A lot of people have said a lot about a lot that happened Saturday. We’d be remiss if we didn’t chime in. We used to look back on these cornerstone moments every now and then with lists regarding what happened, and if there was ever a moment to pause for reflection, this would probably be that. Thus, behold 10 things we learned from our first-ever event at 200 E. Patrick St., complete with requisite thank-yous and notes on what happens next.
1. Well, this goes without saying, but HOLY MOTHER OF ART THANK YOU. No, but really: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you. Not only did so many great faces come out to say hello, but, in a twist that would make even the most cynical of cynics smile, everyone was relatively respectful of the situation! Sure, there were a few slip-ups (it’s never good when police are called to the scene for anything, of course), but for the most part, you guys were AMAZING. And even though that’s a word that is overused all of the time these days, it’s actually applicable here. Amazing. You guys. Amazing. The idea behind that building is that it’s supposed to be of the people and for the people. Make no mistake about it whatsoever – it runs on you. All of you. Each and every one of you. The more you believe in it, the more those kinds of nights can happen. Any perceived success of anything regarding this is a sole product of the fantastic support this community provides. You actually do have a say. You actually can make a difference. You guys did that Saturday night. If anyone wants to believe the night was a victory, that win belongs to each and every person who showed up to support it. It might sound cliche or insincere. But it’s the truth. Which leads us to …
2. The bands. Silent Old Mtns. Roswell Kid. Seaknuckle. Please, please go support them. The amount of work some of those guys put in for everything that went down cannot be overstated. For about the last two months, we met each week, we devised plans, we had meltdowns (sorry about that!), we had laughs, we did everything we could do to make sure we left our best effort on the table for all to consider. The words “thank” and “you” aren’t even a quarter of the credit they deserve for making it all seem so communal. We can only hope that Silent Old Mtns. reminded themselves of why they should be playing music from now until forever (especially when we heard the crowd chant “Dead All The Time” from backstage; my goodness, if that doesn’t inspire …). We can only hope that Rozwell Kid had a look at everything and thought, “Well this doesn’t suck too much.” And we can only hope that Seaknuckle goes on to sell 1,000,000 copies of “Get Over It.” They all deserve all of our attention and they all deserve all of our support. (And Seaknuckle especially deserves a Medal Of Honor for putting up with this idiot crashing their stage during a few songs to scream and look fat and lose his voice. So sorry about that).
3. We said it Thursday, but it needs repeating: This project is 100 percent all-inclusive. Even though we had to go 21-and-up for this show, we want to extend our proverbial hands out again to anyone who might want to come by and play and have some fun. Younger bands. Older bands. Whomever. If you have any ideas or you wish to be heard, let us know. We’re easy to find and we’re up for hearing anyone out. Everyone deserves a chance. That’s the first and only rule of all this.
4. The artists. We need to give a big, gigantic virtual hug to Ashley Hoffman for helping out and providing an incredible gallery for all concert-goers to consume. We hope and plan on having as much local art as possible and we couldn’t be happier – nor could we feel more honored than we do – to provide local artists with an outlet. Please support these brilliantly talented people as much as you can. There is stuff in that building that is absolutely amazing to look at. All of that credit needs to go to Ms. Hoffman for being the awesome human being that she is.
5. The Met. It was a complete pleasure to work with The Met and all those lovely people along the way. They had a table there. The Comedy Pigs performed. They were such an important part to all of it, and they need to be celebrated for it. They heard some silly ideas from some silly people who work at a silly newspaper and they didn’t hesitate a bit before coming on board. They didn’t have to help us, but they did. We love them for it.
6. Bucket Of Rock! Did anyone check out those viewfinders that Cassandra brought? What a genius idea! We say it every other day, but we should definitely say it again: Go check out all the neat stuff she has going on. She provides us with photos and insight and … well … viewfinders! So, many thanks to her for showing up and being part of all of it. None of it happens if she didn’t grab a coffee with an insufferable newspaper reporter two years ago. She’s embraced us. We embrace her. And we’re lucky for it.
7. Other artists. Our collective heart was warmed early and often Saturday night, but of all the things that did the trick, looking into the crowd and seeing members of Old Indian, Heavy Lights, Jack Funk, Kabob-O-Taj, Fuzzy Match, The Knolly Moles and other local bands/artists help support their brethren … man, that’s a beautiful thing.
8. Sound and lights. Our many thanks are also extended to Andrew Gumas, who helped coordinate all the sound and light engineering. And even more thanks to Andrew and his guys for allowing us to play all local original music leading up to and then between bands. That’s right – everything you heard that night came from all local artists. It was, in essence, the literal Frederick Playlist. Much respect to those guys for even letting us do that.
9. Beer pong. Not in anyone’s wildest dreams did we believe we’d need two sheets of paper for brackets! 16 teams. 32 people. One winner. And yes, it keeps us up at night, too, that the drummer for Seaknuckle was part of the winning team. Unfair!
10. What’s next? Glad you asked. We’re just about ready to make a HUGE (and we mean HUGE) announcement. And we have a handful of super cool ideas in the pipeline that we can’t wait to make official any day now. But, as for the immediate future … Saturday, July 25, and Saturday, Aug. 8. Remember those days, friends. The 25th will feature a cornhole tournament with sets from Willie And His Chaperones as well as Zack Willis. Then, on Aug. 8, we are set to house a day-long event featuring a battle of the bands before giving way at night to a true treat of a lineup: Time Columns, Giraffes? Giraffes! and Kabob-O-Taj. But we’ll have more on these events in the coming weeks. For now, though, and at least one more time …
THANK YOU. EVERYBODY. THANK YOU.
