I can confirm that this is often the case :) If there are more people in the area that enjoy the artist and are likely to come to the event than you have space in the venue, why would you want much else on the poster? Also, event posters are most often glimpsed from several metres away, in the dark, while drunk, so it's important that the key information is very visible.

But you're right, that poster sucks. What do you think of this?

http://erisian.tk/wp-content/gallery/flyers/20090515-erisian...

(They were 15cm wide by about 10cm high)

Done by a friend of mine for his night Erisian, he's likely reading this. Hi. Notice the name isn't actually on the flyer anywhere, by this point in the event's history it was known throughout the town simply by the striking typography and the eight pointed star logo. So there's the elitist cool, but also I think it tells you a lot more about what to expect than that other flyer.