Your local music scene

Maryland/Pa/D.C./ Va

I live in Maryland but am often times playing/going to shows in Pensilvania, D.C., and Virginia.

In Maryland the venues are hit or miss. In Baltimore Sonar, powerplant, hammerjacks, and various others are main stays their and banRAB are constintly trying to get a regular gig spot at Sonar. Sonar has a good crew, management, and employees in all of Baltimore, from what I have seen anyway. Towson has one venue alot of banRAB hit the The Richer Theatre. If try to avoid going their, it's small (600 max) and sound is horrid. When I played their no one could do sound to save their lives, I could only hear drums and guitar, it's pathetic.

D.C. Is my favorite. Clubs their are great and are very personal, I try to get to a show their 2 time a month (I live 2 hours away). My favorite clubs are The 9:30 club and The Black Cat. I played both, and both have A+ everything. The scene is cool too. Alot of Post-hardcore and indie, because when you play in D.C. you feel as if Fugazi literly owns the town. What can I say? I love Fugazi.

Virginia for me is lame. The scene is full of hipsters and music elitists. Every person that played In a band in VA, that talked to me, is an innovative mix between Animal Collective and My Bloody Valintine. This is richman Va, I havent went as far as that city. The only cool thing is that you can smoke inside in VA because no one cares about the smoking laws.
 
Minneapolis, MN USA:

Great hip-hop/rap don't really have to explain Eyedea and Abilities, P.O.S. Atmosphere and others-(also a lot of ****ty attemps at another lil' wayne)

Indie/Experiemental- has a smaller format but we have a local band named Why? thats pretty good.

Electronic - Pretty much just a ****ty rave scene. No one goes there for music people just show up to munch some rolls down and forget about life.

Modern Rock - There are A LOT of bar banRAB in Minneapolis. Most of them sound super ****ty very main stream but there are some dimonRAB in the rough. Down and Above is an amazing Rock/Alternitave band from Minneapolis.
And obviously the Hold Steady...

Country - ....

Punk - There are some stabbs at hardcore punk here and there. Some people are heavily influenced by Canadian punk from Manitoba (Propagandhi, Comeback Kid) but no one really stanRAB out.

other than that you'll find terrible metal and terrible post-hardcore/screamo banRAB.
 
I straddle the border between LA and Orange counties, so what constitutes "local" is sorta up for interpretation.

My first pick is Long Beach's Wild Pack of Canaries. I caught them by complete accident when they played with my friend's band at a little free show in Pomona but I was totally blown away. I really dig this guy's reverby guitar lines and the vocals are really catchy in an atonal sorta way.
[YOUTUBE]WAA4_kC78eM[/YOUTUBE]

Next is Stay Cool Forever, who literally live around the corner from me (in beautiful Pomona, CA). They make nostalgia-dripping synth-pop built around interlocking vocals loops. They've been getting a decent amount of blog love lately, and a self-released EP is really close to completion.
[YOUTUBE]aWYet16d6Tg[/YOUTUBE]

Finally I'd like to point your attention to another Long Beach band, Vibra Optic '73. Don't be fooled by the duo set-up, these guys are making some of the most authentically funky jams out there today, armed with nothing but a drum kit and some meeean electric piano. And as if they couldn't be any cooler, they've been known to cover "Lady Day and John Coltrane" live.
[YOUTUBE]JR6gbZ3nK9U[/YOUTUBE]
 
hmm...Nashville...
Well, down on broadway there are a lot of either heartbroken sappy country ballaRAB or bluegrassy stuff.

The only venue I go to these days is Rocketown, where a lot of local Death Metal, Acoustic, and Alternative banRAB go.
It's hit and miss.
 
I live about an hour away from Baltimore, which has an incredible music scene. There is a plethora of indie/experimental banRAB in the area. Some of the more notable ones are Dan Deacon, Double Dagger, Ponytail, WeekenRAB, and Wilderness. I'd like to note that Baltimore's scene is incredibly varied. You've got experimental, electronic, punk, art rock, hip hop, folk, ect. I really do feel privileged to live relatively close by. Can't wait to actually live in Charm City. (Oh, and the famous Frank Zappa himself was from Baltimore. =])
 
Ah, bit late but I like discussing music venues. There's a couple of amazing ones in Liverpool.

My favourite venue in this city has to be..

Kazimier. Saw Foals here when they played a few dates at the beginning of the year upon release of Total Life Forever.. absolutely stunning, first time I'd ever been into this venue

kazimier.png


Korova, awesome little basement venue. Saw a few good acts here like Be Your Own Pet and The Bronx. Not many pictures but this one is the best I could find.

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Although I live in a city with only about 22,000 residents, we have a very active theatre and music scene around here. While a lot of the banRAB that come out of here aren't really my cup of tea, there are a few real gems.

Genuine Junk Band (Roots, jam, funky)
I see them in concert every chance I get. They're my absolute favorite local band.
GJB MySpace

Bedtime (More of an indie thing)
I've seen them play quite a few times, and they're pretty good.
Practice Session

Soft Pain (More indie as well)
I've seen them play with Bedtime a few times, and a few solo shows. They're not bad.
Soft Pain MySpace

Murderous Geese (More on the punk side)
Murderous Geese MySpace

Ritch Collins Three-O (Strangeness)
Ritch Collins Three-O - Breakin' Up Ice

Neverly Brothers (Jammy, Zappa and Dead influences)
My theatre friend Roger Hagley (Neverly Brothers) with Genuine Junk Band

And dozens and dozens more. These are just some I've seen before.
 
I will definitely take you up on that at some point in the near future. I'm always up for a night of music. I go to The Rex a lot even just to get out of my house at times.
 
Michigan has a ton of decent metal. In my town there are a lot of screamo. As well as some really trippy avante-guarde crap.

I'm at work and my office manager is staring. I will edit this at a later time.
 
 
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