RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Back when I was a boy, there was only maybe one night a week that was 
"local show" night. Most of the time, I'd see local bands who were 
opening for out-of-town bands (or, if the out of town bands were less 
well-known than the local bands, then vice-versa).

That seems to happen less nowadays, but since I neither own nor book a 
club, I have no idea why that is. It seems to me that if the "kids" are 
into the higher-profile "indie-rock" bands, but aren't seeing the local 
bands, then maybe it would make sense to put some local bands onto the 
bill with the higher-profile outta-town "indie-rock" bands.

I must not go to the shows where the bandmembers are individually 
popular but their bands suck, because I can't even think of one example. 
Would you care to step up with some, or are you going to just make 
insinuations and leave it at that?

I routinely attend shows where the audience is basically me, Cy, and a 
bunch of people who are in bands, coming out to support other people who 
are in bands. I understand you're frustrated, but the rate of 
show-attendance for band people vs. show-attendance for random 
non-musician Triangle residents is pretty heavily skewed in favor of the 
band people. The band people aren't the folks you need to be picking on, 
unless your real point is that they all need to quit playing shows until 
they can find more people to come watch them. Which may be a valid 
point, from the POV of the clubowner. Certainly the people at the 
Library last night were probably wishing they'd just stayed home.

College radio doesn't play as much local music as it did in the 90s, and 
I say this as the local-music guy at a college radio station. College 
radio plays more international music than it did back in the 90s. I 
think this is a good thing, and I think it's symptomatic of a larger 
trend: there is just generally more stuff available to enjoy now, thanks 
to that goddamn Internet, than there was in 1993.

There's no turning off that particular spigot, though, and thus not much 
point in crying about it.

The thing I find most odd about this whole scenario is that there are 
currently more live-original-music venues in the Triangle than maybe 
ever before (or at least damn close to it). Let's break it down, shall we?

Raleigh:
Kings
Slim's Downtown
Lincoln Theater
Bickett Gallery
Pour House
Sadlack's, occasionally

Chapel Hill:
Cat's Cradle
Reservoir, occasionally
Local 506
Nightlight
Library
Wetlands

Durham:
Duke Coffeehouse
Joe & Jo's
Blayloc
Marvell Bldg.
Chaz's Bull City Records
305 South

That's SIX venues PER CITY, if you count those places that are booking 
shows at least 2-3 times a month. There are probably a half-dozen other 
punkrock houses and holes-in-the-wall that I'm forgetting right now. 
I'll have to rely on Tim Ross or Cy or some other photographic-memory 
type to tell me when/where there have been more simultaneous venues than 
that.

So if the scene is that moribund, then why so many venues springing up? 
Or is it just that Local 506 is feeling a pinch because there are 18 
fucking venues competing for the same, yes, TINY audience? Hmm.

None of this makes any sense to me, which is why, yet again, I thank my 
lucky stars that I don't run a rockclub. As it is, I find it annoying 
enough that I have to check the schedules for all these fucking clubs 
every week to compile my list of stuff to do. Goddamnit Hepler, if 
you're gonna kill the scene, would you hurry up already?

Ross

Glenn Boothe / Local 506 wrote:
> > > > not everyone here knows that I've always had trouble defining the "scene".
>
> I think part of the problem you may have defining the "scene" is
> because one doesn't really exist here anymore.  If you don't agree with
> me, just ask yourself - when is the last time you went to see a local
> band that you didn't actually know someone personally in the band?
> Unfortunately, the so-called music scene here is a more of a popularity
> contest where individual popularity outweighs artistic merit (with band
> members working the service industry having a bigger advantage over
> those who don't.)
>
> And think about this, the so-called indie music scene nationally has
> grown dramatically in recent years with breakout bands from Arcade Fire
> to Clap Your Hands (not to mention, the major label graduates like
> Death Cab, Decemberists and Modest Mouse) yet most locals bands don't
> draw well outside their hometown, much less Atlanta or DC.  Point
> being, there is way more interest in this kind of music now than in the
> 90's when there was a scene here.
>
> You know, if every band member attended one local show for every show
> they played (and bought one local CD for each they made,) then this
> would be a thriving local music community.  That's all it would take;
> however, instead, this local club has had to eliminate local music on
> weekdays because of lack of support.  And, you know what the real sad
> part is, we were doing most of those shows for free.
>
> glenn / local 506
>
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