Baltimore- Sound in the Round
Music is everywhere in this city... especially when the CMJ Music Festival is in Town.
The first music event that I went to was something called Baltimore- Sound in the Round.
If you’ve ever wondered how exactly a do-it-yourself scene gets built, look to Baltimore’s hyperactive electro maestro Dan Deacon and the Wham City collective. Since moving to Baltimore five years ago, Deacon has not only worked tirelessly to cultivate a thriving DIY community by hosting events with Wham City in his adopted city, but he's also toured relentlessly as a solo musician and talked endlessly on the road about Baltimore and the explosion of its creative culture.
Now, he and a slew of Baltimoreans have embarked on an ambitious “Baltimore Round Robin” tour and are spreading the word about their thriving homegrown scene along the way. More than 20 of the city’s underground acts including Beach House, Adventure, The Death Set, Videohippos and Jana Hunter have banded together for two weeks of sharing what their fair city—too often written off as a backwater soundstage for John Waters films— has spawned in an unusual communal configuration.
It was held at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Bleeker St and was $15 for 2 nights. Pretty much the audience stands in the middle of the room and one by one each band plays a song on different stages around you. Awesome. All you had to do was turn around after each song and a new band would start up with a different song! Genius!
Some of the bands on the first night that really grabbed my attention were -
and of course the always wonderful,
Jump on Myspace and have a listen. You will be pleasantly surprised!
(I didnt make it to the second night cause I was too tired and slept. The show didnt start till after midnight and the jetlag battle was enough to deal with!)
WaHS!
