Artscape Takes Over

It’s Artscape Weekend, always scheduled in mid-July for one all-around sweaty experience. However, if weatherman Bob Turk is to be believed, it’s not going to be a weekend of solid triple-digit weather, as was the case last year, and the year before that.

This year, you might actually enjoy lingering at some of the booths and listening to some of the bands instead of whining about how hot it is as you and your friends wilt in the sun.

The first Artscape was held in 1982 making this year the event's 30^th anniversary. All of Charles Street along Penn Station will be dedicated to bringing back 1982 to Baltimore. Art-wise, anyway. And anything goes, as long as it’s from that magical decade of Reaganomics, Snoopy snow cone machines and Atari. Make sure to look for a Winnebago selling artwork of the 1980s, including an exhibit on show fliers from the time. Maybe I will get that Kenny Rogers on velvet after all!

Here’s a rundown of some of the acts performing this year on the Wells Fargo main stage at Artscape:

Fantasia Barrino of American Idol is the headliner performing 8:30 p.m., Friday night.

Saturday features Nikka Costa at 5 p.m. She weaves blues, funk and rock into a web of decent grooves. She co-wrote a song for Eric Clapton’s 2010 cleverly titled album Clapton, so she’s definitely worth checking out. Hopefully, she performs “Like a Feather”.

Following Costa at 6:30 p.m. is Southern Culture on the Skids, singing rock 'n roll songs about fried chicken, loose women and dancing.

Stick around for G Love and Special Sauce at 8 p.m. I don’t know what it is about this band, but people LOVE it, and the band generally sells out when it plays clubs in the area.

Sunday is heavy on the ska/roots/reggae, beginning at noon with The Jon Bailey Band; The Players Band at 1:30 p.m.; Can’t Hang at 4:30 p.m.; The Pietasters at 6:30 p.m., and Matisyahu, a fusion of reggae and hip hop closing out the night and festival. Click here for info on all the stages and performers.

For those of you not down with the Artscape experience, there’s always other things going on:

• Friday, at CCAS: Stillborn Identity, Jumbled, Jack Wilson, Baker, Crewshal. 7 p.m., $7.
• Saturday, at Ottobar: Jesse Malin & the St. Mark’s Social, Biters, The Desert Boys, and Late to the Party. Walk up to the Otto after you’ve had enough G Love for this show, $12.
• Sunday, at Ottobar: Torche, Big Business with Helms Lee. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Torche was playing this weekend, intense sludgecore metal. Wouldn’t be surprised if this sold out, so get tix early if you can, $13.