Interesting things to do around Indy? (Indianapolis: shop, arena, vacation)

[ImGibby]

Originally Posted by julrey

Who said anything about mainstream bands?

Uh...you did? "The quality of local bands may be entirely subjective but the number of touring bands coming to Indy is verifiably pathetic" I'm not sure what else you would mean by this???

I'm not arguing that Indy is the BEST place for music, but it is far from the worst. There is plenty of local talent, and plenty of "local" talent that come here from surrounding cities. Broadripple park has plenty of outdoor concerts during the summer, as does some of the downtown parks. Like I said, the Patio used to be a very good place to see bands...they shut it down about a yr ago and I think they tried to turn it into a piano bar which did not go over to well and I have heard they have turned it back into a venue similiar to what the Patio used to be. Birdy's at 71st & keystone always has good bands...I've seen some good bands at The Rathskeller downtown....The Slippery Noodle also comes highly recommended if you have an ear for blues....When Eric Clapton was at the Conseco Fieldhouse a while back he slid over to the Noodle afterwards and jumped on stage and treated everyone to a couple of songs. I saw Les Claypool's (formerly of Primus/Mr. Oysterhead?) Frog Bgrigade more than once at the Vogue. Robert Bradley is a very talented blues artist from MI that comes here frequently...Here Come The Mummies is an awesomely talented group of musicians from Nashville Ten that come here several times a yr and get very funky. Not to mention the numerouse places and bands around the college towns....Bloomington, West Lafayette, Muncie that are all a little over an hours drive. I could go on and on. Pick up a NUVO, check out the annual battle of the bands, broadripple music fest.

I have I wide variety of musical interests, and I find the music scene around here more than tolerable. I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm trying to help...if you think the music scene here sucks you arent looking hard enough, or maybe you just have a very specific taste, I don't know. I've mentioned a very broad range of talent here that is sure to hit a sweet spot somewhere.

[ImGibby]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

From an outsiders perspective, I was pretty impressed last year when we visited. It was during the Indy 500 and the NFL had just given the Super Bowl to Dallas. I was stunned. Indy would make a much better location than the new "Dallas" stadium in Arlington. So much more to do, more pedestrian friendly downtown, and more of a vibe.

I enjoyed it so much that I'm even rooting for the Colts to go to the Super Bowl to play Dallas. Of course, once there, I'll be rooting for the Cowboys. Just because I don't think we should've got the SB, doesn't mean I'm disloyal to the Boys.

Oh don't be so hard on yourself....the Cowboys deserve a trip to the SB...as far as the NFC is concerned. Who else is there in the NFC, GB??? That's about it. AFC is much more talented than NFC this yr

[MurphyPl1]

It's been an interesting season, that's for sure.

[ImGibby]

Originally Posted by julrey

One problem though: the weather sucks that time of year in Indianapolis, which is why the southern cities get Super Bowls so much more often than the northern ones. Besides, from the league's POV it's hard to argue with another 27,000 seats to fill.

Weather is going to keep very few people away from an event as big as the SB. Espically with the layout of our downtown. There are plenty of hotels within walking distance, and our current and new stadium has a roof, your time "in the weather" is limited. Last yr the game was in MIA, an open stadium, and it poured the whole time...no thanks, I'd rather walk 30 min, if that, in the cold / snow than sit in the rain. This isn't Greenbay or MIN....GB as an outdoor stadium and those games are always packed...can't even get tickets unless you are a season ticket holder, which is hard to come by as well. 3 yrs ago it was in DET...besides, the weather here is unpredictable...what was it like 60 today....in JAN??? Nah, weather is a minor concern with all the pros a city like Indy has to offer in terms of hosting events like that.

[domergurl]

Let's not forget, you can't compete with Jerry Jones.

[julrey]

Originally Posted by ImGibby

Uh...you did? "The quality of local bands may be entirely subjective but the number of touring bands coming to Indy is verifiably pathetic" I'm not sure what else you would mean by this???

Exactly what it says: touring bands. Which pretty much encapsulates any bands that aren't actually from Indianapolis, even down to unsigned bands that tour the region.

Anyway, I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on what constitutes a reasonable amount of both quality and quantity. I didn't go to the Broad Ripple Music Fest because I was working that weekend, but I saw the line up and it looked like a more scaled down version of the Midwest Music Summit (which I did go to last year and it was, frankly, pretty lame).

I'd have to make the point that if you're satisfied with the kind of line ups that those two events bring to Indianapolis than you'd probably crap yourself if you lived in Cleveland, Detroit, etc. Although I did just scan through Louisville's listings and they don't seem to be doing much better (despite being known as a hipper town), so maybe it's a regional thing and people from these parts just don't know what they're missing.

But if anyone has any local recommendations to check out via downloads or Myspace pages I'm all ears. Just keep in mind I've already heard most of the more prominent ones and haven't been impressed with many aside from maybe Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. I'd especially be interested in recs for Bloomington bands; one of the best indie labels - Jagjaguwar - is based there, but I haven't heard of a single band on their roster that's actually local (or from IN at all for that matter... not that I'm familiar with every last thing they put out)

EDIT: I actually have lived in Broad Ripple since April 2006, which I believe was juuuuuuuuust after the Patio closed down, so I hear about it a lot but it was before my time. These days the Vogue gets the lion's share of mid level bands that I want to see anyway so at least it's nice having that within walking distance from the house. Problem is, it's usually only once every 2-3 months that even that happens, which may be enough for some people but I'm a music junkie

[julrey]

Originally Posted by ImGibby

Weather is going to keep very few people away from an event as big as the SB. Espically with the layout of our downtown. There are plenty of hotels within walking distance, and our current and new stadium has a roof, your time "in the weather" is limited. Last yr the game was in MIA, an open stadium, and it poured the whole time...no thanks, I'd rather walk 30 min, if that, in the cold / snow than sit in the rain. This isn't Greenbay or MIN....GB as an outdoor stadium and those games are always packed...can't even get tickets unless you are a season ticket holder, which is hard to come by as well. 3 yrs ago it was in DET...besides, the weather here is unpredictable...what was it like 60 today....in JAN??? Nah, weather is a minor concern with all the pros a city like Indy has to offer in terms of hosting events like that.

No offense, but I think you're in the minority here. Yes, Detroit got the SB a few years back but look at the history of where it's been held and it's predominantly a southern phenomenon. I think the main thing you're not taking into consideration are all the people that don't actually GO to the Super Bowl itself but are often willing to vacation in town that weekend just to soak in the overall vibe. Yes, the game itself is going to sell out even if it was in frickin' Alaska, but there is soooooooo much more money to be made outside the actual stadium on SB Sunday, and I think the non-attendees are much more likely to spend their hard earned dollars in a warm, outdoor friendly climate than they would in a potentially frigid environment like Indianapolis.

PS. 60 in January is an anomaly, and I don't think the SB planning committee is going to roll the dice several years in advance on that happening on one particular weekend in a historically chilly climate

[MurphyPl1]

Originally Posted by julrey

No offense, but I think you're in the minority here. Yes, Detroit got the SB a few years back but look at the history of where it's been held and it's predominantly a southern phenomenon. I think the main thing you're not taking into consideration are all the people that don't actually GO to the Super Bowl itself but are often willing to vacation in town that weekend just to soak in the overall vibe. Yes, the game itself is going to sell out even if it was in frickin' Alaska, but there is soooooooo much more money to be made outside the actual stadium on SB Sunday, and I think the non-attendees are much more likely to spend their hard earned dollars in a warm, outdoor friendly climate than they would in a potentially frigid environment like Indianapolis.

PS. 60 in January is an anomaly, and I don't think the SB planning committee is going to roll the dice several years in advance on that happening on one particular weekend in a historically chilly climate

But that's the part that is so ridiculous about Dallas getting it. The game will be in Arlington, which has a lot of other "tourist attractions" but not near enough hotel rooms and won't be HQ for most of those directly involved. Dallas has the hotel rooms, but the festivities will likely include the convention center which has no hotel attached to it, or within walking distance. I think you'll find that the whole Dallas SB will be one large disjointed mess.

One of the reasons we paid so much to stay at the Marriot during the Indy 500 was to be at the hotel with some of the drivers and the sponsors. We went with the GT owners group so we had our own police escort to the racetrack everyday and passes to meet the drivers. But it was that vibe you were talking about and the chance to maybe see something or talk to somebody. Dallas won't have the "central" activity that you'd find someplace else.

[julrey]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

But that's the part that is so ridiculous about Dallas getting it.

Well, I'm not arguing that Dallas is overall the ideal place to have gotten it, but out of the three cities that were in the final running, Dallas has 27,000 more arena seats to offer and a warmer climate than Indy, and the SB needed a break from Arizona in order to spread the love a bit (if you ask me, South Florida gets it way too often, but there's that weather-related favoritism again).

I'm from Texas, and Dallas is my least favorite of it's big cities, but for some reason outsiders seem to love it. I was in Houston a few years back when the SB was in town, and even though I didn't go to the game itself there were pretty much non stop parties from about two weeks out. Wouldn't mind doing that again.

[MurphyPl1]

We have "Dallas" and it's Southfork Ranch. Which oddly, is nowhere near Dallas. It's 5 minutes from me but I'm not in Dallas either. A cheesy, soapy TV show will definitely put you on the map.