Music is a big part of my life and I want to see a lot of live bands and concerts in college. I know that Chapel Hill and Athens have really good music scenes, but could you guys list off some other schools/college towns with thriving music scenes? Thanks!
Tulane, UT Austin, NYU
Boston, Ithaca, Burlington VT and Portland Maine.
Schools in big cities will have more big and small names that come to them than any college town. For instance, I’m in Denver and in the past week have seen a top 40 artist, a big name in EDM, and have had the opportunity to go to numerous free concerts. I’ve been to college towns known for their music and frankly they don’t compare to even second tier cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, or Albuquerque.
Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.
Cleveland.
What kind of music? Country = Nashville.
Vanderbilt. And not limited to country.
Philly (Penn, Drexel, Temple, UArts, St. Joe’s, etc.) has a great local music scene, because it is much more affordable for “starving artists” than NYC, LA, or even Boston. Nashville is great, of course, but the college options aren’t great if you lack the academic chops for Vanderbilt and you’d be uncomfortable with Belmont’s religious affiliation. Austin is terrific, but UT-Austin is much more selective than many people realize, especially for out-of-state. Chicago has a range of college options, if you can tolerate the weather. Portland and Seattle are both very good, too. I’m inclined to boost Philly, because I’m more familiar with it and because it’s easy to travel from there to NYC and elsewhere along Northeast corridor.
Not as big as some other markets, but James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, has a surprisingly large amount of live music for a smaller college town.
http://www.macrockva.org/
http://clementinecafe.com/livemusic
http://www.goldenponyva.com/events/
http://www.crosskeysvineyards.com/scripts/eventPg.cfm/_/462/Vineyard-Vibes:-CrossKeys-Concert-Series/
Artists play on campus as well each year. There are also other venues around town.
Staunton and Charlottesville only 30 minutes to 1 hour away. DC only 2 hours away.
May not be what you are looking for, but could be worth checking out.
My first semester of freshman year in Boston I went to at least 7 concerts, two school sponsored shows from legit artists that were brought in and we got free tickets for. Boston is legit for the alternative scene.
I have a friend who would do all assignments on weekends and use weekdays to go to 2-3 concerts per week. Gotta love LA.
NYU, UT-Austin, Vanderbilt
Nashville is definitely not just country - Exit/In is just a few blocks from campus and has tons of indie m music
New Orleans.
Ithaca is great for super talented, local musicians.