hey mark, have to take issue with leicester. what kind of music could you like and not do in the city that produced prolapse, joe orton, and fortuna pop records and related bands?

now doncaster... that really is the arsehole of england. see also: braintree, hastings, south london (hehe).

Yep, Leicester has produced some pretty good bands, and is starting to do so again.

It's just that five year period between 97 and 02 when everything sucked (lots of unnecessary Ska). Then again, everything sucked all over the UK for much of that period.

But it still sucks if you're an Indierocker looking for a drummer

Erm. Fortuna Pop was never exactly ours, per se (it was really based in London prior to moving to Nothingham). The only local Indie label that there's a chance people outside this city would have heard of right now is Pickled Egg.

And what is it about South London!? North of the river: beautifully laid out parks, historic buildings, museums, galleries, theatres, concert halls, restaurants, etc etc. South of the river: Post -apocalyptic Wasteland, or East Berlin C 1980. It even feels different.

Mark wrote:(lots of unnecessary Ska)

Has there ever been necessary ska? Since about 1980, anyway?

Denver, CO was a pretty dismal town for rock. All the bands there were at some stage of the same lemmings-off-cliff cycle- 1:Get ready to move to LA and "make it". 2:Move to LA to "make it". 3:Return from LA with tails between legs, having acquired drug habits, debts and STDs, play a few shows around town to make some money, and quietly break up.

Boulder was pretty close to Denver, but as I am not a fan of the Grateful Dead and do not play hacky sack I never spent much time there.

Detroit.

50 square miles of ghetto that, due to "Engler's Acts" which cut funding to so many mental institutions, is basically a haven for schizoids and derelicts who rome the streets freely without course or reason. If sight-seeing for anyone consists of viewing a man dragging a wheelchair through the snow with his pants at his ankles, in the middle of a divided hiway, slobbering on himself when it is 17 degrees out, then I recomend visiting. There is the eery feeling that when you are in Detroit, though you may not see anyone out, there is most certainly some one watching you.

Fucking Dirthole!

Los Angeles - sorry, lived there for 3 months. sucks

Los Vegas - most depressing place in the world. old people with oxygen tanks gone totally autonomic on slot machines.

Atlantic City - place trying to be like the most depressing place in the world, but with horrible weather.

Oklahoma City - i've only driven through, but the giant crosses on the skyscrapers really just said to me "if you're not christian, get the fuck out"

I have to reply to Nick Decay here:

"I did some work in Sunderland for a few days once and that was pretty rank."
Not true. I went to school in Sunderland, and it was just fine. It is just a very tough place. But i grew up in North Dakota, US of fucking A, which is also a very tough place. It is just not for Pussies. If you can't hold your own in a fight or are expecting refined, middle class living, you have no business being in either.
-chris jury

Can't believe no one's mentioned Dallas. God, that place sucks. If you're a touring band, don't ever go there. Ever.

cincinnati is the best city in ohio, but still a terrible place to live.

you cant walk five feet in any direction without encountering a 45 degree angle. public transportation is prolly some of the worst in the country. there is still segregation, and there aint no porn or peeler bars.

on the upside, we are starting to have a great music scene. dont laugh, i swear its true. its also a nice city to look at as long as your passing by on 75.


dayton is much much worse. its like detroit without the thriving downtown.
columbus is like a giant frat house. we all know about cleveland.

lexington ky is awful.

indianapolis. i've always thought of indiana as being kind of like kentucky without the southern charm.
gary is the most frightening place i've ever driven past.

las vegas made me lose faith in humanity for a couple of years. but, on the upside, me and my girl got a really nice hooker while we were there, so i guess it aint all bad.

chris jury wrote:I have to reply to Nick Decay here:

"I did some work in Sunderland for a few days once and that was pretty rank."
Not true. I went to school in Sunderland, and it was just fine. It is just a very tough place. But i grew up in North Dakota, US of fucking A, which is also a very tough place. It is just not for Pussies. If you can't hold your own in a fight or are expecting refined, middle class living, you have no business being in either.
-chris jury

Nice to see mob law is alive, well and reactionary as ever. So people who can't defend themselves from violence are middle class pussies who have it coming to them and shouldn't be living there anyway.
Mr. Hardman here grew up in North Dakota, US of 'fucking' A, and we're all really impressed.