Bon Jovi 2010 tour rakes it in

LOS ANGELES - The concert business was hit in 2010 by some of the same tough economic times that have been gripping other factions in the music industry in recent years, but New Jersey rock group Bon Jovi has reason to pop the champagne anyway.

The band posted the highest-grossing concert tour of the year, topping the $200 million mark worldwide, according to figures released Tuesday by Pollstar, the concert-tracking publication.

Bon Jovi posted total concert revenue of $201.1 million, with a little more than half that figure - $108.2 million - from North American dates on its world tour.

Behind the group on Pollstar's worldwide ranking is AC/DC, with gross ticket sales of $177 million, followed in the top five by U2 ($160.9 million), Lady Gaga ($133.6 million), and Metallica ($110.1 million).

Looking only at North American tour numbers, Roger Waters and his remounting of Pink Floyd's The Wall was second to Bon Jovi with a tour gross of $89.5 million, followed by the Dave Matthews Band ($72.9 million), Canadian pop crooner Michael Buble ($65.7 million), and the Eagles ($64.5 million).

The big guns, however, couldn't bring up the entire concert business over last year's numbers. The top 50 North American tours combined for an overall take of $1.69 billion, down about 15 percent from $1.99 billion in 2009. The story was only marginally better throughout the world, where the top 50 total tour gross of $2.93 billion was off about 12 percent from $3.34 billion a year earlier.

Numbers were down almost across the board: Total ticket sales dropped 12 percent in North America, from 29.9 million in 2009 to 26.2 million this year, and decreased 15 percent worldwide, from 45.3 million in 2009 to 38.3 million in 2010.

The only increase reported by Pollstar was in the average ticket price worldwide, which went up $2.86 per ticket, or about 4 percent. Tickets in North America actually dropped about $1.55 or 2 percent. Even Bon Jovi's field-leading $108.2 million for North America was the lowest figure in recent years for the

No. 1 spot. The record high belongs to the Rolling Stones, who took in $162 million on their 2005 A Bigger Bang tour.

"Artists worked fewer shows in a tough business climate, and those that overreached suffered the consequences," Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said in a statement that accompanied the numbers. "In general, the international concert business was stronger than in North America, where overbooked and overpriced shows at outdoor amphitheater venues made it an especially difficult year for Live Nation," a reference to the world's largest concert promoter.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney has received consistent praise for his stamina, still typically delivering three-hour performances at age 68. His average gross of $3.86 million per night over 21 dates in 2010, and an average ticket price of $138.49, gave him the highest per-concert average in North America.

Popularity-wise, however, the Dave Matthews Band reigned, selling 1.27 million tickets in North America. Bon Jovi was second with 1.18 million, Justin Bieber with 987,000, John Mayer with 894,000, and Brad Paisley with 880,000.

Rounding out the top 10 grossing North American tours were McCartney, who took in $61.8 million over 42 shows in 38 cities. Lady Gaga finished No. 7 with total ticket sales of $51 million, followed by the James Taylor-Carole King reunion tour Troubadour, with a $50.7 million total gross, the Black Eyed Peas at $50.5 million, and singer-songwriter guitarist John Mayer at No. 10 with $49.9 million.

Buble also performed well, finishing at No. 6 behind Metallica with $104.2 million, the Walking With Dinosaurs animatronics tour ($104.1 million), McCartney ($93 million), the Eagles (92.3 million), and Waters ($89.5 million).