Whartscape: Day ONE (Friday)
(for photos scroll to the end)
At the BMA on Friday, one stage was set up on either side of the BMA’s front steps. Mega Passes and merchandise – which included music, books and t-shirts (some pretty stellar Michael Jackson prints) – were located at the top.
Only 300 of the Mega Passes – which guaranteed access into every show – were available and they sold out in the first week of sales. Day passes were also sold for Saturday and Sunday but they didn’t have the ultimate power to guarantee entrance into the night time events.
In any case, Friday’s events were free. Among the familiar faces of Baltimore’s scene and the festival’s attendees, were children with book bags, locals, and students from Johns Hopkins University – which was just down the street from the museum.
Acts were scheduled back to back. Andy Abelow started things off at the A stage to the left of the stairs and Lonnie walker followed at the B stage. Between performers, everyone wandered from stage to stage and the size of the crowd grew through the day. There was plenty of room for everyone to sit comfortably on the stacks that were the BMA’s stairs or in the shade of the small, tree-covered plots by each stage.
Performances were short and changed smoothly. During the day’s only noticeable delay, Mason Ross – a comedian – provided an awkward but entertaining routine to stall.
Lonnie Walker’s pop-rock, Noble Lake’s acoustic country-blues-type songs and Wye Oak’s chilled-out, indie rock tunes were perfect for launching into festival mode.
The evening was a treat – a fancy night. As was printed on the schedule, “We recommend that you please dress and act fancy.” Plays, films, poetry and some experimental music created by community members and friends were featured inside the museum’s auditorium.
Letters, a play written and performed by Adam Endres and Connor Kizer, was a hilarious interaction – starting with a rejection letter – between the publisher of a literary journal and a deranged writer who seeks “only judgment” for his work. Films by Jimmy Joe Roche made you laugh and knocked at least one of your brain cells loose. Alexis Gideon impressed by playing guitar and keyboards to accompany his own animations.