DULUTH – Nate Bargatze, the popular, clean performer and nice guy of comedy, has earned another superlative: top-selling artist to perform at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Bargatze's "Big Dumb Eyes World Tour" plays at Amsoil Arena on Thursday and has sold nearly 8,000 tickets — about 200 more than the flashy musician who was formerly the ticket-sales leader, a bar set more than a decade ago. Amsoil Arena is at 97.2% capacity, with the few remaining seats expected to be sold before the show.

With the boom in ticket sales comes caution from DECC officials. There are only 2,000 parking spaces onsite.

"You can see the math isn't mathing," communications director Lucie Amundsen said in a news release that offered options beyond the DECC's parking lot. Downtown parking ramps are an option, and the Skywalk will be open until 12:30 a.m., according to the DECC.

Here are the top five performers to play the DECC, according to ticket sales.

Nate Bargatze (2025)

This ticket rush isn't a surprise. Bargatze, who is known for his clean humor, is also the top-earning comedian in the world and frequently sells out venues. He tends to make Minnesota a regular stop: He performed for 13,000 at the State Fair last year and will at Rochester's Mayo Civic Center in June and at Xcel Energy Center on July 26 and 27. Catch him while you can: He just said on the "Today" show that he's planning to swap out standup for movie-making eventually. Bargatze recently published "Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind," despite having a bit about how books need more blank pages.

Elton John (2011)

It's been almost exactly 14 years since Elton John played at Amsoil Arena as part of his "Greatest Hits Live" tour, a long-promised big-name headliner for the then-5-month-old venue. The concert was considered a sellout with 7,600 tickets sold to fans, some dressed in boas, sequins and novelty sunglasses.

Aerosmith (1998)

This show sold out in four hours, at the time the quickest in the venue's history. (And this was the stand-in-line-for-tickets era.) Steven Tyler and friends were supposed to play the DECC Arena in May, but Aerosmith's high-kicking singer suffered a knee injury and the show, along with others in the Midwest, was postponed to later in the year. Finally, Aerosmith made its date in the fall. A reviewer from the Duluth News Tribune described it as loud, heavy on explosives, strobes, "and various other forms of pyrotechnics." There were 6,848 tickets sold.

Nickleback (2006)

This often-maligned rock band was more than a decade into its career when it played a show at the DECC Arena alongside Trapt and Default. There were 6,731 tickets sold to the show that followed the release of "All the Right Reasons." A News Tribune reviewer criticized the band for writing songs not exemplifying the core of rock 'n' roll: experimentation and rebellion. Then Nickelback fans spent weeks criticizing the review in the newspaper's letters to the editor.

Eagles (2004)

This concert sold out in that in-between era when you could get tickets online, by phone or by pitching a tent on the DECC parking lot. At the time, the DECC Arena was the smallest venue on the band's "Farewell I" tour. It wasn't originally a tour stop but was added after a show was canceled at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. Some 6,400 tickets sold.