I was thinking of adding a poll, but that seemed daft.

I'll start.

1. Austin
2. Los Angeles
3. NYC
4. Chicago
5. Seattle

For me it would list like this, in no particular order:

1. Portland
2. Austin
3. Seattle
4. Brooklyn
5. San Francisco
6. Athens, GA
7. Minneapolis
8. Omaha (yes, seriously)

Obviously neither of you have been to New Orleans....

Depends on which type of music you are into.

Austin is more known for indie music but Dallas and Houston respectively have a much larger Punk/Hardcore and Hip Hop scene than Austin.

Yeah, it completely depends. Rap and Country each have their own hotbeds and capitols.

Obviously neither of you have been to New Orleans....

Yes I have.

Based on my likes and cities I've actually seen shows in.

Chicago
St. Louis
Denver
Austin
Seattle
Los Angeles
Atlanta
Detroit
Portland, OR
MSP
Louisville - No other city can claim "underground" more than LV. I love that city %100! Slint!
SLC
Cincy
Indy - 2004 was a great year. I thought that year would "put us on that map." but to no avail.
Nashville
Bloomington, IN

For a metro as big as DFW I find it pretty weak in the music realm.

For a metro as big as DFW I find it pretty weak in the music realm.

Denton in the DFW Metroplex has a fairly notable indie music scene – a couple of my favorite bands are based in Denton, actually.

Obviously neither of you have been to New Orleans....

"Best Music Scene" is pretty subjective. I'm generally into indie bands, and there's not much of that coming out of New Orleans. :)

New Orleans would be at the top of the list for me. Modern music pretty much originated there.

New York
Austin
Portland
Seattle
Chicago
Boston
Athens
Miami (completely biased - but it really is awesome, just not big yet)

if you are 60+ and enjoy terrible music, Branson,MO might be for you

I actually spent some time in Branson, I was only 12. Cool scene, bro!

I find Travel and Leisure Magazine's rankings to be the most reliable since these are the actual rankings from tens of thousands of travelers who have actually had the experience. Here are their rankings for 2010 (2011 hasn't been released yet). I frequently use their surveys when traveling. They are rarely off target I find and are pretty frank in their discussions.

Live music/concerts and bands 2010 (Visitors):

Rank City Score
1 Nashville 4.84
2 Austin 4.84
3 New Orleans 4.82
4 Las Vegas 4.65
5 New York City 4.63
6 Chicago 4.62
7 Providence 4.53
8 Memphis 4.48
9 Portland, OR 4.46
10 San Francisco 4.45
11 Denver 4.44
12 Savannah 4.42
13 Charleston 4.39
14 San Juan, P.R. 4.39
15 Los Angeles 4.39
16 Seattle 4.37
17 Minneapolis/St. Paul 4.35
18 Kansas City 4.28
19 San Diego 4.27
20 Miami 4.25
21 Boston 4.22
22 Honolulu 4.20
23 Philadelphia 4.15
24 Houston 4.14
25 San Antonio 4.14
26 Atlanta 4.13
27 Washington, D.C. 4.05
28 Orlando 4.04
29 Salt Lake City 4.00
30 Phoenix/Scottsdale 3.99
31 Portland, ME 3.98
32 Baltimore 3.91
33 Santa Fe 3.88
34 Dallas/Fort Worth 3.83
35 Anchorage 3.51


Live music/concerts and bands 2010 (Residents):

Rank City Score
1 New Orleans 4.90
2 Austin 4.89
3 Nashville 4.86
4 New York City 4.71
5 Chicago 4.67
6 Portland, OR 4.61
7 Portland, ME 4.59
8 Providence 4.59
9 San Juan, P.R. 4.58
10 Minneapolis/St. Paul 4.56
11 Seattle 4.56
12 Denver 4.56
13 Las Vegas 4.52
14 Los Angeles 4.51
15 San Francisco 4.49
16 Savannah 4.43
17 Houston 4.41
18 Charleston 4.41
19 Memphis 4.38
20 Kansas City 4.37
21 Atlanta 4.37
22 San Diego 4.36
23 Baltimore 4.27
24 Philadelphia 4.26
25 Phoenix/Scottsdale 4.25
26 Boston 4.22
27 Santa Fe 4.16
28 Salt Lake City 4.15
29 Washington, D.C. 4.13
30 San Antonio 4.10
31 Miami 4.10
32 Honolulu 4.09
33 Orlando 4.09
34 Dallas/Fort Worth 4.06
35 Anchorage 3.72

Overall best of nightlife as a whole for 2010 (live music is a sub category in the rankings):
All
Cocktail hour
Live music/concerts and bands
Singles/bar scene
Overall for 2010 (Visitor):

Rank City Score
1 New Orleans 4.77
2 Austin 4.70
3 Las Vegas 4.70
4 New York City 4.65
5 Nashville 4.63
6 Chicago 4.59
7 San Juan, P.R. 4.49
8 Providence 4.48
9 Savannah 4.47
10 Denver 4.45
11 San Francisco 4.45
12 Charleston 4.43
13 Miami 4.41
14 Portland, OR 4.34
15 San Diego 4.34
16 Los Angeles 4.31
17 Honolulu 4.30
18 Seattle 4.24
19 Minneapolis/St. Paul 4.21
20 Boston 4.18
21 Houston 4.18
22 Memphis 4.17
23 Washington, D.C. 4.16
24 Atlanta 4.15
25 Kansas City 4.14
26 San Antonio 4.13
27 Phoenix/Scottsdale 4.10
28 Philadelphia 4.08
29 Orlando 4.01
30 Portland, ME 3.96
31 Dallas/Fort Worth 3.93
32 Baltimore 3.92
33 Santa Fe 3.69
34 Anchorage 3.66
35 Salt Lake City 3.50

Link for source and much more info: http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2010

I've never been to any of the cities mentioned, but I've heard Austin is pretty great for music and concerts.

I don't know where Tampa/St. Pete would stand. We have numerous venues that host concerts and festivals in the region. The Amphitheatre, St. Pete Times Forum, Vinoy Park, Curtis Hixon Park, Jannus Landing, Ruth Eckard Hall, Coackman Park, Raymond James Stadium, and numerous small venues around the area (Ybor City, Downtown St. Pete, other areas). Also, most of our sport teams are having concerts after certain games. What we don't have is a city festival, like Austin and other cities have. I doubt our 8 acre waterfront park (Curtis Hixon Park) would be able to handle a music festival of the Limits Music Festival's size.

Come to this http://www.nojazzfest.com/ , TampaMike. You still have a few weeks. Check out another great lineup at the Jazz Fest. I have two cousins that live in Tampa and they make it over...you'll get a great vibe at the Jazz Fest that will last the whole year.

People have much different definitions of what a "music scene" really is, not to mention genre preferences. If you want to be somewhere where you can enjoy great music purely as entertainment/nightlife you might wind up in a totally different city than someone who wants to get involved in a self sustaining local indie community. My taste is more in line with the latter, and based on my research these are the cities that really stand out-

New York (specifically Brooklyn)
Los Angeles
Austin
Portland
Twin Cities
Seattle
Bay Area

To me a good music scene has more to do with being able to go to a house party and see a great band in the basement and less to do with how many national concerts come to your town.

Thing with New Orleans is that it's a real old school type scene. You're not going to find a whole lot of people across the country waiting to buy the next jazz album by an up and coming New Orleans musician. It sure is a lively place to visit and watch musicians perform, but there's a reason it's not on most people's list.

To me a good music scene has more to do with being able to go to a house party and see a great band in the basement and less to do with how many national concerts come to your town.

Music scenes have a lot more to do than house party bands. You'll find those in virtually every place in America. A music scene is more about full on local productions, awesome and plentiful music venues, local record stores, media and most importantly a loyal local following.

Music scenes have a lot more to do than house party bands. You'll find those in virtually every place in America. A music scene is more about full on local productions, awesome and plentiful music venues, local record stores, media and most importantly a loyal local following.What I meant was this: growing up in upstate New York sometimes my friends would play houseparties and it was fun to watch, but when I moved to the twin cities I saw internationally famous bands playing houseparties. That is the difference that having a good music scene makes.

My company renovated a private school on the edge of Downtown Seattle a few years ago. The alumni and parents held a fundraising concert. The alumni and parents were Heart, Pearl Jam, the Presidents, etc. The 3,000 tickets sold in ten minutes.

Next we renovated another Seattle school. The auditorium is named after an alumni, 27-time Grammy winner and 79-time nominee (the most ever) Quincy Jones. It could have been named after alumni Jimi Hendrix. The same school, Garfield, has won several national jazz band titles in New York's Essentially Ellington competition. The only school that rivals it in EE wins is Roosevelt, also from Seattle.

I wouldn't put Seattle #1 on this list. But we do pretty well, even aside from the so called grunge era.

I find Travel and Leisure Magazine's rankings to be the most reliable since these are the actual rankings from tens of thousands of travelers who have actually had the experience.


...tens of thousands who are overwhelmingly over 35 years old and high-earning. In other words, an odd slice of humanity to judge music scenes.

(according to the Travel + Leisure Magazine's website at http://www.tlmediakit.com/reader_profile_mmr.cfm)

cleveland and detroit both have great rap and rock groups.. of course you know alll the big names but theres a lot of underground stuff that filters thru toledo and both cities are rich in those genres of music

1-Austin
2-Chicago
3-New Orleans
4-Nashville
5-Omaha
6-Portland
7-Seattle
8-Tulsa
9-Memphis
10-Denver

Obviously neither of you have been to New Orleans....

obviously you have never been to austin

cleveland and detroit both have great rap and rock groups.. of course you know alll the big names but theres a lot of underground stuff that filters thru toledo and both cities are rich in those genres of music

Cool story, bro.

obviously you have never been to austin

Oh yes...I've been to Austin..and it's cool. But, it was MUCH more hip 10 to 15 years ago than it is today....it's grown so fast that it has been infiltrated by a pretty bland crowd and that is a sad thing. Austin will never be the same---and I've had some great times there. I have friends in New Orleans who still own a home in Austin and rent it out. The very reason they left Austin is because it is losing it's hipness and they didn't like it, so they moved here about 7 years ago.

SXSW was pretty crazy this year. Otherwise, Sean is partially right. A lot of yuppies have moved in making Austin very expensive to in, driving out starving bands.