Whartscape is a nationally known festival held in Baltimore.  It was started as a protest against the state-sponsored Artscape--the largest free art festival in the the United States (if the organizers are to be believed, I don't know the metric they measure it by).

The criticism was that for all of the bluster and pomp of Artscape, local musicians were shafted in favor of mainstream acts with no real ties to the city.  So in response Whartscape was set up five years ago by the Wham City collective ([link]) to highlight local fringe and indie music.  

Since the first festival many of the acts have grown a national fanbase--they're definitely not in the "mainstream" but to be fair I don't think modern music has a mainstream anymore.  These include festival organizer Dan Deacon but also Beach House, Celebration, Wye Oak, Double Dagger, and Future Islands.

The 2010 Whartscape festival is rumored to be the last.  

By this point the local press had their photographers in attendance at every performance, snapping photos from the edge of the stage--much to the chagrin of some performers.

The photographing bug bit me while I was standing in the crowd.  But for me the interesting story was the extreme heat--the heat index was around 110 until a monsoon wrecked the outdoor stages partway through the last day and dropped the temperature into the mid eighties. I noticed how everyone squeezed into the broad shadows cast by the decaying buildings and played phototag with these groups whenever I was out there.


Other notable acts:

* Ian MacKaye in Q and A session
* Lighting Bolt
* Arab on the Radar
* Dope Body (which I loved but are a few years away from solidifying their sound)
* Altered States
* Scottie B