Baltimore All Jazzed Up, Sort Of
For the entire weekend, the PAETEC Jazz Festival Baltimore was being held. Performances were scheduled for Thursday through Saturday. Stages were set all over Baltimore. The performers list was varied and impressive. I was unable to make any shows on Thursday and Friday. Fortunately, the performance I wanted to see was on Saturday - Rusted Root.
On Saturday morning, I awoke in Philadelphia. I spent the morning and early afternoon at 5th and Lombard. It is really interesting to sit in the living room and experience the city. It definitely has the fishbowl mentality, but it doesn't seem terribly intrusive. In the middle of the afternoon, Mark, Jen and I headed out toward Baltimore.
We got down to Baltimore around 4pm. Teresa was waiting for us to arrive. We planned on getting ready and walking over to Harbour East. We were blessed with the best day of the week. The sky was almost cloudless. The temperature was a comfortable 75ish. We couldn't ask for a better day to spend outside.
It was stupid of us to schedule a cab. The walk is just over thirty minutes. The cab never showed so, we started to walk. As soon as we started up Covington, Yassar and Katherine turned the corner. They joined our party, and we were off to the show.
The Harbour was bustling with activity. Naturally, the locals wanted to quickly walk through the crowd. Jen and Mark were intrigued, and they wanted to take in the atmosphere. We tend to forget the allure of the entire scene. We spent a few minutes taking pictures and gawking at the glory of the Inner Harbour.
We decided to make a pit-stop at James Joyce. Unfortunately, Teresa had forgotten her ID. Her and I took a cab back to the house to grab her drivers license. Yassar, Kathrine, Mark and Jen hung out at James Joyce. We were back in about a half an hour. I wish, we had visited this pub on a different day. Its decor is very traditional Irish Pub. I'd like to go back at some point. Mark and Jen finished their food, and we quickly walked to the show.
The venue was on an interesting piece of land. Its official name is Harbor Pointe. It is located in between the Inner Harbor East Marina and Fells Point. The land is completely covered in rocks and shells. It is very barren and open. The view is unmatched. From any place on the edge of the point, there are immaculate views of Baltimore. I hope the city converts the space into a public park. The stage was erected toward the end of the point. Due to the positioning, the backdrop of the stage was Baltimore's Inner Harbour. As the show was starting, the sun was setting through the lighting rig. It was an awesome sight.
Surrounding the stage were all types of vendors. There were a few food vendors and tons of drink vendors. I purchased a basket of chicken fingers and French Fries. What a fantastic dinner! Our beer of choice was Amstel Light. Everyone was full and happy. As we finished eating, I received a call from my sister. She just arrived with my cousin. I walked to the entrance to meet the two girls. I was very excited to see my cousin Laura. I haven't seen her in a few years. She spent part of last year studying in Spain. So lucky, huh? I great them both with large hugs. We joined the group and introductions were in order. After I introduced Laura to Teresa, the three girls chatted for sometime. I was boiling over with anticipation. Everyone had made the show and the music was about to begin.
As Rusted Root took the stage, we noticed a few differences. First, there was no Jenn! Michael did not mention a reason for her absence. Behind Liz, there was an electric guitar player. I have never seen this guy in the lineup. I was hoping the sound didn't radically change. I was not disappointed. However, the sound was too loud. We had walked within twenty feet of the stage. There was no need for that level of volume. Instead of continuing to hurt our ears, we walked back behind the soundboard. Because of the large open space around the stage, there was plenty of room to dance. Plus, our new location was still close enough to the stage for a great view.
The crowd was completely varied. The jazz fans were represented. There seemed to be a contingency of concert goers taking advantage of the free tickets. There were also obvious Rusted Root fans. Plenty of people dancing and singing alone to the words. To our left, a group brought hula-hoops. A few of the hulars had awesome talent! A few of the hulars were small children. The children were very generous with the hula-hoops and shared their toys with us. Jocelyn turned out to be an excellent hula-hooper. I gave it a shot, but wasn't very consistent. The only consistent aspect of my hula-hooping was the laughter at it.
I can't remember the entire setlist, but a few songs were embedded in my mind. The Cat Turned Blue > Superstition > The Cat Turned Blue was definitely sweet. The Drum Trip > Ecstasy was very nice. The Drum Trip lacked a girth, but enjoyable all the same. Welcome To My Party was full of energy. We danced our faces off the Martyr. Of course, show was ended with Send Me On My Way. Yassar had a funny pseudonym for this song, "Simeon Ride The Whale." How many different variations of this have we heard?
Well, that was a memorable experience. The location of the concert was impeccable. You couldn't ask for a better view of Baltimore coupled with a show. I was so excited our out-of-town guests got to attend this special event. Before we left the rock lot, we walked down to the water for a better view of the skyline. You'd think, we would finish the night, but it was "time to check into the hotel."
What does this mean? It was time for the Watefront Hotel. Because of our current location, it was a quick walk down Thames to our favorite live music bar. Like normal, the stay did not disappoint. I did not catch the name of the band, but they played a ton of Weezer. If I remember correctly, there might have been some talking heads. The opening set was a ton of fun. All the girls captivated the bar with dancing antics. It was a fantastic time. We didn't stay until close, but it had been a long day. Before grabbing a cab across town, we did eat some BOP. Tasty.
I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable afternoon and evening. The weather was stellar. Harbour Pointe should host more concerts. What a sweet location for a show! Rusted Root jammed out and drove me to hula-hooping. How great is that? The best after party for a concert is the Waterfront. I am glad to have spent this day with good friends and close family. No complaints. I hope each Baltimore Jazz festival is this fun. Even though there might not be any jazz!
