<p>I am pretty interested in music and i was just wondering what the live music scene was like in Santa Cruz. Basically I'm wondering if i am going to have to drive to San Francisco every week to see bands play?</p>
<p>Nah, there are some good places in downtown SC.</p>
<p>The Catalyst, in downtown Santa Cruz, and the Rio Theater also nearby to downtown, are cool venues that actually gets some big names playing. I'm pretty into indie/alternative music and I'm really happy with the bands they bring. So far I've seen:
Groundation (reggae), Pinback, Explosions in the Sky, Architecture in Helsinki, (all indie/rock/alternative), Reel Big Fish (ska)
and plan to see:Matt Costa, Jason Mraz & im sure many more
the shows are cheap ($12 - $20 avg.) and the venues are pretty small, so you get up close.</p>