Support local music?

Transparency time: I am in a local rock band, I have friends in local rock bands and it profits me (usually just in beer, but sometimes monetarily) for people to go to local rock shows. How-freaking-ever, in addition to withholding band names, this column is simply meant as a reminder (and somewhat of a love note) about one thing which can occupy weekends besides movies, bad dates and homework. \nI started going to local rock shows around my sophomore year of high school (then, "local" was Greenwood, Ind.). They usually took place in a really seedy "community center." I place it in quotes because it could also be termed a "run-down, weed-ridden shack in the middle of nowhere." \nThe order of the day was punk rock and heavy metal. We're talking '97-'98, Korn's halcyon days. The shows got underway around 10, everyone smelled like clove cigarettes, the music was painfully loud and there was a gaping hole in the ceiling. I'm not going to romanticize this squalor like people talking about CBGB's. It was an unromantic dump. \nBut on those rare occasions when a group of four or five dudes took the "stage" (three inch elevated plywood box) and rocked our worlds, there was no other place I'd rather be -- certainly not at a house party listening to late-era Mariah Carey and drinking screwdrivers. When a band you've never seen or heard before tumbles out of a broke-ass van and preaches the good book of rock to your face at eye level, there is no greater thrill in these middle states, my friend. \nTherefore, I humbly recommend you haul your ass to a local rock show if you haven't. There will be warnings and qualifications in a bit, but for now, if you like live music just try it. Here's why:\nFirst, if you're not careful, your weekend will become as mundane as your weekday. Lord knows I'm a boozer, but God help me if the weekend comes and all I do is sit around like I'm in economics, except drunk and slightly less drowsy. Switch it up. You know when you get out of here you're going to get paid to sit down for the rest of your life, so stand up and rock while the Man has yet to put weights in your pants. In a lot of ways, college can be a premature retirement.\nSecond, Bloomington happens to be musically gifted, even among college towns. It's not hard to find rock here. Finding rock you like may prove tough, but it doesn't hurt to seek out unusual things once and a while. I don't like some of the bands I see, but every single one of them comes to me in three dimensions, and is therefore an experience that trumps books and movies.\nSo, how do you get started? Well, find a show; this very publication can help with that. I do love a house show, but if you've never been to one before, you may not want to go somewhere where everyone knows everybody else. If you're not the kind of person who has a problem with that, go. House shows are great, cheap and full of friendly people. Sometimes the beer is free. The atmosphere is usually a stone basement, low ceiling and fewer kids than a club show. The bands may even be from out-of-state because it's hard to get shows at venues where no one knows you (the good news: before they dominated rock and inspired Matchbox 20, Nirvana played crappy house parties).\nIf not a house show, there are several regular venues which often cater to local music. In no order, they include Rhino's, Second Story, Bear's and Bluebird. The price may occasionally be higher, but the room's bigger, there are more people and you don't need to worry about neighbors. They even have stage lights, but there's something to be said for watching bands pump it out under lamp light or a naked bulb hanging from wooden planks. \nNow, here are some warnings: \nThese shows can sometimes be damn loud. People were not made to withstand such an onslaught of noise, so bring earplugs; lots of people do. \nAlso, give the shows time. I didn't really like a lot of the shows I saw in high school, and if I didn't join a band I wouldn't have gone to more. They really grow on you, though. I don't know what the appropriate age is to stop going, but it makes my week better to go crazy in some basement for two hours on Friday.\nLastly, and most embarrassingly, there is a clique factor to contend with. It's not severe, but it's there. Somehow, over time, going to see local rock bands has become a hip thing to do, rather than a casual thing like going to the movies. The freaking Kingsmen were a local band when "Louie Louie" came out and that stuff was even termed "frat rock." Why can't it be that way again? I would love it if there were Greek dudes at these shows. I know they can rock; I've seen Animal House -- of course, that was based in the early '60s. \nBut anyway, if you don't plan on staying in town after your time here, hit a show before you take off. It's one of the many pleasures particular to a place like B-town. It may be loud, dirty and crude but so is "Louie Louie"