I got tickets for Bad Omens and Orbit Culture in early 26 and that's it so far. After a year of a lot of personal turmoil, and potential change, I still managed to hit a fair number of shows and be close to what I've normally done the past few years (25-30). Some of ya'll are mad lads and gals and I'm sure hit way more, but 2-3 shows a month is enough to sustain me and keep me from going crazy for now. I may find something but I think I just have 1 more this year. They come in waves and it looks like Nov / Dec is light (it's okay, thanksgiving, Christmas etc).
Volbeat were fucking brilliant last night at the Ultilta Arena in Birmingham but I feel sorry for them having to perform in an undersold arena, Witch Fever performed in front of an even more less than that full arena.. like barely anyone there, Bush were really fucking good and I am certain myself and the person next to me were the only people that knew the words to their songs.. the rest of the people around me were either standing silent or talking during their set and when I got there about 15 mins after the doors open there was loads of space at the barrier and I ended up at the barrier with ease. Usually the arena holds 13,000 people but they made the arena smaller, around 2,000 standing tickets were sold but the crowd was sparse and spacious that u could arrived 15 mins before Volbeat's set and u could get near the front with ease and there was loads of empty seats and the top back of the arena was curtain off, definitely the most empty arena show I ever attended!
Finished Death By Lighting the other day and was hoping they would announce more dates, but of course no dates close to me. Edit: I see now they just announced an opener, not new dates lol
Here's the gigs and festivals I got tickets for 2026 so far January: Epica & Amaranthe Co Headline show February: Lorna Shore with Whitechapel, Shadow of Intent & Humanity's Last Breath Deftones with Denzel Curry and Drug Church March: Alter Bridge with Daughtry and Sevendust Thrice May: Slam Dunk Festival North June: Rilo Kiley A Perfect Circle Download Festival 2026 July: Metallica with Gojira and Knocked Loose
I tried getting my band on it, but with 200+ band submissions, they told us to fuck right off haha jk
The Volbeat/Halestorm tour in the US was similar. Upper deck was closed at my date and even with what they had available it was still undersold. Shame cause Volbeat, Halestorm and The Ghost Inside all sounded great still and gave it their all as if they were playing to a sold out arena
Honestly it's been really weird to see the massive push the industry is trying to give both Volbeat and Halestorm. Like I feel like people are really trying to convince me they're both arena/shed headliners and I really don't buy them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking shit, I think both bands have hits I like but like I don't know any die hard Volbeat or Halestorm fans that would imply to me either one should be in arenas.
It's in the industries best interest to start pushing some of these rock acts into arenas. Otherwise we're just relying on heritage rock acts and pop stars to fill those calendars. Particularly for arenas in B and C markets that don't have major sports teams, it's a great way to bring events to those buildings.
I get it and I agree, but I also think it has to be the right acts. Because then we just gets bands playing half empty arenas (at best in some cases) and losing money if we just push them into arenas before they can fill it. Like I'm not a huge fan, but the Sleep Token jump made huge sense and it obviously is paying off for them.
Bad Omens jump to arenas is working out so far. Some dates have already sold out. It kinda shocked me because I feel like the new singles they've put out have gotten no traction. But it helps that they have Beartooth and President on the bill But yeah some of these arena & shed tours make no sense. The I Prevail/Halestorm tour last year comes to mind. My show was in a large indoor theater and had the top deck closed off. Most of the other dates were in sheds I believe. Summer of Loud also comes to mind. All the 4 headliners usually play 2-3k cap rooms on their own and they all pretty much have the same fanbase. ADTR & Yellowcard comes to mind too. I've seen some posts on reddit about bunch of empty seats in these arena shows. I know most of them are smaller hockey arenas but yikes still lol. But some dates have surprisingly done well.