RTP-area local music and culture

["Allen, Richard" <RAllen AT WWNORTON.com>]

This may be a good time to raise some questions I have wanted to ask from 
afar:

First, is there overall lower show attendance in CH?

Second, if there is, is a demographic issue to blame?

More specifically, do undergrads go to a lot fewer shows these days?

I know they've never been a consistent show-going audience, because they're 
under 21 and their tastes change like the wind, but when I was in school, you 
could expect a big (non-XYC-staff) undergrad crowd at the Cradle for a) the 
Archers and similarly popular local indie rock bands and b) all those 
Southern-jangle-rock bands that sprang from the spirit of the Connells/REM. 
The common thread between these groups was that they were quasi-local and 
could give you the feeling of being part of something cool that people who 
lived further away wouldn't get to experience.

Now it seems like tastes have fragmented (rock is not the default music for 
college kids), the major media machine has penetrated even further into the 
indie world (meaning that college-kid-friendly indie rock bands often get 
major contracts and tour buses very quickly, leaving less room for genuinely 
local rock in kids' brains??), and then of course you have the iPod/DVD 
bubble which allows you to more effectively pretend you're at a show without 
the inconvenience of leaving your dorm room.

Is there any evidence for my theories, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

(I have theories about older rock fans, too, which may follow if anyone's 
interested.)

RA