“Baltimore is like the sixth borough,” says a kid watching Future Islands perform at a rooftop festival in Brooklyn Saturday night, an unofficial addition to the Make Music NY festival that also included Baltimore art/riot kids Ponytail, who played earlier that day on the other side of town. This “Baltimore is like the sixth borough” stuff may stir up resentment with some of us, or perhaps wonder. Yet it is something that you will hear repeated in one form or another as you make your way around the NYC show circuit. Big-time NYC show promoter Todd P says, “Brooklyn bands are Baltimore bands, and Baltimore bands are Brooklyn bands.” You might be hard-pressed to find anyone here that feels that way, even sage music journalists (not me — I’m 29 and have a lot more incubating ahead of me).

It’s not so much that we need to kiss New York City’s proverbial butt — it’s more about considering the mentality that says, “We don’t need to care at all.” This seems adjacent to the recent discovery of a lost Amazon tribe. They seem to be doing just fine, but God, let’s hope that no one slips them an empty Coke bottle — they may misinterpret it as an object of spiritual importance, or a great pattern maker. That is, if they dipped the de-capped head in paint. (“The Gods Must Be Crazy.”)

There seems to be an ardent notion of staunch (arms folded) regionalism coming from the crowds here. Most of of us are not gonna spend four hours on a bus to go see Marnie Stern, and you shouldn’t — these acts come to us now. But, heck, most of us couldn’t be bothered to walk up the street to see her at the Current Gallery the last time she played there, even if The New York Times hailed her 2007 album as “the year’s most exciting rock n’ roll album.” And how many of us shrugged our shoulders at experimental noise/performance artist Prurient last time he was in town? I know, I know — you got it, but didn’t care? These are both examples of NYC acts that have achieved critical support, yet it seems to take more than that to shake up the charm city crowds.

In the instances where this is not the case (i.e., Matt and Kim), it seems to be a result of us warming up to the familiarity that exudes from the parallels (manic enthusiasm, as in actually smiling the entire time you perform, whether or not you actually mean it, and avoiding dark colors). This happens on an even more micro level too. How many times have you heard, “So-and-so have a cool space, but they never come to our shows.” Though it’s much easier to walk to the H&H Building on Franklin Street when you live in the Copy Cat on Guilford, as opposed to SCarey Studios on South Stockton Street, I think it is important to make the effort once a week. Take a brisk bike ride. West-side kids, go to the east side! East-side kids, go to the west side! Keep your antennas tuned in to stuff outside your comfort zone. After all, evaluation is never convenient. Check your head.

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