Here's one of the big differences between a town like Missoula and a small city like SLC. Below are the concert listings (from Pollstar) for Missoula, now till 3/14/2005. The SLC listings for the same time period are at: this web page since the 300 are too much to copy paste. The pollstar listings generally do not include classical music or dance.

This is not to say Missoula is a bad place to live, but if this type of stuff is important to someone, it could sway the decision. Since the original poster said he lived in NYC all his life, any move to the mountain west will be a shock - some places more than others. If the goal is to play well rather than put down roots, then by all means, travel around and sample a bunch of places as another posted suggested.


Sat 03/15/03 Swivel Hips Smith Blue Heron

Fri 03/21/03 The Waybacks Elk's Lodge

Sat 03/22/03 Xiu Xiu Jay's Upstairs

Mon 03/24/03 Bigger Lovers Jay's Upstairs

Tue 03/25/03 "Lord Of The Dance" Troupe Two Adams Event Center

Wed 03/26/03 Five Foot Thick Buck's

Fri 03/28/03 The Shakedowns Jay's Upstairs
Fri 03/28/03 Drums & Tuba The Ritz

Sat 03/29/03 New Monsoon Top Hat

Mon 03/31/03 Sound Tribe Sector 9 Wilma Theatre

Wed 04/02/03 Shindig Jay's Upstairs

Wed 04/09/03 The Midnight Evils Jay's Bar

Sun 04/13/03 Laurie Lewis Crystal Theatre

Wed 04/16/03 Deathray Davies Jay's Upstairs

Sat 04/19/03 Bobby Bare University Theatre

Thu 04/24/03 Clumsy Lovers The Ritz

Tue 04/29/03 Janis Ian University Theatre

Sat 05/03/03 Emerson Drive Adams Event Center
Sat 05/03/03 Trick Pony Adams Event Center
Sat 05/03/03 Lucy Kaplansky Elk's Lodge

Fri 05/09/03 Easily Amused University Of Montana

Mon 05/19/03 Leo Kottke University Theatre

Fri 05/23/03 Ellen Says No Sean Kelly's

Sat 05/24/03 Ellen Says No Sean Kelly's

Wed 05/28/03 Idlewild Adams Event Center
Wed 05/28/03 Pearl Jam Adams Event Center

Sat 07/19/03 Gary Puckett High School

Mon 08/11/03 Tracy Byrd Western Montana Fair

Wed 11/05/03 Patty Larkin To Be Announced

Bolt:

Care to elaborate on why you find LA so horrible?

I'm an east coast transplant and initially I had a hard time adjusting to LA.

There are areas of LA I would never want to live. But other areas are terrific. It's not so much a city as it is a patchwork of many cities and areas.

I've been enjoying Pasadena more and more. The mountains are 5 minutes from my door and I've got half a dozen top climbing locales within 2 hours drive. And Yosemite within a 4-5 hour drive. Pasadena is a pretty cool little town. It's got Cal Tech and JPL ... very much a college town ... and it has a decidely east coast feel to it ... except it has awesome southern CA weather. Quite a bit of culture and history as well. From old gold mines in the mountains to the Huntington museum to the Green & Green masterpiece arts & crafts homes.

Used to live in Silver Lake and enjoyed that area very much. Bohemian and funky ... kind of Greenwich Village west coast with a lot more garage bands and 50s cars.

Other parts of LA I would not go near ... like Santa Monica.

'Course, I have to live out for my business. Given my druthers, I'd probably live in N. Cali.

What's *your* beef with LA?

some people bash L.A.

Some people bash Las Vegas.

Personally, I have the abilty to be unhappy no matter where I am

depends on the culture you're looking for...

a lot of indie bands hit missoula on their way through to seattle or denver, um's got a decent college radio station, there's a great record shop called rockin' rudies that won't make you miss bleeker street, there's a funky farmer's market on sundays, good bookstores, the lit department's been stellar since richard hugo and leslie fieldler shaped the thing back in the 60's and william kittiridge took it over in the 80's, and the lefties from berkely picked-up and moved there en mass 15 years ago (missoula's as white as slc, but conservative it ain't)...it's an artists/writer's town (seems like half the contributing editors from outside mag are either there or in bozeman/livingston)...yeah, if you're hankering for ballet, classical, and opera you'll be missing stuff, but a lot of the rest is there...

i'm as dyed-in-the-wool 'bout the city (nyu grad-school) as the next guy, and i've done my time out west in san fransisco and seattle...attila's elephants couldn't drag me from the gunks, but if i had to live in that hell called the west again, i'd burn in missoula...

and to hear my bro talk - who studied geology at um - the rocks program ain't bad either...

My first impression of LA was flying in at night. It's hard to find a place charming when it's a 3000 square mile carpet of non-stop streetlights.

Vegas is growing so F'in fast. The shopping centers and housing developments are now, what 5 miles from Red Rocks? Last time I was there they said there's a new school being built and opening every two weeks all year, every year, with no slowdown in sight. Wow.

Well, one thing I would never call LA is "charming." And, yeah, it is Sprawl City.

I originally never thought I could like anything about LA. But it's a city that you have to work at. The good stuff is here. But it's hard to find.

Vegas seems intent on becoming the new King of Sprawl. I can take it in small doses. A weekend here or there. Just finished the passage in Lynn Hill's book about living and working in Vegas. Sounded pretty grim. But now it's in a real boom phase. And if you love the desert, might be the perfect place. The summer heat, though, is brutal.

The most fascinating thing about Vegas I've heard recently is the large Hawaiian population that's growing there every day. Apparently with such a paucity of jobs on the islands, thousands of Hawaiians are moving to Vegas every year. Can you imagine that? Moving from paradise to the desert? I guess when you gotta pay the bills ...

Lester.....good call on the Hawaiin migration. And spot on with the abusrd irony of moving into a desert to survive!

Let me know if you're ever up here in Sin City and we can do some routes and talk about why this place isn't as good as the Gunks....

As far as LA, I used to be one of the bashers until I started spending some time there. Many charming areas. Absolutely gorgeous topographry--well maybe not LA itself, but the outskirts, San Gabriel Mtns, etc... No doubt Vegas is using LaLA as a Sprawl role model, but we've got a way to go...I'll have some $$$ and be long gone when that time comes.

TRIVIAL NOTE: More High School dropouts making over $100,000/year in Vegas than any other area....

TRIVIAL NOTE: More High School dropouts making over $100,000/year in Vegas than any other area....

That is one fascinating fact. Clark County is, in its own way, a land of opportunity. What do these dropout affluents do for a living?

TRIVIAL NOTE: More High School dropouts making over $100,000/year in Vegas than any other area....


Didn't know prostitution paid so well.

They're not "prostitutes".

They are "exotic dancers" and "professional escorts".

Since earnings from those types of professions tend to be cash/'off the books', how exactly (other than a fertile imagination) does somebody come up w/ such statistics?

Or course, if 2 Vegas HS dropouts make over $100k, and "any other area" is 1 or 0, then there's your explanation.