Which cities in your State do the bigger bands and singers usually visit when touring?
Posted by ThePineappleSeahorse@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 312 comments
TheMainEffort@reddit
Dallas, austin, Houston.
wooper346@reddit
Honorable mention to The Woodlands, which might as well be lumped in with Houston.
Wicket2024@reddit
I've seen a number of acts in The Woodlands. Sting, Foo Fighters, Panic! At the Disco, Cage the Elephant, Weezer, Beck are just some.
TheMainEffort@reddit
Yeah I was also lumping Arlington in with Dallas.
FrostyHawks@reddit
I think the order might be Dallas -> Austin -> Houston -> San Antonio. I think Dallas is the most frequented cause it's the largest metro area in Texas and kind of by itself. Austin usually is the choice over relatively nearby San Antonio, knocking it to the bottom of the triangle. Houston just gets skipped a lot for logistics reasons, a lot of groups probably think two Texas dates is enough
ashesofastroworld@reddit
That sounds about right.
killersoda@reddit
Nobody ever comes to San Antonio :(
dietspritecran@reddit
Dallas or Houston,
MrLongWalk@reddit
South Burlington if they visit at all
GewtNingrich@reddit
Or Essex Junction. Or Montreal lol
rattlehead44@reddit
Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Concord (Concord Pavilion), Mountain View (Shoreline Amphitheater), San Jose/Santa Clara…not sure about Southern California, Los Angeles and San Diego for sure but I know there’s other spots I’m not as familiar with.
towerofcheeeeza@reddit
Berkeley is really popular, especially the Greek Theatre, which is my absolute favorite venue in the Bay. UC Theatre is also popular.
erilaz7@reddit
My first real concert was Yes at the Greek in 1984. I haven't been to a show there in many years, though.
towerofcheeeeza@reddit
Yes! Cornerstone is really nice. I liked it more than UC Theatre. I was supposed to see Polaris at UC but the show got moved to Cornerstone and it was way better.
rattlehead44@reddit
Yes! Love The Greek, can’t believe I forgot it damn!
PacSan300@reddit
And for the Bay Area, they often tend to perform at Chase Center, Oracle Park, or the Fillmore in SF, the Coliseum in Oakland, and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. For Sacramento, they tend to go to Golden 1 Center.
erilaz7@reddit
With a capacity of only 1150, the Fillmore isn't big enough for shows by Really Big Artists, though it does have a certain cachet that makes it a desirable place to play. Otoboke Beaver sold out the Fillmore when I saw them there last February, and they're FAR from being a big name. The Warfield, the Masonic, and the Bill Graham Civic are all considerably larger.
tsukiii@reddit
San Diego doesn’t get any of the biggest ones, our largest stadiums are only ~35k capacity.
ymchang001@reddit
The really big acts don't hit all of those locations. Taylor Swift's Eras tour just did Levi's Stadium and SoFi Stadium. One location north and one location south and everybody in the region will travel to see her.
abrandnewbish@reddit
Eh, big bands don't really go to San Jose that much anymore, they all go to Levi's now.
Fillmore_the_Puppy@reddit
>Concord (Concord Pavilion)
I grew up in the Bay Area and have very fond memories of visiting Concord Pavillion in high school so this made me curious if it was still called that. The internet unfortunately (but not surprisingly) tells me it's now the Toyota Pavillion at Concord. I hope locals still just call it Concord Pavillion.
rattlehead44@reddit
Yeah it’s been a few different official names over the years now, but it will always be the Concord Pavilion to us!
tivofanatico@reddit
Anaheim or Irvine are popular Orange County concert cities.
madmoore95@reddit
None, but im a short hour drive to DC and Northern VA where all the major artists/bands play.
Top-Frosting-1960@reddit
Sometimes they don't stop in Oregon at all because Portland doesn't have a venue big enough! People had to go to Seattle (a little over a three hour drive away) to see Taylor Swift and Beyonce.
angrysquirrel777@reddit
Just Denver. This is normally their only stop in this area of the country.
HorseFeathersFur@reddit
Red rocks ampitheatre? I’ve always wanted to go to a concert there
WhompTrucker@reddit
I love across the highway from red rocks. It's awesome
jfchops2@reddit
It's awesome. Pretty heavily EDM in the spring and fall, lots of country, rock, and folk in the summer
Worst part is getting to and from it is a pain in the ass. Your options are a $60 shuttle bus with poor timing from downtown Denver, Uber which is a nightmare after a show since it's in such a remote area, or having a DD to drive and suck up the long hike to and from your car
Figgler@reddit
It’s worth the trip, it’s one of the best venues in the country.
HorseFeathersFur@reddit
I have heard a lot about it and I would really love to go. I’m hoping that there is a trip in my future.
The12th_secret_spice@reddit
Morrison, technically isn’t denver 😂😝
Dillion amphitheater punches above its weight with names thanks to red rocks.
steveofthejungle@reddit
Either before or after a stop in SLC
Figgler@reddit
Belly Up in Aspen gets some big names too. I’ve seen some good shows there.
gratusin@reddit
I did see Tool play at the Broadmoor arena in CO springs, but yeah for the most part it’s always gonna be Denver. I live in Durango and we don’t get anything but some bluegrass acts I haven’t heard of here and there.
Figgler@reddit
Durango gets a decent number of bands playing at animas city theater, just no one that anyone has heard of.
Space_Guy@reddit
I wonder if the new Ford Theater in Colorado Springs will get more acts down there.
QuietObserver75@reddit
For New York its obviously NYC and then maybe Albany and Saratoga Springs (if it's summer).
Eudaimonics@reddit
NYC always has a tour date.
Buffalo often has a tour date.
Syracuse, Rochester, Albany might get tour dates.
Then you have random bands occasionally playing in college towns too.
Buffalo actually has the largest stadium in the state and both Keybank Center in Buffalo and Carrier Dome in Syracuse are bigger than anything in Albany or Rochester.
apgtimbough@reddit
Buffalo and Syracuse might get people too. But usually NYC is the only stop. And as an upstater, I get it.
Lots of people would also hit Montage Mountain in PA by Scranton in the summer. That was a popular venue when I was younger.
dongbeinanren@reddit
If the tour is US only, I usually see Buffalo as a stop. If it's international, Buffalo usually gets dropped for Toronto.
QuietObserver75@reddit
Growing up, the closest venue was Saratoga Performing Arts Center (before Albany got an arena) so you had to hope whatever band you wanted to see was going to tour in the summer and actually stop up there.
thatisnotmyknob@reddit
Were so lucky in NYC we sometimes get a Manhattan show and then a Brooklyn show.
So we get to chose the venue we like or what works for your schedule better. Its amazing
psychocentric@reddit
None of them. :(
bdpsaott@reddit
East Rutherford, Camden, PNC (Holmdel?). Some slightly smaller venues out by Elizabeth/Newark, used to be one in Sayreville not sure if its still there.
afeagle1021@reddit
Starland ballroom is the one you’re thinking of in Sayreville- it still gets bigger punk/ska/alt acts but not as many major pop or rock acts as PNC.
bdpsaott@reddit
Last I heard of it was Lil Pump performing there about 8 years ago. As I’m sure you could imagine, I refrained from attending.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Newark. If it's a big enough act they'd play Prudential Center. Or PAC if it's more arty.
bdpsaott@reddit
I’m an idiot, completely forgot both Pru and IZOD existed.
Yinxi19@reddit
Minneapolis. That's it, and even that's not super common. Seeing a big name concert pretty often requires a trip to Chicago.
7yearlurkernowposter@reddit
Kansas City
musicmiss18@reddit
Hartford and occasionally Bridgeport.
Vodorali@reddit
Just Chicago and the surrounding areas like Rosemont or Tinley Park.
SharkyCartel_ACU@reddit
Probably Columbus and Cincinnati. Molchat Doma is coming to Columbus in a couple weeks. Tyler the Creator is coming to Cincy in June. Taylor Swift came through Cincinnati not too long ago.
gogozrx@reddit
I'm outside DC, and they come to "Bristow," which is where a large venue is.
jestervalen@reddit
The answer is Northern VA/DC, (often times Baltimore now), VA Beach, and maybe Richmond
El_Polio_Loco@reddit
Charlottesville pulls as many big names as Richmond.
Neither is a particularly impressionable stop.
goodsam2@reddit
Yeah Richmond didn't have a huge venue after the coliseum stopped. Now they are putting up a slightly smaller than wolftrap venue that is opening this summer.
Charlottesville beat Richmond for concerts maybe that's changing now though.
El_Polio_Loco@reddit
Richmond gets better mid tier and indie bands than Charlottesville.
The National gets some fun groups, I remember seeing Primus there years ago.
goodsam2@reddit
Yeah Richmond has a lot of smaller places that do better. The National, Broadberry and Brown's Island have some good smaller acts than top tier.
Whoever does the booking for Brown's island has a finger on the pulse and we get some stuff like Chappelle Roan before she blew up and I remember seeing Alabama shakes but I think it's just Richmond lacks a lot of the large size venues.
It used to be really punk/metal shows were great but I'm less into that scene these days.
El_Polio_Loco@reddit
They still have decent punk shows at the Canal Club, the Chats were enjoyable there.
I also remember when Toots and Maytals were playing at browns island and some jabroni drilled Toots in the head with a vodka bottle.
goodsam2@reddit
Yeah Richmond has a lot of smaller places that do better. The National, Broadberry and Brown's Island have some good smaller acts than top tier.
Whoever does the booking for Brown's island has a finger on the pulse but I think it's just Richmond lacks a lot of the large size.
goodsam2@reddit
Concerts go to research triangle/Charlotte and then have a show in the DC metro area but they hit one of Hampton roads, Richmond or Charlottesville.
In the middle they sometimes add, especially in the summer, a concert in Charlottesville or Hampton roads but also maybe now Richmond is opening a new outdoor venue.
iamcarlgauss@reddit
Silver Spring as well, the Fillmore specifically. Though maybe the bands I've seen there aren't considered big enough.
gogozrx@reddit
does the Hampton Coliseum still exist?
El_Polio_Loco@reddit
Sure does. They're probably the biggest venue in Southern VA still.
Bigger than anything in Richmond.
jestervalen@reddit
I should’ve put Hampton roads instead of Virginia Beach
hatex_xcake@reddit
There are a lot of bands I want to see that have shows in California then go to Washington like you have to pass through Oregon to get to Washington what the fuck.
midow911@reddit
baltimore, if they come here at all
ThePineappleSeahorse@reddit (OP)
Thanks everyone. I appreciate your responses.
markpemble@reddit
Here in Idaho, a lot of bigger bands play Nampa, but all the bands think they are in Boise.
Vegetable-Star-5833@reddit
LA
callmeseetea@reddit
Always Miami and Tampa. Sometimes Orlando and Jacksonville.
happyburger25@reddit
DC. Can't recall any big names performing in Baltimore.
pudgywalsh1@reddit
I live in Wyoming. No one comes here unless it's a C/W act and they come during Frontier Days in Cheyenne.
schmelk1000@reddit
Detroit.
Very, very rarely; Grand Rapids.
bev665@reddit
Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
Alexdagreallygrate@reddit
Occasionally the Cascades Amphitheater in Ridgefield north of Vancouver, WA.
TheBoss2777@reddit
For indie rock Olympia and Bellingham as well
yeehaacowboy@reddit
Everett as well
Fillmore_the_Puppy@reddit
Plus George. 😉
bev665@reddit
Yes!
eltrowel@reddit
The gorge is pretty great.
i-might-do-that@reddit
Denver. It’s always Denver. But even when it’s not Denver like Red Rocks it’s still Denver lol.
0Highlander@reddit
In Oklahoma most big bands go to Tulsa because OKC doesn’t have a venue with good parking for tour busses.
Echterspieler@reddit
Saratoga springs
minicpst@reddit
Well, and NYC.
Echterspieler@reddit
We upstaters don't really consider NYC part of ny state. It's like their own little world down there. If you've been to NYC you really haven't been to new York state.
minicpst@reddit
Grew up in upstate NY.
If someone asked me, “which cities in my state do the bigger bands go to,” the answer would be NYC and an eyeroll.
Sometimes the Egg/Saratoga.
And I randomly see Rochester/Buffalo and still think, “really? Why?”
When I tell people I’m from NY, you know what happens. But then I get to tell them, “no, the pretty part.”
basicbritttttt@reddit
Houston, Austin, Dallas
ValkoSipuliSuola@reddit
Seattle.
audiace5000@reddit
NYC and maybe Buffalo..Every once in a while Rochester
Frenchitwist@reddit
I’m from NYC baby. Everyone comes to me, it’s great :)
SnapHackelPop@reddit
Milwaukee and Madison. You’ll get some in Green Bay, usually older acts
whatafuckinusername@reddit
Also Elkhorn for Alpine Valley, sometimes
snyderman3000@reddit
I think I can pretty confidently say that Southaven is the only city in Mississippi pulling in decent sized acts.
TNPossum@reddit
Nashville by far. Memphis. Sometimes Chattanooga.
Msmalloryreads@reddit
Los Angeles area, San Francisco or Sacramento, and sometimes Fresno or Bakersfield.
No-Goat4938@reddit
Boston, Foxborough (Gillette Stadium), or Springfield
syndicatecomplex@reddit
Philly
Philly suburbs if the bands mostly appeal to older people.
Pittsburgh
zetechini@reddit
louisville. maybe lexington if we’re super lucky
SB2212@reddit
Portland, maybe Eugene. The entire eastern part of the state is ignored, not just by bands but by the entire western half. To be fair, nothing happens out there.
Wespiratory@reddit
Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile are the only ones that really ever have concerts at all.
blazedancer1997@reddit
Tacoma or Seattle
No_Dependent_8346@reddit
Detroit, Bay City, Lansing
benjaminbrixton@reddit
Nowhere. Guess the state.
FlavianusFlavor@reddit
Pittsburgh (Burgettstown) and Philly
nomuggle@reddit
Hershey gets a lot of major artists as well.
benjaminbrixton@reddit
Allentown too.
Apprehensive_Whole_8@reddit
Getting both Post Malone and Kendrick Lamar within three weeks of each other
dancing_light@reddit
And State College (although it seems to have been better in the 90s and early 00s)
Uni-Writes@reddit
San Francisco and Los Angeles. Sometimes San Diego if you’re lucky
frog_poker_@reddit
Major tours will often have multiple stops in California even if they’re near each other just based on demand. For example they’ll have an “LA” stop at a venue like the Bowl and then like an “Anaheim” stop at like Honda Center even though they’re like within like 40 miles as the crow flies. Sometimes they won’t even be consecutive
LadyFoxfire@reddit
Detroit and Grand Rapids, mostly.
rawbface@reddit
Every band will come through and play at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, formerly the Waterfront Music Pavilion, formerly the BB&T Pavilion, formerly the Susquehanna Bank Center, formerly the Tweeter Center, formerly the Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre (the E-Centre), which is Camden New Jersey on the east side of the Delaware River.
And they will all say "HELLO PHILADELPHIA" 😠
DreamsAndSchemes@reddit
They’ll hit AC during the summer too during beach concert season
COVFEFE-4U@reddit
Seattle, Tacoma, and George.
TheBimpo@reddit
Detroit and Grand Rapids, almost exclusively.
Smaller venues exist in places like Interlochen, Mt Pleasant, Flint, Saginaw, Ann Arbor...but the big bands/shows have to go where the venues exist for them to play and the most people live. This is the same in all states.
jabbs72@reddit
Kinda crazy that Chappelle Roan played in Kalamazoo in the spring time.
cman334@reddit
There’s also an art school in Interlochen just out side of Traverse City that gets a surprising number of big names.
thedrowsyowl@reddit
Except for “Detroit” half the time really means Royal Oak or Sterling Heights
Ok_Yogurt3894@reddit
Yep, and red rock amphitheater is miles and miles from Denver. Who the fuck wants to go downtown for a concert?
TheBimpo@reddit
Sure, every metro has venues dispersed throughout the suburbs. Playing Clarkston or Auburn Hills serves the Detroit market. Playing Clarkston isn't the same as playing Bay City.
CountChoculasGhost@reddit
Man, when I lived in GR it felt like we NEVER got concerts. I guess we’d sometimes get big names at Van Andel, but seemed like sometimes I’d go years without having anyone I even recognized at the small to medium sized venues.
TheBimpo@reddit
Kalamazoo used to be a lot better at pulling acts into the State Theater and Wings Stadium. GR has much better infrastructure now.
Cheech74@reddit
Yeah, it doesn't help that Wings has been a dump for decades now - they've put $0 into updating the venue. I went there for a show last year and it was exactly like walking into 1996.
TheBimpo@reddit
Isn't the city building a new arena downtownish? Maybe that'll get some stuff coming back. At least on a level with the shows at places like the Dow Center in Saginaw or Dort in Flint that is.
sto_brohammed@reddit
I once saw Vanilla Ice at the Wayside in Mt. Pleasant. It was not the high point of his career, I can tell you that. At one point the crowd started chanting "Ninja Rap" and I guess he hated the song at the time. He got all mad, stormed off-stage for a bit and then came back on and did the stupid song. I felt kinda bad that he was doing poorly enough that he needed Mt. Pleasant money badly enough to do that.
Toddsburner@reddit
My BILs Fraternity hired Vanilla Ice to perform at a party in the mid 00’s. Only upon arriving did he inform them he would not be performing Ninja Rap or Ice Ice Baby under any circumstances- you know, the whole reason anyone would hire him. They’d already paid him and he wouldn’t give the money back so they still let him go on. People start chanting for those songs, he told them to go f themselves, the crowd got out of hand and started throwing things at him, and the cops were called to break it up. He got blacklisted from campus and their international fraternity network, they learned a valuable lesson about contract law.
sto_brohammed@reddit
That's hilarious. I think the show I saw was in 2010 or so.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Oh man this is so similar to my only encounter with Vanilla Ice. He played at the stadium for the Indianapolis Indians when I was in high school and me and my girlfriend went on a lark. He tried playing all his new at the time rock stuff. The crowd kept demanding Ice Ice Baby. You could tell he was pissed. He finally played it and people literally started leaving afterwards. The crowd was like 2/3 of what it was by the time he finished his set.
mhoner@reddit
Vanilla Ice will go anywhere. I live I the middle of nowhere and that dude came here with Kid and Play and All 4 One. It was out of place but awesome.
TheBimpo@reddit
Hahaha well that guy continues touring really obscure venues, food festivals, and county fairs all over the country. He's pretty far from his days of playing large cities and venues outside of nostalgia festival tours where he gets 20 minutes to play his 5 songs.
JuanG_13@reddit
Denver
holiestcannoly@reddit
Philadelphia, sometimes Pittsburgh
teslaactual@reddit
Salt lake maybe St george we don't have a lot of big cities in my state
Prestigious_Pen9850@reddit
Foxboro if they are really popular, otherwise Boston
stevenmacarthur@reddit
Generally Milwaukee and Madison; but in the Summer, East Troy for Alpine Valley.
Clydelaz@reddit
Newark and Atlantic City
crazdtow@reddit
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia is definitely the most played but also Hershey and I don’t know about the western part of the state unfortunately
Sensitive_Maybe_6578@reddit
Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane. And the bigger Indian casinos.
Sp4ceh0rse@reddit
Portland, but increasingly Bend for big-but-not-stadium types of acts instead because there is a mid-sized LiveNation venue there.
languagelover17@reddit
Madison and Milwaukee.
I live 2-3 hours from those places. I look for performances in Green Bay, which is 1.5 hours from me. Some things go there! I’m seeing Nate Bargatze there for the second time in May.
BigPapaPaegan@reddit
Back home, all the shows I'd want to go to went to Worcester, Boston, Providence (RI), Hampton (NH), or Uncasville (CT).
Down here? Nashville and Chattanooga get anything worth seeing.
redlsms@reddit
Always: Los Angeles and at least one city in the Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, or San Jose)
Maybe: Sacramento and San Diego
Relevant-Ad4156@reddit
The big three; Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati.
And sometimes Toledo.
AcidReign25@reddit
Cinci does not get that many. At least we go Foo Fighters last summer!!!
Designer-Button-7865@reddit
Idk, when I was living there between 2021-2023, they had Bob Dylan, Freddie Gibbs, Playboy Carti, Migos was supposed to have a show that I was gonna attend but it got cancelled, $uicide Boy$, My Chemical Romance, Patti Labelle, Chvrches, Evanescence, Clutch, Yung Gravy, Dillon Francis... there's definitely more but that's just what I can remember. The amount of big name comedians who perform there is also worth mentioning
AcidReign25@reddit
My perspective is I would not consider any of those “bigger” in ‘21-‘23. Really like Evanescence, but that time period would put them into 2nd act territory.
Designer-Button-7865@reddit
Apparently Justin Beiber and Olivia Rodrigo performed there in 2021 as well. Both very current platinum and diamond selling artists
Designer-Button-7865@reddit
Playboy Carti is easily one of the biggest rappers out now, even in that time period. If the Foo Fighters are big, then Evanescence is even bigger. I'm sure there's plenty more from that time if I looked it up. And also 2024
Relevant-Ad4156@reddit
That was specifically the example I had in mind. It was an excellent show!
AcidReign25@reddit
Dave and crew were amazing. Awesome show.
A_BURLAP_THONG@reddit
Well, yeah, if a band doesn't stop in Cleveland how are they supposed to say "HELLOOOOOO, CLEVELAND!"?
Momik@reddit
And sometimes Y
Sea-End-4841@reddit
LA, SF and maybe SD.
infinite_five@reddit
Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston. Interestingly enough, in addition to being the actual capital, Austin is also the live music capital of the world (I think it’s because it has more live music venues per capita than any other city in the world, but bands rarely go there.
brownbag5443@reddit
Portland Maine, sometimes Bangor Maine!
Carrotcake1988@reddit
Probably Dallas and Austin. I wish San Antonio was more prevelant.
Karamist623@reddit
Closest to me is Philadelphia or Camden
JimBones31@reddit
Portland
Bangor
Psychological_Mangos@reddit
It’s incredible to me that Bangor consistently pulls bigger acts than Portland. I suppose it isn’t truly incredible…they have a larger venue 🤷♀️
JimBones31@reddit
I suppose the unexpected part comes from the population density. You would think the Portland metro area would pull bigger acts than the Bangor...than Bangor.
fenrirwolf1@reddit
LA, San Diego, San Francisco (includes Oakland. Venues)
litebrite93@reddit
Tampa and Miami
ToneNo3864@reddit
When I lived in NY, Madison square garden and Barclays
burninstarlight@reddit
They don't. Artists will visit Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, and even Asheville or Athens before coming here
TheOnlyJimEver@reddit
I live in Connecticut, which is a small state in the northeast. Usually, popular bands/singers skip over Connecticut because it's situated between New York and Boston. If they do stop here, they might visit Hartford or New Haven.
beansoupscratch@reddit
Our pickings here in CT have become pretty slim over the past few years.
danhm@reddit
And sometimes Bridgeport too, in the confusingly named Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater.
thedrowsyowl@reddit
A lot of artists that do arenas do Mohegan as a tour stop that effectively acts as an extra Boston/NY night
beansoupscratch@reddit
Boston or Mansfield. Sometimes Hartford or Uncasville
Designer-Button-7865@reddit
Plenty throughout New York, where I live now. Where I grew up in Mississippi, in the other hand, basically all of them avoid it like the plague. Nowadays, they do it in protest because of some of the racist, sexist, anti-gay, and classist law and policies they have in place. In the past, they did so because the place is simply a shit hole
Thebelldam@reddit
Well I'm from Nevada so I'll let you take wild guess on that one.
PPKA2757@reddit
Phoenix.
mahjimoh@reddit
And very rarely, Tucson.
FloppyDX@reddit
LA, San Francisco, Oakland (more than San Diego IMO)
AJX2009@reddit
Back in the day (late 80s to early 2000s) Evansville Indiana would get all sorts of acts come through near the beginning of their tours because tour busses could pull into the stadium and be hidden from the public and the way the old arena was designed allowed for huge sets to be practice built so crews would come and practice putting up and tearing down their sets. Sometimes the touring band wouldn’t even play at the arena but would pop into local bars and play.
SeparateMongoose192@reddit
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Reading sometimes (I saw Judas Priest there), Allentown sometimes.
ABelleWriter@reddit
Virginia Beach and Richmond (Virginia)
plastictoothpicks@reddit
Seattle and sometimes Spokane.
ThinWhiteRogue@reddit
Always Atlanta, sometimes Athens.
Suspicious-Froyo2181@reddit
I saw Blackfoot with special guests Def Leppard in Gainesville back in The early 80's.
Bluunbottle@reddit
And the suburbs.
HughLouisDewey@reddit
Of course the suburbs still get described as "Atlanta" on the tour schedule.
Livvylove@reddit
This annoys me so much. I get excited and then find out it's in Duluth. I HATE having to drive on Spaghetti Junction and I-85 with a passion. I am always debating if it's worth it and every time it never is even when I do go out there
HughLouisDewey@reddit
I worked in Winder for a time while living in over by Sweet Auburn/O4W area. Getting to Spaghetti Junction every day coming home I knew it was time to throw on a podcast or start a crossword, I wouldn't be moving for some time.
Livvylove@reddit
Went to Japanfest and the traffic was so bad just to get there then just trying to park was a nightmare too. I hate going there and will probably skip events there for a few years
Bluunbottle@reddit
True, but it’s interesting to see how many bands go for the “slightly” smaller venues In the northern burbs. Not surprising.
RnBvibewalker@reddit
Arena tours are a lot of work and takes a big fan base to have a concert in State Farm Arena. Not many artist can do that. And a stadium tour in unattainable for most artist
HughLouisDewey@reddit
Macon used to get some big acts as well, though that's fallen off over time.
Help1Ted@reddit
Florida is the strange one in this situation. If a band is even coming here, they either start or end up here. Sometimes skipping other larger cities and will just hit one large venue instead of 2. Often times they skip to another city the following year or just skip Florida all together for a while. And you have the Tampa Metro off of 75 and Miami off 95, while Orlando is there in the middle. It really depends which way and where they are traveling to next and how they are getting there.
Elixabef@reddit
Yeah, and it seems to be the case that most acts will do Tampa OR Orlando on a tour, but usually not both. I live in Tampa, but it’s not unusual for me to go to Orlando for a concert because the band (or whoever) isn’t coming here. I find this a tad annoying, as the Tampa metro area is bigger, and Orlando’s arena (which is the venue I always end up at over there) actually seats slightly fewer than Tampa’s.
But yes, Florida is in an odd spot geographically for concerts.
bdreamer642@reddit
We're either hard rock, house of blues, amway, or the citrus bowl. You guys with the amphitheater, bucs stadium, and amalie. Wish there was a train to go back and forth. Hate driving home to orlando after.
Elixabef@reddit
I always end up at Amway (which I think is the Kia Center now?), and I do appreciate that it’s RIGHT off I-4. That said, Amalie Arena is like 10 minutes from my house, so I don’t love driving all the way to Orlando to go to an arena that’s virtually the same as the one here. But it’s worth it to see some acts.
Yeah, we do desperately need a train between Tampa and Orlando. It’s a shame that previous projects got canceled, but I think Brightline is planning to expand over this way.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and sometimes Asheville but generally no more than two of those in the state at most on one tour.
Retskcaj19@reddit
Durham gets it's fair share as well.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Yeah I really meant Raleigh and Durham together, and probably should count Greensboro/ Winston-Salem together as well
TheBimpo@reddit
Living in Raleigh for years was frustrating because you never knew which market the tours were going to choose. There isn't really a "primary" market in the state, driving to Greensboro on a Tuesday night was something I'd have to think long and hard about.
CarolinaRod06@reddit
Some tours bypassed Charlotte because of the stadium. The previous owner of the Panthers had a grass field and didn’t want concerts on his field. The new owner switched to artificial turf and allows them. That’s why they now get The Rolling Stones sad Beyoncé and stadium concerts. Greensboro is a special case. A guy named Stan Latham is very big in the music industry and he’s from Greensboro. He has been known to give Greensboro concerts that they probably wouldn’t have gotten.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Yeah and now Greensboro has it's own theater that's competing with DPAC for musicals and such too. When Zach Bryan came through on tour he stopped at Greensboro and not Raleigh.
It's not uncommon but a major part of it is that the arena formerly known as RBC Center in Raleigh is often booked most nights in the fall/winter with NC State games and the Carolina hurricanes so there's not a good alternative for arena-sized artists in this area for all those dates.
otisthetowndrunk@reddit
When bands just go to Greensboro they're trying to pull in people from all 3 markets.
Express_Leading_4840@reddit
Rapid, Deadwood, sioux falls, and sturgis
Puzzled-Teach2389@reddit
Boston, or more broadly going to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough (right outside of Boston)
dontlookback76@reddit
Las Vegas and Reno. These are pretty much the only two cities in Nevada that could host a major talent. I just do see hours of driving to watch a band in Jackpot, lol.
MountainTomato9292@reddit
Memphis and Nashville
OnionsInTheStew@reddit
But usually Nashville. I’ve been to so many shows in Nashville and almost zero in Memphis (except the Graceland Soundstage) I live in Memphis. I get it.
MountainTomato9292@reddit
Maybe it depends on your definition of bigger bands? In the last few years I’ve seen Stevie, James Taylor, Weezer, others in Memphis. Go back a few more years and you can add Foo Fighters, RHCP, etc. But admittedly, I don’t pay much attention to Nashville because I hate it there, so I’m really only paying attention to what happens in Memphis.
OnionsInTheStew@reddit
I did see Foo Fighters at the Beale St Music fest eleventy million years ago! I don’t really pay attention to Nashville, I follow the artists who play (usually) at the Ryman.
I’m just getting to know the neighbors. I’m just a little confused because real Weezer fans know that they haven’t had a good album since “Pinkerton” in 96’.
MountainTomato9292@reddit
Haha, my husband totally agrees with you and wouldn’t go see Weezer with me! It was a great show though, they played all the hits and the Pixies opened for them. It was fantastic. They did play plenty of Pinkerton.
ThisOnesforYouMorph@reddit
Just Indianapolis, but even that gets skipped in favor of Chicago. Sometimes I get lucky and and a show I want to see stops in Cincinnati, but more often than not I'm driving 4+ hours to Joliet, Illinois. I hate having to pass through my states capitol to get to a show in another state.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
I feel like Chicago gets skipped on a bunch of stuff, though.
I've had multiple artists or shows that I saw mentioned as touring, thought, "oh, I could go see that" and look at the schedule and they're playing LA, New York, Las Vegas, and a few definitely smaller markets but not coming any closer to Chicago than Milwaukee.
IMakeOkVideosOk@reddit
Always go to Milwaukee shows if ya can
IMakeOkVideosOk@reddit
Noblesville gets tons of shows, the arena in Indianapolis gets a fair share, white river amphitheater is a great spot. But if you want a guaranteed spot you gotta go to Chicago… which to be fair is the 3rd largest city
dangleicious13@reddit
Birmingham and Huntsville
IMakeOkVideosOk@reddit
The Orion Amphitheater is an amazing venue
petg16@reddit
Tulsa and Oklahoma City if at all… some festivals like Rocklahoma in Pryor and the many casinos will bring in has beens.
We’ve driven to Dallas for Kaskade and Deadmau5 and Kansas City for the Eras tour. It’s a 10hr drive to Chicago, Houston, or Denver but we haven’t had a compelling line up.
paka96819@reddit
Maui. More so because they live or vacation there.
musical_dragon_cat@reddit
If a band/artist comes to New Mexico, they usually visit Albuquerque because it's the biggest city in the state and a fairly central location within the state.
HighFiveKoala@reddit
When I lived in Dallas, they would usually perform in Arlington at Globe Life Field
PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit
The bigger artists usually visit Philadelphia and Pittsburgh but if they had to only pick one, they pick Philadelphia. However, there were big names that had stops in Hershey, PA either at Hersheypark Stadium or the Giant Center. My best concerts were at Hersheypark Stadium. I saw Beyoncé during the Formation Tour, Lady Gaga during the Chromatica Tour and P!nk last October during her Summer Carnival Tour.
pinniped90@reddit
For Kansas proper, Bonner Springs has an amphitheatre that pulls in some big bands.
But more likely, the big shows go to the T-Mobile Center in KCMO. The huge stadium shows go to Arrowhead.
Lawrence and Manhattan pull some up and coming bands doing college town tours.
KCalifornia19@reddit
California has four cities that are usually on tour lists.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are almost always present; Sacramento and San Diego are still common. Every once in a while, you'll see Oakland, Fresno, and Orange County.
PacSan300@reddit
I see Oakland on tour lists pretty often.
Sorry-Government920@reddit
Big names pretty much Milwaukee or Madison to lesser extent with some bands still playing Alpine Valley ( East Troy) it seems to be making somewhat of comeback this past summer they booked more bands than they have in years .I personally hope this trend continues 80s and 90s any big band on tour included a stop at Alpine it 40,000 plus amphitheatre 2nd tier bands may hit Green Bay as well
Warhammer517@reddit
Oklahoma City and Tulsa for Oklahoma. San Antonio, DFW, Houston, and Corpus Christi for Texas.
BlowFish-w-o-Hootie@reddit
Bigger acts go to Houston and Dallas. Better acts go to Austin. Crappy acts go to San Antonio.
CPA_Lady@reddit
None. Skipped right over.
Inconsequentialish@reddit
Indianapolis, if they don't have anything else to do on their way to Chicago and remember we exist.
AlanMorlock@reddit
Almost always KC instead of St Louis these days
Matty_D47@reddit
Seattle and Tacoma mostly. Spokane gets some love, and the sleepy little town of George, Washington, has a dope venue that many big acts play. Some of the casinos have recently built some decent live show venues. So, the reservations get some pretty big acts these days.
Vachic09@reddit
Virginia Beach
AnymooseProphet@reddit
Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento
Grits_and_Honey@reddit
Oklahoma City and Tulsa are the only ones for most major acts. Nowhere else really has the space.
Now we do have some that play the Casino Circuit, but most of those are older groups and singers.
geronika@reddit
And Tulsa gets more big acts due to The Thunder in OKC.
Grits_and_Honey@reddit
Yup. There is the Zoo, but not nearly as many shows there. There's also Diamond Ballroom, but those again are usually older acts or more niche content (i.e. Steel Panther)
kirstynloftus@reddit
Newark or East Rutherford. But NJ doesn’t really have any major cities, artists just go to Philly or NYC
seecarlytrip@reddit
Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, sometimes even Midlothian and Lubbock. Probably more.
CopyDan@reddit
Newark, Camden, Holmdel.
Cratertooth_27@reddit
We have two. Manchester and *checks notes * Gilford? (There’s a nice concert venue there lol)
RnBvibewalker@reddit
Louisville followed by Lexington.
But we mostly get passed over for larger cities like Chicago and Cincinnati, although over in a while a big artist will stop through like Beyonce blessing us.
MyFace_UrAss_LetsGo@reddit
Saw Tool in Biloxi last year. I’d say in Mississippi it’s the Coast, Jackson and Southaven(Memphis area)
osama_bin_guapin@reddit
Seattle is obviously the usual spot for most musicians, although Spokane and Tacoma are somewhat common too. I’ve seen some smaller bands/artists perform at Ridgefield too
machagogo@reddit
Newark (Prudential Center), East Rutherford (Met Life), and while not really a city Holmdel (PNC Arts Center/Amphitheatre).
basically where the arenas are.
Dmbender@reddit
Or the Stone Pony in Asbury Park
JenniferJuniper6@reddit
I’m in New Jersey. Our major cities are New York and Philadelphia.
Jumpy_Lettuce1491@reddit
Worcester Mass is just big enough with good venues to get great shows.
Huge bands only go to Boston in Mass.
nthat1@reddit
Gilford or Manchester
SenseNo635@reddit
Most big acts bypass Maryland and play DC or Bristow, which is close enough I guess.
We do get the occasional stadium show (Paul McCartney at Camden Yards and Billy Joel/Stevie Nicks at M&T Bank Stadium come to mind). Baltimore Arena and Merriweather Post Pavilion get some shows, but I find myself going to DC and Bristow, VA more than I would like.
Head_Razzmatazz7174@reddit
DFW, Austin and Houston for the most part. On occasion, San Antonio, El Paso and Abilene.
eodchop@reddit
The Twin Cities. Occasionally Duluth, but not often.
Highway_Man87@reddit
Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Lamb of God and Slayer once opened a tour in Bemidji for some reason, and that was a really cool concert to go to.
guywithshades85@reddit
New York City gets all the events. Darien Lake near Buffalo gets some big acts as well. Some bands might go to Syracuse or Albany as well.
hobokobo1028@reddit
Madison and Milwaukee
jacksbm14@reddit
Southaven (suburb of Memphis with a big arena), Brandon (suburb of Jackson with a big amphitheater), and Oxford (college town, big football stadium).
catiebug@reddit
In PA, the biggest artists hit Pittsburgh and Philly and everyone else in the middle has to head to one of those far ends of the state to see them (or down to DC).
Some acts might also hit Hershey (Pink's Summer Carnival, which was quietly one of the biggest tours of the year, made a stop there), because the town/corporation (difficult to separate the two) has poured a ton of money into having venues that draw. They are still limited capacity though. So someone booking full size stadiums are gonna do the Linc and Heinz and head out. Beaver Stadium (Penn State) has the capacity, but it's hit or miss as to whether an artist feels the need to do it.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Usually it is Portland but for really big acts you have to go to Boston.
pixeequeen84@reddit
Pretty much none of them, except during Sturgis Rally. Most people in my area (western South Dakota) travel to Denver for big concerts.
nomuggle@reddit
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Hershey are the big ones.
dildozer10@reddit
Birmingham and Huntsville.
WichitaTimelord@reddit
Kansas City, KS for outdoor, otherwise KCMO Wichita
Lawrence for University crowd
Topeka
Sometimes Salina’s classic theater gets some mid-week acts
ZetaWMo4@reddit
Atlanta
TheArgonianBoi77@reddit
Miami, Orlando, and Tampa
MagosBattlebear@reddit
Portland Maine the mist. Bangor Maine behind that.
HorseFeathersFur@reddit
Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Asheville, and Louisville.
MontCoDubV@reddit
Baltimore is the main one. Ocean City will usually have a few big shows each summer. Then there's a big theater that gets a lot of major acts in Silver Spring, just outside DC. Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia is probably second behind Baltimore.
wolfmann99@reddit
Chicago, but Peoria used to be a major stop.
royalhawk345@reddit
Peoria's definitely a very distant second, but they do still get some good acts and have a number of nice venues. Champaign also gets big acts a few times a year to play Assembly Hall.
blipsman@reddit
Chicago
Otherwise-External12@reddit
Minneapolis and St Paul in Minnesota. The Twin Cities.
BuryatMadman@reddit
Boston, Or Foxboro cause of Gillette
rolandofgilead41089@reddit
Mansfield hosts far more acts than Gillette.
BuryatMadman@reddit
Yeah but we’re talking big acts
typical_baystater@reddit
Xfinity Center still pulls huge acts. Just saw Pitbull there this summer and he was one of the biggest stars of the 2010s. Even Post Malone performed there not too long ago and there’s no denying he holds numerous music records
TheBimpo@reddit
OP wasn't exclusive to "what's the largest concert venue in your state". Just "bigger". Mansfield is booked all summer long with 15-20,000 fans every night.
BuryatMadman@reddit
I am still right
El_Polio_Loco@reddit
For Virginia the major stops are DC (I know, not VA), then Virginia Beach, then a tie between Charlottesville and Richmond.
SonuvaGunderson@reddit
Charleston, Myrtle, and sometimes Columbia.
suckerloveheavensent@reddit
philadelphia, sometimes pittsburgh
Thatonetwin@reddit
Rogers and Little Rock
Mr_MacGrubber@reddit
New Orleans. Some go to Baton Rouge and Lafayette but not many.
Cowboywizard12@reddit
Boston
FishermanNatural3986@reddit
Not Foxboro or Mansfield?
davdev@reddit
Mansfield is by far the busiest venue and it pulls big acts. Fenway, Garden and Gillette are obviously bigger, but not busier.
Sirhc978@reddit
And then Harvard once a year for Boston Calling.
TheBimpo@reddit
Many people would consider Mansfield part of the Boston market for the purposes of concert touring. Sure, it serves RI and CT too, but there's no major outdoor venue in the city limits. Lots of cities have their shed venue out in the suburbs, no one says "Clarkston" when they're playing the Detroit market.
davdev@reddit
> there's no major outdoor venue in the city limits.
Fenway.
TheBimpo@reddit
You're right, there's Fenway. I was more referring to how most metro areas have their shed/barn/amphitheater venue out in the suburbs. But yeah baseball stadiums are a popular spot for major acts and some festivals.
Cowboywizard12@reddit
I always forget where Gillette is, I'm more of a Baseball fan
Majestic-Macaron6019@reddit
Charlotte, Raleigh, and/or Piedmont Triad (Winston-Salem/Greensboro). They'll often go to Raleigh and Charlotte or only the Triad (it's about halfway between).
AgreeableWealth47@reddit
Indy
davdev@reddit
Boston (Garden or Fenway), Mansfield (Xfinity Center) or Foxboro (Gillete). Occasionally Worcester for mid sized bands, though that doesnt seem as common as it was 20 years ago.
BreakfastBeerz@reddit
Considering the location of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.....Cleveland.
TehLoneWanderer101@reddit
Los Angeles/Inglewood and San Francisco mostly. Oakland and San Diego get tour stops too. Sometimes Anaheim is substituted for LA. Occasionally Pasadena is visited.
brizia@reddit
What do you consider a bigger band? Our major venues are in Newark (Prudential Center) and East Rutherford (MetLife Stadium), but we’ve had a lot of bands play Homdel (PNC Bank Arts Center) and Camden (Freedom Mortgage Pavilion).
Soundwave-1976@reddit
There are 2 choices, Albuquerque or Las Cruses. las Cruses usually gets skipped though as El Paso Texas is only 50 miles away and has better venues.
505backup_1@reddit
Albuquerque is pulling some big names now FS. Santa Fe technically as well, just more classical styles of music and opera though
Soundwave-1976@reddit
Yea we gar a lot of big metal acts here and rap. Santa Fe gets some too I wanted to see Jimmy Vaughn but couldn't make it recently.. The music fest in Taos is awesome also.
notthegoatseguy@reddit
The biggest acts are at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. That's where Swift played, and where the Billy Joel/Sting show will be. U2 has done shows there. And because its primarily a football stadium, it usually works out well for summer tours.
magster823@reddit
Indianapolis (larger stadiums) and Noblesville (amphitheater). I greatly prefer the Noblesville experience.
erin_burr@reddit
Often Camden, the cultural center of America, the home of Campbell's soup and where Zworykin invented the television. People from other cities in the greater Camden area like Philadelphia travel in to see them as well.
CatsTypedThis@reddit
Here in NC, Charlotte, Greensboro, sometimes Raleigh.
Real-Psychology-4261@reddit
Minneapolis and St. Paul exclusively.
Either Target Center, US Bank Stadium, Target Field in Minneapolis, or Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
tigers692@reddit
Every suburb of LA, Frisco, San Diego, Bakersfield, and Fresno.
Just_Me1973@reddit
Massachusetts here. Mostly they go to Boston. Sometimes Worcester. Here in Springfield we almost never get concerts. Even tho when they built the casino we were told that they would be bringing in more entertainment
Aggressive-Emu5358@reddit
Denver, Springs, Boulder, Colorado State Fair (Pueblo)
Sailor_NEWENGLAND@reddit
Hartford and New Haven mostly
44035@reddit
Detroit, Grand Rapids, and the casinos
No-Conversation1940@reddit
Chicago > 99% of the time, maybe Springfield for the State Fair if they're a second tier legacy act
DonChino17@reddit
Atlanta and Columbus mostly. Sometimes Macon but not as often.
AnalogNightsFM@reddit
New Orleans or Baton Rouge
NoAnnual3259@reddit
Portland and then maybe Eugene or Bend.