Commentary: Smaller Concerts are Better Concerts

from https://www.facebook.com/dayglowband/

Imagine, you obtained tickets to your favorite artist at your local stadium. You decide to leave hours before the concert even begins just to “be smart”. You arrive to realize the tens of thousands of other people who are attending have the same idea as you. After driving around mindlessly, you finally find a parking spot in the massive field and the trek to the venue is all that’s in between you and the stadium. As you walk along, more people exit their cars and join you on the long awaited walk. When you become somewhat close to the entrance, you see the ticket lines spew out and realize it’s going to take even longer to just get into the venue itself. 

After an hour of plain waiting and navigating your way through many crowds, you finally arrive at your seats. As soon as you sit the lights dim and the opener band comes out on the large platform. You’re excited, until you realize your seats are a side view of the stage and you have to watch the performance through a monitor. 

I will acknowledge that some fans and people do like the idea of large stadium shows. Maybe that is the only way to see their famous singer, maybe they like the energy. However, why spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to barely see the artist on stage, and barely have a personable performance?

This wouldn’t be a problem if you saw another band or an artist at a smaller venue.

In the Boston area, there are many smaller club venues compared to arenas (Boston only has TD Garden). The Sinclair, The Middle East Club, The Red Room at Cafe 939, Deep Cuts, Crystal Ballroom, and Brighton Music Hall are a few of the smaller venues in the Boston area, most not exceeding over 600 occupants. 

These bands are nothing in popularity compared to a Taylor Swift; however, these underground and unnoticed artists hold their own in the music industry. 

Sloan Struble (who markets and produces music under the name Dayglow) headlined Boston at Paradise Rock Club back in 2021 when he released his sophomore album: Harmony House. I, who was an early fan of Dayglow, attended. The whole vibe of the room was different compared to a stadium. My friend and I, along with 898 other people in the crowd experienced a personable, conversational performance. Instead of having a strict script from beginning to end, he left space to have intimate conversations with his fans during the show, something that can’t happen at a large stadium that fits tens of thousands.

Dayglow, in 2024, has gained higher traction after the release of two more albums over three years since the Paradise show. He has since performed at House of Blues twice which holds 2,500 guests, which is a significant increase from the previous venue, however after attending both of those shows at the HOB, Struble still holds onto the unique and laid back performances that he had when he was playing at a smaller venue. 

You might be wondering, “If Dayglow’s popularity grows so much to sell out TD Garden, you must be opposed to attending.” Which in summary, is a no. Though I would prefer to see any artist in concert at an intimate venue, I’ve been following this artist for four years and I still enjoy the music no matter what size the venue is, it’s just a personal preference of the venue size and the experience. 

Now if I had to choose between let’s just say Post Malone, who is doing a massive stadium tour this summer, and a small band playing at the Middle East Club on the same night–and I really had to choose just one–I’d attend the smaller show. Though Post Malone is a large artist and would be enjoyable to see live, it’s again not the small venue experience a person would get if they went to the Middle East Club. 

So whether you like attending stadium shows, or basement ones, either way you are contributing by supporting an artist you enjoy listening to. But personally, I say why spend so much money to see a tiny little dot on stage and watch through a big screen when you can pay $30 for your own little experience that only a small amount of people get to live together?