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Kacey Musgraves performs at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, on May 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Charles Reagan Hackleman\/@Charles.Reagan<\/p>\n
When country star Kacey Musgraves announced she would play three shows after the release of her new album<\/a>, she could have picked any venue. After all, Musgraves routinely plays big venues and will play Toyota Center in Houston this fall.<\/p>\n Instead, Musgraves picked a smaller spot: the historic Gruene Hall, a tiny, 6,000-square-foot venue that fits less than 1,000 people and sits roughly an hour outside San Antonio. All three of Musgraves’ shows sold out instantly<\/a>, and each of the three nights she played at Gruene garnered critical acclaim from those who were there<\/a>. So exclusive were these shows that one of Chron’s editors went and simply sat outside the venue to listen to Kacey.\u00a0<\/p>\n But she wasn’t the only one who eschewed a gigantic, corporate venue in favor of an intimate setting. On May 9, Grammy-winning indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers announced a surprise pop-up show at Cactus Theater in Lubbock<\/a>. The show, which took place that very same night, was advertised as “first-come, first-served.” Tickets were sold only at Cactus Theater’s box office in Lubbock, and according to the venue, tickets went fast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There are no photos or videos of Bridgers’ set (save for those filmed by her team), which had a strict “no cell phone, smart watches, smart glasses, cameras, or recording devices” policy. Attendees were required to use magnetically sealed Yondr pouches. One Lubbock-based Phoebe Bridgers fan wrote on Reddit<\/a> that theater security thoroughly inspected bags for recording devices, as well as writing utensils or anything else that could be used to make an account of the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n One reason for Bridgers’ secrecy was that she apparently debuted new music, including a song about the death of her father in 2023. Merch from the show featured lyrics for an upcoming song<\/a>. Bridgers’ Lubbock show came after a pop-up performance she did at a 400-person capacity theater in Roswell, New Mexico, the day before. During both performances, she allegedly mused about a broader upcoming tour she’s planning. That mirrors Musgraves, who used her brief Gruene Hall run to promote her new album, Middle of Nowhere.<\/p>\n Phoebe Bridgers of boygenius performs at Madison Square Garden on October 2, 2023 in New York City\u00a0<\/p>\n Variety\/Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n Musgraves and Bridgers are just the latest in a long line of artists who are picking small, historic, independent venues for intimate, quickly announced pop-up shows as complements to larger festivals and tours. In 2022, Billie Eilish played in front of 500 fans at the tiny Troubador club in Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Why a small venue in Texas?\u00a0<\/p>\n Large arena tours bring in lots of fans but actually carry a financial risk to the artist. The cost of touring nationwide has gone up significantly, just one of the myriad reasons that concert tickets’ cost has risen exponentially. After looking at the cost of gas, staffing, production and marketing, even some of the biggest names in music are lucky if their tours break even. Some artists, including Post Malone, Zayn Malik, Megan Trainor and the Pussycat Dolls, have cancelled parts of their U.S. tours altogether due to what some have dubbed “blue dot fever<\/a>,” or underselling shows. Other artists have begun announcing “tours” that really only consist of a dozen or fewer stops.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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