Bruce Springsteen brought the curtain down on his The Land Of Hope And Dreams Tour at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (aka the San Siro) in Milan, Italy on July 3. This was the final show on the 129-date world tour that the New Jersey-born singer-songwriter launched with The E Street Band back in February 2023, and, now that the accountants have finished their calculations, it's been revealed that the trek was easily the most successful outing of Springsteen's storied career, grossing more than double the earnings of any other tour 'The Boss' has ever undertaken.
According to industry bible Billboard, Springsteen's 129-date tour grossed $730 million, and sold more than 4.9 million tickets. Across its two year run, the tour grossed an average $5.7 million per show. Springsteen's 2012/2013 Wrecking Ball tour had been previously been the most successful of his career, grossing $347 million.
When Springsteen's most recent world tour launched in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2023, some fans complained that Ticketmaster's 'dynamic pricing' policy pushed ticket prices as high as $4000-$5000. That same week, long-running Springsteen fanzine Backstreets announced its closure after 43 years, with its publisher and editor-in-chief stating that staff had been “dispirited, downhearted, and, yes, disillusioned” by the announcement of ticket prices.
However, while Billboard reported that ticket prices jumped 29 per cent (from $115 to $149) compared to Springsteen's previous tour with the E Street band in 2017, the report concluded that this increase was "well below the typical uptick for other arena and stadium acts, legacy or contemporary."
While Springsteen takes a well-earned rest following the completion of the tour, fans have his recently-released Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set to delve into, featuring seven complete Springsteen records made between 1983 and 2018, boasting 74 never-before-heard songs. Classic Rock awarded the box set a full five stars, describing the collection as "a breathtaking gift that Springsteen acolytes will cherish".
