I've never put as little preparation into anything as I did going to Whartscape 2010. I was recommended the festival on Last.fm, saw Arab on Radar on the top of the line-up, and bought a megapass the day they went on sale. Nevermind that I had work Thursday and Friday, or that I would be turning 21 on the last day, or that I didn't know anyone who would be going or could be convinced to go--it was happening no matter what.I guilt-tripped my friend Mandy, a high school friend I hadn't talked to in several years, into coming with me at the last minute. She had fifty bucks to blow and my musical recommendations were generally up her alley, so she figured why not. I had several vague offers to crash at apartments in Baltimore, but overall wasn't entirely convinced I wouldn't be sleeping out on the street. I had no idea where this place was, what exactly Wham City was, or if there would be any kind of accommodations. We just kinda showed up.
After paying $6 for parking (an absolute steal considering I paid $20 to park at the 9:30 Club just a week before), we made our way to the address listed on the Wham City site, only to find a few buildings and absolutely nothing that hinted a large underground music festival was nearby. What we did find was random strips of colored duct tape pointing us down the sidewalk. So we followed that, eventually running into the guy putting the tape down, apparently to lead people from the main outdoor site to the afterparty. He was gracious enough to point us in the right direction, and half a block from where we started, a construction paper sign reading "Whartscape this way" lead us to the entrance.
We arrived at Whartscape at 11:30 am, half an hour before the scheduled opening. A wall of barbed wire fencing covered in children's sheets, ranging from Winnie the Pooh to nursery rhyme graphics, marked a huge square in between two very Baltimore-esque burnt out buildings. There were small groups of people waiting to get in, though no line had even begun to form. From outside we could see various gazebos and stands, with two stages covered in large tarps being setup by a frantic group of volunteers.
We took a seat on the glass and gravel-laced ground beside an abandoned building covered in street art, where we would remain until roughly 2:30 pm. In that time, our location eventually turned into our place in a line that stretched around the block. The crowd that trickled in was unabashedly hip and trendy beyond belief. Everyone fit into one of about a half-dozen images: the Dan Deacon beard-glasses-tacky 80s shirt look, the bandanna-glasses-tight pants look, the shorts-shoes-high socks-gym t-shirt-looks like I don't care but I totally do look, and so on. It was a crowd of people from the same scene trying to conform to the looks of the cool kids while still incorporating some random element of their look that still preserved their individuality. That guy's wearing thick-rimmed glasses, an Orioles hat with the brim flipped up, AND red pants?? What a trendsetter!
When we got inside, the format for the event became instantly clear: one band played one stage, while another band setup on the unused one. One band stopped, another went on almost instantly. And it worked brilliantly all weekend. You almost never had to wait for bands to setup, unless you were staying at one stage while the band you wanted to see got ready. You saw one band, walked ten feet over to the other stage, and instantly heard another band. When you got tired or hungry, you could go to the food booths or sit down at the far end of the lot, where you had clear view of both stages. The main stage sat across the lot from the entrance, while the second stage sat in the entrance to an alley. The main stage offered a better chance at getting close to the band, while the alley stage had a glorious crossbreeze that was well-needed all weekend.
Did I mention that it was hot? Because it was really, really fucking hot. Friday and Saturday were at or above 100 degrees, with Saturday's forecast calling for a heat index of 110. It was the talk of nearly everyone at the festival, observers and bands alike. (All except for Arab on Radar's lead singer, who stated quite bluntly "I'm not gonna talk about the fucking heat.") Thankfully, the crowd managed to stay hydrated all weekend, thanks in large part to an open policy regarding bringing in water bottles and an open hose to refill them. All in all, it only became an issue when you started bouncing around in a large crowd. Dan Deacon's set was goddamn unbearable because of it.
Friday and Saturday went without real issue. Great bands, great performances, and aside from some ticket trouble that Dan Deacon solved because he's awesome, everything was fine. Sunday was a completely different story.
The day began ominously when the first band of the room, In Every Room, had their gear knocked off the stage after the tarp came unhooked from the left wall. It was seemingly minor problem, however, as they got the tarp re-tethered and bands kept going on to about 3 pm. Then all hell broke loose.
A storm was seen moving toward the site, leading vendors to stop selling and lock down all their stuff, but it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Maybe some rain, but it wouldn't be a big deal.
Then the storm hit.
The wind whipped through the lot and damn near destroyed the place. Vendors held down gazebos to keep them from flying away. Papers and random items went flying. The tarp over the main stage caught a huge gust of air and completely tore down from from the left and back, shredding the tarp and covering the stage, knocking over all equipment setup. Random people scrambled to grab the tarp and hold it down while staff rushed to setup a ladder to detach it from the right building. A worker over the PA asked for any locals to bring tarps from home, offering full refunds for their help.
Then the storm picked up once more, moving into full-blown monsoon levels, bringing down the alley tarp as well, which was destroyed in the crossbreezes that had blessed the stage all weekend. Volunteers and onlookers alike once again scrambled to hold down the tarp. As both stages were tended to, rain began to pour, completely drenching stages, equipment, people, everything in its path. Gazebos covering electrical gear and soundboards were brought to the ground to prevent damage. People ran for cover under food gazebos, fallen tarps, buildingsides, umbrellas, anything they could find. A second tarp was outstretched to cover the main stage, while the alley stage was covered in people simply trying to hold the tarp in place and save any equipment beneath it. In minutes, the third day of the festival was brought to a grinding halt.
In the midst of the chaos was Dan Deacon, the heralded local electronic artist who headed the Wham City collective and masterminded Whartscape itself. He wasn't simply curating this event from his mighty hipster throne--this man was everywhere at once all weekend, fixing ticketing, sound, electronics, crowds, stage setups, everything. When the storm hit, he came dashing through the rain to unfold tarps and ensure all-out madness was stopped.
When the stages were properly covered and accounted for, there was still the rain to be dealt with, which kept falling until roughly 4:30 pm. It was a cold rain, sending the majority of the crowd running for cover, but there was the select few of us crazies who stuck around to enjoy it. And we had a blast.
One couple recited a Shakespearean dialogue and danced through the rain reenacting their scene, garnering applause which, I can honestly say, I started. I felt good about that one. Then there was the sun dance, started by a few brave, unorthodox souls. A circle of about a dozen people formed in the middle of the lot, and repeated cries of "SUN" and "CLOUDS BE GONE" were chanted with an air of pure lunacy. Incredibly, it seemed to be working, with brief glimpses of sunlight peeking through the clouds Then, in a moment of pure genius, a member of Little Howlin' Wolf jumped into the circle, screaming "RAIN" at everyone chanting. And the rain began to fall harder than ever before. So he won.
Around 4, the Wham City staff started letting people into the Current building, where we sat around in collective cold, wet misery. Dan Deacon came out and announced that there would be no more outdoor shows today (not that he needed to), and promised to do his best the reschedule festival without canceling any of the bands. He told us to come back at 4:15 for further news, which was pushed back to about 6, when he announced that the remaining shows would be scheduled for 6 pm at Sonar. With that news, we rushed to get to Sonar.
The line wrapped almost entirely around the building, but eventually we got in. The remaining bands played as promised, with the exception of Beach House, who was reportedly cut off after four songs, and I got to drink on my birthday after all, so everything worked out splendidly in the end. Woo!
Oh yeah, the bands. They were great. All of them. Some were lightyears away from others, but I don't think I saw anyone I would consider "bad." It was all enjoyable to a tremendous degree. It wouldn't make sense to go through all 150+ scheduled bands, since I didn't get to see them all anyway, so I'll give you my top 15 instead. It was kinda hard to keep up with all of the bands, since half of them didn't give their names and the schedule was very inexact, so bare with me. Chances are I saw some truly amazing bands that I simply can't recognize from the lineup now.
15. Plural MC - White dreadlocked rapper. Enough said. He absolutely killed, in that "oh wow he's actually serious" kind of way. Once you stopped laughing it was incredibly entertaining.
14. Javelin - Dance pop with a bit of an edge. Apparently they're a pretty big deal around Baltimore, which I get. It was insanely catchy and great to watch. No complaints at all.
13. Needle Gun - Man I loved this band. My friend tells me I was the only one. As in people openly sat down and walked away from the stage while they played. They played dangerously truthful post-punk, complete with two different noisemakers, an off-beat bass, random drumming, and sections involving kazoos and recorders played directly into microphones and laced with feedback. It was a bunch of kids who had listened to PiL and This Heat and wanted to do something about it.
12. Scottie B - Straightforward Baltimore DJ, but goddamn was he good. He announced a dance contest offering $200 to the winner (probably false, though I'm not actually sure), which turned the entire crowd into a dance party. At one point he sampled "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and a legitimate mosh pit formed. One of the most fun performances by far.
11. In Every Room - What Animal Collective could be if they didn't suck so bad. The heavy keyboard use and dream-like chants and vocals bring AC to mind in a big way, but they have what AC lacks: a backbone. The bass work was incredible, and the sparse tom drumming fit in perfectly. Very young band that could easily go somewhere.
10. DJ Dog Dick - This guy was visibly insane, or at the very least had a loose grasp on society. He played extremely raw electronic dance with heavy noise throughout, accentuated with his tortured screams and unsettling vocals. It was loud, very very loud, and I loved every painful second of it.
9. Dope Body - On paper, this is a band that shouldn't have worked. Lead singer trying to be ATDI-era Cedric, guitarist with denser effects than Kevin Shields, and a drummer just trying to keep up. But it worked amazingly. The guitar and drums work at times reminded me of Lightning Bolt in terms of sheer tightness and flow. The singer was a madman who brought you right to the edge with him.
8. We Used to Be Family - Electronic cello is the first thing that comes to mind looking back at this band. Which was awesome, don't get me wrong, but they were so much more than that. The only thing I can come up with is electrified roots rock. Nearly all their instrument usage was unorthodox, but it didn't matter. The cello and violin work blended flawlessly into a sound so unique I'm struggling to even describe it. Look them up.
7. Thank You - I loved this band, a lot. One part Arab on Radar guitar noise, one part Holy Fuck keyboard drone, combined with a constant thundering drum line. Incredibly polished live sound, every song knocked me off my ass. Definitely looking for their next show.
6. Child Bite - I'm not sure why these guys aren't famous. Noisy punk rock somewhere between At the Drive-In and Murder City Devils. Insane live show, just energy bouncing off every member in every direction until the audience just feeds off it. Also at one point the lead singer uses a joystick to make music.
5. Wye Oak - This is one of my new favorite bands. Just a drummer/keyboardist and a guitarist/vocalist. The guitarwork is incredible, moving from shred to shoegaze droning tones in a heartbeat, the keyboards and drums work flawlessly considering one person is playing them both at the same time, and overall they sound like a band twice their size. Just incredibly enjoyable stuff.
4. Double Dagger - Okay, honesty time. I was not in a good place chemically when this band came on. I pushed my way to the front of the stage because I thought they were Arab on Radar. (They didn't go on for several more hours.) Incredibly loud post-punk with just a bass/drums band, but the bass is so fucking loud that they sound like a full band. The lead singer is a genius, the prodigal son of Iggy Pop in nerd form. He crawled across the stage bellowing into his microphone, interacting with the audience the entire time, jumping into the crowd on several occasions, where he got shoved and roughed up right along with everyone else. Just great, great stuff.
3. Dan Deacon Ensemble - The most purely enjoyable show I've ever seen in my life. The music is pure electronic bliss, raised by Deacon from the ground up until the band explodes into incredible climaxes that have the entire crowd moving as one. The crowd interactions weren't as great as I had imagined, but they were still fun. At one point the crowd divided in two and people were sent dancing down the middle, while another song had people on one knee imitating somebody in the middle of the crowd. Pure fun.
2. Health - Health is an incredible live band, period. I've written about them fairly extensively, so look up that post for a description I'm probably not going to top here. They were slightly less impressive than when I saw them in Dublin, but the crowd was infinitely better, really moving and shoving and jumping and getting into the music. They sound amazing, they look amazing, but their set was only four or five songs long, probably due to Celebration playing a huge set and Beach House following them. Beach House was cut off four songs into their set, which hints that time issues pushed Health to finish early. They sure didn't look happy about it.
1. Arab on Radar - The hype is real, a million times over. I was looking forward to seeing this band more than I've ever wanted to see anybody live, ever. I readied myself for disappointment but was completely blown away. The sound is perfect. The guitars are in perfect sync with one another. The drummer just blasts away the entire time. The singer is a demented lost Stooge, fucking insane and glaring and bobbing around stage with his face contorted in a puffed out smirk, his vocals crying out over the guitars and seemingly taunting you with their sarcasm and fearlessness. It's like watching four schizophrenics play perfect noise rock. (There wasn't a bassist--according to Wikipedia they haven't had one since 1999.) I will have images of each of these men ingrained in my soul forever. Nothing compares to being up against the stage watching them play. Absolutely nothing.
Notable Omissions:
1. No Age - We skipped them to get better spots for Arab on Radar. They sounded decent enough, but I didn't see them.
2. Lightning Bolt - I was extremely excited to see these guys. The bass apparently had serious electronics problems, since it took them 15-20 minutes to get started, but we couldn't tell, because it was so unbearably loud it smothered out any minute effects issues. I know it sounds stupid to say Lightning Bolt was too loud, but they were. We were about halfway into the crowd, and I wouldn't have went any closer without earplugs. And I'm a seasoned concertgoer who's lost plenty of hearing over the years. When the bass was working, it overpowered the drums 90% of the time--only the snare was loud enough to punch through it. We left after the third or fourth stoppage to fix bass issues, so they may have fixed it and had a great show, but I didn't see it. There was no way they were gonna compare to Arab on Radar anyway. Plus I was turning 21 in a few hours. Priorities.
3. Beach House - We stayed for half a song, but they sounded like crap so we left. Apparently we ended up seeing about 1/8th of their set anyway. We were bitter as hell because Health was cut so short, and when the fire department showed up, we started praying that they cut the show short, which they did. So that made me happy. Also from what I've heard, they're really not that special live, so who cares in the end.
4. Xiu Xiu - He apparently canceled at the last minute. Major bummer.
5. Lil B - He was so godawful I can't wholeheartedly describe what he gave as a performance. Not really a 'notable omission,' just wanted to point that out in case this guy actually gets famous--he fucking sucks live.
Edit: Fun fact--I'm in that top picture. And no, I'm not the guy screaming at Eric. That guy was a complete dick. The pictures below this are all mine, horribly unprofessional and posted an eternity after the actual event. Still cool though.
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