Summer Country Tours Soldier On

With concert tours taking a big hit financially last year, will you be to see your favorite stars on the road this summer? According to Pollstar, North American box-office numbers for the 50 top-grossing tours dropped 15%.

Vector Management President Ken Levitan, who oversees the careers of Dierks Bentley, Trace Adkins and Craig Morgan, tells the Wall Street Journal that the shows will go on. "We might be jamming more people on fewer buses, or doing a little less pyro on stage," he says. "Our merch numbers are very strong, and that's a good sign of a little more disposable income out there."

Even superstar acts such as Kenny Chesney are feeling the pressure. Kenny played to more than a million fans between 2004-2009, and decided to take 2010 off to rest. The break couldn't have happened at a better time. "We chose the right year to take off," Kenny's manager Clint Higham says, "because it was brutal."

However, Clint tells the WSJ that ticket sales for Kenny's Goin' Coastal Tour are up 15% this year. He also explains that some ticket prices have been lowered, giving the example that lawn seats have been bumped from $40 in 2009 to $30. To make up for the loss, Kenny will play 60 dates, rather than 45. Additionally, Clint speculates that taking the year off was the way to create demand, and says that Kenny may only tour every other year going forward.

Kenny is currently in the midst of his Goin' Coastal Tour, which makes its next stop Saturday (April 16) in Dallas, Texas. Get more of his tour info here, and read the full Wall Street Journal article here.