Music QotW: The Most Money I'd Spend on a Concert Ticket... + the role of DIY ethics in indie music

What is the most money you'd ever spend on a concert ticket?

I'm typically more hesitant to go to shows in venues because they're usually too expensive. Bars are usually better. Living rooms, garages, basements, and small outdoor shows are best because they tend to be either free, or really cheap. Usually no more than $5, and usually $1-3. And the crowds are better.

Actually, that's often one of the things that can make or break a show for me. Whereas venues tend to advertise on the radio and bring out lots of people who only go to huge shows and often have no idea how to behave at a show (often leading to fights, injuries, spilled beer on the floor, etc.), houses tend to just bring out the same general group of people and their friends to every show and create small local communities where pretty much everyone is friends with everyone else, or, at least, more or less courteous because that's how decent people act toward those they consider to be their peers (and who knows; that guy you talked to at the record shop might book your band someday).

And I cannot possibly stress the importance of that community enough. Here in Boise, we've seen plenty of people come and go with the trends over the years, and we've seen plenty of people become more deeply involved in the city's culture. And while it's not much, to be honest, there is nothing I'd trade it for. While I'm all for touring bands being able to go to as many towns as possible, because that in itself can affect a music scene in a positive way, I really don't feel it should be seen as a substitute for things that are locally produced.

The problem as I see it is that local scenes are losing their identities. A lot of hardcore bands from Boise sound exactly the same, stylistically, as hardcore bands from Salt Lake, who sound exactly the same as hardcore bands anywhere else. Indie rock bands ape the styles they hear popular bands playing and bring nothing new to the table. But there's another scene here that does have a pretty distinct aesthetic, with significantly less visibility.

For an example of what I'm talking about, take hardcore in the 80's (the DIY ethic of which is where the roots of indie rock lie in the first place). Bands like Descendents, Adolescents, and The Circle Jerks couldn't have come from anywhere but the L.A. Minor Threat, The Faith, and Bad Brains had different sounds entirely that were distinctly D.C. New York, Boston, San Francisco, and countless other scenes had their own unique sounds. By the mid-80's, hardcore bands started popping up in other places with totally unique sounds. The point is, by listening to a band, you could probably make a pretty accurate guess as to where they were from. This was due largely in part to the DIY ethic that held the scenes that produced them together.

What the internet has created, unfortunately, is a "too easy" way of hearing music from everywhere. Whereas local bands used to provide that initial contact with underground music, now it's easy to just skip that stage and listen to whatever the critics decide is cool at the click of a button. What this has lead to is a pseudo-underground that's just as bland and indistinct as the major label world it seems to think it's a reaction to. There's no local identity. Just a lot of bands trying to be bands from somewhere else and making boring music that lacks the context that made the bands they're aping great. And indie rock bands are rockstars now. They're touring in buses and staying in hotels rather than touring in vans and crashing on the floor of the house they just played at after everyone goes home. And it's great that they're able to tour comfortably. Don't get me wrong. But there's no interaction with or dependence on their fans forcing them to form a relationship with the people who are supporting them, anymore. There's usually nothing stopping them from disappearing backstage, getting paid, and driving off after a show without saying a word to anyone.

Thankfully, a lot of bands understand this and still keep it DIY, especially in the hardcore scene. Unfortunately, over the years, a lot of bands haven't stayed true to where they came from. I'm all for listening to what you like and keeping up with what's out there, but just keep in mind that that 20-30 bucks you spent to go to Warped Tour or see Death Cab For Cutie or Against Me! at the huge, corporate-owned club downtown with all the kids who won't even talk to you or remember your name would've probably been better spent (or saved) seeing your friends' bands play to their friends (and your friends) in your friends' living rooms, because those bands are the only things keeping real independent music alive and relevant right now. There are lots of good bands out there, but the ones that are directly relevant to you - music made by people you actually know - are the only ones that actually matter.