Quarterlifeparty

The day after the Ryan Adams show, The Secret Machines were to play a free show at Baltimore’s Artscape festival. After a huge storm me and my buddies made our way to the stage, thankful we were among the few dry people there…or so we thought.

When we got to the stage there was a good crowd, but not nearly as packed as I thought it would be considering it was a free show from such a good up and coming band. As the audience waited, some ominous clouds rolled in and sure enough as soon as the band took the stage the rain started coming down.

The Secret Machines played on, under the cover of the stage, while a few people ran for cover under nearby trees. They started with “Alone, Jealous and Stoned” and all I can say is “they had me at hello”. I was initially worried about how they would do outdoors during the day, considering how much their lighting enhances their live shows, but it could have been raining cats and dogs (literally) and i wouldn’t have moved one foot.

I was amazed at just how much sound they could generate with only three band members (Keyboard/vocals, Drums, Guitar/vocals) but they really created a huge, blissful wall of sound. The drummer was really crankin’ the whole show and some of the sounds I heard coming out of the lone guitarist were amazingly weird and great. But the real talent came from the lead singer and keyboard player who pretty much carried the lead vocals, melody, and bass line. The effects he had on his keyboard were amazing to the point my buddy said to me “I can’t believe how much the keys sound like a bass”.

About 3/4′s of the way through, the dark clouds REALLY came in and unleashed a downpour that could give a monsoon a run for its money. But no one seemed to care, yours truly included. We gave into the elements and the music and I can’t remember feeling so uninhibited since I saw two certain French DJ’s at Coachella. The Secret Machines didn’t seem to care either, as they let loose with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Girl from North County” which seemed perfect for the moment.

Right when everyone was letting go and enjoying the set, the band announced that they would have to stop since there was lightning reported. The crowd responded with chants for “one more song” and the band responded by unleashing into “Nowhere Again”.

Everyone was back into the vibe, soaked and dancing around, when one of the most amazing moments happened: the rain slowed down, the music peaked, the sun pushed the clouds out of the way, and a full rainbow arched over the entire festival right behind the crowd. Everyone looked back and had one of those communal “holy shit…is this for real?” moments and for once all cares were lost. Even the band remarked “this has been one of the most amazing live shows we have experienced”, almost giddy looking at the rainbow framing their euphoric audience.

As the set ended, we all smiled, and happily sloshed our ways back home knowing everything would be ok after all.

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