Imagine a typical Friday or Saturday night in Boston. There are probably a pile of events that you’ve said “Maybe” to on Facebook, from people that you vaguely remember friending. Sending out a mass text to your friends about what’s going on ends up with mixed results, to the tune of, “Well, I think there’s something going on at Middlesex,” or “I’m not really sure if I’m going to be at Great Scott or Rise because so-and-so said they might be here, but I also want to check out that band at Middle East, although I haven’t really heard their music.” Add the frigid temperatures of winter in Boston and the all-too-frustrating prospect of trekking on the T to vastly different corners of the city when all you really want is the the largest group of your friends possible in one place.

Enter RiotVine. The site covers events, festivals and concerts in Boston, New York, Austin, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Users can “Favorite” events and post the Short URL on their Facebook or Twitter pages, which will then link them to friends who are also attending the event. “Promoters don’t have to worry about whether the same amount of people who clicked ‘Attending’ are going to show because they can read the RiotVine site and see what people are really saying about the event,” explains the site’s founder, Kabir Hemrajani.

So, your friends are all going. Still not sold on an event? “A lot of event planners and promoters will send out an invite along with a long description of the event even though, with musicians and bands, you really want the music to be the first thing up there,” Hemrajani continues, “People on RiotVine site can listen to Amazon.com mp3s or SoundCloud mp3s and get a feel for the music.”

RiotVine has a truly democratic, organic feel because the user can determine the mass appeal of something based on feedback from the general public. Event planners/promoters can rest a bit easier knowing that they don’t have to keep reassuring the bar owner that, yes, people are coming. Feedback about an event is right in their palm of their hands. The dynamic nature of an events calendar easily accessed on a Droid or an iPhone makes figuring out where the hell to go next after the line looks like it’s wrapping around the block that much easier. Events can be filtered by genres of music, free parties and parties with free booze.

The inspiration for the founding of RiotVine in 2009 came from Hemrajani’s frustrated slogging through SXSW in Austin: “At SXSW, you’re running around this giant stretch, drunk out of your mind. You want to get out of the sun, and if you see these huge lines out the door of an event, how are you going to find your friends and meet up if you can’t get in?”

SXSW showcases thousands of musical acts that are hoping for a favorable write-up in music rags and shopping for a label to sign them. That many acts translates into an even greater amount of fans dehydrating in lines snaking down the block or dashing from venue to venue, hoping to beat the buzz before it bounces them out on their ass. Hemrajani has put in a huge effort to compile a comprehensive calendar, with links to where the events are and expected turnout based on preliminary reactions.

Looking forward, Hemrajani plans on championing with the same gusto a wide swath of events that he and RiotVine users have put together. Destination concerts are a particular focus and the events calendar is like the best friend in another city who knows the best places to be and keeps you from all the tourist traps.

As for Boston: “We are working on doing an events calendar for the Music 2.0 event in Boston in October and the Berklee Jazz Festival. RiotVine was created so people don’t have to say, ‘Oh, this event was last weekend, and I didn’t even know about it.’” Or, as oft-quoted urban philosopher Notorious BIG once said, “If you don’t know, now you know.”

RiotVine is hosts Neon Indian at Great Scott on March 9 for two shows: 7-10pm with opening act Javelin and 10-1pm with Boston bands Mystery Roar and Southern Belle with DJ Die Young keeping the floorboards warm between acts. The second show was added due to the snow-out during the Together Festival. Tickets for the 7-10pm show are still available.

–Kristen Schaer