Originally Posted by xush

I think it's an interesting topic, and you've covered a lot of ground in the original post.

I believe that any band that takes its music seriously wants to share it and spread it as widely as possible. There are several ways to do this, and touring is the most effective. As hard as it proves to be to book one's own band across the country, I can only imagine trying to do this with several bands en masse would only be trickier/harder. Cool idea though. It's something my band has considered in the past, at least finding a 'sister band' to work closely with, so that you could offer booking agents/talent buyers a complete show in one booking.
Haven't been able to make that happen as of yet though.

"Scene Cohesiveness" is another topic that comes up every few months. It's a hard thing to achieve, if it even can be attained at all. These days you've got to work SO hard just to keep your own band busy, it's very taxing. And just what is the 'Scene?' Does it really exist? There's bands and venues. Many are in no way related to each other. Tough to make that cohesive.

I don't mean to sound cynical, I think they're nice ideas and I hope they are goals that could be achieved. Discussion of the subject is the best first step.

As far as the basics go though, playing locally is where bands grow and mature. Would be nice to have a place to do that comfortably in the area. I have considered the possibilities of 'alternate venues,' and this is something I really want to experiment with soon. I understand the appeal and convenience of playing in bars, but it only does a band so much good. There must be places shows could be held that would be more conducive to growing a scene or at least focusing on the music. Community Centers have been used in this way; I think there must be a way to put on a show in a place it can be most effectively presented.
Is there a way to do it successfully? I don't know yet.

Would people come to shows that weren't in bars or music venues?
Would you go to a theater or community center, or is booze an essential ingredient for enjoying a musical performance?

jeez, I better stop typing now. sorry about that~