Thread for when you see an artist/band playing a much bigger (or smaller) venue than you would have expected

I guess I'm probably less plugged in now to how popular artists are, and it's even weirder with streaming, TikTok virality, etc. now....I feel like I'm more and more often surprised by the venues that artists are playing now.

most recent example that sparked me to start the thread:

Sturgill Simpson just announced he's playing Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul (concert capacity about 20,000), home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild.

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/johnny-blue-skies-aka-sturgill-simpson-is-returning-to-st-paul

How did they sell out THAT place? - venue size shocker

a couple other relevant threads

Bump this thread when you come across somebody hugely popular you didn’t know about
Artists whose media profile is out of all proportion to their irl popularity

Just to circle back to Sturgill Simpson, I think there's been increased hankering from the general public for country music that's not a racist truck commercial. Plus, he has gained a lot of crossover from Grateful Dead/jam band fans in recent years.

Ween playing a smallish bar in Oxford, MS, on the Mollusk tour was/is pretty amazing to me.

How old are you, ums? I found that I started feeling more and more surprised by the venues artists were playing - and seeing more and more names I didn't recognize playing big venues — around the age of 40, and it just increased from there. You can find me lamenting this in a couple of linked threads above.

Now I'm 50 and those same venues are 90ish% names I don't recognize (plus podcasts, tribute bands and themed dance nights).

i guess re:smaller venue than expected, the chameleons played in san francisco a couple of years ago and it was a relatively small club with like a $15 cover. i know the one guitarist dude isn't with them anymore but still.. THE CHAMELEONS! fuck interpol, man.

How old are you, ums? I found that I started feeling more and more surprised by the venues artists were playing - and seeing more and more names I didn't recognize playing big venues — around the age of 40, and it just increased from there. You can find me lamenting this in a couple of linked threads above.

The best way to determine your age is to look at festival posters, once you hit your late 30's/early 40's you'll start not to recognise the smallest names and I assume as you age further this will continue until at some point you don't know the headliners. It's like an eye test for your music knowledge.

i guess re:smaller venue than expected, the chameleons played in san francisco a couple of years ago and it was a relatively small club with like a $15 cover. i know the one guitarist dude isn't with them anymore but still.. THE CHAMELEONS! fuck interpol, man.

Uh, that’s actually appropriate? Idk … I’d say 200 -300 capacity in SF would be what I’d expect the turnout to be.

Xxxpost alpine I can definitely relate to that, same age