For all intents and purposes do you feel there is a lack of a unified scene in Chicago in which music fans foster up-and-coming bands with no readily apparent ties to an already established music community? Admittedly Chicago has its generous share of bands, some good and some not-so-good, playing shows on any given night of the week. It's a daunting task to pick and choose from an ever-growing list of unknown bands, and it often seems that we, myself included, find ourselves electing from the disparate organization of bands who already share an abstract connection with more well-known acts and/or affiliations.

I'm not ignoring the benefits of hard work and dedication to craft, and far be it from me to say that any one band is attempting to circumvent these qualities. I just often wonder at times about how committed and dedicated is our music community to checking out bands that are foreign in every which way to what we are accustomed.

Would you go and see some band completely unfamiliar to you at Ronny's, or, South Union Arts? Hell, even Elbo Room?

H-GM wrote:Would you go and see some band completely unfamiliar to you at Ronny's, or, South Union Arts? Hell, even Elbo Room?

Probably not. Most unestablished, local bands that I see I'm not impressed by.

H-GM wrote:For all intents and purposes do you feel there is a lack of a unified scene in Chicago in which music fans foster up-and-coming bands with no readily apparent ties to an already established music community?

I do think we have a diversity here, no cliche "scene" like some other major cites. It's been that way as far back as I can remember. That is a strength IMO.

H-GM wrote:For all intents and purposes do you feel there is a lack of a unified scene in Chicago in which music fans foster up-and-coming bands with no readily apparent ties to an already established music community? Admittedly Chicago has its generous share of bands, some good and some not-so-good, playing shows on any given night of the week. It's a daunting task to pick and choose from an ever-growing list of unknown bands, and it often seems that we, myself included, find ourselves electing from the disparate organization of bands who already share an abstract connection with more well-known acts and/or affiliations.

I'm not ignoring the benefits of hard work and dedication to craft, and far be it from me to say that any one band is attempting to circumvent these qualities. I just often wonder at times about how committed and dedicated is our music community to checking out bands that are foreign in every which way to what we are accustomed.

Would you go and see some band completely unfamiliar to you at Ronny's, or, South Union Arts? Hell, even Elbo Room?

man, we are playing elbo room next month

In response to your question, I wish I went out to more shows
I'm too old and too tired

I define my community as those people who I know, am connected to, and am, to some degree, invested in as fellow travelers. As a result, it's almost guaranteed that you will not find me at any music venue unless somebody I know is playing. Rare exceptions would be vouched-for friends of friends or bands raved about so vehemently that I'm afraid I'll miss something if I skip it.

That said, the folks I know (and those they vouch for) makes for a lot of fucking people, so it's not like I don't have ample opportunity to do my part.

sunset_gun wrote:Most unestablished, local bands that I see I'm not impressed by.

Sadly I would have to agree with you, as I think many here will. But what does this say about the willingness to expose ourselves to something new?

H-GM wrote:

sunset_gun wrote:Most unestablished, local bands that I see I'm not impressed by.

Sadly I would have to agree with you, as I think many here will. But what does this say about the willingness to expose ourselves to something new?

I call it "jilted by having to sit through one too many god-awful opening bands". LOL

Perhaps I've missed out. I think word gets around eventuallythough, through places like this.

First, I'd never go to Elbo Room to go see an unknown band. I think I'd have a pretty sure bet that it would suck. I say this because every show I've ever been to there was terrible. I would go to Ronny's, Empty Bottle, Hideout and even Beat Kitchen. Those places tend to churn out decent enough bands on a consistent basis. That is a hard truth - a club is known for the quality bands they book.

As for the splintered community, seems to me that most of the bands in the actual city tend to be a little older, don't have a common place that binds them together like a college. Plus, some of those people are married or have kids or work a full-time job. Also, Chicago is a fairly large city and the musical range spans quite far. It's not like a small town where a bunch of bands are pretty close in sound and ideology.

I'm sure this is possible, it happened in mid-90's. However, one thing that is interesting about music today is the history behind it, which gives way for more diverse types of bands. So, perhaps coalescing based on genre can be a bit stiff. I for one applaud diversity. The old sense of a scene, where a genre or ideology is used and reused by a group of bands, is perhaps an outdated model. Who's to say we can't look at quality as a solidifier?

Overall, though, I think the mentality is everyone for themselves. I'm not in any way condoning it. I do see, however, there are some bands that believe in working together. I guess you can say, in the end, there lacks a leader. There are those who are trying, no doubt.

I work on the Boneshaker night at Darkroom, which dips into this idea, of forming a community. It's not impossible to form a scene, but it is very hard work. We've managed in the last 10 months to bring some cool bands together, however it isn't a solid formation at this point. The good thing is, we're able to present a better quality of bands and reinforce the expectations of our shows.

There is a very important note: you can be for helping your friends, joining a musical community and bringing a scene together. But in the end you better make good music, because no one is going to take you seriously if you don't, no matter what level you are at.

In Chicago in particular, a few basic issues here are the locations of clubs and the fact that so many of them are designed with a bar in the front and a music room in the rear -- so that, unlike in a smaller city with a centralized strip, it's rare that someone will walk by a bar, hear/see a band playing, and go in to investigate.

Even though it's not a great music venue, I've heard a few bands at Pontiac surreptitiously, just because it's easy to stumble upon a show walking by the place, and there's no cover to stand in the doorway, watch the band play a song or two, and decide whether to stay. This never will happen at a bar where both a cover and a set of double-doors will keep someone from following the sound.

If I lived within walking distance of South Union Arts, I could imagine taking a risk on seeing a show there. As it is, I live two blocks from the Beat Kitchen and have never done so.

I think myspace makes a substantial difference as far as being an easy way to hear bands if there is some other introduction to them (through friends, through reading about them somewhere). Some friend of mine recommended the Hot Machines maybe two years ago -- I could hear a few of their songs easily, decided it was a show I might like, went and loved it, and now I'd go see them again.

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:I define my community as those people who I know, am connected to, and am, to some degree, invested in as fellow travelers. As a result, it's almost guaranteed that you will not find me at any music venue unless somebody I know is playing.

I find myself agreeing with this, Brett, but again, shouldn't we express an interest in becoming aware of bands outside of our circle? I'm sure something can be found in wading through an endless sea of unknowns. Does it always need to be a verifiable reference? And, believe me, I'm asking myself these same questions.

Flaneur wrote:I think myspace makes a substantial difference as far as being an easy way to hear bands if there is some other introduction to them (through friends, through reading about them somewhere). Some friend of mine recommended the Hot Machines maybe two years ago -- I could hear a few of their songs easily, decided it was a show I might like, went and loved it, and now I'd go see them again.

Ahh yes! This was going to be my bit of advice.

When confronted with the unknown band, just goto their myspace, check out a few songs (2 or 3 at the most) which only takes a few minutes of your time, and decide from there. Usually bands put their most representative material on myspace, so thats usually what youre going to get if you go. This method has worked wonders for me.