Hey, just wondering what kind of music scenes are happening in different parts of the US/the world.

A lot of bands come through Madison,WI, where I live, but all the indie rock goes straight to the bars and clubs. Younger people go to basement shows, which are almost always hardcore shows. A few years ago, punk and ska was really big here, and now basically everyone plays heavy metal or grindcore, with the exception of maybe 2 instrumental prog-metal bands and some "screamo" bands.

What is the music scene like in YOUR town? Do you wish it were different? Do you attend local shows?

I'm from Juneau, Alaska, and we don't really have a great music scene. In terms of rock, it's just some student bands and a few groups of friends that play bars every once in a while. We do have an OK folk/blues scene, which culminates with the good-for-a-small-town Alaska Folk Festival in the spring.

Good topic. I live in Tampa, FL and if there is a music scene, I don't know about it. Christ, I can't even see my favorite bands here. All the mid-level and indie bands avoid Tampa (even Florida altogether!!). Literally the only bands that play here are dinosaurs such as the Stones and U2; oh yeah, and Nickelback was here a couple months ago.

I just moved (back) to Wichita, KS, after living in Lawrence for three years, and the music scene here is pretty pathetic in comparison. Almost all the big indie rock bands and underground hip-hop acts went through Lawrence, but none of them go to Wichita. Wichita gets all of the big nu-metal and hair band tours, though (ugh). As for the bands that live here, most of them are metal of one sort or another, although there is a small indie rock crowd.

Eugene, OR has a pretty good scene for it's size ('bout 150 thou). We get some big acts every now and then, and when we dont you can still find a lot of really good music. There are some good rock bands for the younger crowd like me, we get some folky stuff for the whole Country Fair crowd, there's some country (eww), and a plenty of jazz and blues which I don't much care for either. Also, there's always the Oregon Bach Festival which is supposedly world renowned or something.

And get this, next month we have ...*drumroll*... Lyle Lovett coming to town. If that doesn't totally blow your mind, I don't know what will.

quote:

Originally posted by ¡KevinHess!:
I just moved (back) to Wichita, KS, after living in Lawrence for three years, and the music scene here is pretty pathetic in comparison.

Culture shock to say the least.

Several years ago, I was in Wichita visiting family. My wife and I stopped in Old Town one night for a cocktail. Shortly after drinks arrived, a band started setting up and I was hoping to hear a little home-grown music.

They turned out to be a Creed cover band.

We drank. We paid. We left.

Now Playing: The Cubs leading the White Sox 15-10 after eight.

quote:

Originally posted by LinnTate:

quote:

Originally posted by ¡KevinHess!:
I just moved (back) to Wichita, KS, after living in Lawrence for three years, and the music scene here is pretty pathetic in comparison.

Culture shock to say the least.

Several years ago, I was in Wichita visiting family. My wife and I stopped in Old Town one night for a cocktail. Shortly after drinks arrived, a band started setting up and I was hoping to hear a little home-grown music.

They turned out to be a Creed cover band.

We drank. We paid. We left.

Now Playing: The Cubs leading the White Sox 15-10 after eight.

I feel your pain.

I'm lucky, I'm right next to DC so I get to go to the 930 club whenever and see some pretty good shows. This week I'm going to see Belle and Sebastien, Broken Social Scene, and DC's own Ted Leo/Pharmacists at Merriweather. I've been in pretty good musical areas in my family's moves. I lived in Austin for a long time, too.

Lucky you.

Tallahassee's a weird town. We've got our own music, ranging from high school hardcore and punk to super-esoteric, art-student noise/experimental "music." Long-running, obscure bands like Mira and Cream Abdul Babar (alternately shoegaze and metal) help keep things going. A decade ago, AAJ Records put out some rising acts. Now its all about smaller labels like Cloud 13 and Soulow.

There's definitely a requisite country/blues contingent in Tallahassee, too, with big country shows like Rascal Flatts and the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center (yes, you're in the South, now!), and the Bradfordville Blues Club nearby. The Nashville Songwriters Association has a branch office here, too.

Of course, the whole indie rock thing has its presence, like in any college town. Florida State University has a school-run venue that gets fantastic Pitchfork-approved-type acts, ranging from Son Volt or Wilco to the Books and Prefuse 73.

Of course, I visited Athens, Georgia recently and it put my pride in Tallahassee, where I was born and raised, to shame. I had no idea it was SO consumed with music up there, my God. R.E.M. has put so much money back into that city and scene.

quote:

Eugene, OR has a pretty good scene for it's size ('bout 150 thou). We get some big acts every now and then, and when we dont you can still find a lot of really good music. There are some good rock bands for the younger crowd like me, we get some folky stuff for the whole Country Fair crowd, there's some country (eww), and a plenty of jazz and blues which I don't much care for either. Also, there's always the Oregon Bach Festival which is supposedly world renowned or something.

I agree with Smoogs--I go to school in Eugene and it does seem to have a pretty strong scene for its size. Aside from some moderately interesting local acts it routinely draws some pretty big names (Dylan came through the EMU Ballroom in '99, I believe).

Salem, where I live at the moment, also has a strangely active music scene, though it's mostly limited to punk and hardcore and things of that sort. Not anything I'd sit down and listen to, but perfect for summer shows after you and the friends have roundhoused a liter of bourbon.

This isn't my town but I've noticed an incredible amount of incredibly good loud bands coming out of Providence, RI (Lightning Bolt, Tiny Hawks, Daughters, ect.). They even have a website for the scene at lotsofnoise.com. I think it is really interesting when an area produces a lot of really good music in the same or in similar genres.

New York has always been a music hotbed too but does it seem like Brooklyn is becoming the new hub for weird avant bands to anyone else? (animal collective, Gang Gang Dance, Cloudland Canyon, No Neck Blues Band, Excepter, ect. ect. ect.)

Austin, Tx
-enough said

My home town has this weird hippie/bluegrass thing going on. My neighbors are in this bluegrass band called Sweet Sunny South. But it's all pretty lame for me. And my college town, Greeley, isn't that much better. There's one local band of friends that's decent, but nothing anywhere near a scene. So... not much happening. Anyone who wants to do anything pretty much has to go to Denver, and even there there's not a whole lot to speak of. Dressy Bessy...umm. yuck. Maybe that just means I need to get out and see more shows, cos I don' know a whole lot about it.

Our town has a growing theme park "Wild Adventures" that somehow books great country acts and washed up old bands (i.e. K.C. and the Sunshine Band). However, we have no local talent or bands producing novel music. This is odd to me since we have also have a university with 12,000 students.

quote:

Originally posted by LordSmoogsbottomIII:
Eugene, OR has a pretty good scene for it's size ('bout 150 thou). We get some big acts every now and then, and when we dont you can still find a lot of really good music. There are some good rock bands for the younger crowd like me, we get some folky stuff for the whole Country Fair crowd, there's some country (eww), and a plenty of jazz and blues which I don't much care for either. Also, there's always the Oregon Bach Festival which is supposedly world renowned or something.

And get this, next month we have ...*drumroll*... Lyle Lovett coming to town. If that doesn't totally blow your mind, I don't know what will.

how far is eugene from portland? portland has an incredible music scene.

here are a few: stephen malkmus, au, decemberists, eat skull, YACHT, white fang, menomena, the thermals, and a bunch more.

apparently there are local shows quite frequently (especially in basements). also, its cool that there is no one dominant musical style - just a lot of good music.

check out mtv's website for more info. they actually did a pretty good profile on portland's music scene. mtv reporting on music?! what is world coming to?

Ummm, my town has A band...

i started a new thread on this topic by accident (i searched "local music" and didn't get any hits so i figured that no one had posted about it yet). anyways here are some of the bands i posted about in regards to san diego's music scene:

aspects of physics (IDM)
pinback (indie pop)
followers (psychedelic jam band)
sleeping people (math rock)
bunky (experimental pop)
japanese sunday (post rock)
japandi (mix of math and post rock)
earthless (stoner rock, metal)

as far as in the past, san diego had a great punk and hardcore scene.

quote:

Originally posted by krugulitis:

quote:

Originally posted by LordSmoogsbottomIII:
Eugene, OR has a pretty good scene for it's size ('bout 150 thou). We get some big acts every now and then, and when we dont you can still find a lot of really good music. There are some good rock bands for the younger crowd like me, we get some folky stuff for the whole Country Fair crowd, there's some country (eww), and a plenty of jazz and blues which I don't much care for either. Also, there's always the Oregon Bach Festival which is supposedly world renowned or something.

And get this, next month we have ...*drumroll*... Lyle Lovett coming to town. If that doesn't totally blow your mind, I don't know what will.

how far is eugene from portland? portland has an incredible music scene.

here are a few: stephen malkmus, au, decemberists, eat skull, YACHT, white fang, menomena, the thermals, and a bunch more.

apparently there are local shows quite frequently (especially in basements). also, its cool that there is no one dominant musical style - just a lot of good music.

check out mtv's website for more info. they actually did a pretty good profile on portland's music scene. mtv reporting on music?! what is world coming to?

My best friend and his wife live out in Portland. He's been trying to get me to move out there for some time. Their scene does make it tempting at times.

Rochester blows. We have a great jazz scene because of the Eastman School of Music, but no real pop/rock/indie scene to speak of. We have Gym Class Heroes! Oh wait...

If you consider run-of-the-mill jam bands, bad nu-metal/post-grunge rip offs and terrible "reggae" sung by a bunch of suburban white kids with dreads a scene then yeah.

I have lived in two seperate music scenes and stay in close contact with both of them.

I'm Welsh by birth and lived on a tiny island in the UK called Anglesey, North Wales for most of my life. The music scene there is truly bizarre. To an outsider it seems like all musicians play either Hendrix-influenced blues or techno. However, there is a great alternative music scene with some of the weirdest bands you've ever heard. Gigs are frequent and attract fairly big audiences, although the mainstream media avoid it like the plague. It is well documented at the following link -

link2wales

The most well known band that herald from Anglesey are probably the Super Furry Animals and they sum up the 'North Wales sound' pretty well. My best friend lived next door to the keyboard player and they used to go drinking in one of our local pubs. Lemmy from Motorhead grew up in the area and I lived in the same road as his family when I was a kid. He walked past me in the street once in the 70s. He pretty quickly moved to Manchester and then Los Angeles.

Other bands from North Wales you won't have heard of -

The Serpents (North Wales 'super-group')
Ectogram (avant garde)
David Wrench (electro-pop)
Aled Jones (Welsh Choir Boy)
Duffy (Chart bothering pop songstress. Currently very famous.)
Jack Sharp (lo-fi anti hero)
The Alarm (semi-famous 80s new wave band)
Wendykurk (female fronted alternative metal)
Skinflick (industrial metal band)
Reinallt H Rowlands (Answers on a postcard)

All are thoroughly searchable on t'internet and most of them are pretty odd.

In 2005 I moved to Canterbury, Kent, UK. The music scene there is vastly different. Quiet, but well organised. A lot of the bands tend to be a little more Americanised than North Wales. I'm not as familiar with this music scene, but prog and space rock were big things here in the seventies. Fred Frith used to play here as did Gong. Billy Childish plays a lot of gigs in the area.

The best band I've heard down this way are Ashford based ambient metal band Bossk, who toured with Cult of Luna last year. WELL worth checking out for sure.

Blimey look at me rambling on! Maybe this will be of interest, maybe not.