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Not too surprised… it’s a college town. I used to live in a college town you’ve never heard of in a state you don’t think about and it had a pretty solid music

Not too surprised… it’s a college town. I used to live in a college town you’ve never heard of in a state you don’t think about and it had a pretty solid music scenes, decent venues, etc. and could get some of the best shows, particularly for stuff sub-mainstream. I now live in a much larger area, that I expected to have many more amenities and the music scene is surprisingly terrible.

dfxm12 4y ago
Real estate is a huge factor in this. How many different sized venues are there and who controls them? If they're all run by Ticketmaster, you're only going to get Live Nation acts. If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Colleges tend to always have a diverse set of buildings, small theaters/bars/basements, mid sized basketball arenas/clubs, big stadiums and can mostly book who they (or the students) want.
- the_only_law 4y ago
  > If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Oh they exist, they’re usually just booked up by boring cover bands.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    > only a football stadium To be fair, Sanford Stadium seats almost 93,000 (9th largest in US). ;-) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_capacity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_cap... PS: Game day parking and traffic sucked, as someone who lived there.
- schnevets 4y ago
  Not only is it tougher to book an act and fill a venue outside of a town whose economy is fueled by 20-somethings, but I think there is also a NIMBY factor, mostly justified by noise complaints. If there are any residential neighbors next to your pre-war warehouse turned-venue, you will get noise complaints... except in a college town where everyone is basically inoculated to that behavior.
- MisterTea 4y ago
  Many musicians and artists I know were always close to poverty as supporting yourself with art is not easy. So many have menial jobs to pay the bills while their free times is working in their art. If they cant afford to live in fancy areas the bohemian scenes cant flourish. Living in NYC I watched the death of the Williamsburg bohemian scene in the 00's. The neighborhood was still rough with crummy buildings, warehouses and drug dealers roaming about and other sketchy shit. Small bars/venues/clubs dotted the area and the myriad of commercial buildings rented large spaces for cheap which people turned into art communes. I had a bunch of friends in that scene and it was amazing to walk into a drab looking brick warehouse and into a world of art and music. I remember going to a show which featured performers from side show acts who were musicians which spilled into the street becoming an impromptu late night street circus complete with acrobatics and fire breathing. Then everyone just HAD to live in WB and the cheap commercial buildings were razed and replaced with giant crappy over priced apartments ($2500 for a 1br back then was insane). Within a few years all the interesting artists left, many heading to Portland which suffered the same fate. Now its all faux luxury apartment buildings and Instagram spaces. Burn it all down.
- Broken_Hippo 4y ago
  If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? A lot of areas have auditoriums that folks can rent - and there are generally conference rooms and conference centers. I saw Weird Al perform in a large conference room in a hotel (and the show was absolutely fantastic). I've seen folks perform in very small bars that many towns have. A lot of cities have outdoor places in parks and in the US, a high school will often have a place to rent. Heck, small festivals often have live music, though it might not be what you want. I don't think real estate is enough. It is much easier to have a Blues festival if your city puts in some work to plan such a thing: Same with making sure there is a music scene. Not all of the bands are going to play for pennies, either: It costs money to travel about with equipment, even if you are in town. It is a group effort that involves more than real estate.
mikrl 4y ago
I relocated from a smallish city in Canada to SW Ontario, and my experience is the same. Halifax' music scene is phenomenal and although most acts are- and will remain- unknown, it has provided a launchpad for some great careers and the energy is unmatched. I think the punk and metal scenes are better out here because its more urbanized and developed, but of course pop music goes deeper than those. Toronto, of course, has a good scene, and Montreal speaks for itself. Those cities have 100s of things to do that aren't music though, so it's possible to live your life without ever deviating from the well known arena acts.

dfxm12 4y ago

Real estate is a huge factor in this. How many different sized venues are there and who controls them? If they're all run by Ticketmaster, you're only going to get Live Nation acts. If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Colleges tend to always have a diverse set of buildings, small theaters/bars/basements, mid sized basketball arenas/clubs, big stadiums and can mostly book who they (or the students) want.

the_only_law 4y ago
> If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Oh they exist, they’re usually just booked up by boring cover bands.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  > only a football stadium To be fair, Sanford Stadium seats almost 93,000 (9th largest in US). ;-) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_capacity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_cap... PS: Game day parking and traffic sucked, as someone who lived there.
schnevets 4y ago
Not only is it tougher to book an act and fill a venue outside of a town whose economy is fueled by 20-somethings, but I think there is also a NIMBY factor, mostly justified by noise complaints. If there are any residential neighbors next to your pre-war warehouse turned-venue, you will get noise complaints... except in a college town where everyone is basically inoculated to that behavior.
MisterTea 4y ago
Many musicians and artists I know were always close to poverty as supporting yourself with art is not easy. So many have menial jobs to pay the bills while their free times is working in their art. If they cant afford to live in fancy areas the bohemian scenes cant flourish. Living in NYC I watched the death of the Williamsburg bohemian scene in the 00's. The neighborhood was still rough with crummy buildings, warehouses and drug dealers roaming about and other sketchy shit. Small bars/venues/clubs dotted the area and the myriad of commercial buildings rented large spaces for cheap which people turned into art communes. I had a bunch of friends in that scene and it was amazing to walk into a drab looking brick warehouse and into a world of art and music. I remember going to a show which featured performers from side show acts who were musicians which spilled into the street becoming an impromptu late night street circus complete with acrobatics and fire breathing. Then everyone just HAD to live in WB and the cheap commercial buildings were razed and replaced with giant crappy over priced apartments ($2500 for a 1br back then was insane). Within a few years all the interesting artists left, many heading to Portland which suffered the same fate. Now its all faux luxury apartment buildings and Instagram spaces. Burn it all down.
Broken_Hippo 4y ago
If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? A lot of areas have auditoriums that folks can rent - and there are generally conference rooms and conference centers. I saw Weird Al perform in a large conference room in a hotel (and the show was absolutely fantastic). I've seen folks perform in very small bars that many towns have. A lot of cities have outdoor places in parks and in the US, a high school will often have a place to rent. Heck, small festivals often have live music, though it might not be what you want. I don't think real estate is enough. It is much easier to have a Blues festival if your city puts in some work to plan such a thing: Same with making sure there is a music scene. Not all of the bands are going to play for pennies, either: It costs money to travel about with equipment, even if you are in town. It is a group effort that involves more than real estate.

mikrl 4y ago

I relocated from a smallish city in Canada to SW Ontario, and my experience is the same. Halifax' music scene is phenomenal and although most acts are- and will remain- unknown, it has provided a launchpad for some great careers and the energy is unmatched. I think the punk and metal scenes are better out here because its more urbanized and developed, but of course pop music goes deeper than those. Toronto, of course, has a good scene, and Montreal speaks for itself. Those cities have 100s of things to do that aren't music though, so it's possible to live your life without ever deviating from the well known arena acts.