“There was a wave of artists who were performing with just laptops. Your whole weekend was spent watching some guy move a mouse around. There was a lack of humanity, rawness, a lack of sweat and stink. There wasn’t anything powerful about it.”

These words from Alex Kapranos, frontman of the rock band Franz Ferdinand, are a depiction of the music scene in Glasgow, Scotland from 1999 – 2001. And yet, though his words reference a Scottish dance music scene from 20 years ago, they incite a certain familiarity. Visit almost any modern nightclub, house party, or bar in 2019, and Kapranos’ words will likely serve as an apt description of the scene once again.

Like most other media, mainstream music has evolved alongside technology to incorporate a heavy digital influence into its production and distribution. But what toll has this taken on the availability and the appeal of live musical performance, especially for young people? We live in an age where rock ‘n’ roll is dead, a cultural movement that governed popular music for decades and one that was embodied in the fevered energy of live performance. Gone are the days of leather jackets and converse high tops, long greasy hair and unwashed t-shirts. Guitars have been replaced by the latest music software model, and drum kits have been substituted for the newest electronic sound systems. A new brand of cool has swept across the globe over the past 10 years, and surely Kalamazoo, MI is no exception to the trend. Or is it?

In fact, it is. Firmly rooted in the sensory liberation of live performance, in the vibrations of bass notes and the screams of electric guitars, Kalamazoo holds rock ‘n’ roll at the center of its local music scene. Basements around Kalamazoo, especially in areas like the Vine Neighborhood, come alive on weekend nights packed with students and locals alike supporting bands from Kalamazoo and other areas of the Midwest. Groups like Kalamazoo rockers BFF and Harvey Waters can be found accompanying touring acts such as Ann Arbor band Parkway and Columbia, creating networks and sharing spaces that connect people and cities.

Emanating from these shows is an energy and an excitement and an opportunity to witness something different, surrounded by people who are all connected by one thing: a love of live performance. It sneaks under the social radars of so many K students, but the rock ‘n’ roll scene in Kalamazoo is a huge facet of the city that makes it unique and appealing to many young people. Places like Ann Arbor, East Lansing, and Grand Rapids simply can’t rival Kalamazoo in this respect. It may take some scratching at the surface to find it, but the Kalamazoo music scene is a special part of a city that prides itself on being a bit different.

Especially at a school where the “K Bubble” is such a real divider between students and the rest of the city, cracking that barrier and going to see live music is a way of opening doors to a larger community. Being in those intimate spaces and being part of an event like a house show encourages a feeling of community and trust, and it promotes a wider social experience in a relatively small city like Kalamazoo. The scene lives in the basements and living rooms of houses surrounding the WMU and Kalamazoo College campuses – settings that provide a platform for bands and individual artists to showcase their talents. It is made up by a community rooted in the idea of being different, one that isn’t afraid to express itself, and one that welcomes all types. It is based on the tangible, the social, and the emotional, and it is certainly not dead. It is very, very much alive.