One Star. Would absolutely recommend.

Saturday August 8th, we played our monthly show at Monocacy – except this month it was the brewery’s 14th anniversary and the weather was dicey. Last month we got rained out just before our last set, but this month the rains were threatening all morning. Trying to predict the weather for outdoor shows feels like an increasingly losing proposition – and what had read as clear skies as late as the morning of the show suddenly devolved into fast-paced thunderstorms and heavy rains. We got to Monocacy in time to sit in the van and watch the rain – but things cleared up in time for the first band to clear out and us to set up. We got through our set sans incident and wrapped wet cables and put away damp speakers as the next band rolled in, watching the skies. From Frederick, Heather and I then headed off to Bethlehem, PA to play Musikfest!

We’d rolled in early to Monocacy specifically to make sure we got a chance to eat since we were going to have to race up to Bethlehem after the show, but somehow it just never happened. Rolling into Pennsylvania, checking into the hotel, dinner had never quite happened and Bethlehem has many charms, but finding a restaurant open after 9pm isn’t always one of them. We scanned local options and though, if you’d asked me earlier in the day about having hot soup I’d have just about vomited on you, after going into a FREEZING cold gas station and checking into a FREEZING cold hotel, we figured the ramen place down the road might ALSO be freezing. We rolled into a VERY cute little Japanese restaurant a couple of minutes later and couldn’t resist “sushi nachos” because we’d never heard of such a thing. Seemed like a good appetizer on top of ramen since we were starving but when it arrived we realized… we weren’t THAT starving. Fantastic food. We should’ve brought Kristen along just to help us with the meal tho.

Bethlehem, PA is an old dream. Back in college I dated a woman from Ellicott City who went to school in Bethlehem. I drove every couple of weekends up to see her, enraptured by the girl, enraptured with the city. A little in Love with her family, to be honest. Christmas City, a shining star in the valley.

Bethlehem is cobblestones and ruins and reimagined Steel Stacks and music. I’ve attended a bunch of festivals there over the years (Musikfests and Celtic Classics and who knows what else) and played a bunch of festivals over the years (I think this year is our fifth appearance at Musikfest – though that’s only spread out over four years) and despite the heat exhaustion and the sun, I Love it.

Musikfest (and probably more accurately, Godfrey Daniels) put us up in a hotel just outside of the city and we NEEDED cleansing after the show in Frederick, the 3 hour drive, and the infusion of cold fish and hot soup. They’d given us a handicap room with a shower that took careful wrangling. I was MORTIFIED to realize I’d just about flooded the bathroom after my much needed cleansing, but I’m going to chalk that up to absolutely crappy design.

There are 16 stages this year, and though there are bigger stages, and more prestigious stages, and certainly LOUDER stages, I think our Leiderplatz is the best stage. We’ve played four different stages at this point, and I’d pick this beautiful little courtyard, that has the additional bonuses of romantic memories and the best coffeeshop in the country, over any of them.

Rolling in we were pleasantly surprised to find my old friend Mike Duck stage managing and plenty of other friends scattered amongst the audience. A number of heartfelt hugs made it all feel like a homecoming and I’d almost say it’d have been worth it even if we WEREN’T playing – but Hell no – it is a joy to play that stage to that audience, even in that heat.

I broke a string on the second song. Again. (well, yesterday I broke a string on the FIRST song) but Heather took a song on her own with a swiftness and I restrung even faster, back on the stage before she’d hit her last chorus.

Good sound engineer. I sort of regretted not giving him a stereo feed from my guitar as I listened to my tones and solos wash across the Leiderplatz. I could FEEL him responding to the music and changing reverbs and faders – and not in that weird “he’s fighting me” way that’s so common with sound engineers who are always lagging behind – Maury was LISTENING.

Overjoyed to get to our stage Saturday morning and find Mike Duck MCing. That means we get our name said right! Huzzah! And the latter half of the day he was stage managing! That means we get on stage on time! HUZZAH!!!

I’ve got to shove Kristen in the car and come up here on our own. Or just go. Fond memories of sleeping in my VW bus because I wasn’t allowed in the dorms, the night sounds of the creek running through town. The stars and the silence of a small town.

Bethlehem, PA. Ha. One star. But it’s a big one.

Sug Daniels opening our stage at Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA on August 9th, 2026.

I’ve always Loved this little water thingie, but though it was cleaned at some point in the last decade, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in operation.

LAST time we came to town, I think we stayed at Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

The front row of chairs at the Leiderplatz (our stage) moves with the sun.

The mix of historic building, and ruins, around which Musikfest is built.

Fond memories of exploring under the bridge in Bethlehem.

POLKA!

A LOT of cover bands in action this year. As with many festivals and venues, 2026 seems to be the year of the tribute act and I’m sorry to see that these kids, who should be writing their asses off with teen angst, are hitting the big stage with (well-performed) covers.

Another cover act in the shadow of the train station.

However, their wailing Zeppelin guitar solos echoed plaintively down the creek…

Leiderplatz filling up for us.

The act before us, Lara Herscovitch and her bass player. I’ve run sound for her before for FocusMusic and it’s always gratifying when the different parts of my Life cross. “Oh, do you play an instrument”? Yes. Yes I do.

Admiring the beards of others. I have a card from this guy and need to fill in his info – I believe he was a painter?

Lucas was a regular at Java Mammas. He didn’t recognize Heather’s name and so was SHOCKED to encounter ilyAIMY but wanted to make sure I knew that the open mics in Reisterstown had redefined his ideas of community and music and “you literally changed my Life… can I… can I get a hug?” It’s moments like that that keep me going, keep me knowing I’m doing the rob’s work.