By Mackenzie Degen

It's a Friday night in Maryland, and you are stuck in a giant crowd, surrounded by speakers and kids yelling lyrics to the songs pumping out of them. There is a live band performing on stage, whose popularity may only be local, or can be world wide. Students and locals living in Towson and Baltimore often flock to The Recher Theatre, Ottobar, Sonar or Rams Head Live to attend one of many concerts that are held daily.

Alejandro Gutierrez, a sophomore at Loyola University Maryland, is big into the music scene and usually attends one or two concerts per month. He recently attended a show featuring Dear and the Headlights, a band from Phoenix, Arizona. With lesser-known bands opening for them, Dear and the Headlights drew a large crowd at Ottobar on September 28th, 2009. He mentions "It was unbelievable. The crowd was raging, and they were so good live, maybe even better than recorded." Interested in what type of music this band produced, I logged on to their MySpace account and listened to songs called "I'm Not Crying, You're Not Crying, Are you?", "Talk About" and "Sweet Talk." I had never heard of them previously, and actually started to get into the mix of western swing and indie rock.

In contrast of bands that had never grabbed my attention before, I have already purchased tickets to see Brand New on November 11th at Sonar. While some songs are mellow and emotional, such as "Soco Amaretto Lime", others can be more intense and deeper with a sense of anger. Originally from my hometown of Long Island, Brand New has become widely known and popular all around the United States and even the world. Their shows are constantly sold out, and always well worth the money.

So, next time you're in the Baltimore/Towson area, check out the multiple venues and catch a show: maybe a band you already know and love, or one that is up and coming. The genres vary, allowing audiences with different tastes in music to enjoy themselves and the best that Maryland has to offer.

Sonar, Baltimore, MD