Prospective Metal Homes

[Kimavir]

I almost didn't post this because I didn't want to spam the forum with a "hey, look at me" topic. However, I feel that this could turn out to be an interesting topic (as well as helping me out personally). In your opinion, where is the best place for a metal head to live? My personal three criteria: 1) in the US, 2) a sizable college, 3) readily available metal music.

I ask because I'm moving for the third time this year thanks to work. Thankfully... this time will be long-term AND I get to choose where I'm going. Many of you guys are from all over and have seen a lot more than I have. To my limited NW Arkansas and NE Texas experience, ATL is the only place where metal lives. That can't be true. What else is out there?

 

[AngraRULES]

The Eastcoast.

95% of tours come this way. The best colleges in the USA are in New England. I for instance live in Connecticut, in between Boston and New York. It's really rare that I can't catch a tour because of its itinerary. You're also within driving distance of a few cities where you'll always find tours around.

For me:

Hartford, CT - 1 hr
New York, NY - 1h30min
Boston, MA - 2h40min
Philadelphia, PA - 3h30min

I really doubt you can get it any better than the East Coast. And also, you'll find the coolest group of ProgPower attendees in the same area.

 

[TribunalRecords]

coming from the Northeast to the Southeast i am going to have to agree with him. Northeast is where it is at. or LA or something like that. North Carolina is a great place to live, but we don't always get the tours. IE - a big F*$K YOU to Iron Maiden and Dream Theater for skipping these parts and not just this tour but ALL tours in last 15 years. sorry to rant, but it felt right.

 

[Prog_Please]

LA gets almost every tour and Sunset is extremely close to UCLA. The venues are great for concerts as well. If you're heading out west, thats the place to go. Plus, you have the Lakers

 

[Cheiron]

Well Jaxx theater (Virginia) almost always gets stopped at. Plenty of big colleges around there.

What has the best local scene? New Jersey is a regular hotbed for new bands.

Atlanta seems to be getting most of the major touring acts coming around, except for the NWOBHM-era bands. As for the local scene, there's plenty of it (with major dues to Hoyt), but I don't care for the bands.

Chicago is pretty good too. You have 2 elite schools, University of Chicago and Northwestern, as well as other good schools such as DePaul.

 

[Still Remains]

Maryland is a good area. You've got Jaxx, Baltimore, Philly and NY all within a reasonable drive plus U of MD at College Park, UMBS, Towson State and Johns Hopkins.

 

[J-Man]

Everybody has posted that it is the East Coast, but you forgot Houston Texas, HUGEEEEEEEE metal town, and i do mean huge, not only do they get all the major tours, they have some pretty good clubs that cater to metal, plus lots of good metal bands in Houston - SIX MINUTE CENTURY, KRUCIBLE, MINDCRIME, SILENCED WITHIN, SCALE THE SUMMIT, plus many more. Lots of colleges there. And afforable transportation in and out of the city.

 

[Justin G]

I live in Northern Virginia and it seems like there is always a metal show worth seeing. Between Jaxx (which gets a great range of American and overseas bands) and larger area venues that get the major tours (Maiden, Scorpions, Rush, etc.) there aren't many shows I have to go out of my way to attend. It's expensive as hell to live here, but it's a great area.

As for local metal scenes though, Raleigh, NC seems to be all about the metal.

EDIT - I lived in Atlanta for a few years and that was great too, what with ProgPower and the Masquerade and the local shows Hoyt put together. I still ended up having to drive 12 hours to VA to see bands like Europe and Y&T. Now I just have to drive 12 hours to hit PPUSA!

 

[Metal_Camden]

Florida so we can start getting people in the state who don't listen to shit!

Edit: yes it's terrible heat in the summer but your an hour from the beach anywhere and you don't have snow days! Also it's not a bad drive to atl.

Edit again thanks to apples touch screens lol

 

[Diabolik]

Chicago is pretty good too. You have 2 elite schools, University of Chicago and Northwestern, as well as other good schools such as DePaul.

Bad news. Chicago is full. Sorry. We may have room in Indiana.

 

[zekeyou]

the northwest, too-- between Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, pretty much anything that hits the west coast goes there....

Seattle is a great central location, with Vancouver about 150 miles north and Portland about 150 miles south.

 

[dcowboys311]

Atlanta gets most of the big tours these days and has some good schools in the area. I'm not sure how it would work for an out-of-state transfer, but the HOPE scholarship pays for your tuition if you have at least 1 year of in-state residency and a 3.0 GPA. Not too bad of a deal with Georgia Tech being ranked number 35 in the nation and UGA at 56.

Our local scene is one of the top in the country at the moment, thanks to Hoyt for the power/prog side and to a DIY warehouse for the heavier stuff. Lots of underground bands come through and always good turnouts. I'm generally able to hit up at least one show a week with a touring band and 2-3 local support bands.

Atlanta is also home to metal festivals outside of ProgPower. Scion was here last year (it was supposed to be in Atlanta again this year, but for some reason was changed to Ohio) and we also have the Forward to the Apocalypse Fest. Many nice spots to catch shows.

 

[skyrefuge]

The argument for Chicago:

1. You want it to be a major city, because there's more of anything in a major city. If you have free reign on where to live, it would be dumb to pick a mid-sized city two hours from several major cities, when you could save yourself a lot of time and hassle by just picking one of those major cities themselves. Between NYC, Chicago, and LA, Chicago is the cheapest to live in.

2. In the last year, I've seen 29 metal shows in the Chicago area. More importantly, I saw those shows at 14 different venues, and there are at least 10 more that host metal events. So metal is well-tolerated, venues are available to suit any sized band, and if one venue happens to go down, it won't have any effect on the overall scene (if Jaxx closes, are there a bunch of other places in NoVA that will take up the slack?)

3. The Chicago area once supported three CD stores that sold nothing but metal. (and I'll attribute their disappearance to a decline in CD buying rather than a decline in the metal scene!)

4. There are plenty of metal bands, both signed and unsigned.

5. The first ProgPower was in the Chicago area, even though it was a foreign land to Glenn.

6. The area has (had?) its own long-running metal festival in the Chicago Powerfest.

7. There is a world-renowned burger joint devoted to metal.

8. Metal bands just headlined a popular neighborhood summer street festival, and another played in Millennium Park, one of the city's brightest cultural landmarks.

9. You could buy this house for sale in the suburb of Oak Brook, and be the most "metal" dude in the whole country.

Neil

 

[Diabolik]

The argument for Chicago:

1. You want it to be a major city, because there's more of anything in a major city. If you have free reign on where to live, it would be dumb to pick a mid-sized city two hours from several major cities, when you could save yourself a lot of time and hassle by just picking one of those major cities themselves. Between NYC, Chicago, and LA, Chicago is the cheapest to live in.

2. In the last year, I've seen 29 metal shows in the Chicago area. More importantly, I saw those shows at 14 different venues, and there are at least 10 more that host metal events. So metal is well-tolerated, venues are available to suit any sized band, and if one venue happens to go down, it won't have any effect on the overall scene (if Jaxx closes, are there a bunch of other places in NoVA that will take up the slack?)

3. The Chicago area once supported three CD stores that sold nothing but metal. (and I'll attribute their disappearance to a decline in CD buying rather than a decline in the metal scene!)

4. There are plenty of metal bands, both signed and unsigned.

5. The first ProgPower was in the Chicago area, even though it was a foreign land to Glenn.

6. The area has (had?) its own long-running metal festival in the Chicago Powerfest.

7. There is a world-renowned burger joint devoted to metal.

8. Metal bands just headlined a popular neighborhood summer street festival, and another played in Millennium Park, one of the city's brightest cultural landmarks.

9. You could buy this house for sale in the suburb of Oak Brook, and be the most "metal" dude in the whole country.

Neil

This is very true. Every weekend there is at least one metal show some where from it being at the HOB to Reggies to a small bar. Plus with Chicago there is a good ( well kind of ) public transportation if you live in the City. You can hit any of the clubs pretty much by train or bus which is nice.

There is also Reckless Records which has 3 different locations. Sure it doesnt have the best selection in the world but it is at least something.

Dont forget that Chicago has it's own metal video show on Public Access hosted by an obnoxious fat metal head who is never seen at shows.

 

[Pelata]

As for local metal scenes though, Raleigh, NC seems to be all about the metal.

Widow
Soulpreacher
Twisted Tower Dire
Blatant Disarray
Jonin
Frexon Zo (reuniting?)
Viper
Up From Ashes
Dreamscapes Of The Perverse
Hellrazor
Praetorius
Colossus
ShadowRealm
Black Watch

And of course Confessor & Daylight Dies...

 

[General Zod]

If school is a priority, it's hard to beat the northeast; the entire Ivy League is here. And if a big city is what you want, NYC dwarfs everything.

 

[War Ensemble]

Plus, you have the Lakers

But no professional football team. The USC Trojans don't count.



I have done quite a bit of traveling around the country for shows. I would say that your best bets are the larger cities.

1. New York metro area
2. Los Angeles metro area
3. Chicago metro area

 

[johnfrank1970]

I did not see that you required a big city. If so, Madison, Wisconsin is a cool place to be. Awesome college town, yet also has state government and lots of biotech. No manufacturing to speak of. Lots of stuff to do/places to go for a city of about 260,000. Does not have the museums of Chicago, but does not have the traffic or the insane housing prices.

It is decent for metal, but not great. The CD store set up is great with a local chain store selling lots of metal (special ordering is easy and prices are good) and a metal/punk store, which I rarely shop at but always browse.

There is a metal radio show on a community radio station. I don't know when it airs, however, as I have never listened to it.

The problem is concerts - Some tours come to Madison, but I usually have to go to Milwaukee (1.5 hrs) or Chicago (2.5 hrs) for shows.

Anyway, a great place to live if you are metalhead that has some priorities other than just metal.

 

[Kimavir]

Thanks guys, I didn't expect this many responses! Love the PP family.

Looks like Chicago and "the Northeast" are my best bets. I'm not specifically looking for a big city, but from these posts it looks like I'll have to at least be near one to get both a large college and a thriving metal scene. I'm in the textbook industry and have a degree, so big colleges are more my target than good ones, hahaha.

Metal and work aren't the only things in my life either (well, maybe, but still); so I really appreciate the extra details.

 

[Angrafan]

Miami is the worst major city in the US for metal. We get less than 10% of the tours... It is awful. I love living here, but metal is not one of the reasons...