Short & Sweet: Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, Laufey & More Grow Their Tours In 2024
Explore the artists leading the wave scaling up tours in 2024.
By Chrissy Greco Dec 17, 2024 • 1:15 pm PST
JamBase’s 2024 End Of Year review continues with a look at a list of artists who took big steps up in touring from 2023. JamBase’s database of concert dates, locations, and capacities paints a picture of growth for U.S.-based touring artists who headlined at least 20 concerts over the past two years.
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Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Tour leads the list reflecting the exponential success of her singles starting with 2022’s “Nonsense” and “Feather,” setting the stage for 2024’s ubiquitous singles “Espresso” that reached #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and “Please Please Please,” which hit #1.
Carpenter logged 31 headlining concerts this year across the U.S., down from 37 in 2023. Here we see a common thread for most of the top artists in the growth chart: fewer concerts at venues with higher capacities. Popular singles translate to more ticket sales with Sabrina. The Short n’ Sweet Tour hit arenas in major markets around the country averaging 17,800 seats, while Carpenter’s Emails I Can’t Send Tour dates in the U.S. were at mostly auditoriums and theaters averaging capacities of 2,800, resulting in a 527% growth.
In Chicago, Sabrina Carpenter went from playing the sub-2,000-person capacity House Of Blues in 2023 to the more than 23,000-person capacity United Center this past fall. A similar jump occurred in New York City where Carpenter went from headlining the 3,000-person capacity Terminal 5 in 2023 to taking top billing this year at the legendary Madison Square Garden with a capacity of over 20,000 tickets. In Los Angeles, Carpenter went from one night at the 6,000-capacity Greek Theatre in 2023 to two nights at the Kia Forum which can hold more than 17,000 fans, plus a third show at Crypto.com Arena with a capacity over 20,000.
Carpenter was one of 79 artists whose venue capacity in the United States increased by more than 100% year-over-year from 2023. These artists span time and genres like classic Latin rock legend Santana (103%) and 1990s rockers Bush (162%) and Pixies (100%) to other rising pop stars who owe some popularity to Tik Tok like Tate McRae (232%) and Noah Kahan (236%).
Other top artists on our list with the largest increase in venue capacity spanned genres, including rising rap star Sexyy Red whose 442% growth reflects a jump from theaters and clubs on 2023’s Hood Hottest Princess Tour and numerous festival appearances to her Sexyy Red 4 President 2024 arena tour.
Young pop singer Gracie Abrams’ massive 352% growth in venue size from 2023’s Good Riddance Tour to this year’s The Secret Of Us Tour reflects the popularity of her albums of the same names with The Secret of Us reaching #2 on Billboard’s 200 Albums chart. Her opening slots on Olivia Rodrigo’s 2022 Sour Tour and history’s biggest tour ever, Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, also likely helped!
Additional artists in the top growth chart include country artists Lainey Wilson (300%) and Joshua Ray Walker (440%), veteran R&B icon Usher, alt-rockers The Fall of Troy (288%), rising jazz singer Laufey (295%) and regional Mexican up-and-comer Ivan Cornejo (304%). See the full list below and learn more about JamBase’s live music data.
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