Kanye West’s short but lucrative five-show run of listening parties for his Vultures 1 album with Ty Dolla $ign generated more than $12 million in ticket sales, Billboard estimates based on available data.
West’s first two listening events in the United States — Feb. 8 at United Center in Chicago and Feb. 9 at UBS Arena in New York — each generated approximately $2.4 million in ticket sales. While sales figures for the three listening party events in Europe — Feb. 22 at Milan Arena; Feb. 24 at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy; and Feb. 25 at Accor Arena in Paris — were unavailable, tickets were priced similarly to the U.S. shows, selling for between $140 to $220. All shows are believed to have sold out.
Sources tell Billboard that the U.S. shows were produced by Jam Concerts out of Chicago and that West originally requested a unique setup: Instead of appearing on a stage, he and Ty Dolla $ign wanted to appear at the listening party atop a massive pile of sand.
According to one source who viewed the technical rider for the show, West wanted crews to drop a five-foot-high, 35×35-foot pile of sand in the center of the arena to serve as the stage. When it was pointed out that sand would not be able to safely hold the stage’s speaker monitors in place, the plan was scrapped. At the United States shows, Jam crew members instead built a more traditional center stage with ramps on four sides that West, Ty Dolla $ign and other guests could use to enter and exit.
A source close to both U.S. shows said the timeline for the gigs was rushed: Both the Chicago and New York events were held just 72 hours after being announced.
Billboard reached out to Jam Productions and West’s booking agent, Cara Lewis, for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
