Over the past seven years, the Central Valley has gone from a melting pot of great bands, awesome shows and great times to a zombie-like state – stumbling through existence, feeding off of whatever terrible show it can find.
There are still local shows, and every once in a while you get a really good one. But let’s be real; most of the local shows are terribly boring. The excitement of an audience charging a stage to sing their friend’s lyrics is over; kids would rather just sit with arms akimbo in the corner of a venue.
And, there are plenty of local bands that I like (Secondhand Lions, Catch Us the Foxes, Every Atlas, Not an Airplane), but good bands don’t necessarily make for a great music scene.
Bands definitely help a music scene; they attract crowds to shows, cause venues to book more shows and create an atmosphere for the scene, but it’s not all up to the bands. The people that go to these shows are what make the entire scene what it is.
The War Memorial in Turlock used to hold local shows every weekend. No matter who was playing, music lovers would come out to support local artists and have a good time. That’s what the Valley needs!
Great music scenes consist of a few good bands, venues that consistently put on fun shows, and crowds who come out weekly and go crazy for the music. Once the Central Valley has this, we can relive the glory days when kids would pack Kingdom Coffee in Modesto to see Fairwell Madison.