Insubordination Fest - Chinese Telephones & Food Follies

I stopped through Insubordination Fest in Baltimore yesterday. I wanted to see Chinese Telephones, Tenement, and Off With Their Heads. I, also, hoped to see Deep Sleep and The Max Levine Ensemble. It didn't work out.

I arrived with Pat at the music fest just in time to see Chinese Telephones. We got in for free. They played an incredible set. I stood at the edge of the stage and comfortably watched them maneuver around. They started playing ten minutes early, but, unfortunately, played a twenty minute set as originally allotted.

My friend Jenny lives about 10 minutes from Sonar, where the fest was taking place. She invited Pat and me over for tofu hoagies. I thought we could eat at her place during a break in the fest. We got to her apartment at 5:00 p.m. She spent the next two hours making the hoagies, salad, and home-style fries. She pulled a pile of basil from her container garden on her porch. She cubed the tofu, marinated it, and placed it in the oven to bake. She also prepared a special marinade for the fries. The fresh garlic smelled amazing. She is a creative chef who prepares her food with care and fresh ingredients. At 6:30 p.m., I texted Pat to see if he wanted to go to see Off With Their Heads. He wrote back that it was up to me and he'd be willing to stay at Jenny's if I wanted.

We sat in the kitchen and talked with Jenny, one of her friends that I'd just met, Sarah, and Jenny's boyfriend, Jeff. She was making a ton of food. We ate some toasted rosemary bread that she'd gotten from Whole Foods as an appetizer.

Finally, the clock showed that it was a little after 7:20 p.m. The fries had just gone into the oven. I asked Jenny when the meal would be ready and she said that it'd be at least another 45 minutes. Pat had missed Tenement's show on Sunday and I wanted to hear them play again, so I told her that we needed to get back to the festival. I felt guilty leaving without sampling her culinary masterpiece, but I knew that her other guests would enjoy the meal. She hugged me good-bye and told me that she'd wanted to feed us. I don't think she knew that the fest was still going on. I know that none of her food went to waste, but I felt like a stick in the mud...

So, Pat and I left Jenny's place before eating. Pat wanted to get something quick to eat, because the smells in her kitchen had made his stomach groan with emptiness. I had a cold, dampening my hunger and distorting my taste buds. We went to Taco Fiesta, but the traffic prevented us from getting anywhere in a reasonable time frame. A ballgame had just let out and the cars stood at a standstill. We crawled to Taco Fiesta, arriving there at 8:00 p.m. as Tenement was supposed to be on the stage. Obviously, we missed their set.

I ordered a burrito without cheese at Taco Fiesta. They offered some knock-off brand hot sauce with a weird aftertaste and neglected to mix any seasonings in with their black beans. I wish the restaurant had at least given us the option of shaking some garlic on top of our food. The burrito consisted of black beans without any seasonings that were overwhelmed by a giant lump of white rice and wrapped in a white tortilla.

Pat got a chimichanga. Few restaurants sell deep fried burritos and Pat looks at a chimichanga as crispy, bean-filled goodness. He, however, told me that he'd wanted to stay at Jenny's place, because her food looked delicious and he was more interested in the meal than in the band. I wish he'd have told me his preference when we were there.

Taco Fiesta has a salsa bar. Honestly, I can't understand how those salsas could be so devoid of flavor. The pico de gallo was the best - although it lacked the traditional lime, jalapeno and cilantro I expect in pico de gallo. The onion and tomato combination at least had some flavor.

After eating at Taco Fiesta, we returned to the show to see if Pat's housemate Chris needed a ride home. Chris wanted to remain at the show, though, and our friend David offered to give Chris a ride. David threw me his car keys so we could get Chris's bike into his back seat. David also told me that the Tenement show was amazing. He said that they sounded much better than they had on Sunday and played with even more enthusiasm. Argh.

I felt frustrated. Pat said that he'd mainly cared about seeing Chinese Telephones and that we'd see the other bands again.