ERAS is one of the most popular upcoming concert tours in the music industry. As an acronym for Every Road Adventure Setlist, ERAS is the name of Sam Smith’s 2023 tour in support of their recent album Gloria. With dozens of shows planned across North America and Europe through 2023, fans are eager to see if they can get tickets to what is sure to be an unforgettable tour experience. But just how many people are expected to attend the various ERAS tour stops? Getting a handle on the potential audience size can help fans understand the scale and excitement around these events. Let’s take a closer look at what we know so far about ERAS tour attendance expectations.
Sam Smith’s Popularity and Draw
As a starting point, it’s important to recognize that Sam Smith is one of the most prominent pop/soul artists in the world today. After rising to fame in 2012 with hit singles like “Latch” and “La La La,” Smith has gone on to release three hugely successful studio albums. Their debut In the Lonely Hour (2014) sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won four Grammy Awards. Follow-up The Thrill of It All (2017) debuted at No. 1 in the UK and US, spawning hits like “Too Good at Goodbyes.” Most recently, Smith’s Gloria (2022) became their third consecutive UK chart-topping album. Singles like “Unholy” and “Gimme” have continued Smith’s reign on pop radio and streaming playlists.
In short, Sam Smith has cultivated an enormous global fanbase over the past decade. They have over 30 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 60 million followers across social media platforms. Each new album release is a major event that trends online and draws major media coverage. This star power suggests there will be significant interest and demand for Sam Smith’s upcoming tour among both longtime fans and more casual listeners. Their name recognition cuts across demographics and their soulful pop style has broad appeal. These factors point towards large crowds wanting to see Smith’s new show.
Arena Sized Venues
Another indication that the ERAS tour will attract large crowds is the fact that it is booked primarily in major arenas. The tour is scheduled to hit over 20 arena venues across North America with capacities ranging from 10,000 up to 20,000. Some of the stops include NYC’s Madison Square Garden, Montreal’s Bell Centre, Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, Chicago’s United Center, and LA’s Kia Forum. Additionally, the European leg in 2023 will visit huge venues like London’s O2 Arena and Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The tour clearly has the promotional muscle behind it to book dates in the largest and most prominent concert halls in major global markets. These venues host the hottest acts in music and fill up regularly for today’s top pop stars. Their scale highlights that significant attendance is expected on each date. An arena tour of this size implies total tour attendance will easily reach into the hundreds of thousands when all dates are tallied up.
Ticket Sale Trends
Early ticketing data also backs up the forecast of high demand for ERAS concerts. Looking at some initial on-sales, huge crowds rushed for the first wave of tickets. In Los Angeles, a Forum show sold out instantly with over 15,000 tickets purchased. Upcoming dates in New York and Toronto have also seen tickets disappear quickly. Multiple added and upgraded shows have been announced already due to fast sellouts.
While a few dates in smaller markets may not totally sell out in the end, the overall direction seems to be towards high attendance across the board. Fans are showing their enthusiasm by snapping up presales and early bird tickets at a rapid clip. Secondary market prices also remain elevated for hot dates, indicating scarcity and high interest. As long as pricing holds steady, most ERAS concerts should see packed houses when the tour rolls through town.
Comparable Tours
For additional context, we can look at attendance figures from recent arena tours by pop artists with similar levels of name recognition as Sam Smith. When Adele hit the road in 2016 for her first tour since 2011, she played to over 150,000 fans just in Europe with multiple sold out arena stops and attendance averaging above 15,000 per night.
Harry Styles’s 2018 solo tour also gives a good idea of scale. His 2018 dates through North America sold over 650,000 tickets according to Billboard Boxscore. With a similar mix of arena venues on the schedule, Styles averaged over 15,000 people per show.
Justin Bieber’s blockbuster Purpose World Tour from 2016-2017 gives another relevant data point, selling over 2.7 million tickets total and averaging around 45,000 fans per stadium gig.
While Smith likely falls slightly below these acts in overall popularity, scaling down these benchmarks and factoring 15-20 arena shows should still easily translate to 500,000+ in total ERAS attendance.
Forecasted Totals
Given Sam Smith’s star power and loyal fanbase, their booking into the biggest venues, and initial ticketing demand, we can conservatively estimate the following attendance projections for the ERAS tour:
| Region | Projected Dates | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 25 Shows | 15,000 | 375,000 |
| UK/Europe | 20 Shows | 12,000 | 240,000 |
| Australia/NZ | 5 Shows | 10,000 | 50,000 |
| Total | 50 Shows | 665,000 |
Scaling up for any added shows or sold out dates, total attendance could feasibly top 700,000 fans for the full ERAS tour if current momentum keeps up. This would mark a hugely successful global arena outing for Sam Smith.
Conclusion
In conclusion, early indications suggest the ERAS tour will be one of the most popular and well-attended concert events of 2023. Given Sam Smith’s A-list status and loyal fanbase, combined with consistently large arena venues and rapid early ticket sales, total tour attendance should land between 650,000-700,000 fans or more. This would represent Smith’s largest headlining shows to date. The ERAS tour is poised to give hundreds of thousands of happy fans around the world a chance to connect with Smith’s newest music. For an artist recently named Artist of the Decade at the 2022 Brit Awards, these massive crowd expectations reflect Sam Smith’s dominant place in today’s pop landscape.
