J Berd performs on Saturday. The photo is brought to you by the wonderful Chris Sands.
So. Happy Week-After-Labor-Day-Weekend. What did you do? Did you check out the Downtown Frederick Partnership’s dog-tastic First Saturday events? Did you grab a tent and find a pocket of woods to sleep in for a few days? Did you head to the Kennedy Center for this awesome thing it has going on?
Or, did you drop by our Block Party on Saturday?
Hopefully, it was the latter. And if it was, we thank you with all of our silly, little hearts. That’s why we thought we’d run this quick recap of how things went, as we have been known to do in the past, by breaking things down into a list of five. There was a lot of fun going on at the 200 East Art Haus. Now, it’s time to put it to bed. Thus, behold five things we learned from our Block Party on Sept. 5.
1. Who says there isn’t any quality hip-hop in this town? We’re not sure, but if there is anyone who has said as much, Saturday night shouted that nonsense down. We were particularly excited to catch the sets from Stitch Early and Retro/Ricole Barnes (if only because we’ve reviewed their records on this very website), but man. Everyone else who grabbed the mic stepped the h-e-double-hockey-sticks up and put on a show that will be remembered for a long, long time. Substantial and YU, as co-headliners, brought their A-Game and a big shout out goes to J Berd for rounding up all the artists in the first place. We said, “Grab the best local talent you got and let’s try to get them all on that stage,” and he more than delivered. What an amazing crop of MCs this area has. If you missed it, you missed out.
2. The Milestones. We absolutely loved meeting those guys for the first time, and they even impressed us when things went wrong (that was quite the fun jam we heard no less than one song into their set as the band’s leader broke his guitar string). We couldn’t have asked for anything more from them, and we can only hope they had as good of a time playing as we did listening. For more on the band, you can check out their Facebook page here, or, for that matter, there’s this nice little article that you can read here. We’d love to have them back someday. And we’d love for you all to hear them.
3. The 72 Film Fest. In case you missed it, those fine dudes showcased some of their best locally produced clips to kick off the event, and it was an absolute joy to work with them. Their festival will get into gear during the weekend of our first-ever Frederick Fall Fest, but we’re working with them on a way to make sure everyone who wants to experience both events can be satisfied (we hope!). Either way, we want to make sure that everyone knows how important it is to support what they have going on. With fingers crossed and a lot of hope, we’re looking forward to working with them again, once we figure out how 2016 looks for that building.
4. Roy Ghim. Hey, did you catch “Ex-Machina?” If you did, you have the indomitable Roy Ghim and his Western Machines imprint to thank for coordinating that part of the afternoon. That was his idea, his work, his time, his everything that went into it. If there was anything we could link to right now, we would, but … well, he doesn’t have anything. Still, if you see that guy on the street, please be sure to give him a huge hug and a pat on the back for all the work he put into his portion of Saturday’s Block Party. The hug will be well-deserved.
5. And, of course, as always, YOU! We completely understand that Labor Day weekend is not the most ideal time to put on an event, but somewhat miraculously, there were a whole lot of people who showed up to support not just the 200 East Art Haus, but more importantly, the local hip-hop community, as well as locally curated films. Of the events that we’ve put on so far, Saturday’s was the one that catered most to the spirit of the idea behind the building: All aspects of Frederick art coming together under one roof. That next one up is the last one Frederick Playlist will be organizing in 2015, but it’s a doozy. You’ve heard about it by now, right? The Frederick Fall Fest. J Roddy Walston and The Business. Heavy Lights. Old Indian. Seaknuckle. Saturday, October 10. We’re looking to end 2015’s 200 East Art Haus schedule with a bang. Won’t you help us?
