Band

When the Bridge, the biggest band on Baltimore's jam scene, split up last Thanksgiving, live-music fans wondered who would fill the void. A year later, they may have an answer: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. The quartet of singer/guitarist Greg Ormont, guitarist/singer Jeremy Schon, bassist/singer Ben Carrey and drummer/singer Dan Schwartz has slowly built a large following through three monthlong residencies at the 8x10. Live, the band stretches out songs well past the 10-minute mark, and its members nimble musicianship and stage presence make for an entertaining show.

They looked like tonsils, or maybe they were pincers: the tessellated structures that curved to points above the members of Animal Collective. At the mouth of the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion were two rows of cartoonish teeth and gums. So by the time the experimental band of Baltimore-area natives hit its stride at Tuesday night's show, a question had emerged: Was the imagery meant to suggest that Animal Collective was swallowing us or that we were consuming them? Was the band playing songs they thought we'd want to hear, or were we there to see them do whatever they pleased?

Wedding day: Sept. 7, 2012 The bride: Kristin Dear Sharp, 33, grew up in Catonsville. She works as a bartender at Hamilton Tavern and Annabel Lee Tavern in Baltimore. Her mother, Linda Dear, is a real estate agent, and her father, Robert Dear, is a mortgage lender. The groom: William Sharp, 37, was born in Missouri and is the lead artist for Croydon Finishing, a decorative architectural finishing company based in Alabama. His father, John Sharp, owns Croydon Finishing and is retired from the military.

Welcome back y'all! This round of auditions led us to Greensboro, NC, home of grits, gravy and lots of attitude. The episode started off with all the judges lounging in their natural habitat talking about how they want to find a star. Of course this wasn't a natural setting at all, as there were zero Cheeto bags in Britney's room. The auditions first introduced us to Willie James, 17 , who sang a honky tonk rendition of "Your Man. " The judges loved his surprising performance.

Francis Scott Key High School's auditorium was filled with red, white and blue on Wednesday night, Sept. 13, as the school hosted "Voices of Freedom," a program designed to honor the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 through dance, song, music and readings. Featuring students from Runnymede Elementary, New Windsor Middle and FSK, the event was coordinated by Mickey Brilhart, a visual arts teacher at FSK, and Shellie Rosso, the high school's dance teacher. The program was created after the school's administration approached the fine arts department last year requesting ways to recognize the War of 1812 - and its link to Francis Scott Key, who lived in Carroll County and penned the words by dawn's early light that became our national anthem.

About six years ago, the Baltimore rock band Arbouretum played at a club in Chicago for an audience of almost no one. You could count the members of the crowd on one hand, singer/guitarist David Heumann recalled, but one of them happened to be Bettina Richards, the founder of indie record label Thrill Jockey. She liked what she heard. "There literally was nobody there but me," Richards said. "It was great. I totally was hooked. " Richards signed Arbouretum to Thrill Jockey.

With six weeks until our wedding, Rob and I took a trip to Radcliffe's in Towson to pick out our bands. Below are a few tips. in my inexpert opinion.    Take your time . We were lucky to have a really lovely woman assist us at Radcliffe's, and we never felt pressured to make a snap decision. If you do feel that you're being rushed, ask for a new sales person, or go to another store. You have to look at this thing for the rest of your life (or marriage, ha) and you should be sure you're both happy with what you choose.

First was the heavy rain, forcing Maryland State Fair attendees awaiting the Band Perry to take cover in the grandstand of the racetrack and delaying the popular country band's set for more than an hour. Then, seven songs into the show Saturday night, flashes of lightning sent Kimberly Perry and her brothers Neil and Reid, along with their four-piece backing band, searching for cover. Following another delay of about 20 minutes, it was announced that the remainder of the show would be canceled, drawing a smattering of boos from the disappointed crowd.

As the giant silver bell of a bugle reflected City Dock, the man who suggested The World Championships of Drum Corps move to Annapolis considered the impact beyond an estimated $10 million and 13,000 visitors. "How big a deal is it? It's important enough to bring a corps back from the grave," said Jeff Weir, director of the Naval Academy's Drum & Bugle Corps. "If the World Championships are in your backyard," Weir said, "Well, it's almost like having the Super Bowl in Baltimore.

Stormy weather with flashes of lightning lead organizers to cut short The Band Perry's headlining show at the Maryland State Fair Saturday night. As the rain began shortly before the scheduled performance at 7:30 p.m., many people rushed to take cover in the horseracing grandstand at the Timonium Fairgrounds. Fans endured an hour delay before the popular country band finally took the stage. After fans filed into the infield of the race track, the band played seven songs of their set before flashes of lightning forced them to leave the stage.