Experience music and art in Baltimore this summer

By: Alex Begley

Posted: 5/1/08

So you're in Baltimore for the summer. Maybe you're taking classes, maybe you're doing intensive research in a lab downtown, maybe you're bussing tables at Bert's and, who knows, maybe you have one of those cushy jobs at a law firm. Whatever you're doing you're probably going to be looking for some good ways to chill out this summer, get away from the 9-5 stress and let loose.
Lucky for you, Baltimore has something going on every weekend, if not every day as far as arts and music goes. So brave the sweltering heat and enjoy these awesome adventures.

Full House Festival (May 18)
Finals have been over for four days, and you still have four more days until graduation so live it up with the Full House Festival at the Floristree.
Full House features 13 bands in one day (night?) including names like Cluster - a freaking awesome experimental group from Germany that has been making electropop since 1971 (insert your own jokes here) - noise rock-ish Blues Control, Eric Copland (no relation to Stuart) with his harmonic and ambient music, Daniel Higgs of Baltimore's own Lungfish and more (including Tickley Feather, Black Vatican and Ponce Rocket).
It is a phenomenal line-up and is only $15 in advance ($20 at the door).

Artscape (July 18-20)
Every year Baltimore brings some of the best musicians in the country (not to mention the area) to the city streets for a free festival. The festival hasn't posted its line-up for this year's weekend, but in the last two years they've brought Common, G Love and the Special Sauce, Lupe Fiasco, Keyshia Cole, Rhett Miller, the Isley Brothers, Los Lonely Boys and Peanut Butter Wolf.
The streets (mostly Mount Royal Avenue by MICA) are lined with local art vendors and don't forget to bring your wallet, because we are talking about fine art here.
Every year the line-up for Artscape gets more and more exciting. No matter what it is, it will be worth going to (also because it's free!). There is also the visual arts aspect of the weekend that is particularly exciting.
Last year there was one performer who had strapped himself to an acrobatic contraption that swung him above the street like an inverted pendulum. So cool. The year before a spontaneous breakdancing circle broke out during one of the DJ sets, and by the end of the hour there was a bigger crowd around the dancers than there was around the DJ.
If you plan on visiting Baltimore at any point this summer you should aim to attend this one, because it is outstandingly well organized.

Whartscape (July 18-20)
Whartscape is Wham City's freaky alternative to Artscape. It isn't free, but it sure isn't much (something like $5 per night, a steal for the amount of talent you get to see). Whartscape, usually held at the Floristree space, goes long into the night after the crowds have cleared out of Artscape.
Last year's Whartscape hosted a Who's Who of Baltimore music, and it's a list of people who you probably wouldn't be able to see for $5 this year. Dirty Philly rapper Spank Rock was there, as was local punk rock group the Death Set, Dan Deacon, Double Dagger, Video Hippos, xBxRx and plenty more.
You never really know what to expect with this crowd, but brace yourself because whatever does happen will probably be awesome. And sweaty.

Virgin Music Festival
Two years ago we wet our proverbial pants when we heard that our future husband, Richard Branson, was bringing his famed Virgin Fest to our very own Pimlico Race Course. Last year when we saw the Police and the Beastie Boys as their headliners we counted the days until we could buy our own tickets.
This year's round of V-Festers needs little introduction: Bob Dylan, Iggy and the Stooges, Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Chuck Berry, Gogol Bordello, the Go! Team, Lil Wayne, Stone Temple Pilots, the Offspring, Paramore, Cat Power and Bloc Party, to name a few.
For some reason the second day seems to be weighted a little heavier this year than it was last year (perhaps there were poor ticket sales on the second day last year) which is both good and bad. It's good because it's a greater incentive for us to try and tolerate the unbearable heat that kept us away from the second day last year.
But it also means that if any of these musicians are booked on different stages at the same time, we'd be forced to choose. And we're really not sure we want to deal with the moral warfare of having to pick Kanye over Dylan.
No matter why you are in Baltimore there is no reason to complain that there is nothing to do because these are only four events of many scheduled for the approaching summer months.