By Alfred Branch, Jr.
As expected, strong ticket sales have enticed The Police to add shows to their upcoming North American tour.
Already eight of the 21 dates had gone on sale as of February 22, and all eight sold out quickly – in less than 15 minutes in most cases – including both Madison Square Garden shows in New York August 1 and 3rd; both Fenway Park shows in Boston July 28 and 29th; and both Air Canada Centre shows in Toronto July 22 and 23rd. The other sold out dates are the opening show, May 28 at the GM Palace in Vancouver, and the July 25 show at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The tour added shows in Vancouver and Montreal, and also added shows in Los Angeles, Oakland and New Jersey, and announcements of more new dates are expected in the near future.
“They could sell out as many shows as they want to put on,” said Ray Cooke, owner of Norwalk, CT-based Ticket Pro. “We’ve gotten a lot of interest.”
Ticket Pro has tickets for as little as $150 each up to $10,000 for the New York shows, Cooke said, adding that face value on some of the tickets is $420. “New York is always the most expensive market, but Boston is right there, too.”
The eagerly awaited tour, the band’s first in more than 20 years, could approach the 2006 leg of the Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang tour, which sold more than 1 million tickets and generated gross revenues of just under $140 million, according to Pollstar and published reports. That tour began in 2005 and grossed a total of more than $300 million for the two years combined.
As of February 22, the confirmed dates of The Police tour are:
May 28, GM Place, Vancouver BC
May 30, GM Place, Vancouver BC
June 6, Key Arena, Seattle WA
June 9, Pepsi Center, Denver CO
June 13, McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, CA
June 15, MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas, NV
June 16, Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester, TN
June 18, US Airways Arena, Phoenix, AZ
June 23, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
June 26, American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
June 30, New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
July 2, Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
July 22, Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
