Gateway at Ruintown

Have you ever spent a Saturday night arguing with your friends over what to do only to realize that in the end you wasted much of it? More often the not these debates reduce your options to the sleazy diner that serves overpriced and boring beer or surrendering to the reality that an inability to make up your mind resulted in an unnecessary Saturday Night Fail.

Luckily for Baltimoreans the mad scientists at Manifest have been feverishly working to develop a formula of stimuli that will finally do away with regrettable nights of indecision. Manifest consists of generous helpings of music, dancing, live performances and art. This event was dubbed Gateway at Ruintown and the recommended usage on the bottle reads “as much as you can handle.”

Photo by Philip Laubner, story by Matt Kelley.

Soohan, Alexa Grey and Marm0set.

Hierogamy was one of four acts that kept the old mill-house-turned-multipurpose-space, booming from early Saturday night until 4am Sunday. The only thing that kept people from dancing to the point of exhaustion was the fact that there was barely enough room for so many people to continuously dance until the point of exhaustion.

Photo by Philip Laubner, story by Matt Kelley.

You’d be looking in the mirror too if your makeup looked this good. For Patricia Tamariz, it’s just another day at the office at Divine Gypsy Designs.

Photo by Theresa Keil, story by Matt Kelley.

Casey Jackson

Photo by Philip Laubner, story by Matt Kelley.

Stephanie Murdock and Casey Jackson didn’t come just to skate. They came to rep Divine Gypsy Designs and to raise awareness for Skate Park of Baltimore in Hampden.

Photo by Philip Laubner, story by Matt Kelley.

Depending on the context, a man wearing a monkey mask while waving spinning orbs of light directly in front your face could seem a bit odd. Fortunately for Skyler Kelly, he lives in Baltimore where peculiar is a way of life for many. The outcome may have been different had he decided to do this in the security line at the airport or at jury duty with no dance party in sight.

Photo by Theresa Keil, story by Matt Kelley.

Alexa Grey and Soohan.

Photo by Philip Laubner, story by Matt Kelley.

Charles Hanford Beall

The half pipe was open to all willing to attempt it, Charles being one of them. I swear to god he landed whatever trick this was. And yeah, it was a really hard one so you should probably be impressed.

Photo by Philip Laubner, story by Matt Kelley.

Stephanie Murdock

Photo by Philip Laubner.

Behold the winners of this week’s prestigious and highly coveted “We Can’t Tell If You’re Having a Ridiculously Good Time Or If You’re Involved In Some Sort of Hi Jinx That Flies in the Face of Strong Conservative Social Values” award. Either way, carry on.

Photo by Theresa Keil, story by Matt Kelley.

The better alternative would be wearing a suitable jacket to keep warm but hey, whatever works.

Photo by Theresa Keil, story by Matt Kelley.

Sara Rothleitner

Photo by Theresa Keil.

You gotta love a party where the people whose faces aren’t painted are outnumbered.

Photo by Theresa Keil, story by Matt Kelley.

The venue was running short on outdoor heaters but that wasn’t a problem.

Brandon Boone combated the elements with his flaming staff. I looked it up online and the cheapest outdoor heater I could find was $129.00 and that doesn’t even include the cost of propane. Kerosene is much cheaper, fire dancing is like exercise, and fire will keep you warm no matter how you harness it… just sayin.

Photo by Theresa Keil, story by Matt Kelley.