Does where a band comes from affect their chances of success

inspired partly by the What's Your Hometown's Contribution To Music? from Dom Passantino and partly by a website I once encountered about Thousand Yard Stare which said "Poor things. Coming from Slough. They never stood a chance".

Yes. Had my idiot forebears decided to settle anywhere else in the world beside the vast otherworldly desert abyss of Western Canada then I would be famous and influential by now instead of wasting time on here. Then again, had I stayed there instead of ending up in London then I might be in Nickelback raking in cash, playing real rock music for real people, instead of trying vainly to impress a bunch of effete clotheshorses with brains warped by decades of camp limpitude

You would think that coming from a big metropolis like NYC would make it easier for a band to get well known... But then, whatever happened to LowMeato? It doesn't matter where you're from if you're touring. And if you're not touring, you're lazy & you don't deserve success.
..or as Vanilla Ice once said, "It doesn't matter where you're from - it's where you're at." The wise-cracker.

"you're lazy & you don't deserve sucess" Awl, C'mon I want my musicians to not have to put effort into thier popularity, so they can concentrate on quality music.

It certainly does matter. But just as important as location is time. Eric's Trip and Sloan were strong enough to get signed, but all sorts of bands just lucked out on being in the right place at the right time. While still good/great, bands like Hardship Post or Jale could have been always a bridesmaid had it not been for the percieved Pop Explosion.
If location didnt matter Elevator would have been every bit as hyped as Queens of the Stone Age were, but living in Moncton tends to slip you off the radar. I can think of a few bands from out Moncton way that will never get the respect they deserve.

I think those bands that come out of the current popular city-scene stand a better chance than those who don't.

Consider the 90's and the Seattle "Grunge" Scene. It seems like the media(s) zoom in on certain city-scenes sporting the "latest sound" and ignore all else. So sure, as far as the radio and MTV is concerned, those bands coming from the spotlighted city-scene are sure to have an edge, while those that don't are left in the dark "underground" scenes.

Jealousy (of British bands - put aside for pragmatism of course when that front page interview becomes available) and barely concealed wish fulfilment (of American, esp NY bands) is a disease that for the last six years has meant that few homegrown bands are taken seriously by the mainstream music media in the UK.

Essentially, this is IMHO down to a lot of writers who feel mightily miffed that there are those with a similar background, education and childhood passion as them, who basically are doing what they want to do - the bastards, eh ? Whereas if they are from New York - cf the Strokes - then the residual resentment is turned on its head and becomes wish-fulfilment - ah, they say, "if only I'd been born in New York instead of being brought up in Chelmsford and going to Manchester University, working on the student paper, interviewing the Mock Turtles and finally getting the chance to go out on tour with the Bluetones, who made it and are really popular in Japan, the bastards !"

ps: don't get me wrong, I love bands from anywhere. It's just a habit they do that annoys me.