Yesterday was amazing. ilyAIMY took the largest stage they ever done took at Artscape 2013 and we rocked Baltimore fiercely. It was beautiful. It was a little bit stressful, but nothing like the stress for the build up to the show. The gig itself was tight, precisely executed and we were charming and only marginally over-heated. After rocking I literally plunged myself into the ice tub that held the water bottles for the next band. I’m not sure that anyone else appreciated this, but it was highly necessary.
We need a really awesome venue in Silver Spring. We always have a great turn out at Austin Grill (above) but it’s not ideal for us by any stretch of the imagination. Tonight we also had a film “crew” (of one guy) videoing us for a local access cable program on local arts and music. Kristen recording the last touch of cello on the new CD at Asparagus Media in Takoma Park, MD
It was strange to play in the parking lot of the Station Building. The last time I’d played in the parking lot would’ve been around a big bonfire – and the first time would’ve been when I recorded part of “Jumpstarting the Bus” in my VW out there. The Station’s front hall was also my first source of reverb. I remember me and Little Michael listening to the sounds there and recording with my little Yamaha 4-track… and here I was playing on this MASSIVE stage with a ten man crew making sure everything was just perfect for us. My “natural reverb” was slapback reporting back from the whole Station hill and the audience stretched the entire bowl of the parking lot, hugging the shade but forcing one another into the sun as they crowded in.
Though we mostly played out own instruments at Artscape – Sharif was given a list of pianos he could choose from. He chose the Yamaha above, but he could’ve tried out the…. … genuine Hammond organ with spinning Leslie speaker instead!!! (at Artscape in Baltimore, MD) We met up with Heather in the green room in the Station Building at MICA at Artscape in Baltimore, MD. On one of the hottest days of the summer, the spectacular air conditioning was really, really welcome (and completely unlike my experience going to college there!). Heather showed off her Artscape footwear and we did some last-minute prep for the Big Show!
It’s the biggest free arts festival in the country. The stage we played later played host to Bob Marley’s son’s band and that group we saw open for Robert Plant last year – we were in good company. I can’t believe I didn’t take any pics while ON the stage – of the crowd or the Hammond organ they’d provided (with Leslie cabinet) – the sound crew did a great job and we got a lot of great comments from fans in the crowd about how exquisite everything sounded… and once I got OFF the stage the head engineer (who was actually mixing our sound for the hill) said he was really enamoured with us and that mixing us was a LOT of fun. I have the suspicion that that counts for a LOT.
After getting off the stage and cooling down, none of us had the energy to explore the rest of the festival which is just a shame. I heard about a lot of cool things and saw pictures of lots of cool things, but we were just dead on our feet. Sharif and Joanna and Kristen and I went back to Catonsville and played video games and watched Black Dynamite to get our culture on.
And then we went home… and went the Hell to BED. (*thunk*)
Our biggest stage ever. Soundchecked and ready to rooll, slowly the hill fills….
