Feb
20
98 Rock hosts a local music showcase every Monday at Bourbon Street. Unfortunately, they advertise the branded affordability of the night — $4.98 cover, $.98 open bar for the first 98 minutes, and $.98 drink specials after that — better than they advertise the schedule of bands. I cannot find a listing of this week’s bands anywhere. Maybe that’s the point. You’re supposed to come for the cheap drinks and hope to be pleasantly surpised. However, my sources tell me that this Monday, 2/22, the best line-up of Baltimore garage bands in months will take the stage: The Expotentials, Fishnet Stalkers, and Lazlo Lee & The Motherless Children. It’s a good thing the brick walls of The Quarter are bare, since these bands would peel the paint right off of them.
Feb
20
This is a melancholy week for Baltimore-area music fans, as two important sites are about to become memories: the Glen Burnie Record & Tape Traders location and Friends bar in Fells Point. Record & Tape Traders, as the name indicates, has been an important independent music retailer in Maryland for decades. A few years ago they closed down several store locations in Annapolis, Rehobeth, Dundalk, and elsewhere. After Sunday’s in-store wake, their only remaining store will be in Towson.
February also marks the final month for Friends in Fells. Although not a live music venue, Friends has served as an important meeting place where Baltimore musicians have worked as deejays and bartenders while others have been regular customers, talking shop over beers. Known for its late-night happy hour, Friends has made a great night-ender for folks who have spent their evening elsewhere, including live shows. I’ll be saying goodbye on Wednesday the 24th, when DJ King Gilbert Partridge will host his final “No Rest For The Wicked” garage, etc., set while Matt Naas of The Expotentials pours drinks for one last time. If you hear about the theft of Friends’ jukebox, loaded with the most amazing library of rock CDs imaginable, I will have had nothing to do with it.
Aug
24
Big In Japan have enjoyed a kind of residency at The Windup Space in Baltimore, playing every Sunday evening in August. Instead of merely having another band open for them each week, they have invited their guests to collaborate with them on stage. I cannot imagine how much extra practice this entails, and when one considers that these shows are free, the monetary rewards must be even more limited than they usually are for such bands. These shows are rock for art’s sake, and I highly recommend that you check out the final show of this series on the 30th when they will be joined by Katrina of Celebration. This past Sunday Big In Japan’s guests were The Expotentials. Details of the best show I have seen in a very long time follow after the jump. (more…)
Mar
04
The Talking Head Club, a separate back room at Baltimore’s Sonar, with a separate entrance off the alley, hosted Baltimore’s best band (just ask them!), The Expotentials. Another Charm City band, The Jagged Hearts and The Izzy’s from New York City opened up. All three bands had to compete with bass from a hip hop show in Sonar’s Club Room thumping through the wall. The common theme among these three distinctly different acts is a certain bluesiness mixed with other elements.
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May
27
The Summer Swarm Fest is coming up at The Ottobar in Baltimore, MD Saturday, May 31st. Its going to be a huge event with a beer garden and motorcycle rides in addition to some great music. Some money for the event will go to honey bee research to understand Colony Collapse Disorder (ccd), which has hurt agricultural production for the last couple years. The following bands will be performing beginning at 5pm:
98 Rock hosts a local music showcase every Monday at Bourbon Street. Unfortunately, they advertise the branded affordability of the night — $4.98 cover, $.98 open bar for the first 98 minutes, and $.98 drink specials after that — better than they advertise the schedule of bands. I cannot find a listing of this week’s bands anywhere. Maybe that’s the point. You’re supposed to come for the cheap drinks and hope to be pleasantly surpised. However, my sources tell me that this Monday, 2/22, the best line-up of Baltimore garage bands in months will take the stage: The Expotentials, Fishnet Stalkers, and Lazlo Lee & The Motherless Children. It’s a good thing the brick walls of The Quarter are bare, since these bands would peel the paint right off of them.