By admin 
When it comes to concerts, Sacramento has long had a reputation as a town that is overlooked.
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With San Francisco a fairly reasonable drive away (discounting traffic) for fans, many of the biggest touring artists such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter opt to skip Sacramento for bigger venues such as San Francisco’s Chase Center, or Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
But higher living costs for items such as gas and groceries, plus the rising costs of tickets, is leaving some Sacramento-area music fans wondering about closer-to-home options.
So what does Sacramento’s concert scene really look like?
“The scene itself is pretty vibrant right now in Sac. Even me being in the industry, if I need to get a show or route clients through town, we can hit those shows pretty prevalently,” said Trevor Swenson, CEO of music talent agency Dynamic.
According to the Sacramento Music Census from 2023, the city is a secondary music market. It means Sacramento has a disproportionate music ecosystem of mid-sized venues. Although Golden Center 1, the indoor arena downtown, can house up to 19,000 people for concerts, that still amounts to half the capacity of stadiums like Oracle Park which holds 41,331.
Despite big pop artists skipping Sacramento, the city has served as a hub for country music. “Every country artist in the world comes here,” Swenson said.
“The perception that Sacramento is routinely skipped by major tours has changed significantly over the past decade,” said a representative at Golden Center 1. “Today, Sacramento is a regular stop for many national and international arena tours. While routing decisions are influenced by numerous factors—including venue availability, geography, tour schedules, and market strategy—Sacramento has firmly established itself as a successful and desirable concert market.”
Another factor that has begun affecting where artists appear is “blue dot fever” where clusters of available seats go unsold.
But according to Swenson, “blue dot fever” is a mixture of several factors. With general inflation, the cost of touring has gone up for artists. Since the median income for Sacramento is roughly $84,000 compared to $139,000 in San Francisco, buyers in the area are less likely to invest in ballooning ticket prices — tickets to see Taylor Swift ranged from $750 to $1,000. Tickets to see Lenny Kravitz perform at the Thunder Valley casino started at $195, and Megan Moroney’s upcoming show at Golden Center 1 starts at $123.
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“But then it’s also on the artist side of things, where if you’re not doing something new and exciting, you’re doing the same old thing. Then people stop coming to your shows,” Swenson said.
Daniel Romandia, the talent buyer and marketing director of music club Harlow’s, also believes the Sacramento music scene has changed from when he was growing up in the city.
“I went to the Bay Area probably three times a week when I was in my 20s, just going there all the time because that’s where all the shows were happening,” Romandia said.
After ten years of working at Harlow’s, Romandia attests that artists are attracted to playing at more intimate venues like Harlow’s in Sacramento.
“We’re such a fast-growing metropolitan area that the way like artists and bands get routed, Sacramento is such more of a focal point. So many people want to play here now.”
But for Romandia, what truly makes Sacramento’s music scene special is the enthusiasm of audiences for live, intimate performances.
“I think that there is going to be just enough of the nightlife culture that is going to be focused on live music, live performance, and you know, just going up and experiencing that side of it all,” Romandia said. “It really does feel like it could be that vision, if not already.”
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