For years, the State College music scene has been in flux.

After a period of musical prosperity, the Crowbar, a popular downtown music venue, closed its doors in 2006. For a time, it appeared that when the Crowbar died, State College's original music scene passed with it. However, in the past two years, the volume of live original music in State College has seen an increase.

A quiet resurgence is thanks to a number of venues and concert promoters that have stepped up in recent years. Rather than being based in a single venue, the scene's strength is in its diversity -- each venue and booking agency plays a different role in the overall picture.

"Each venue has their own niche," said Garrett Bogden, owner of Nittany Booking, which promotes downtown concerts. "Sometimes we work together; sometimes we don't."

Penn State students, who make up a large portion of the concert-going audience in the State College area, have expressed their displeasure with the relative lack of original live music downtown.

"I wish there was some way to bring bigger names to the indie scene here," Liz Marasco (freshman-department of undergraduate studies) said. "I know we're not some trendy little school in an urban area, but I would love to see some other bands come here."

Many of the downtown venues are bars, which poses a problem for many Penn State students, especially those under 21. The Crowbar, despite its bar status, often held all-ages shows. The layout of the establishment allowed the concert-going patrons to be separated from those who were drinking.

"State College needs more venues that are open to the under-21 crowd," Lexi Miller (sophomore-journalism) said. "Most of the live music that goes on weekly is at the bars. There's always a lot of great live music, I just can never go because I'm not 21 yet."

But those who criticize the State College music scene might have reason to rethink their position when looking at the shows scheduled for the next week.

In a period of six days, four desirable national acts are -- or were -- set to come to town. In-demand country stars Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban, acclaimed indie songwriter John Vanderslice and major-label garage rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will all grace State College this weekend with shows for all ages. If not for a scorpion stinging his right hand in Mexico, renowned guitar god Richard Thompson would have also been here on Wednesday.
And local record storeowner Greg Gabbard, who is well informed on the state of the music scene and the demands of local music fans, says things may be looking up.

"It's getting a little bit stronger. It's not happening fast, but it's happening little by little," said Gabbard, who owns City Lights Records, 316 E. College Ave. "It's true that we do have an overabundance of cover bands, but we do have some interesting local people who are writing their own music."

Gabbard said with a dearth of musical entertainment comes increased demand.

"The audiences in State College are pretty hungry right now," Gabbard said. "Just about any style, if they're a good act, they're going to be supported."

The Phoenix

The State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., originally opened in 1938. It was closed in 2001 and renovated, though the historic touches were preserved. It reopened in 2006 and immediately began to fill the void left by the Crowbar's closure.

The 571-seat theater still holds on to an old-timey vibe cultivated during its 70 years of existence, making it a unique place to take in a show among the comparatively newer venues in town.

After reopening, the Theatre has drawn progressively bigger acts and built a reputation for consistently booking diverse shows, said Mike Negra, State Theatre executive director.

"We've had seven sellouts since the end of December 2007, and they range from Glenn Miller Orchestra to moe.," Negra said.

A diverse selection of nationally recognized bands such as the blues-based Derek Trucks Band, the southern fried Drive-By Truckers and the indie-pop Band of Horses have all played the Theatre in the past year.

"The State is bringing in some good acts," Gabbard said. "Though they're acts we may have to pay a few more dollars to see because the venue is small, whether it's someone like Andrew Bird or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club."

Gabbard sits on the Theatre's programming committee and has a say in some of the acts it books.

Negra said the Theatre prides itself on serving families and the community. It also provides a venue for local acts; Cloverleaf, composed of Penn State students, is playing at the Theatre tonight.

"Our mission is to serve the community as a whole," Negra said.

Negra said the Theatre filled a role in State College that hadn't existed previously.

"I think that we offer a different venue -- a listening venue -- for local artists that is found nowhere else," Negra said.

The Theatre's role as a place to listen to music without the distractions of a bar is not lost on students.

"The State Theatre is my favorite place to go," Miller said. "I saw Andrew Bird and Band of Horses there."

The Replacement

Lulu's Nightspot, 129 1/2 Pugh St., is perhaps the venue that most resembles the Crowbar.

"We still need something like the Crowbar, so we can get some smaller indie acts," Gabbard said. "Lulu's is filling [that role] a little bit.

"Ted Swanson is booking some really good shows," he added, referring to appearances by the Fiery Furnaces, former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell and the Deadstring Brothers.

Swanson is a local independent music promoter currently working with Lulu's. He previously worked with the Crowbar. He said Lulu's, with a standing-room capacity of 650, best fills the role of a larger venue for rock and pop concerts downtown.

"It really comes down to standing room versus seated room," Swanson said, comparing Lulu's to the theater setting of the State Theatre. "Anything that works better in a room is what we're targeting."

Swanson said Lulu's holds both over-21 and all-ages shows, with the majority of shows aimed at the college audience. The venue is still developing; Swanson said Lulu's has been making changes to improve the concert experience.

"People are going to see the venue's going to change," Swanson said. "We're adding a barricade so we can do heavy metal shows, more variety in the rock format.

Swanson said Lulu's began hosting concerts by renting equipment and has since begun to add more permanent lighting and sound fixtures.

"This room, just in the way it's built, can handle a lot more than just the straightforward club stuff," Swanson said. "You can get really close to the artist at Lulu's."

The Stalwart

Compared to the other booking agencies in town, Roustabout! is the grizzled veteran of the scene. Promoted by Jeff VanFossan and Jesse Ruegg, Rousts are usually held Wednesdays at Bar Bleu, 114 S. Garner St., or more sporadically at Chronic Town, 224 W. College Ave.

VanFossan said Roustabout! is about eight years old, the shows were originally at Bar Bleu, moved to Darkhorse Tavern and back again to Bar Bleu. Chronic Town started hosting Roustabout! as well in 2007 when VanFossan assumed ownership of the establishment.

"Chronic Town is my favorite small place to see a show, but I'm biased," VanFossan said.

Roustabout! has established a reputation as bringing a constant selection of smaller indie acts to State College, including recent shows by Oppenheimer, Lewis and Clarke, and Matt Pond PA. Occassionally, Roustabout! will catch a high-level indie start like Vanderslice, who is set to play Thursday at Chronic Town.

"I like the Roustabouts," Gabbard said. "They bring a lot of good regional acts and sometimes people who are about to break nationally."

VanFossan said the bands that play Roustabout! appeal to a variety of tastes.

"We do garage rock. We also do indie rock, alt-country," VanFossan said. "All forms of 'underground popular' music."

Organizing Roustabout! has been a labor of love for VanFossan.

"I don't do this for a living," VanFossan said. "I do this for fun."

The Upstarts

Cherry Darling Productions and Nittany Booking, both established at the beginning of the fall 2007 semester, are already making a splash in State College. Asylum, a Penn State club that books and promotes bands, is also making a resurgence in the local music scene. All three book intimate café- and small bar-setting shows.

For fans of national indie acts who aren't old enough to see over-21 shows, Nittany Booking may be a good choice.

Bogden said he usually books shows at SoZo, 256 E. Beaver Ave., which was originally intended as a venue for religious events. However, it has also become a popular outlet for live music.

"We book emo and rock bands that are big enough to fill a 200-cap room but not big enough to fill Lulu's or another larger venue," Bogden said.

While Nittany Booking brings in shows somewhat sporadically, Meredith Rebar, who promotes shows under the Cherry Darling moniker, is focused on smaller but more frequent shows.

Rebar said her company, which holds weekly Tuesday concerts, specializes in booking quality local bands that might otherwise be overlooked.

"I book local musicians in local venues," Rebar said. "I book all the local musicians who had nowhere to play. Both Roustabout! and Nittany Booking tended to book out-of-town bands."

However, Rebar said Cherry Darling was also looking to branch out into national artists.

"Recently, we had Michale Graves, former lead singer of the Misfits," Rebar said. "That was the biggest show I've done this year."

Most Cherry Darling shows are at the Brewery, 233 E. Beaver Ave. Rebar said the Brewery is a good venue, but its over-21 requirement restricts the audience attracted to the shows. She said she was looking at SoZo as a possible venue for summer shows this year.

On-campus booking group Asylum, unlike Cherry Darling and Nittany Booking, has been around for a long time. However, the student club has increased its role in the music scene in recent years.

Asylum President Andy Pool said Asylum started back in the late '70s or early '80s. He said club membership has increased significantly since he joined in fall 2006. By his estimation, membership has increased since that time from single digits to "20 to 30" members.

Pool said the goal at that time was to fill the role left open by the Crowbar, booking "middle ground" bands too big for normal bar settings but too small for the Bryce Jordan Center.

Although Asylum has historically booked punk shows, Pool said the club's goal was to bring as many diverse bands to State College as possible.

"We do what we can to rejuvenate what we saw as a lackluster music scene," Pool said. "We're open to booking any kind of band, regardless of genre."

Asylum books shows at the State Theatre's upstairs "attic" venue, as well as at SoZo and on campus.

The Behemoth

Not to be overlooked, the 16,000-seat Bryce Jordan Center brings the biggest acts to the State College area. Bernie Punt, director of sales and marketing at the BJC, said it is the third largest arena venue in the state.

The BJC books well-known national acts on arena tours. Within the past year, the BJC has hosted Guster, Switchfoot, Rascal Flatts and Kenny G, among others.

"The shows have to be pretty big for [the BJC] to be a factor," Gabbard said. "However, every once in a while they'll come up with something absolutely brilliant, like a half-BJC show; examples of which were Mates of State and Death Cab for Cutie."

Punt said the BJC has 12 different configurations in which it can be set up to accompany different crowd sizes, including a "side stage" configuration for smaller acts like Death Cab.

"Because of our size, we're going to have acts that are going to be compatible with large theaters, anywhere from 3,500 to 15,000," Punt said. "The type of entertainment we're going to bring here is the type that's going to draw those kind of numbers."

Punt said the BJC has been unfairly stereotyped as booking only country acts.

"That's because of the popularity of that kind of music here," Punt said, "but we actually have an equal share of alternative contemporary shows and country."

Punt said hip-hop shows have also proven popular at the BJC despite initial misgivings by concert promoters.

"Three years ago, a promoter would never have brought a hip-hop show here, but we have done very well with that type of show," Punt said. "That type of music has such a crossover appeal."

The Possibilities

While you can never please everyone, the confluence of booking agencies and local venues in State College's current scene is gradually moving to fill many musical niches, with possibly even more opportunities in the near future.

Greg Gabbard said the sheer number of venues and booking agencies in State College only benefits the overall health of the music scene.

"The more venues you have," he said, "the more acts you'll get."