Most Fan-Loved Big Screen Concerts To Date
Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary Tour
The most recent event that comes to mind is Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary concert. Broadcast LIVE from Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall to audiences in cinemas all around the UK, Ireland and Europe, featuring a selection of his greatest hits across six decades. It was also screened at a later date to fans in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Canada - who's still showing more encores on 23 November! With 103 album releases, 123 single hits and the equivalent of 20 years spent in the UK charts, it only makes sense to celebrate 60 years of music with a concert accessible to every single Cliff Richard fan!
Take That: Wonderland Live from the O2
It’s safe to say this is certainly a fan favourite. Take That: Wonderland Live from the O2 holds the title of highest grossing live music concert at the UK & Irish box office of all time. More popular on opening night than Tom Cruise’s ‘The Mummy’, Take That proved to everyone that they’re the ones at the top. With a love for their fans and an amazing show filled with walls made of water, holograms, circus performers, aerialists and to top all that with a wild party in the cinema (I was there!), it was sure to be a spectacular event for all who attended either at the O2 or at their local cinema!
The Wiggles Big Big Show
Their fans may only be small and between the ages of 0 and 7 but my oh my, they LOVE The Wiggles. The most iconic big screen event of theirs is The Wiggles Big Big show in the round back in 2009, with the original Wiggles cast. Broadcast into cinemas all over the world between 2009 and 2010, it was the first live concert movie ever for pre-schoolers! Show director and blue wiggle Anthony Field has said “I think this show is our happiest, most musical and thrilling show ever!” Also broadcast into Sydney Childrens hospital alongside the Starlight foundation, you can’t help but smile constantly when watching The Wiggles - no matter how old you are!
U2 3D in cinemas
Taking the title of the first live action 3D Concert, this was a show to remember! In U2’s ‘Vertigo’ era, it was one of their best concerts to date - so naturally it was going to be popular with the fans when they aired it into cinemas in 3D, which was a new addition and feature to cinema at that time. U2 are known as one of the best live bands of all time, so of course it was a flawless performance and captured as if you were there yourself. There were no scripts for the band but just organic, raw, live footage taken from some of their live shows in South America and Melbourne, Australia in 2006. With some added extra documentary elements weaved in between the live show, the concert film became the highest grossing documentary to be eligible for an Oscar nomination at the 81st Academy awards.
Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest
Regarded as some of the best performers in the world, it’s easy to understand why this particular release has continued to be screened in cinemas all around Europe ever since its first release in 2012! Since the chance to see Queen Live with Freddie Mercury has now gone, the only way it’s possible to get even remotely close to the feeling of being there in person is to experience it on the big screen with the best surround sound and absolutely no distractions. The concert was filmed in 1986 in Budapest to 80,000 fans and features some of the greatest hits from Queen, as well as a 25 minute documentary.
One Direction: Where we are – The Concert Film
What can I say to prove that this was a fan favourite? Oh, I know! One Direction: Where we are – The Concert Film broke the record for highest grossing event cinema production with a net total of $4.8M USD. Filmed at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy in June 2014, it also included a 15 minute interview with the band and exclusive behind the scenes footage.
Led Zeppelin
On December 10 2007, 27-years after their last headline show, Led Zeppelin took to the stage at London’s O2 Arena to headline a tribute concert in memory of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Etegun. According to organisers, 20 million people applied for tickets for this gig (the most demand for a gig in music history) and only 18,000 people won tickets via the ticket lottery. So on the 17th October 2012, the concert was released in 1500 cinemas in 40 countries - giving everyone the chance to experience this incredible show.