WTMD Party Woo-Hoo

WTMD is a superb radio station. Unless you like to listen to the same Top 40 shit day in and day out. Local musicians, unsigned artists, stuff that won't get played anywhere else. Lots of weird folk music too, but that keeps it interesting. Anyway, they just celebrated their 5th anniversary, and we (Angela, Leo, Krystin, Michele) attended the festivities.

The party was held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, which none of us native Baltimorons (not counting the Colombian) had ever visited. It was a really cool place, with that awesome old building smell and a kind of warehousey feel. There were lots of cool antiques and a lot of creepy old stuff too. I'd recommend a visit.

We paid $25 per ticket, so we really weren't expecting anything fancy, but they had an open bar (wine and beer) which was a lovely surprise. They also had heavy appetizers which were DELICIOUS. Crab dip, assorted cheeses, meatballs, sandwiches, you get the idea. Problem was, they had several food stations open, but at no point did any kind of coherent line form. Normally when people see a buffet they tend to move in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion. Not here. People would just push their way up to the front... and stand there. Looking helplessly around them at the other boneheads who were standing there. It was ridiculous.

There were two highlights of the evening for me, one being Charm City Cakes! The whole gang from CCC was there, with the Ace of Cakes film crew tagging along behind. Duff is not only my hero, but a very short, wee little man. Like a furry little lepruchan. Seriously, he was like my height. He and his friends/fellow bakers stuck together all night, but we couldn't resist being annoying and asking for a picture. He politely oblidged, but you could tell they weren't into mingling with anyone other than themselves. Oh well. Can't blame them. WTMD had made a huge deal about the cake, about how they didn't know what it was going to look like and it would be a big unveiling. I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I saw it. Green, several tiers, some cutesy flowers... it just wasn't really anything SPECIAL. It wasn't what I was expecting from Charm City. It was tasty though, once you got past the fondant and dug into the good stuff. Very tasty.

Eva Costello was the opening act, and she is adorable. She's this tiny little black chick with long hair and bare feet.. who is backed by a band made up entirely of nerdy white guys... who were rocking out. It was hilarious. She was great, and hung out the rest of the night mingling with everyone. Luckily when I ran into her later than night in the bathroom, she had shoes on. Some random chick played the middle set but we were busy harrassing the bakers and didn't really listen to her. Then.. what we had been waiting for: Ryan Shaw. He was awesome. Poofy dreadlocked ponytail paired with a vest and tie. He put on an amazing show. Highlights included a cover of Marley's Redemption Song, and of course my favorite Nobody.

As we were leaving we ran into an old friend from back in the day, which was just the perfect ending to a great evening out. Can't wait to do it next year.