The Difference in live venue sizes.
The Size and capacity of live venues makes the experience better for everyone involved in live music performances. When comparing them in the terms of behind the scenes of the stage management, set up and general stage production, you can see a drastic change in the amount of people involved and how some job roles within get split up into sub divisions to ensure everything is getting done correctly and more efficiently. Another noticeable improvement of being in a bigger venue is the quality of sound, different types of equipment used and how it resonates in and around the venue compared to a local live music venue.
The three main parts of setting up stages in any sized venues are; Sound quality, Crowd engagement and Playability for the band. Sound quality is often looked at being the key thing to a good live concert, although many people would argue that it’s the band’s engagement with the crowd. However, realistically you would prefer both, so when setting up a concert of any size they tend to set up the stage in a way where things can’t feedback too much and also in a way where the band has enough space to be comfortable on stage and free to move around and engage with the crowd. This is easier to achieve in bigger venues because there is more space on stage to space things out and have monitors decently far away from amps and mics but also not too far away so the band can still hear them. however in smaller venues there is smaller stages and it is usually very crammed for a band on stage, there are sometimes five to six people on stage at a time and there is not that much space to move around and that creates a physical strain for the people performing. However from the spectators point of view it seems to be nicer to watch bands that are closer together than further apart, because this way you don’t have to keep looking left to right a lot to see what each performer is doing, whereas in big venues if you’re pretty close to the front of the audience you would have to turn your head a lot to see the guitarist and bass player. Also the distance between the stage and the crowd is also decently bigger at big venues because there needs to be a barrier for safety and protection for the band, but in small venues you can probably walk up to the edge of the stage and most likely be able to touch the performer’s feet (If you are weird of course). The point is that at smaller venues you feel more intimate with the performers because they are so close, but in big venues it seems like they are miles away. The Guardian states, “Everyone – well, everyone in their right mind – prefers small gigs to big gigs. It’s a much nicer experience all round seeing an artist you love in a room with a few hundred people, than seeing them in an enormodome or a stadium” (Hann, 2018). This quote relates to my point because smaller venues have a better atmosphere and tend to be enjoyed more.
The difference in budget for equipment is astronomical. Small music venues have a PA system that’s set up and left there because they have constant little shows happening all year round. Whereas, at big venues they either have their own PA systems in storage somewhere on site or at a different facility or they rent PA systems or even hire an outsourced company contractor to set up the PA and also work it at times. This can either be a good choice or a bad choice depending on the venue. Small venues having their own PA systems is not pretty good because they have so many gigs happening throughout the year that they are saving money on buying the PA once and having it for many many years, instead of renting one out constantly, which comes out cheaper. On the contrary, for big venues like stadiums, it comes out to be cheaper and more efficient to contract out the PA because they don’t host that many gigs and this way they don’t have to pay maintenance costs and also if new gear and better equipment becomes available they won’t have to splurge a lot of money to upgrade, they can just hire out the new and improved equipment. The volume levels in these spaces are in a decently similar decibel range. “The volume at a typical indoor concert is usually somewhere between 90 and 120dB”, “But rock bands are sometimes as loud as 125 dB!”, Documents Alpine (Sinclair, 2022). Keeping the decibel levels to the recommended level is absolutely crucial because if exceeds the level you are likely to experience damage to your ears which would not be good to the people and may also cause the venue to be in lots of legal trouble from the audience and other participating parties. Another main difference is monitoring hardware. Small venues use floor monitors that are on stage usually at the front of the stage and one near the drummer. Whereas in big venues they have the monitors in front of the mics where the singers sing and also near where the guitarist stand and one next to the drums facing the drummer, the people performing usually also bring their own IEM’s (In ear monitors) that they have for their tours. They use these so they can move around the stage freely while also still hearing their instruments clearly. These are very useful to have because most venues don’t provide them and they allow you to walk anywhere on the stage and entertain the crowd without compromising the integrity of the sound and timing of the music.
Small venues have a permanent stage that cannot move and cant be packed up, this is because they have events all year round and would be too much of a hassle to build and pack up constantly. They usually have a capacity under 1,000 people, mostly in the few hundred range. These are better for the audience because there is not that many people that get in your way and does not feel very cramped. It is also better to see bands at smaller venues because it feels better to know that you will probably see the band/bands in the crowd after supporting the other bands and also you can get closer to the stage with relative ease because there aren’t that many people. Big venues tend to be in arenas so the stages are collapsible and have the ability to be moved and stored away to accommodate the sports that usually happen in the stadiums. These venues tend to be able to seat 30,000 people, which is a lot of people in one area. These tend to be better for more popular musicians because if a famous musician makes an event at a small venue the tickets would be gone instantly and this would probably infuriate the fans because they wont be able to get one. Small venues, depending on the type of event, charge anywhere from £1 to £20 per person for gigs. Whereas big concerts in stadiums cost anywhere around £50 to £200 per person. The average price for a ticket in 2024 was £135 which is insane. “2024 still saw record-setting worldwide grosses, albeit a modest 3.62 percent increase to $9.5 billion for the Top 100 Worldwide Tours as well as a 3.91 percent increase in average ticket price to $135.92 and a 5.7 percent increase in the volume of shows reported”(Lind, 2024). The prices are increasing each year, so with this the culture media and sports select committee proposed a ticket levy. A ticket levy is an extra pound that goes onto a ticket which is then given to grassroots music venues and this helps them and ensures that they can continue to run and stay open for upcoming music artists to get into the scene. Some music venues host open mic nights and also free gigs so they are not making money of these and they only get profit from the bars they have inside.
To conclude, The big venues have way more work to do in terms of set up and development, stage production, management, marketing and promotion, each aspect of this is worked on and handled by many people in the industry and that means many people can get employed into these areas if they are looking for these jobs. Alternatively at small venues, most of this stuff is handled by one or two people that usually work at the venue already. The promotion and marketing side is likely done by the bands performing. It is better to play on a big venue’s stage because of the space on stage but on the other hand, the crowd experience is way better in smaller venues because the crowd is closer to the performers and less people to be squished in. In my personal opinion, I believe that as a musician, it doesn’t matter where you perform as long as you enjoy sharing your music with others and loving it yourself. No matter how famous or good anyone is I think that grassroots music venues should be supported and seen as the back bone of musicians’ careers because not everyone can get famous overnight and they have to climb the ranks and that all starts at the local small venues.
REFERENCES –
Hann, M. (2018). Misery of the mega-gig: Can a huge show ever be a huge success? [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/09/misery-of-the-mega-gig-can-a-huge-show-ever-be-a-huge-success?utm_source=chatgpt.com [Accessed 6 Feb. 2025].
Sinclair, C. (2022). Hearing protection at festivals and concerts – Alpine Earplugs. [online] Alpine Hearing Protection. Available at: https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/blogs/party-music/hearing-protection-at-festivals-and-concerts [Accessed 7 Feb. 2025].
Lind, J.R. (2024). Stacked Lollapalooza Lineup Led By SZA, Tyler, The Creator, blink-182, The Killers, Future X Metro Boomin, Hozier, Stray Kids, Melanie Martinez & Skrillex – Pollstar News. Pollstar News. [online] doi:https://doi.org/1010636/HalfPage_300x600.