Westport said:
Sorry but you are wrong. REM can't sell out arenas in the U.S. They might possibly sell out ONE night at a specific arena but that is doubtful. I saw them a couple of years ago at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and there were empty seats and that capacity is a little over 6000. But it was a great show.
Coldplay can outsell REM in the U.S. at the moment by a huge, huge number.
Most teenagers in the U.S. don't even know REM. That alone shows you how much their star has faded. That can't be said for Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Green Day
REM is selling more seats than Coldplay is Europe? REM is still playing stadiums in Europe? You might be right but I'd love to see the numbers that support that argument.
The Dead can also sell more tickets...even with Jerry six feet under.
And the last bands that can smoke them in both album and seats sold is:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band..
and after that:
in ticket sales:
Metallica, Rascal Flatts , Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Van Halen
Even in their home state of Georgia and and in New York City (and possibly the rest of the country), I would say that that the Allman Brothers Band can sellout more nights and more seats than REM.
So the answer to your question at this moment in time is: No
That said...I still believe that if Michael Stipe can find his musical muse and if Bill Berry returned to the band...REM is a band that is one perfect album and one tour away from being the second biggest band on the planet. I wouldn't bet against that happening at some point.
1. If you would read my post more carefully, you'll see that I never stated that REM could sellout arena's in the United States, but that they could PLAY at them! They booked some arena sized venues around the country(USA) on their last tour.
2. I'm talking in terms of GLOBAL popularity, not USA popularity. Nearly 70% of all the albums and tickets sold around the world are sold outside the United States. REM is a global band.
3. Many of Coldplay's shows in the United States did not sellout. REM can still sell 40% to 50% of the number of tickets Coldplay can sell in the United States. But REM could make that deficit up on a GLOBAL scale. Overall Coldplay would win out easily because they sell 5 times as many albums worldwide, but when it comes to tickets worldwide, REM is still the more in demand artist, even though thats not the case in North America.
The Grateful Dead were only really popular in North America, and thats where they spent all their time touring. Jam bands don't sell in Europe or many other places, whether its the Dead, Phish, or Dave Matthews.
Bruce Springsteen is not a band.
Metallica could beat REM in ticket sales and album sales worldwide, but not by the margin you would think. Metallica's last album only sold 4 million copies worldwide, and many if not most of the Arena shows in North America did not sellout. Oh, and headlining a popular 5 band stadium line up does not count as ones own concert either.
Rascal Flats, Aerosmith, and Van Halen would be crushed by REM outside of North America. Van Halen has never come close to ever having one of their albums sell 1 million copies in Europe. Aerosmith has one studio album that sold 1 million copies in Europe over the past 12 years which was "Nine Lives" and thats it. Rascal Flats can't even be mentioned. In the United States, Van Halen's last studio effort only sold 500,000 copies and their last tour only soldout 4 shows in the United States. These three bands sell nearly all their tickets and albums in one market, the United States. While they may beat REM in that one market, REM sells enough around the world to be ahead of the them.
Bon Jovi is one of the more popular bands on the planet still, definitely in the top 10 do primarily to their strong concert drawing power worldwide.
So to sum up, in terms of both current Album and ticket sales around the world, REM has the following bands you listed beat:
Franz Ferdinand
Wilco
The Dave Matthews Band
The Who
Rascal Flatts
Aerosmith
Van Halen
These other bands that you listed would beat REM in terms of combined current album and ticket sales around the world:
Metallica
Bon Jovi
Rolling Stones
Green Day
Coldplay
Remember, what people like in North America VS. what the rest of the world likes can be the difference between night and day often.