The phrase "State College music scene" can often seem like a contradiction of terms.

Indeed, State College has a frequency of good concerts that hover somewhere between "paucity" and "dearth."

Blame it on the fact our fair town lacks a functional mid-size venue. Blame it on the remoteness of our Central Pennsylvanian hamlet. Hell, blame it on some sort of hex levied against Penn State decades ago for some Faustian ice cream recipe. Whatever the reason, State College rarely offers much for the avid concertgoer.

Except when it does.

Tonight, for example, the eminent indie rockers of Wolf Parade will be taking the stage at the State Theatre. The Quebecois band gained notoriety in 2005 with the release of its Isaac Brock-produced debut full-length, Apologies to the Queen Mary, drawing influences from David Bowie, Pixies and Brock's Modest Mouse. In June, Wolf Parade released At Mount Zoomer, a decidedly more patient, cohesive record that didn't sacrifice any of the band's early effervescence nor any of the praise it has wrested from critics.

Wolf Parade tickets are selling well, and after the success the theater had with acts like Andrew Bird and Band of Horses last year, one would think it would be easy to bring similarly lauded bands to State College with a some kind of regularity.

But booking a show of this sort is not as simple as one might think. To bring in a band like Wolf Parade -- one with the commercial swagger to break the top 50 on the Billboard album charts and the critical magnitude to draw acclaim from critical pillars like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Spin -- takes a lot of help from a lot of people.

The Label

Sub Pop, Wolf Parade's record label, hangs somewhere above its indie brethren and below the mainstream imprints, nearing the penetration of the latter while maintaining the credibility and do-it-yourself ideals of the former.

One of the many services a label like Sub Pop can offer a band like Wolf Parade is something called an A&R -- Artists and Repertoire -- representative. Basically, Stuart Meyer, who has also worked with bands like Iron and Wine, The Shins and Wolf Parade-offshoot Handsome Furs, is a project manager for the band.

Though the band has its own booking agent, Meyer said he still has a difficult job as "Wolf Parade only makes records and plays shows." That is, they're not big on the whole public relations thing (which is the reason you won't see any band members quoted in this article).

"They're not misanthropic, but it's a comfort level thing," Meyer said. "Some guys just don't enjoy doing it."

He added some of the band members were more comfortable with it than others, but they're all so busy with different projects it's difficult to get them to do interviews.

Meyer said the Wolf Parade's "amazing live show" has carried it a great distance, and while the band is happy with its level of success, he'd "love to see them take it to the next level."

"It's not super intimate," he said. "It works on a real big level."

Meyer said the band doesn't tour frequently but decided for this run to hit places it hadn't hit during its last cycle. Wolf Parade played mostly major cities last time around; conversely, the band has played Madison, Wis., Indianapolis and Newport, Ky. in the last three days.

The Booker

Brian Drusky, owner of Pittsburgh-based Drusky Entertainment, has been in business for more than a dozen years and books shows in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Ohio, but he's had a strong relationship with the State Theatre since it reopened in December of 2006.

Drusky said he books between 15 and 20 shows of different sizes each month in various cities but books five to eight national acts monthly at the State Theatre.

"Almost everything that's been through there is something I booked," he said.

Drusky said his role in the process was to figure out how the band fit into the theater's schedule and vice versa and then figure out a ticket price that works for both parties. He said this show in particular took about three weeks to put together on his end.

Drusky is what is known as an "exclusive mid-agent," which is someone who works between the band's booking agent and the venue's coordinator. Either the booking agent will contact him with a date and a town for him to relay to the venue or the venue will contact him with an open date and a band it wants. Drusky then helps to negotiate a price. The State Theatre pays him for his work.

The Sponsor

Perhaps you noticed tickets for tonight's show are $7 cheaper for Penn State students than they are for the general public ($15 as compared to $22). This is possible because of Penn State's Student Programming Association (SPA).

For each student that buys a ticket at that price, SPA pays the State Theatre $7, SPA Entertainment Chairman Bill Brandt said. With a capacity of 571 and a majority expected to be students, that puts SPA on the hook for a few thousand dollars.

"It's not a very big percentage of our budget," Brandt said. "We can do co-sponsorships like this and still have enough left over to book other events."

Brandt said SPA prefers to book its own events like the Augustana show on Medlar Field earlier this semester; but "events like these are a good opportunity for us to get our name out there and enable students to see more concerts."

Brandt runs SPA's entertainment committee, which consists of 30 to 40 regular participants who brainstorm and vote on acts to bring in and then handle the logistics of the show including booking and hospitality. Members of the committee also volunteer during the shows they book.

In this case, however, it was the State Theatre that approached SPA, asking the student organization to help lower the cost of student tickets. Brandt said it's not the sort of event SPA typically puts on, but it was "excited to be a part of it."

"It's not the kind of thing we see very often at Penn State," he said. "We make an effort to hit as much of the student body as we can."

The Brand

Concertgoers in State College know the Roustabout! name from the concerts the production company books, namely the weekly shows at Bar Bleu. But the duo of Jesse Ruegg and Jeff Van Fossan does more than just book shows sometimes, and for tonight's concert, they didn't have a hand in the booking process at all.

Roustabout! threw a few dollars at the show with the intent of lowering ticket costs and will be using its street team, Web site and various other Web presences like Facebook to help promote the show.

"It's a media sponsorship," Van Fossan said. "We're like QWK Rock but not a radio station and not lame."

Ruegg and Van Fossan also co-own Chronic Town where Roustabout! has hosted numerous shows, but the limited capacity of the hookah lounge places a constraint on whom they can book. So they turn to venues like the State Theatre -- Ruegg and Van Fossan are both on the Theatre's programming committee -- to bring in bigger bands and lend hands where they can.

"The bands we feel good about, who we feel jibe with our ethos, those are the bands we volunteer to help out with," Ruegg said.

Roustabout! also helps with shows they know will draw well, something for which Ruegg said the pair has a knack.

"We do our research," he said. "We have a good sense of that."

State College can be a tough market to peg, Ruegg said, adding "a lot of people here are into jam bands, cover bands or bigger name emo bands for whatever reason."

Still, Roustabout! sticks to its niche seeking only certain kinds of bands, and while their sounds can range from punk to rockabilly to synth pop to folk music, Ruegg said the common threads are originality and authenticity.

"We look for bands that are first and foremost concerned with their art," he said. "We like to support bands that are playing music for the right reasons."

In regard to Wolf Parade in particular, Ruegg said he listens to all of the band's albums and all of its members' side projects, and he likes all of it.

"They've got a unique voice," he said. "And after hearing their new record, you can tell these guys are definitely progressing as artists."

The Venue

State Theatre Executive Director Mike Negra oversees the entire affair from start to finish.

He analyzes the market, sets the ticket price, reviews and signs off on contracts and works directly with each of the aforementioned aspects of the production.

First, Wolf Parade's booking agent approached Drusky with an interest in playing in State College. Drusky then relayed their available dates and contract offer to Negra.

Then, Negra called Van Fossan to gauge interest.

"Jeff was the first person I called," he said. "I work with Jeff as much as I can. He's got his ear to the ground."

Negra said Wolf Parade made a flat offer that was accepted without negotiation, although there was some back-and-forth coming up with an appropriate ticket price. Once that was settled, Negra sought out SPA repsentatives to see if they could offer some relief for student costs.

"When I have an offer for a band I think is interesting to students, I see if SPA wants to get involved," Negra said.

In order for the show to be profitable, Negra said, roughly 70 percent of the Theatre's 571 seats need to be sold, or about 400. More than that is just icing on the cake.

"If we get into the 420, 450 range, that's a good show," he said. "Of course, a sellout would be great."

Before booking a show, Negra said he takes into account the price, the day of the week, the time in the semester, record sales, how the band has done in other markets and "probably 50 other things."

From the State Theatre's side of things, though, the work does not end until well after the show, and it certainly doesn't end with Negra.

Because Negra will be out of town on the day of the show, operations manager Susan Shedd will oversee the event. Shedd also worked with Wolf Parade's merchandise people to ensure both sides' expectations are met.

Marketing Director Kristy Cyone works with the band's marketing team on print ads, radio spots and information on the Theatre's Web site to make sure the proper demographics are notified about the show.

Technical Director Vonny Boarts has been in talks with the band before the show to get everything settled in regard to the lights, sound, stage hands, hospitality and various other technical aspects of the show.

"All of the details are handled in advance so we know what we're getting into," Negra said.

Negra said Band of Horses sold out the State Theatre when it played there in January, while Andrew Bird drew "400-some" last October. Tonight's show seems to be selling on a similar level. While Negra warned against going overboard given the limited amount of "discretionary dollars out there" and the current economic climate, he said it could mean good things for the future.

"Success breeds success," Negra said. "Our job is to make people happy. It gives us confidence in taking the next risk."