Shindig delivers big festival experience to Baltimore

Beer. Fair prices ($5 for 20 oz.) and plenty of stands (no long lines, even at peak hours) made getting refreshed a breeze.

The weather. Sunny during the afternoon and cool in the evening. All music festivals should be held in mid-September. As Clutch frontman Neil Fallon put it: "How about a big round of applause for Mother Nature? What a beautiful day!" See, rock and rollers can appreciate a nice day. It's not always about boozing and brawling.

The people watching. Half the fun of any outdoor event is, of course, observing our fellow man in all of his drunken glory. It's always fun to watch an inebriated dude walking upright but impossibly leaning at a 45-degree angle, like in those old V8 commercials. That takes skill. Not to mention the amazing outfits and tee shirts on display (scroll to the bottom for a list of the highlights).

The production. The bands were great, the schedule was tight and there were a lot of good vibes.

Honestly, there was a lot to like about the Shindig.

Lines. From the hour-plus wait to get frisked to the often unbearably long wait for the Porta Potties, not everything at the Shindig ran as smoothly as the beer service. My guest and I were luckily able to bypass said line though, and head straight for the Press entrance. Nice.

Those PBR hats. Everyone was walking around in these cheapo red, white and blue PBR mesh snapback hats. Not that the hats were bad, I thought they were cool. I wanted one and didn't get one. I did get my hands on some free Cover Girl mascara though.

Suns out guns out. Shirtless folks who should have been shirted.

Spills. Brimming cups of beer were oh-so delicately balanced during nerve-wracking traverses, often unsuccesfully. I witnessed one woman attempt the ill-advised "pincher" technique on two full cups of ale. It didn't go well. There were also people taking spills. At first it was kind of funny, but after awhile seeing someone struggling to stay on their feet in public is just kind of sad. Luckily I didn't see any fights, but I did see someone carted off in an ambulance. Party safe, kids.

Onto the music!

"Who do we think we are?"

The local favorites wowed the crowd. I swore I would say that, so I did.

Frontman Jimi Haha engaged in some pretty good banter with the audience when he teased all the married men about disappointing their wives.

Jimmie's Chicken Shack threw in a nice mix of covers, taking on Smoke Two Joints by The Toyes/Sublime and Waiting Room by Fugazi. Jimmie's Chicken Shack was the best at covers. Sorry Joan Jett. (Oops! Spolier alert!)

Jimi Haha also made a randy joke about their name being Jimmie's Lickin Sack. Bravo, sir.

Highlights: High, Do Right, Milk

"Southtown girls won't blow you away, but you know that they'll stay..."

I'm sorry, I didn't know what their hit was. The Hold Steady isn't really my band, but several people walked by in steampunk outfits while I was spectating them, so there was that.

Highlights: Rock Problems, Southtown Girls, Your Little Hoodrat Friend

"Thanks a lot, that makes me feel real good."

Even after more than 25 years, the good Rev is definitely still a draw, and he was very appreciative of his fans. I've never been one for the "big band" scene, but I enjoyed the set. They did a fun cover of Johnny B Good.

Highlights: Jimbo, Spend A Night in the Box, Psychobilly Freakout

"This stuff tastes great."

Bucket list! Or just band that I never thought I'd see live, and then I did at the Shindig. Of course we all remember where we were the first time we heard that "knock on wood" song during the ska explosion of the late 1990s.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones set was a good transition into the final four bands. It came at the point in the day when the sun was starting to go down and it featured some real good color. I want to say that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were also the first band that featured a dedicated skanker on the stage.

There was the point when the Natty Boh man - who fit right in with his dapper suit - came out and danced with the band during 1-2-8.

It was a little embarassing, though, when singer Dicky Barrett acted bewildered at the presence of Mr. Boh, asking if he was in a Pringles commercial. And that faux pas came shortly after he proclaimed that the band was from Boston, but loved Baltimore. Tsk, tsk.

It was pretty classy of them to dedicate Don't Worry Desmond Dekker to Josh Burdette, the well-known manager and bouncer at the 9:30 Club who died in early September.

Tim Brennan from the Dropkick Murphys joined in on The Daylights.

Highlights: The Rascal King, The Daylights, 1-2-8, Where'd You Go?, You Gotta Go!, The Impression That I Get

I'm not especially familiar with this The Gaslight Anthem, but I have heard that they are a festival favorite. I liked singer Brian Fallon's throaty vocals. I kind of wanted them to cover Serve the Servants by Nirvana.

This was the time in the festival when my fellow festival-goer Meg and I succumbed to gravity and sat down in the grass. While we sat though, others were just getting warmed up. I began to notice folks skipping, strutting and performing exhibition yoga. There was also a guy with a paisley handkercheif the size of a bathtowel channeling Will Ferrell from Old School.

There was a really touching moment during this set when two injured vets, one in a wheelchair and one on a prosthetic leg, passed each other, exchanged a knowing look and chatted for a moment before hugging and moving on.

"Why you gotta run so hot?"

Truth be told, I'm kind of a metal guy. In fact, I wish I had the foresight to wrangle a press pass for the Maryland Deathfest back in May. That said, Clutch was probably the act that I was most looking forward to seeing. The boys, based out of Germantown, referred to the festival as a neighborhood gig, and satisfied their fans with a representative sampling of their trademark muddy, sludgey, bluesy Southern rock.

Singer Neil Fallon is really good at emoting and gesturing during his performances, at times resembling a preacher or dictator at the podium.

Highlights: 50,000 Unstoppable Watts, Cyborg Bette, D.C. Sound Attack!, The Face, The Regulator, The Dragonfly, Electric Worry

"I thought we were special."

Double J has still got it! The sultry punk rock veteran is now well into her 50s, but her ability to rock a pair of leather pants and a microphone is without question.

I think that some of the younger set were a bit perplexed by Jett's act, however, as I did overhear one cynic comment: "I don't like Joan Jett enough to stay vertical. I think I might sit down for this set."

Jett at least made an effort to connect with the Millenial Generation, starting her set with a new tune lambasting social media, T.M.I. (Too much information, for those out there unfamiliar with teenage-girl acronyms of the mid-2000s.)

Jett's setlist included a good mix of new stuff, established hits and covers, my favorite being Crimson and Clover.

In between songs, Jett riffed on diverse and compelling topics, from her time spent growing up in Maryland (she's an Orioles fan!), to her desire to be a part of a threesome, to the suckability of brain tumors.

Bonus points for the choreographed fist pumping during Bad Reputation, a song some younger fans might be familiar with since it was used as the intro for Judd Apatow's television series Freaks and Geeks.

There was an awkward moment when Jett's encore ran long and the Dropkick Murphys began drowning her out from across the festival grounds.

I bet there was a fight between them later and someone got their paperboy cap knocked off with a flying leather boot.

Highlights: Bad Reputation, Soulmates to Strangers, I Hate Myself For Loving You

"Sometimes I was so messed up and didn't have a clue."

Time for the show stopper! Perhaps as a result of spending too many years dealing with disrespectful Red Sox fans at Camden Yards, I'm not a huge proponent of the whole Good Will Hunting/Red Sox Nation scene.

Still, I can appreciate a rocking tune, and I stayed around for the entirety of the Dropkick Murphys 20-song set. It's also kind of refreshing to the ear to go from six hours of guitars and drums to a menagerie of bagpipes, accordions, bozoukis and tin leprechaun whistles.

There was also some good dancing up there on the stage. I assume what I was seeing was an Irish jig of some sort. I just know that it looked like the guy was racking up like 10 million points on Dance Dance Revolution.

A highlight was obviously Shipping Off To Boston, which fellow Bostonites the Mighty Mighty Bosstones joined in on, as well as a wounded veteran, who actually removed his prosthetic leg and used it to encourage the raucous crowd. The band also wished a very special happy birthday to eight-year-old Cameron.

During the encore, they did that slightly annoying thing when like 200 people joined the band on the stage. I don't know. I'm sure it's cool for the people that get to go up there, but for everyone else it's just like "umm, security? Hi?"

Highlights: The Boys Are Back, Rose Tattoo, Shipping Off To Boston

1. Earth Rocker
2. The Mob Goes Wild
3. Crucial Velocity
4. Cyborg Bette
5. 50,000 Unstoppable Watts
6. D.C. Sound Attack!
7. The Regulator
8. The Face
9. Gravel Road
10. The Wolfman Kindly Requests
11. Electric Worry / One Eye Dollar

Slayer

Type O Negative ( (I shook his hand and he thanked me. It was awkward.)

The Sword

Metal Alliance Tour 2013

Avenged Sevenfold

Hatebreed

Tool

Bad Brains

Misfits

Corrosion of Conformity

Pantera

Blink 182

White Snake

Kill Switch Engage

Ted Nugent

Motorhead

Valient Thorr

Dog Fashion Disco

The Descendents

hed pe

Grateful Dead

Kid Rock

Suicidal Tendencies

Wu-Tang Clan

Rammstein

Operation Ivy

Bad Religion

Band of Horses

Minus the Bear

eyehategod

The Casualties

NoFX

Wolfenstein

Doom

Galaga

The Zelda Triforce

Kelly Kapowski

Zombie

Malt Whiskey in the Walt Disney font

Two AT-AT walkers humping

Army of Darkness

Eerie Horror Fest 2008

Fred Sanford

Guns Out At Sundown in that gothic Sons of Anarchy font

Star Wars tights

A Danzig denim vest