I would tell the promoter that you have invested in upgrading your gear, which is what you will need for the larger venues.
My only thought is the joke that you hear about comedians. “You know the comedian is fundamentally an optimist because a) they find the funny in any situation, and b) they think they can make a living as a comedian.”
I have personally noticed a difference in enjoyment when I stopped using a viewfinder. On the DLSR, it was never a choice. The big screen on the back of the mirrorless has some advantages, but there was something about your eye seeing through the lens, and the camera tries to capture that. I don’t get the same feel with the screen back and only part of the feel with the electronic viewfinder.
I might be romanticizing it too much…
Do you have to show them on any social media?
I pay a website to host mine. I have ownership of my photos and if web crawlers respect the rules the photos are not catalogued by a big tech firm.
The photos that you posted on any social become just a pool of images for various AI training sets. This seems to be the case regardless of any privacy policy or statements made to the contrary.
I think how you demonstrate respect for the images goes a part way towards answering your question.