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I was having encounters with people from all walks and phases of my time on this earth. It was like my life was flashing in front of my eyes. They were all heading towards the same spot off in the distance, drawn ever forward. One after the other, they would tell me it was time to go, say their goodbyes, and start off towards the distant whirlwind heat and flash. Would I join them? Would I go towards the light?
No, I wasn’t having a near-death experience.
I was at Turnstile at the Wyman Park Dell, and I was not alone.
Who goes to a free show? Well, first and foremost, the youth, who remain restless, and many hundreds were front and center. My last large show “front of stage” experience was Nirvana in 1993. It remember it feeling like being at the faultline of a tectonic plate, thousands pushing and pulling to be where I was standing.
Anyways, back to 2025. Having just played “Mystery”, the band leaving the stage after a solid, spirited, and varied set. I assumed the show was over, so I left, very satisfied with the experience. From a distance, I had seen all manner of stage diving, backflips, cartwheels, and ariel stage acrobatics, the water bottles flying, as is the style of a Baltimore hardcore show. One fellow concertgoer described it as a “waterfall of stage divers.” What I started seeing at small shows many years ago at venues like Charm City Art Space was here writ large.
It turns out that the show had to be stopped for a time to repair an issue with the stage caused by said waterfall and that the show would, in fact, go on. It is to the credit of Dana Murphy of Unregistered Nurse Booking and the team that was put together that things went as well as they did. I have never seen that many people in Wyman Park Dell and I doubt that I will ever again, not even for “Goats on the Slope.”
all Turnstile photos by Sam Levin
I think, as an older person, I am supposed to not like or understand Turnstile. It is not the first time I have been in that position. I am not sure why I am immune to becoming jaded, but, once again, I get it. I dig on Turnstile.
This is also not the first time I have had the pride and privilege of seeing a band connected to the Baltimore underground I call home hit it big. To make the decision to have a free show to encourage people to support a local charity (in this case, Healthcare for the Homeless) is one way to handle that success correctly, in my book.
Matt Tewksbury
Erin Bennett
Later, at what online persons unknown dubbed the “Unofficial Turnstile After-party”, what I had seen writ large was writ small but no less powerful, house-show style. No avoiding the pit in someone’s living room! I walked out back after the first set by Radium Girl with Psyop, Muscle and Tripper up next to see more folks turned out than could ever fit in that showspace. Word was spreading. Get to the gig!
Tewksbury
Bennett
Bennett
Tewksbury
The scene is growing and changing. I have found it best not to fear it when it happens. Welcome folks who are new. Don’t hold their inexperience against them. Set an example of how to behave by your conduct and how you treat others. Great, big, beautiful things can happen when we work together and cheer each other on. I have seen it happen before, and I got to see it again in the Wyman Park Dell on a sunny Saturday in May.
Sam Levin | Matt Tewksbury | Erin Bennett
