million and 270,000 from just last month.
From the tour’s April announcement, tickets gradually encroached on sell-out territory. Major markets like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco blew out immediately, but overall, the tour averaged 67% after the first weekend of sales. As Sivan toured Europe and Charli turned the summer green, sales grew to 70% by the end of May, 80% by mid-June, 90% by the end of July, and to 97% by opening night. With final numbers reported, the tour was completely sold out, even if Sivan once lovingly joked that they were “flopping” in Nashville.
Jared Braverman (SVP of Global Touring at Live Nation) commented to Billboard, “The Sweat Tour selling out all 22 shows is a true testament to both Charli and Troye as arena-level acts. We believed in their ability to fill these venues from the moment we announced the tour and went on sale back in April. The success reflects the strong fanbases they’ve built and how their music continues to connect deeply with fans live.”
Los Angeles was the highlight, where they played two nights at Inglewood’s Kia Forum, pulling in $3.2 million from 29,500 tickets sold. Closing night (Oct. 23) at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena scored the tour’s best single-night attendance (15,016), while the Sept. 23 show at New York’s Madison Square Garden posted the highest one-night gross ($1.7 million).
On average, the Sweat shows grossed $1.3 million and sold 13,479 tickets per show. That’s more than ten times either artist’s previous best as a solo headliner, even considering shows they played earlier this year.
It’s rare for artists who make pop and dance music to sell out arenas without an extensive slate of chart hits. In conversation with Zane Low, Charli reflected that “niche is being rewarded in a way that we haven’t seen for a while.” The world-building that each artist has done with their recent albums and throughout the Sweat tour with guest stars in their orbit like Addison Rae, Kesha and Lorde, super-served fans. In Charli’s words, “We just have to do it for them. And we have to make them feel so special, because they are, because they’ve championed me and us for so long.”
Live Nation’s Lesley Olenik (SVP, Global Touring) agreed, calling it “the can’t-miss live event of the year.” She continued, “What made it truly special was the energy — fans were free to express themselves in ways we haven’t seen in years, and Charli and Troye fed off that vibe every night. It was a no-judgment zone where everyone could unapologetically be themselves.”
That’s not to say that they have not broken through on a mainstream level before. Charli reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014 and even claimed that year’s Song of the Summer as a featured guest on Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.” Sivan has four top 10s on the Billboard 200 and nine hits on the Hot 100. In the last year, both acts hit No. 1 on Top Dance/Electronic Albums and logged multiple top 10s on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, separately and together.
Both artists will return home for brief runs of shows in November. Sivan will re-up the Something to Give Each Other Tour with six shows throughout Australia and New Zealand. After hosting and performing on the Nov. 16 episode of Saturday Night Live, Charli will launch the Brat Tour with four shows in the U.K. Combined, they’ve already moved 419,000 tickets and earned $34 million on the road in 2024. By year’s end, those numbers will swell beyond 500,000 and $45 million.
The post “Charli XCX & Troye Sivan Sweat Out $28 Million in Grosses With Sold-Out Arena Trek” by Eric Frankenberg was published on 11/05/2024 by www.billboard.com
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