Burning Mom, Victoria Legrand, Miami vs. Baltimore, and other things I learned my first two weeks writing about nightlife
It was early September, and I had come to the Annex Theater for a party called Burning Mom, named after the tired hippie extravaganza Burning Man.
At 2 a.m., the party was my penultimate stop of the night. Ah, the life of the nightlife writer. When I got there, the somewhat dilapidated building was flanked by no less than five police cars, with cops completing reports on the party they had just broken up.
A few hundred people had all come to watch super under-the-radar local acts like Dazzlestorm, Talk to Animals and Gravebangers at an event thrown by a small nonprofit theater.
In Miami, where I moved from, this would have been unthinkable. In my two weeks exploring Baltimore's nightlife, I've learned that residents have no aspirations to be a sixth New York City borough like Philadelphia, or a hipster bug zapper like Brooklyn.
The rest of my first nightlife column is here.
Photo: Algerina Perna, Baltimore Sun
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
you are already miles away better than sessa. welcome. glad you're here.
Posted by: incunabulum | October 1, 2010 10:51 AM
Glad you like it here so far, it's interesting to hear a newcomer's perspective on our little city
Posted by: KGM80 | October 1, 2010 11:00 AM
"Something like this wouldn't happen in New York," he said. "An apartment like this couldn't happen in New York."
This is totally false. There are plenty of places like this in NY.
Posted by: Josh | October 1, 2010 11:15 AM
good stuff...there's much more where that came from in this city. the gems i continue to stumble on after 9 years of thorough exploration never cease to amaze me.
Posted by: ryan97ou | October 1, 2010 11:28 AM
Josh-- I too question Mr Dazzlestorms comments about NYC. How in the hell can one get from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side in 15 mins? By airplane?
Erik- I enjoyed this story.
Posted by: Perkus Tooth | October 1, 2010 11:35 AM
Perkus Tooth, you're kidding, right? Brooklyn to the LES can take you only 5 minutes by subway if you're right over the East River.
And Erik, why take a shot at a "tired hippie extravaganza like Burning Man?" Have you ever been? Why is it tired? The people I know who go, and go again, consider it one of the most meaningful life experiences they've had.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 1, 2010 1:16 PM
I'd say you've had a dearth of "meaningful life experiences" if going to Burning Man ranks up there; things like holding your baby, or working through the death of a loved one, or traveling to a different country would likely be more meaningful to most people.
Of course, I guess even the hackneyed can seem meaningful when you're tripping your b***s off the entire time!
Posted by: BaltoSteve | October 1, 2010 1:47 PM
" tired hippie extravaganza Burning Man"
have you ever been? doubtful from that comment.
Posted by: Geoff | October 1, 2010 4:39 PM
Don't take the burning man jab too seriously. The author hasn't figured out how to attempt humor without needlessly insulting people. Either that he really does think of himself as super cool.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 1, 2010 9:09 PM
"Josh-- I too question Mr Dazzlestorms comments about NYC. How in the hell can one get from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side in 15 mins? By airplane?"
Perkus Tooth,
You must not be from NY. As a native, I can assure you, you can get from Brooklyn to LES in UNDER 15 min. If you are in Ft. Green, Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, you're only one stop away on either the F or A train.
Hell, it's only a 20 min walk. Brooklyn Bridge to Financial District or Manhattan Bridge to LES.
There's a bigger world than Baltimore out there, explore it.
Posted by: Mark Twain | October 2, 2010 8:19 AM
What is the bar in that photo?
Posted by: evan | October 4, 2010 11:14 PM
It's Club Charles
Posted by: Maza | October 4, 2010 11:21 PM