Start a band. Drink too much. Become 35. Make friends with people like you. Some people will like it, and you can rationalize the rest away because you're too old and sequestered to care.

Rawk the fuck on.

... again ... it really just was one guy. i know it's easy to get all in a huff when someone criticizes the music scene in columbus - you get defensive. me too. but really... it was just one guy. not "so many people".

and they actually made some potentially legitimate points - that although flawed and slightly obnoxious - were more substantive than most of the tired cliched generalizations accompanied by zippy one-liners that followed.

its easy to get defensive about the columbus music scene, but if you just follow your gut reaction to circle the wagons, and don't have a real discussion about the criticism (which may turn out to be wrong if you actually address it), you're no better than the guy who decided to rename french fries "freedom fries"...

There is no magic city to play in.

not true. there IS a magic city to play in. it's called Barberton. and all their venues are always packed and booked with the greatest bands you can imagine.

not true. there IS a magic city to play in. it's called Barberton. and all their venues are always packed and booked with the greatest bands you can imagine.

And no, you can't get an opening slot, because everybody there thinks your band sucks.

There is a search feature up there at the top - you might wanna check yourself. Some one makes this argument, and this thread ensues about every 5 or 6 months. It has happened so many times in the five+ years I've read this board that I can barely get it up to make fun of you. So yeah, it is so many people, and young 20 something band dudes always get their panties in a bunch that no one supports "teh scene". And some very respectable musicians and notables who have actually had success, by anyone's interpretation, are among those making the zippy one liners because they have all been there. Naivete is free, and that's all most musicians can afford, and really, that's okay.

Columbus isn't the problem, and it has nothing to even do with talent some times either. There are zillions of great bands just in Ohio, not just Columbus. Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, Cincinnati, everywhere else in Ohio X 50, and nobody goes to see them either.

I am not really convinced that their is even really a problem here. There is no magic city to play in. I have seen TNV play the Wex to a capacity crowd and they don't have that many friends. I also hear the tab for the next record is being picked up by Matador. They deserve it, they have paid their dues and worked really fucking hard. I don't recall them whining on here, or complaining in the other paper. And never 12, but I have seen them play to less than 50, lots of times.

So we're in agreement then, the Sowashes suck. And that Kyle with his giant ego, prescriptionless black rimmed glasses and his fake beard made of iron shavings has done nothing positive for the music scene in this town.

Bar owners have said they like working with us, like our sound, but since we're not Sowash clones we don't get the s.

... yes, but you could have this true success, as you've described ... AND also have more people listen to you, and make some money on the side. And it really sounds like he's tried to get opportunities that give him access to new crowds and was excluded from those opportunities (whether fairly or not, i don't know). it's not "battles of the bands" competition (which i agree sounds awesome), but it still is technically competition. of course i could invite people over to my house for a show - but i'm not going to draw a very big crowd there. some options are more desirable than others - and those options are not so inexhaustible as to give everyone equal access. that is competition.

incidentally, i TOTALLY agree with what you're saying. i'm not trying to be argumentative. it shouldn't be a competition, and if you're a real musician, you shouldn't care about all the extra bullshit. but okdesuka was arguing that are opportunities that some bands in columbus are unfairly denied. it seems technically irrelevant to THEN response to this argument by telling them "well, fairness or unfairness aside, you should just be happy with what you are getting".

This is like a woman claiming that she was denied an office job because she wasn't attractive enough - and then telling her "well, but you should be happy with just the way you are". It's TRUE that she should be happy with just the way she is - but the response doesn't address the claim that she was unfairly treated.

If I just read this correctly, "technically" you are calling me an ugly girl. You will NEVER play in this town, again.

I don't know him. I'm sure he's nice. I remember being 23 and totally full of hot air about how badly I wanted Columbus to be the next whatever...

The point is, no one likes a whiner. Do something interesting, dude. Be honest in your delivery. Have hooks. Be cool to other bands and be cool to people who like to drink. Shit might work out for you. It worked for BJ and Adam and the CDR crew. It's worked out for many bands in this town. The bands who have good draws in this berg are not the bands who have a lot of "fans" - they are the bands who have a lot of friends who also happen to dig their music. I.e. over the years, they've played out enough, went to enough shows and met enough like-minded people at clubs not named "Frog Bear and Wild Boar" to build up a crew of acquaintances willing to give their music a chance. There are certainly some anomalies. But the anomalies are usually here for one summer and gone the next.

And this is just my taste and opinion (which is ever-changing), but people have to be fed up with this whole Rocky Mountain, foot stomping, jamboree, sing-a-long shitfest. I am. It's not genuine. But whatever. If you love it. Keep trucking.

Perfect. You could've posted this six pages back and saved us all from rummaging through Free Cheese Pizza's "starkey-esque" incoherence.

Perfect. You could've posted this six pages back and saved us all from rummaging through Free Cheese Pizza's "starkey-esque" incoherence.

Is anyone else having a hard time caring about the scene since we lost Zach Starkey?

Is anyone else having a hard time caring about the scene since we lost Zach Starkey?

Perfect. You could've posted this six pages back and saved us all from rummaging through Free Cheese Pizza's "starkey-esque" incoherence.

Have hooks. Be cool to other bands and be cool to people who like to drink. Shit might work out for you. It worked for BJ and Adam and the CDR crew.

And this is just my taste and opinion (which is ever-changing), but people have to be fed up with this whole Rocky Mountain, foot stomping, jamboree, sing-a-long shitfest. I am. It's not genuine. But whatever. If you love it. Keep trucking.