IMO, the 2 best places in Houston are no more... The Satellite Lounge & Rockefeller's (yes, it's been many years since I've lived and Houston and was a regular at both places)
That's depressing about Satellite. I saw Ben Harper at Satellite when he was touring for his 2nd album. There weren't more than 30-35 people there. He was passing the pipe with the crowd. It was pretty awesome... Rockefeller's was just one of the coolest places in town to see a mid-level act. A good friend ran the box office so I got into just about any show I wanted. The Average White Band was one of the coolest shows I've ever seen anywhere.
I hate that both of those places are gone. Who knows, Washington could have been Houston's mini-version of 6th Street.
In the early 90's the scene was great for local bands. Axiom/Catal, Emo's, Fitz, Rudz, Pik-N-Pak, etc. and a party almost every night on Lexington. Those were the days.
i'm not trying to take a big crap on my hometown, and i don't know anything about atlanta's scene, but houston's scene sucks. sorry, i know you're part of it and it's personal but, houston has colleges too.
In the late 80's/early 90s it was. Pearl Jam/Mother Love Bone/Soundgarden, Nirvana, pretty much the entire grunge movement played at many of the places on Washington. thegary is right, though. It's a damn shame that the music scene in Houston has always been below that of most major cities. I've had many friends start what could have been successful bands, only to realize the only way to make it in Texas was to move to Austin.
It's not personal to me (frankly, I don't think cover bands count as being part of the "scene"), but I don't think it's fair to compare large metropolitan city music scenes to college town music scenes. Yes, Houston has some colleges but the college student/non college student ratio doesn't even register compared to the ratio in Austin. Lets face it. People in most large metorpolitan cities have different priorities than starting (or supporting) some local indie band. I like your sig, btw. Very profound.
So what were you expecting me to say? Austin? OK...here goes.... Austin's scene beats Houston for alternative and country, even though Houston has a great country scene. Houston's scene sucks for alternative music. Houston's scene beats Austin for blues music, hands-down. Why? Houston has the history Austin doesn't. Blues in Austin didn't really get going until the mid to late 70s with the Fabulous T-Birds. On top of that, Austin's blues scene is dominated by blues-rock rather than traditional blues. Houston's scene started in the 1920s with Sippie Wallace doing gigs in the 3rd and 5th ward. On top of that, certain clubs in Austin have begun to use "pay-for-play", which is common for clubs on the Sunset Strip in LA like the Whiskey A-Go-Go and the Troubador. With pay-for-play, bands have to actually pay the club for a gig, then try to make their money back by selling their own tickets to their gig. Not exactly conducive for business. Personally, I've made a hell of alot more money playing shows in Houston than I ever did in LA or Austin. That's because I play blues music. If I played alternative music here, I would be complaining my head off, like many alternative musicians here do, and rightfully so I might add.
Dallas isn't a big college town, but has a very active scene. Most touring acts visit Austin and Dallas and skip right through Houston, even though its a larger city.
