J. Cole and his friends filled Dorothea Dix Park in April. Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton and Dave Matthews did the same to a sold-out Farm Aid Festival crowd last weekend.
The big picture: The pandemic halted hundreds of shows and live events. But now, despite a summer of revenge travel and inflation, Americans are flocking to live events, Axios' Herb Scribner reports.
Driving the news: Big names in the music industry have made tour stops here after taking two years off. And there's plenty more to come.
Smaller shows have made a comeback too, and new venues are popping up.
By the numbers: LiveNation, one of the largest concert management groups, had 12,500 shows in the second quarter of 2022 alone. That's 2,500 more than in the same timeframe of 2019, before the pandemic.
Reality check: Artists are struggling to find the instruments, equipment, and gear they need. And more shows mean demand will increase.