For what it's worth, the Bad Liquor Pond set at the 13th Floor (9/17/08) was a BMC show and they killed that ... Check the audio for the most unappreciated Baltimore band playing:
http://www.archive.org/details/blp2008-09-17

As a performer, I had a terrible experience as well. When I was booked to play at a venue, that shall remain nameless, I was under the impression that this conference was meant to spread new musical ideas, as well as help create exposure for up and coming talent.

I even watered down the selection to make it as digestible as possible for a mainstream crowd, but after 10 minutes, I was informed by the management that house was the only music that I should be playing. Now if I am not a house DJ, and was booked with the knowledge that I do not play house, what good would putting together a house set do for me?

After all, I was not getting paid, but excepting that this conference was a good opportunity for exposure. I know people say a dj has to "read The room", but what good would the exposure be if I'm doing something completely different then I am trying to break out with. Long story short, my set only lasted about a half an hour before they pushed the next DJ on. I felt like I was being exploited. That this was a way for somebody else to make money without having to pay the performers.

You can find pretty much the entire account of our BMC show @ Fletchers at Jeff "The Baltimore Taper" Mewbourn's blog: http://baltimore-taper.blogspot.com/

There are comments there from The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad, Lisa from the BMC, Evan from Fletchers, and Dal, the manager responsible for that evening's events. There's also a video of them shutting us down and kicking everyone out.

It was definitely not one of our top 10 show experiences. Lisa from The BMC is trying to work out a "make up show", but I haven't been given any solid details yet. I've also been communicating with Evan from Fletchers, and while he was very apologetic, I'm still waiting to see what actions will be taken to make sure other bands playing at Fletchers don't have to deal with this same situation in the future.

Ryan Graham
The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad

Questions, is why is this spread so thin over multiple days at multiple venues? Seems like a good first step would be ton concentrate the focus to a few venues on a few days close in proximity to each other. Sounds like they bit off more than they could chew.

I, too, had a terrible experience with the Baltimore Music Conference as a performer. Though the organizer seems nice and what not, her organizational skills are horrible. My band (HARLOT) found out the show we were to play Saturday night (9/20)at HourHaus studios was cancelled through a note left on the door! There was no phone call and claims of an e-mail sent the night before. Ms. Suit from BMC later told me she was unhappy that at the cost the soundmen were charging (which she apparently didn't bother to confirm until the night before the venue's first show) and they were having a problem with drawing people, largely because most of the city's better bands we know didn't want to be involved in any way in the BMC. Trust me, we asked them. She also tried to blame the communciation breakdown on the shooting at another BMC venue in Northeast...though, fact is, the HourHaus shows were cancelled no less than 7 hours prior to that sad incident. Unfortunately, for all parties, Harlot actually was anticipating a good crowd thanks to a good performance at HampdenFest the week before and had to scramble to inform friends/fans to save the gas money. The entire experience was a train wreck and highly unprofessional..even in a low-key scene. I would not encourage any band in Baltimore to ever participate this in future years. In the end, I'm actually somewhat glad Harlot did not play as we can now distance ourself from the entire thing and accurately say we weren't a part of it in the end. After all, we only wanted to do it because one of the venues doubles as our practice space (would've been the easiest load-in ever). At any rate, quoting one of the bar regulars at Joe Squared next door to HourHaus about BMC, "There's a reason why this thing has bomb for four straight years." It's sad and disappointing that a music conference for a music scene this good could come together so poorly.

Quick clarification: I didn't participate in the conference in any capacity, nor was I asked to, though I attended parts of it with a friend who was an invited speaker. I just covered it as a journalist.

It is with mixed feelings I too have as I read the way people see this event.
As is usually the case, those with complaints speak loud & those that are happy say nothing in a blog such as this.
I realize everyone had a different experience & many that had a positive one & enjoyed themselves have written me directly.. those comments can be found on our website - www.bmcon.org.
I'm not going to try to justify or give excuses on any of the above comments as I've spoken with some of those involved & realize they won't be happy no matter what the reasoning is behind what happened. I didn't even know about the DJ experience nor who that is so I can't address that one without more info.
Either way, there are explanations for all but the saddest one really boils down to people not getting behind this event and supporting it.
I've been doing this for 4 years now & it's been out of pocket each year for me & volunteers who do believe in it.
It's a labor of love.. for all of us.
Perhaps if all the people that want to make fun of it or complain about it offered to get on board & help with it, it could be the event that I still feel Baltimore needs to have to get the word out about our music.