Dave Tedder died suddenly last week. While I wasn’t especially close to Tedder, I’ve known him for more than half my life at this point. I’m sad to see him go. I always expected Tedder would be off for good someday, but not like this. He was a dude you naturally assumed...

And now we come to the Blogger’s Paradox. The Blogger’s Paradox holds that the more a band does, sometimes the less there is to write about them. As a music fan, we love it when our favorite bands play all the time. Getting to see a band you love twice a month is great. Who could complain...

Most people are pretty predictable drinkers. There’s definitely something to be said for having a go-to drink that can see you through thick and thin. It’s a great feeling to walk into your regular bar, good day or bad, and see your favorite bartender at the ready- say...

Sometimes writing blog posts about bands is easy. Sometimes you know the band well and they’ve been doing some interesting things and there’s a natural angle to take and the post writes itself. Sometimes it’s pretty hard. Occasionally there’s nothing to say about a band...

We’re pretty much convinced that this whole crummy decade is just the 90′s all over again. At least musically. There are slackers everywhere. WHFS is back on the air. Beavis and Butthead are on Mtv, and just this week we dropped by the Sound Garden and found so much Toad the Wet...

We don’t really like folk punk. The last time we went to a folk punk show it was maybe the worst show we’ve ever been to and we ended up demanding our money back after 90 minutes of horseshit and a headliner that didn’t show up. That’s what you get with most folk punk-...

This isn’t a music blog. It’s a personal blog. The point of this blog has never been anything more than to say “Hey, here’s what we’re doing tonight.” Kind of like Facebook, only not insipid and insidious. So here’s what we’re doing tonight:...

So we’re going to see Strike Anywhere at the Ottobar tonight. Sounds pretty normal, except that we’re not actually going to see Strike Anywhere. Oh we’ll stand there and watch them. We’ll probably even sing along a little. What we mean to say is that even though...

You read that headline right, Choppers. The Dating Game is at the Ottobar tonight. Not some obscure touring indie rock band called the Dating Game, but, you know, a homegrown version of the old seventies TV show. Their website is short on specifics, but presumably a handful of moderately...

If you ask any punk in town, ‘What’s going on at the Ottobar tonight?’ they’d tell you ‘Reagan Youth, Duh.’ That’s not the right answer though. Well, It’s technically the right answer, but it’s not the best show going on in that particular...

It’s Super Art Fight night again at the Ottobar. Once again, there’s nothing we can tell you here that hasn’t already been said over on their very thorough and entertaining blog. They’ve got more inside baseball stuff over there than the actual Inside Baseball. Check it...

Well, lucky Chop. We’ve got another night with too damn many interesting things going on. We already told you yesterday about the Found Footage Festival at the Creative Alliance tonight, and we can scarcely find room to mention that Madison Smartt Bell is also reading from his new novel...

There’s no Sunday Night Football tonight. There’s no Sunday baseball game of the week either. Hell, there’s not even any new episodes of Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, the Walking Dead, or any of the other premium TV fare the networks have started to crowd up Sunday Nights...

There’s no doubt about it, Baltimore- America is officially in decline. The Republicans are stealing and pillaging as fast as they can. Nobody has a job to go to, and it doesn’t matter because gas is $4 a gallon and the kids are more interested in cocaine and shitty dance music...

We haven’t made it out to a Super Art Fight yet. We’re overdue. Way overdue. It’s been our understanding that it gets bigger, better, and badass-er with each installment, so with the approach of their 9th battle, it’s safe to say that it’s going to be the best one...

Well, we’ve got company this weekend. One thing to be said for the holidays is that they’re good for bringing people back to home and hearth and all that. People who used to live in Maryland come back to Maryland, and we’re glad to have them as ever. So it is entirely...

So there’s this guy. Brian Posehn. He’s pretty famous. At least, we think he’s pretty famous, since he’s been all over TV for like 10 years now. He was on that show Just Shoot Me on the regular, which was a terrible show, but he was also on Seinfeld and News Radio a few...

So, Halloween is pretty much here. Like today. Like right now. You may think that Halloween falls on Sunday, and that that’s totally lame, but for all intents and purposes, it’s really a blessing in disguise for fans of the holiday. A blessing from the Devil maybe. A super secret...

Well, if tonight’s show is anything, it’s proof that we’re out of touch. Almost cool. You might think we have our finger on the pulse of the scene, but we do not. We have it up our nose. We went ahead and bought a ticket for tonight’s Greg Dulli show in advance since we...

When Tim Barry played with Drag the River at Fletcher’s on Memorial Day Weekend of 2008, it was easily the best show in the history of that venue, and one of the best Baltimore shows of the decade. This is no hyperbole. The crowd consisted entirely of a who’s-who of local record...

What’s important to you Baltimore? Is watching the World Cup really very important? Is it of grave urgency that you wear funny wigs and feather boas and drink in the street this weekend? How about stealing back the foursquare mayorship of some bar? Is that crucial? Tonight something...

You’re going to this show tonight Baltimore. Of course you are. It’s a no-brainer. It’s more than a no-brainer, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Seriously. Maybe the Chop’s not as cool as we used to be, but it seems like Surfer Blood came out of nowhere and...

We were very, very looking forward to seeing Leatherface at the Ottobar tonight (scroll down), but late breaking word on the street is that their visas were denied by the US customs and border protections. Long story short, they’re not playing tonight and shit’s fucked up. (For the...

With the British parliamentary elections taking up headlines the past few days, you’ve probably heard a lot about the special relationship enjoyed between our two countries. Aside from sounding slightly suggestive and covering intelligence, economics, and military power, the special...

Malcolm X was once asked what he thought of Socialism. His response; “Is it good for black people?” It’s a simple, yet very profound sentiment. The Buzzcocks are playing the Ottobar this Wednesday. The Chop will not be in attendance. We’ve already been very clear about...

The Business is coming to Baltimore tonight. We should be excited about that. We should be dusting off our Doc Martens and brushing up on the finer points of football hooliganism. We should realize how lucky we are to get a chance to see one of the greatest hardcore/punk bands of all time, and...

It’s a big old Saturday night in Baltimore, and the Chop in on the scene-uh, like a sex machine-uh. Much as we regret it, we can’t make it down to the Roller Derby tonight, but instead we’re going to stay uptown and make appearances at two other events. First we’re...

It’s always been true of the Chop that we’re either late to the party or a very early adopter. In the case of the Thermals, it was the latter. Your Chop got the inside word on the Thermals back in 2002 because of our pre-existing love affair with Kind of Like Spitting. We were...

Yes Baltimore, you read that headline correctly. It’s one of those ideas that’s so simple, and so simply brilliant, that we don’t really need to explain it in much detail. You know what the Ottobar is, and you know what Chatroulette is. One sets up a ginormous 80 inch screen...

Yep. We did crap out yesterday. Watched cartoons and did laundry and built bookshelves. A typical Sunday, we suppose. And its a good thing too, cause now we’re all rested up and ready to have our ears exploded. That’s right kids… back to the Ottobar tonight for Darkest Hour...

Okay. We admit it. This is a half-assed post. No links or brilliant commentary today. We’re busy as hell this weekend and don’t have time for a proper post. In fact, we’re so busy we don’t even know what we’re up to today. We might go to the Senator Theater to...

The Chop will admit it. We were late to the party this time. We remember hearing that they were getting up a roller derby league at the Fullerton Skateland and thinking That’s fucking awesome! It’s like a punk rock show on wheels! Unfortunately, that was around the same time we...

Well Baltimore, you finally came through for us on a Sunday. The Chop was content to spend Sundays at home, waxing philosophical and drinking wine on the balcony, but yeah, we’d rather go out. And we wouldn’t miss this one. Pedro the Lion is playing the Ottobar tonight. Okay,...

Rain, rain, Go away. The Chop’s coming out to rock today. That’s right Baltimore… our lazy weekend of Mad-Men watching, rum drinking, new drapery installing, brunch-munching domesticity is over. Its Monday night and we’re ready to rock again! And you know it’s...

We should all be lucky enough to live in Remington. Seriously. Its a nice little spot, and the Chop came very close to moving there when we were doing our house buying. We’re right at home in the friendly confines of the Dizz, Papermoon, the Ottobar, etc. What’s more, we remember...