Baltimore's concert and music festival scene (2013, theatre, live)

[ddiva]

Am I the only one who thinks that more artists should do shows in Baltimore instead of skipping the area and just going to DC? I simply do not understand why Baltimore gets skipped by a lot of great artists. I love attending shows in Baltimore but it seems like tour managers think that this city is beneath them or something.

I'm also wondering why this city doesn't have festivals like SXSW and Coachella. At those two festivals, artists from several different music genres perform. In Baltimore, R&B/hip-hop artists have their own festival and then rock artists will have theirs. It should NOT be like that.

[ay jayy]

baltimore doesn't have an arena that can host top artists. The first mariner arena is garbage.

Merriwether hosts some festivals.

[ddiva]

Originally Posted by ay jayy

baltimore doesn't have an arena that can host top artists. The first mariner arena is garbage.

Merriwether hosts some festivals.

I'm not only referring to artists that do shows in large arenas. I wish that smaller venues like Ram's Head Live and Baltimore Soundstage could get some of the awesome acts that the 9:30 club and Howard Theatre (both in DC) could get.

I really wish that I could get some contact info for some concert promoters here in Baltimore (especially IMP) so that I can contact them and give them some input.

[Gil3]

Originally Posted by ddiva

Am I the only one who thinks that more artists should do shows in Baltimore instead of skipping the area and just going to DC? I simply do not understand why Baltimore gets skipped by a lot of great artists. I love attending shows in Baltimore but it seems like tour managers think that this city is beneath them or something.

I'm also wondering why this city doesn't have festivals like SXSW and Coachella. At those two festivals, artists from several different music genres perform. In Baltimore, R&B/hip-hop artists have their own festival and then rock artists will have theirs. It should NOT be like that.

IMO, artists are simply going to go to the market where they will generate more money, period. They probably assume since Baltimore is less than an hour away, people can come to DC. Just my thoughts.

[Infinite_heights77]

Let's cut the BS!

The city is too violent to have decent entertainment in almost any genre outside of Classical music.

[PhenomenalAJ]

Baltimore has a far better local music scene than DC; I consider that a massive plus since DC is pretty much ONLY big acts coming for a tour stop. I live outside DC and I definitely enjoy the convenience of nearly every big artist's national tour stopping here but it sucks having no one break thru here. Theres Wale but people who dont care about horrible rap or go-go dont have a music scene.

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

Let's cut the BS!

The city is too violent to have decent entertainment in almost any genre outside of Classical music.

Yep nothing scares me like hearing thugs blast Brahms No. 1 in D Minor out of their car :-O

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by ddiva

I'm not only referring to artists that do shows in large arenas. I wish that smaller venues like Ram's Head Live and Baltimore Soundstage could get some of the awesome acts that the 9:30 club and Howard Theatre (both in DC) could get.

I really wish that I could get some contact info for some concert promoters here in Baltimore (especially IMP) so that I can contact them and give them some input.

I feel that the situation has actually gotten a lot better over the past decade or so, but I've always felt the same way. I think the problem is that touring groups want to cover the widest geography possible in a short period of time and can't justify playing both DC and Baltimore since they're so close in proximity (plus Philly isn't that far away). Meanwhile, smaller, more isolated cities regularly attract good artists.

[kharing]

I wish I could argue that entertainment is better in Baltimore. It definitely is cheaper than DC! I love Artscape and the African American festival....both free events that offer great music!

When artists come to Baltimore there seems to be a few idiots that mess it up for the rest of us! Take this weekend for an example. I saw Aries Spears (comedian) on Friday night. I almost went to the Sunday show instead. Glad I didn't!

Two bouncers stabbed at Aries Spears show at Comedy Factory - baltimoresun.com

Who stabs people over a friggin' bar tab?

[ay jayy]

Ram's Head gets at least as many bigger names as the 9:30 club. Actually more big names go to Ram's Head in my opinion. Which is unfortunate because the 9:30 club is a far superior venue. I actually hate "seeing" shows at Ram's Head.

[are you kidinme?]

Originally Posted by ddiva

Am I the only one who thinks that more artists should do shows in Baltimore instead of skipping the area and just going to DC? I simply do not understand why Baltimore gets skipped by a lot of great artists. I love attending shows in Baltimore but it seems like tour managers think that this city is beneath them or something.

I'm also wondering why this city doesn't have festivals like SXSW and Coachella. At those two festivals, artists from several different music genres perform. In Baltimore, R&B/hip-hop artists have their own festival and then rock artists will have theirs. It should NOT be like that.

Yes.