Adding to Prop’s suggestions about live music

[u/honvales1989]

I really liked Prop’s suggestions to support your favorite musicians on today’s episodes. Besides doing this, you should also support your local independent radio stations. They are great ways to discover new bands/music, feature local acts, and you can even listen to some of them online if your town doesn’t have one

[u/Jaquire-edm]

I know it’s hard for the under 21 crowd, but just by king to a local bar that does live music is great too. Through going to live shows in my town I was able to make a lot of new friends, and it even opened the door to finding smaller scale festivals and events in my state (Nebraska).

[u/honvales1989 → u/Jaquire-edm]

For the under-21 crowd, some towns have all-ages venues where you can go see live shows

[u/Jaquire-edm → u/honvales1989]

Very true, and they need the support. There’s a new/old venue in Grand Island that’s doing all age shows, and it’s been great to see the crowds of kids coming out to support their classmates. There’s a lot of opportunity in the underground right now. Hopefully we see it grow.

Edit: It’s worth saying, if you have a friend who is going to shows at bars and you’re close to 21. See if you can get a wristband anyways. Some bars are not as safe as others, but there are people who can/will look out for you.

[u/IHearYouLimaCharlie]

I'd like to add that the annual French Quarter Festival in New Orleans is always a fantastic music festival. We try to go every year. It's free, there are like 20 different stages all over town, lots of local food and drink vendors, even dance classes and stuff for kids! It's great fun, the weather is usually not overly hot (April), and in my opinion it's way better than JazzFest (where you are penned up in a fairgrounds in a residential area). The ability to duck into shops, restaurants, and bars throughout the day is another plus.

Cheers!

[u/orochiman]

I don't want to be strictly contrarian, prop because he brought up so many damn good points. But I think that Prop has a blind spot for EDM, and especially techno.

Saying gen z doesn't go out just isn't the case across the spectrum. Right now in every major city, the biggest underground parties with the highest ticket sales and crowd sizes are being thrown and attended by 21-25yos. Playing the worst techno I've ever heard, but that's just the principle Skinner in me.

They aren't playing the game we all did. They aren't listening to corporate radio, they aren't going to corporate festivals or corporate venues.

They are lugging speakers, lights, and DJ equipment into undisclosed locations and partying until the sun rises

Look up redline Chicago, lick and dip LA, or project sonar Cincinnati

[u/DrunkDeathClaw → u/orochiman]

The Hardcore and Death Metal scenes are also thriving, and most people i see at shows are in the that 16-25 range of people who were effected by the pandemic, like Prop said.

[u/black-state-frog → u/DrunkDeathClaw]

I can speak to Louisville's metal scene at least, it is fairly vibrant and progressive enough to have shut down a nazi black metal show a couple of weeks ago.

[u/Big_Team9194]

I’d just like to support an independent artist here that has started to gain traction and that I think the people of this sub can really enjoy. If you haven’t heard of him check out Ren Gill. He’s out of the UK and has had struggles with the medical industry and in my opinion speaks to a little bit of all of us. I’d recommend starting with Hi Ren and Troubles then move on to the Money Game trilogy and just go down the rabbit hole. He doesn’t tour or do much live music that isn’t just busking on the street since he is still fighting Lyme disease and physically can’t plan live events. If you’re interested you can find his whole story on YouTube, also please watch the music videos because they are truly a work of art

[u/oldfuturemonkey]

I live in a metropolitan area with a population of approximately 8 million people, or so they tell me. There are zero independent radio stations.

EVERY radio station that plays music (and has a valid FCC license) is owned by one of a very few corporate conglomerates, and their music playlists are dictated by their corporate overlords.

The chance of a local band getting discovered by having their music played on local radio is exactly ZILCH. Not only that, but very few of the big local radio stations even have local DJs anymore. Most of it is voicetracked and beamed in from corporate, with the only "local" talent being the guy or gal who punches in to do live traffic and weather reports "ON THE THREES" during morning and afternoon drive time.

Source: my friend who has been the traffic-and-weather gal for major-market ClearChannel and iHeart-affiliated radio stations for over 20 years.