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I have a question, and I'd like an answer.
I saw tons of concerts in college.
On the day of the show, my friends and I would never, ever play the music of the band we were going to see that night.
I'm not sure whether they thought if you played the band's music the day of the show then the show itself would be bad or if it was as toolish as wearing the band's T-shirt to the show.
But I'm curious. Have any of you ever heard of this before?
(AP Photo)
And now, it's time for Fab Five Friday: Destination Dundalk.
Oh, yes indeed.
Using a mix of your recommendations and my own personal prowess, I have compiled the five best bars in Dundalk.
Let me preface this list by saying that no FFF is the end-all be-all of anything. So don't take this too seriously, folks.
But I'm always down for a good debate.
So here goes ...
1. Dicks Famous Dock Bar (pictured). 601 Wise Ave., Dundalk
Nestled down where a windy road meets the water, Dick's is undeniably my favorite Dundalk bar. Growing up, I worked at marinas and have always enjoyed crazy boaters. And what better place to study the Art of the Hawaiian Shirt than on a colorfully painted wooden dock bar with a live band playing?
2. Hops Inn, 7002 Railway Drive, Dundalk
Pitchers of Michelob Amberbock are only $6, most of the male patrons have facial hair, and black-and-white portraits of every president since George Washington hang on the wood-paneled walls. Awesome.
3. Howard's, 7312 Holabird Ave.
I don't like the new paint job, but Howard's continues to dominate Dundalk's nightlife scene -- and for good reason. The bartenders are quite pleasant and the patrons can party.
4. Pops Tavern, 4343 North Point Blvd.
Give me live country or give me death!
5. Costa's Inn, 4100 North Point Blvd.
As TotalVicky says: They have karaoke + beer, which = retirees from Bethlehem Steele with hard-core Bawlmer accents reminscing about the Colts and singing frank Sinatra :-) For that reason alone ... if they qualify as a bar then they get my vote. And the crabs ain't too bad either, hon :-)
(Photo courtesy of Dicks)
The Non-Commvention in Philadelphia kicked off this morning with a performance by country folk act the Watson Twins (pictured).
The twins, Chandra and Leigh, toured and performed with Jenny Lewis in 2006. Their debut album on Vanguard drops June 24, and they played some tracks from it on the World Cafe Live stage.
The songs weren't bad, either. You couldn't ask for better harmonies, and the twins have a captivating stage presence. A cover of "Just Like Heaven" (also on the album) was an unexpected treat.
Phily Roy was up next, and delivered some tight acoustic funk from his new CD, as well as "Hope in a Hopeless World," a song Widespread Panic covers.
Jackie Greene and Wild Sweet Orange play later this afternoon, and I can't wait for Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings tonight.
(Photo by Pamela Littky)
Tonight, Mosaic in Power Plant Live will once again host Hard Candy, the new weekly gay night with DJ Ultra Nate.
I talked to a guy who went last week and had a smashing time.
The Cloud Nine set poured into Power Plant Live to flirt with the muscle-bound bartenders and soak in Mosaic's Miami vibe, he said.
His only complaints: The crowd got straighter and straighter as the night went on.
And the event was not well-marked. They need to start hanging some rainbow flags outside Mosaic on Thursdays, he said.
Otherwise, he and his friends had fun.
(Photo of a Mosaic martini from Sun archives)
For the next few days, I'll be live blogging from the Non-Commventon up in Philly.
What's Non-Comm, you say? Funny you should ask.
Every year, folks from triple-a radio stations like WTMD and WXPN get together with industry types to talk about emerging artists.
There are live showcases, interviews and meet and greets.
Here are some posts from last year's convention.
This year, I'll be seeing some performances from people like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Jakob Dylan (pictured), The Watson Twins and a dozen more.
Of course, I'll also keep doing normal nightlife stuff like Fab Five Friday.
Are you ready? I know I am. Bring it on!
(Photo by Getty Images)
Got this email from Gin Mill owner Luke Reeder (pictured on left) ...
Just wanted to let you know the Gin Mill is open again for business and looks just as good as it did in 97 when we first opened the doors after operating the Boston St Cafe from '90 to '96.
Hope you can make it in to try one of our Classic Cocktails offered on the menu and maybe try some of our newest culinary delights. We are open seven days and evenings again like in the past and the building has been renovated from top to bottom.
Also please check out our extensive new wine list that suits all who enter. You may purchase bottles to go or order in and pick up later.
The bar is at 2300 Boston St.
I'm out of town for the next few days, so if anyone goes before I do, let me know what you think of the renovations.
Baltimore Unsigned held its first live taping at The 8x10 Monday afternoon.
Fools and Horses were the guest, and about 200 people showed up to see the local rock band run through some songs from Pop Filter and their new album, tentatively titled I Am the Ghost.
A lot of good news has come out of the Fools and Horses camp lately.
They're playing Summerfest (the world's largest music festival, taking place for 11 days in Milwaukee) in late June. I've heard they were also voted onto an emerging artist compilation CD the festival is releasing.
(Photo by Courtney Block/Block Design & Photography)
Forty Acres, the local rock band fronted by John Allen, changed its name to Chosen Son and signed to Eleven Seven Music last week.
Eleven Seven, a record label run by Nikki Sixx, currently represents Buckcherry and Drowning Pool, among others.
To celebrate, Chosen Son is throwing a party Friday at the Black Hole Rock Club (216 German Hill Road in Dundalk).
Congrats, John!
(Photo courtesy of John Allen)
Now that I've gotten a taste of Dundalk courtesy of JMGiordano, I'd like to make this week's Fab Five Friday the five best bars in Dundalk.
We went to five alone Saturday night. Of the five, two or three were hits, and the other couple were misses.
But I want to hear from you guys.
What are the best places to go drinking in Dundalk?
(Photo by Lloyd Fox/Sun Photographer)
And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to share your weekend stories.
I'll start with my action-packed weekend ...
Friday, I drove up to Philly to see my favorite band from college, The New Deal (pictured).
They're a live instrumental house/electronica band from Toronto, and they played a sick midnight show at the Theatre of the Living Arts on South Street.
Also, quite randomly, I ran into Evan Weinsten from Steez Promo (who I've never met before in person) at an after party.
Saturday JMGiordano took me and Andy Shankman of Gutter Magazine on a Dundalk bar tour. More on that later.
Yesterday, I hosted Baltimore Unsigned's first live taping from The 8x10. I'll get to that in a bit.
Afterward, I went to a friend's bbq and randomly met MS poster Evan for the first time.
How was your weekend? Do anything crazy?
New York Magazine did a piece on discovering Baltimore, and Midnight Sun was one of the referred links at the end of it.
Thanks, NY Mag!
Dig this: A Japanese company called Taisin has developed a machine which makes perfectly round balls of ice, according to CScout Japan.
The idea is, since round ice has less surface space, it melts slower than regular square ice.
I think it's awesomely ridiculous.
I mean, how can you make the perfect drink without perfectly round ice?
Bam! I think my head just exploded.
This reminds me of the "hot ice" scene from Rookie of the Year. It's at the 1:55 minute mark on this video.
(Photo from CScout Japan)
Has anyone been to the upstairs bar at the Upper Deck (34 S. Eutaw St.) recently?
I heard it was renovated but haven't been there in a year or two.
About a year or two ago, I used to walk by there a fair amount, and there were always at least one or two homeless people lounging on the sidewalk outside.
You'd practically trip over them to get into the place. I hope that's changed since then.
Here's an odd aside: The Stalking Horse (36 E. Cross St.) is now advertising itself as a vodka bar.
I called manager Marc McFaul, who said they stock more than 50 different brands of vodka.
He sees Stalking Horse as more of a martini bar than a scotch haven like Ropewalk, and thought having so many kinds of vodka would be a good conversation piece.
"Vodka's very popular and I thought it fits more with the place," he said.
And, they invested in a cotton candy machine, which means they can make vodka-infused cotton candy.
(Photo by Algerina Perna/Sun Photographer)
Mutts blogger John Woestendiek brought me this true tale about a ghastly beheading at the Garden Lounge in the days of yore ...
Days of yore = 1962, before owner Judy Melton and her husband took over.
According to Melton, a fire truck was barreling south down Light Street and tried to turn left onto Fort Avenue.
The truck swung wide and ran into the Garden Lounge, busting through the front of the building. That wasn't too bad.
But then a second truck slammed into the first one, pushing it farther into the store.
One of the former owners, Rose, was standing at the cash register when all this happened, and the truck beheaded her.
I rummaged through Sun archives yesterday looking for any clips about the tragedy. And though I'm assuming we wrote about it, I couldn't find any to confirm Melton's story.
But Melton has a picture of the firetruck stuck in the building, which she showed to Woestendiek a couple days ago.What a crazy story.
A new after hours club called Lunar is set to open in South Baltimore later this month.
It occupies a warehouse at 1800 Worcester St., which was formerly used as an illegal gambling site, according to one of the co-owners.
Here's a link to the venue's MySpace site.
As you see on the flyer (pictured), Lunar will be open from midnight to 6 a.m.
It will not serve alcohol -- only sodas and energy drinks, said Rick, one of the co-owners. (He didn't want to give his last name.)
Lunar will have free parking for about 300 cars, and off-duty police officers will work outside to help keep things orderly, Rick said.
The club is about 9,000 square feet, which means the dance floor is roughly 10 times the size of Club 1722's dance floor.
"It's a very comfortable environment," he said. "We want to provide a fun, safe place for people."
In hindsight, I probably should have broken down this week's Fab Five Friday: Best Bars of the 'Burbs' into three or four FFFs by county.
But here at Midnight Sun, we've never played by the rules.
So, using your ideas, I compiled the five best suburban bars in Greater Baltimore.
Ready?
Here goes ...
1. Shark's Tooth Bar and Grill, 6-10 Crain Highway, Glen Burnie
From TotalVicky: They literally have a shark's head coming out of the front of the building. Much like its counterparts inside the city limits further north up route 2 (your neck of the woods) you will always find an eclectic crowd ranging from toothless old men to Towson State students. Its a funny spot to visit.
2. Della Rose's, 8153 Honeygo Blvd., White Marsh (pictured)
From David Sturgill: The best place to watch the ravens or terps (Tony Dellarose himself on the bar with his speeches).
3. Pub Dog, 8865 Stanford Blvd., Columbia
Yes, the Dog Pub in Federal Hill has been retired from FFF lists. But I can still rank its sister location in Columbia. Sneaky, huh? Besides, it's one of the only non-chain bars in Columbia.
4. Padonia Station, 63 E. Padonia Road, Timonium
5. The Charred Rib, 12 W. Ridgley Road, Lutherville
According to Allan: If you're up towards Cockeysville/Timonium, then the Chared Rib is your best bet. ... Also, if it's a pay Friday, you might as well get sauced, sing karaoke and eat a rack of amazing ribs at the Chared Rib. You really can't beat it.
(Photo by Algerina Perna/Sun Photographer)
Tonight, Mosaic (4 Market Place in Power Plant Live) kicks off a new Thursday night gay dance party called Hard Candy.
The slogan: "A weekly party for guys who like it sweet and hard."
Scandal!
Ultra Nate is performing, and Ryan Patrick, David Cole and Harry Alascio are hosting.
I could be wrong, but I think this will be Power Plant Live's first weekly gay party.
If you go, let me know how it is.
There's no time posted on the flyer, but I'm assuming it starts somewhere around 9 or 10 p.m.
Memories were made last night.
As promised, I, Sam Sessa, downed my very first Southside -- just before the stroke of midnight.
Why so late?
It took me that long just to find the right liquor to put in George Lee's famous mix.
We were out of normal rum and club soda.
And we were out of amaretto, which is what Roommate Patchen usually puts in his.
So, as a last resort, I dug up a bottle of Bacardi 151 and added a shot of that, three or four shots of mix and ice.
Then I took a sip ...
It was awesome.
Deeeelicious.
It looked like muddy water and tasted like a cool breeze on a hot summer day.
Heh.
Seriously though, I was surprised at how complex it tasted.
There's a slightly sour, citrus tang from the lime, a rolling minty sweetness and a rum kicker. It really worked my palette (do tongues sweat?).
I'd buy more of the mix if it weren't a whopping $20 per quart.
Ouch!
But lemme tell ya, if Patchen brings more of the mix around, I'm going to shark some for myself.
(Photos by me)
Ever wonder what happened to the Presidents of the United States of America?
I didn't, until yesterday, when a friend sent me an mp3 of their new song "Bad Times."
You might remember the Pres. of the USA from their hit single "Peaches" ...
What have they been up to since then? Beats me.
In the appropriately named "Bad Times," the narrator wishes his significant other had had more bad times so he could have been there for him/her.
But I didn't exactly have a good time listening to the song.
Here's a link to their MySpace site where you can hear it for yourself.
A while back, local jazz bassist Slim Manicotti sent out an email blast.
In it, he casually mentioned the time he met Jimi Hendrix.
Yesterday, I emailed him back and asked him to tell me the story.
Here it is ...
From Slim:
In May, 1969, I was first in line at the Hendrix concert at the Baltimore Civic Center. I told my friend (Jeff Thorsell, the light guy for my band) that I was walking right on stage. I did, he followed.
I went backstage and Mitch Mitchell asked me to hold a flashlight while he fixed his bass drum pedal. Then, I went to one side of the stage, and my friend went to the other.
I was watching the opening band, Cactus, when I felt a nudge on my shoulder. It was Jimi Hendrix. He mentioned that he thought the guitar player with Cactus was good. We stood side by side, watching Cactus for a while. Hendrix did most of the talking.
Then Cactus finished their set, and Hendrix came out. I watched the whole show from side, backstage.
Incredible.
I think it was around that point that I gave up guitar and took up the bass.
And the next week I went to Merriweather and saw Led Zeppelin open up for The Who.
I was on my way...
(AP Photo)
