Local scene

One of the first things I remember about cities where I've lived are my favorite places to see shows -- 9:30 Club in D.C., and Bowery Ballroom and Knitting Factory in NYC come to mind.

In the first couple of months after we moved to Seattle we checked out a bunch of bands and venues. The National at Showbox, Arcade Fire on UW campus, Interpol at WaMu Theater, Les Savy Fav at Neumos. Seattle's reputation for live music is big and places like Neumos and Showbox live up to it. WaMu, not so much...

The Seattlest covers this changing scene:

Neumos and Chop Suey are the places to go--they book well-known bands (well-known to music types, at least). The Croc booked lesser-known bands, so music people risked wasting time and money and on a band that might turn out to be crap.

The days when people would plunk down a Hamilton to see any old band are over. Seattle music fans are getting more discerning.

One thing we like about Seattle is so many smaller venues give lesser-known bands a better chance to play out. NYC is a hard city for bands to grow up in. Too hard. Billboard reported CBGB's closed only after its rent skyrocketed from $19,000 to $35,000.

With this kind of cost, venues in New York can't survive unless they're booked solid night after night with big-name bands. New York City is a national market, not a local scene. Unlike New York, Seattle still seems to have the right mix of venues for smaller bands -- let's hope it stays that way.