<p>Hows the local music scene? I have spent my high school years playing in various rock, folk, and blues bands and would like to continue at least at some level during college. I have found a few places to play over the past few years in my home town of around 50,000 people and would assume that a city the size of chicago would offer many more opportunities to perform. </p>
<p>So, can anyone comment on the local music scene in the city of Chicago or more specifically live music on and around the UChicago campus?</p>
<p>any info on popular genres in the city, magnitude of the local scenes, overall vibe, if UChicago students often check out the local talent, ect.</p>
<p>I know a lot of kids who go around the city for different kinds of music. I don't think Hyde Park's music scene is that much asides from the U of C students who perform in it, but there are some neat venues around town. There's nothing like a Kingston Mines or a Schuba's or what have you in Hyde Park, at least not that I know of. However, the Maroon, and the Chicago Weekly, two campus newspapers, are very much on the ball when it comes to music.</p>
<p>The other semi-unfortunate thing about Chicago is that a lot of concerts are 21+ </p>
<p>We have a folklore club and an annual folk festival. It's huge, huge, huge, massive.</p>
<p>We also have students who perform together in various coffee shops and venues on campus those scenes are much smaller.</p>
<p>If you check out the websites for The Chicago Weekly (alternative/artsy student newspaper) and WHPK (university radio station), you'll probably get an idea of what the scene around the university is. The sites for Schuba's, The Empty Bottle, and other clubs will give you a peek at the overall local scene (at least its medium-high end).</p>
<p>Chicago, by the way, was the original home of Pitchfork; many of its contributors still live there, and it sponsors a big summer festival there. In other words, Chicago has a very active indie rock community -- probably second only to Brooklyn. It has also generated any number of hip-hop/r&B stars (R. Kelly, Kanye West, Common), is the traditional capital of urban, plugged-in blues, and is a significant jazz center. Plus, it's the third-largest city in the U.S., for crying out loud. If something is happening anywhere, it's likely to come through there, at least, pretty quickly, and not infrequently to relocate there.</p>
<p>Does any particular genre tend to dominate the local music scene, like grunge in 90's seattle, punk in DC, indie in brooklyn's williamsburg, ect?</p>