When I first started going to shows, I was like everyone else. I paid no mind to the opening bands, in my head I wasn't there to see them. But when my brother started a band with his friends, my perspective on those opening bands changed.

I started to see the blood, sweat, tears, and money that went into being a band. I saw the backroom dealings of trying to get a show and how hard it was to sell tickets. I helped them sell tickets because trying to find enough people to buy tickets to meet their quota was hard. People just didn't want to go to local shows. They wouldn't even give the bands a chance.

When I started dating my boyfriend, he was in a band too. They played shows around Columbus and of course, I went to as many as I could. I began to meet people in the music scene and recognize bands from show to show. It was this underground community of people who supported each other because not many people outside of the community supported them.

I went to a lot of local shows with him, ones he wasn't playing purely because he knew the bands and wanted to support them. He showed me a whole other world growing just under my nose, and I fell in love with it. I found a lot of local bands that I loved to see live and would go out of my way to see again.

People at shows seem to not want to know new artists. They don't move during the sets, even when the singer tries to get the crowd moving. They don't talk to them in between bands. They definitely don't look them up after the show. They just stand there like posts until a band they know comes on stages. That hinders the local band's morale because they feed off the crowd's energy.

All the musicians we listen to were once local artists. It doesn't hurt us to support someone who isn't signed to a huge label or played on the radio. It doesn't hurt to give their Facebook page a like (we all like random pages, liking band pages won't kill you), or give them a dollar in their tip jar. If you liked their music why not buy a wristband or talk to the band? These small bands need support from their community if they want to expand themselves.

I was once that person too, so don't feel bad if you do this too. But I think it's important to give these bands a shot. Really listen to the bands playing, have a good time during their set even though you don't know any of the words.

Local shows are nothing like a normal show. These artists are supporting themselves. They're not on a tour, they play one show at a time. Sometimes with months in between gigs, so each show is important. These shows are intimate and high energy. They tend to be in dive bars or tiny bar venues, so you're up close and personal with the bands. You can see the fire in their eyes.

It's saddening that the community doesn't care about a local band until they crawl their way to the top and are headlining tours and being played on the radio. Then people get city pride for bands and talk about how cool it is that so-and-so is from their city. But if people would just look around they would find so many people ready to emerge. They should be prideful of all the amazing artists their city has to offer, because I bet it's plentiful.

So the next time you have nothing to do on a Friday night, check Facebook or go downtown and go to a local show. Explore the small venues and see who's playing. Even if you don't know any of the bands, get out of your comfort zone! Support the local music scene, you might discover the next big artist.