The cab approached Club Sonar in Baltimore, Md., hosting the latest Manifest event put together by Alexa Grey. Upon closer inspection as we inched closer through the bustling Friday night traffic, a spectacle of event goers began to unfold. The crowd was a mixed one, some wearing gangsta wook heady hats emblazoned with veteran regalia. Others wore simple knit weave polos and jeans. However they all wore smiles and embraced us with warm greetings when we pulled up and exited our yellow cab pumpkin carriage, eagerly anticipating what the night had in store for us.

Walking into Sonar my delicate jam band sensibilities were already on high alert upon hearing a steady 4 x 4 bass beat. This was not going to be as easy as expected for a grizzled veteran of the original Baltimore rave scene. I had more or less “drifted apart” from my prior obsessions with EDM and techno having witnessed an absolute implosion of a scene that originally had its roots in an earthy organic vibe lost to designer drug culture and teen overdoses. The soul was sullied and I have always been a skeptic of any type of resurrection in the past, present or future. My wife gave me a reassuring nod, already sensing my tension as we entered the main room to an explosion of sound and color.

Immediately upon entering I encountered a young bearded fellow rocking rocks and a California grass roots cap. He was hustling his wares that would normally be seen in a Shakedown Street type environment. My curiosity beckoned me to take a closer look at his collection of heady stones and energy producing crystalline earthen fragments.

While the music pulsed and pounded my senses, Possum, our driver to all events Jamwich, shuffled over in a bebop type swagger and informed me of the plethora of hat pins and bangles to be found further into this rabbit hole I found myself in. I told the vendor I would return later to chat as he slipped me a card and gave me a hug that was that of an old long lost friend. I wandered away with Possum eager to see what he had found.

I found myself before another group of vendors selling just about any type of pin you could imagine! From heady wire wraps to RGB glass…they had it all! However, the best part was the personalities and outgoing nature of these vendors. They all were full of the joy that can only be found by people who know without any inkling of doubt that they are doing exactly as they should where they should.

As conversation moved and time danced about between my wife and me, my feet began to move to the same steady beat that had originally placed me in an unsteady place. My breath parted my lips into a wide grin and my soul was being filled by an electric energy that swirled throughout the room and frolicked in the hearts of all in attendance. Not a single sour face could be found. The ebullient mood was of a contagious nature and even the passersby when we stood outside the venue could not help but feel the infectious nature of the event. This is what the house of Manifest was built upon.

As we danced through the evening we witnessed live painters tag teaming canvas, clothing designers and plush toy artisans mining inspiration. We fell in love with something that had resurrected itself in the fineries of the human spirit that had eluded the EDM movement of Baltimore for far too long. I thought of people like Chris Bulla and Scott Henry and how proud they must be of a scene they not only helped create but have fostered and nurtured over the years when so many people like me had attended a pre mature funeral. I remembered Catastrophic Productions parties of the past and the vibe that was rich and thick and dripped off your digits like a freshly harvested golden honey. The vibe was sweet and syrupy and stuck like some other worldly epoxy. This was the Baltimore family grooving and dancing and shouting out to the world with an irreverent charm that this was a Manifest party and you would not, could not ignore the passion and ferocity of the joy these people were ready to unleash. They wanted all in attendance to see it and feel it and know it. They wanted me, a humble tourist of their world to enter into its citizenry and dance in time with their happiness.

In conclusion, if you hear about a Manifest event, skip looking over the lineup. The lineup is simply background noise when you make your entrance. Don’t get me wrong, when The Werks play the next Manifest party on July 7th you can count on my eyes being front and center. You can know this though, my cup will runneth over not just from the sweet music flowing from the speakers, but rather due to the catalyst of all things good on the Baltimore EDM scene flowing freely at a Manifest party…

written by Taco

Keep up with Manifest events on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MANIFEST/125119247565052

Special Thanks to Shane Miller Photography
http://www.facebook.com/millerO.o

Find some of the vendors mentioned in this article online:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/LiquidSkyAscension
http://www.etsy.com/shop/H3adyKultur3|
http://www.etsy.com/shop/nocturnalhappeneings?ref=ss_profile