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Phish, The Eagles, Billy Joel Among Top Grossing New Year's Shows

Phish, The Eagles, Billy Joel, Barenaked Ladies, ZZ Top, and Lynyrd Skynyrd were among those ringing in the last week of the New Year in style, as their respective Y2K shows were among the top ten grossing concerts of the holiday season.

According to figures announced today by trade publication "Amusement Business," Phish raked in an estimated $11.6 million for its two-day concert on December 30-31 at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation at Big Cypress Swamp in Florida.

Coming in at number two was The Eagles-Jackson Browne-Linda Ronstadt New Year's Eve triple bill at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which grossed more than $6.2 million. "Piano Man" Billy Joel was in third place on the year-end list, as his December 31 show at New York City's Madison Square Garden took in $4.4 million.

Out in Las Vegas, a December 30 gig at Caesar's Palace featuring both Elton John and Tina Turner netted $3.0 million, while opera singer Andrea Bocelli -- whose New Year's

Eve gig with Sting, Aretha Franklin, and Enrique Iglesias was canceled -- took in $1.3 million for a sold-out performance on December 29 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York.

Canadian sons Barenaked Ladies scored big with their January 1 show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, which gated the group close to $690,000, while the ZZ Top-Lynyrd Skynyrd New Year's Eve concert at Houston's Compaq Center rounded out the list by grossing $681,000.

Other shows making the top ten for the month include a pair of Amy Grant-Michael W. Smith concerts in Nashville, Tennessee on December 7-8, coming in at number six with $1.2 million. Bette Midler's performances in Phoenix on December 27 and San Diego on December 12 were seventh and eighth, drawing $1.0 million and $738,000 in ticket sales, respectively.

-- David Basham

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