Seattle is supersaturated with bands, but so is Austin, TX, and it's not difficult for bands there to draw crowds on a Tuesday night in a small venue.

The difference seems to be that Austin really supports its music community. Most of the clubs don't charge a cover, they offer cheap (as in $1) well drinks to draw people in, they have neighborhoods full of clubs, some of which have streets that are often pedestrian only, so its easy to club hop. Their version of KEXP plays tons of local indie bands. I've heard from many Seattle bands that they have to get played in other parts of the country before KEXP starts noticing them.

Seattle does much better than most cities in terms of hosting unknown local acts, but most people aren't going to pay $8 on a Tuesday to see some band they've never heard of, which results in these guys playing to their friends. And if your bandmates are over 27, your group of friends coming to see you is going to be tiny.

Hot christ The Dead Science was fantastic. I remember seeing them back in 2003-4ish when Sam was still playing with The Parenthetical Girls and having my 19 year old mind blown by non-punk music that I actually loved. That charisma and intensity is really difficult to translate into a recording and seeing them live was so visceral and affecting.

I ran into Sam at Roulette in Brooklyn last year and even all this time later I was a little star struck. The guy couldn't be sweeter though. His talent specifically, and the Dead Science generally, are criminally under appreciated.

Virginia is spot on.

Add that most shows start WAY too late for most 9-5 to go to. Shows should really start at 7:30 or 8.

#4, Yeah, that's such an easy change clubs could make to get more people out. Everyone I know from New York always comments on how late shows start here.

Was this article really necessary? To me, it read like the author wanted to plug a bunch of defunct bands that he liked but never went anywhere for totally valid reasons.

Whatever the case, being in a band is hard work. It's always been hard work. Most of these bands broke up because they either didn't have the drive to succeed, they weren't good enough to draw (despite the author's insistence otherwise), life changes, or because of personal differences. Some no-name band got a bunch of radio airplay? All that tells me is that someone in the band knew a couple of DJs at those stations, especially since nobody showed up for their shows. Your bandmates were assholes? Kick them out and get some new ones or ditch the band and start fresh.

The only interesting point brought up in the article itself is Seattle's relative geographic isolation. I've seen countless tours skip Seattle because the only other "big" cities to play up this way are Vancouver and Portland. That's a lot of time and money to blow on a crowd that won't even make up for the gas costs. Same goes for Seattle bands traveling elsewhere. It's hard to make sense of spending more money than what you'll make. But you travel, you build relationships, and next time you won't need to stay in a motel because you'll have friends there whose floor you can crash on, you won't need to pay for dinner because the bar manager liked you and hooked you up with a meal.

If you love playing music, you'll find a way to make it work. If you love listening to music (and don't have small children), you'll find a way to support local bands. I went to a show on Tuesday and had a blast. Was I hungover as fuck on Wednesday? You bet! Was it worth it? Totally.