As I write this opening sentence, our beloved veggie oil bus is threatening to stall out on the Verrazano bridge. It feels as though she’s wheezing her last breath, exhaling the ghosts of whatever food the fuel cooked in its former life.

We’re finally leaving New York, a city that, as the Grateful Dead once posited, “just won’t let you be,” a lyric that has proven itself valid over the past few days for the Baltimore Round Robin Tour, with agro bouncers, slippery money handlers and coke-fueled dance floors jammed with hundreds of weirdos like us, if we had bigger wallets and better cheekbones.

Despite all that, it was arguably one of the best stops on the tour, with four shows in two days. Friday was “eyes night,” featuring, among others, singer/songwriter Jana Hunter, noise-makers Nautical Almanac and leotard-wearing performance artists The Lexie Mountain Boys. Saturday was “feet night,” a louder affair with everything from smirky noise rockers Nuclear Power Pants to dance floor architects Smart Growth. Both nights wrapped up for us around 6 a.m. It seemed as if every time we looked outside there was a line of shivering Brooklynites stretching around the block, but at the moment we’re more concerned with falling into the bay.

Kevin O’Meara, drummer for the Video Hippos and Blood Baby, a man typically known for his sparse use of words, is at the helm. In his attempt to evade disaster he drops a few “f-bombs” and punches the dashboard for good measure. A few people notice this commotion, pull off their headphones and lift their drooping heads. He looks back and yells, “If we get stuck on this bridge we’re totally screwed.” We all rush to the front in an attempt to shift the weight of the bus over the hump; success!

This is one in a series of many obstacles that we somehow manage to outmaneuver with our army of poorly groomed, sleep-deprived troubadours still intact. The Big Apple show certainly brought a taste of Charm City to New York, with ramshackle lights clicking on and off in a series of concise energy bursts. “The thing that strikes me the most, is not a band per se, but the general vibe of people jumping up and down,” said Dan Nixon. “That usually doesn’t happen here. The Baltimore energy has come to New York, and it’s really nice.”

Ed Schrader is host of “The Ed Schrader Show” and a member of the Wham City arts collective. His column appears Tuesdays. Contact him at ed@whamcity.com.

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