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09/02/2008

Comments

I grew up in Chicago as well, and can't imagine living a city without some kind of active music scene. In fact I daresay it's a criteria for wherever I may happen to move next.

I grew up on the far south side of the Chicago (the 'hood if you will) without a car Quite isolating, and so the city itself was like a world away to me. I didn't get to really enjoy the scene until i returned to Chicgo after college.

I think there's something about living in a bigger city that makes these kinds of scenes possible, access to diversity, (usually) public transportation, the kind of things that attract creative people (and posers, and hangers on, etc. all the people that make a scene what it is)

I love the Chicago music scene desperately, but I'm starting to hate Chicago (crime, corrupt politics, shitty public transit, you name it) so I am very willing and open about admitting that I am tethered to the city because of the music community here specifically. And of course, my family and friends,

I think you bring up some real valid points here, Dave. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and as long as I can remember I've been listening to music. Not living in the city and not having access to the far superior record stores hindered my ability to acquire new sounds. I relied on local college radio stations for much of my late junior high and high school years.

It wasn't until I turned 16 that ye olde floodgates opened. A simple 30 minute drive to the Fireside once almost every other week was what really got me through those bleak teenage years. Then as I became a fan of many more bands the venues I frequented multiplied. Though still not old enough to attend the 21+ shows, I had the option of attending smaller scale shows in random houses, coffee shops, VFW halls, etc.

When I went away to college I made a somewhat grave mistake in attending a state university two and half hours in the middle of nowhere. Sure, there were tons of people like me who were constantly listening to/searching out music. And sure there were shows to attend if you were into Martina McBride or Foo Fighters or some other completely banal mainstream act (or novelty revival acts like Digital Underground). During this time was the Golden Era of Arbitrary MP3 downloading took place. Finally a group of like-minded individual decided enough is enough and started roping in good and decent bands to play in a café in the basement of a church (Ted Leo, Alkaline Trio, Jets to Brazil and more). It wasn’t an every night or every weekend occurrence, but at least we had the opportunity to see some real good bands in very intimate settings.

As a devout music listener, I couldn’t be happier living in Chicago. There are so many venues, street and weekend festivals. Like you I like to have the option to go to shows, knowing that these bands are coming to town though sometimes I’m overwhelmed when there’s an onslaught of acts I’d like to see (like the entire fall season, my wallet’s going to be hurting if I follow through on them). I think it’s no coincidence that many successful bands come from metropolitan areas, or at the very least areas where there is a living and breathing local music scene. I suppose if I were to move out of Chicago that I would be drawn to an area such as this, a little big city with a thriving music scene.

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