GreenHell

Do you guys have one? If so, what kind of bands play that are local? Is the scene big?

I live in harrisonburg VA, we have a pretty big scene, where lots of people are active, i think the two top bands that play are Aggrocrag(partymetal) and The Frontline(hardcore) but we have a lot of everything, there is a punk band on tour from around here called Disenfranchised Youth, if you hear about them, go see them and tell them you heard about them from a harrisonburgian.

so, tell me

SiNai

Umm.. Lazerfest in Des Moines usually draws some local talent, and lots of fans because SlipKnot always comes back (I believe, never personally been to one). Indexcase is a local band that always plays those. The Nadas are another Iowan band that isn't.. too.. bad.. Eh.. Hello Dave is in the same genre, and 3rd Person too, they are from my town, I believe.. kinda almost country style music.. Pomento, Leven, Savage Aural Hotbed are all locals.

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cjvasco

According to Esquire Magazine Pittsburgh has the best music scene in the country. Most people that actually go to concerts in Pittsburgh will tell you that this isn't the case. In the past year a lot of the smaller venues have closed down and thus local bands are forced to play in bars or dance clubs instead of the traditional rock clubs. This being said there a few really good bands in Pittsburgh, The Clarks who were on Letterman a few weeks ago are a staple band in Pittsburgh but anywhere else no one has any idea who they are. In addition, the bands Shade and the Pleasure Technicians, while not being that big do some extensive touring around the Northeast but they usually draw larger crowds in other towns besides the one they call home.

tspikes51

On the subject of "modern" music, most of our local scene in Lexington, KY is Christian rock (Isaac's Blessing, Change 58, 9 Ball). However, the real dominant form of music around here is high school marching band. Unlike what you probably see around your state (the three "big" states for this are Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas), marching band is more than just entertainment for the halftime shows. Bands practice just as much (if not more) than the athletic teams. Shows are at leat 7 minutes long, and they are symphonic in nature (they usually have 3-4 movements, with at least one "ballad" type song). The showcases for their performances do take place during football halftime, but the main event are the Kentucky Music Educator's Assembly sanctioned competitons on Saturday. Bands are given ratings evaluating their performance on a scale of 1-100. Bands that achieve a rating of 80 or higher get a "distinguished" rating. A band that has at least 1 such rating at the end of the season (mid-October) gets to advance to Regional competition. The 8 best performing bands from each class (like sports teams A-AAAA) in each region (there are 2 regions, making a total of 64 bands) are allowed to advance to semi-finals. 4 bands from each class then get to advance to state finals. Each member of the State Champion band gets a personalized State Championship ring. If you want to know more, visit http://www.kytnmarching.com/

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PulpMind

WTF, Pittsburgh?! how in the world... not that I would ever listen to what Esquire has to say in the first place, but that's some seriously retarded and ignorant reporting. I've never even been there, and I know that Austin TX has the best music scene in the country (at least as far as rock, indie, punk, non-pop country, bluegrass, honkey tonk, etc go.. and above average with everything else). There is no other city in the country that *supports* it's music scene the way the City Gov of Austin does.

that aside... I live in Seattle, which has a very solid music scene, DESPITE the City of Seattle Government's attempts to stifle it. We have 2 music ordinances, and a noise ordinance, not to mention a police force that'll fuck shit up just for the hell of it. but indie rock is strong here and most of your favorite indie bands probably have strong ties to Seattle or PDX.
I'm mostly involved in the electronic music scene here, and everyone agrees that it's the best scene in the country, unless you're looking for the mega raves of SoCal. here we have quality and love, not quantity and profit =) check out the DB Fest ... www.decibelfestival.com

/end rant

roachboy

what i have figured out about this thing called the philly music scene.

there is a bigger, more diverse and interesting scene in the city than you would think if you went by the venues and what they book.

for the type of music i work in, the scene is restrictive--most folk who do "experimental" stuff play outside the city more than they do here. this across the board.
for myself, the big problem is no venues that have a decent piano that book more out stuff. nothing like tonic here.

more generally, there is a fairly big punk scene, for some reason, in west philly where i live.

many many "indie" bands--some electronic stuff...there is a knot of psychedelic bands in fishtown, gathering around bardo pond, it seems. who are nice folk. that particular fishtown cadre plays quite a bit in the city, and seems to draw psych bands from all over to come through philly. so they make the place better, even if their definition of what is possible is oriented toward electric instruments and repeating vamps.

there are some good clubs venues for these types of music.
and the khyber books enough japanese bands to keep things interesting (ghost is in town tonight, so this is on my mind)

there are some great jazz players in the city, but like experimental music, you dont get to see them that often because of the restrictive policies of the venues--a few jazz clubs, mostly reactionary museum-type places that pine for the days of bop, or that use music to accompany dinner.
one exception is the tritone, which books sun ra's arkestra fairly regularly. tonight, you could go see byard lancaster as part of a tribute to coltrane there.
that alone almost makes the philly music scene bearable.

bigger venues are clear channel hell.
of these, the smaller places have decent sounds (tla, troc)--the mid level space has awful sound (electric factory)--the really big ones are not worth the effort.

the city scene as a whole is still largely dominated by turntablists spinning various types of house--it used to be a good place from drum and bass, but the clubs seems to be moving away from featuring it so heavily as they did.

san fransisco's scene was much more varied and interesting. but i left there 3 years ago, so dont know what has since transpired. maybe someone else has more recent information.

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prufrock0734

I live in Lafayette, LA and we actually have a pretty kickin' music scene, which is based mostly on Indie-Rock. There are a lot of really great bands there, most notable the Transmission, the Frames of Reference, and my band, Told by an Idiot. I don't think I'd be presuming too much to say that a lot of the popularity of our scene has to do with the website that my band hosts. It is a lot like the TFP with the threads and forums, but there are sections for each of the bands. It has worked out really well for us. Check out the website toldbyanidiot.com. Really well put together.