Charm City Yodeller

Friday, July 24, 2026
Baltimore's Vibes, 7 Days a Week

It's Friday, Baltimore! You made it through the week, and this city is not messing around tonight. O.A.R. is coming home to Merriweather for a 30th-anniversary blowout with Gavin DeGraw and Lisa Loeb in tow, Nova Koloso is bringing a wall of fuzz to Metro Bmore, Katt Williams is in Hanover, the O's host the Braves under the lights, and Baltimore Restaurant Week just kicked off for ten straight days of prix-fixe everything. That's 27 verified ways to spend your Friday night — pick your neighborhood and get out the door.

"If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all." — Billie Holiday

🎵 Music & Nightlife

Kenyatta: Jazz in the Garden @ Current Space

Current Space turns its garden into an open-air jazz club tonight, with Kenyatta leading a set built for warm air and cold drinks. Come early, grab a seat outside, and let the horns carry the rest of the night. 6:00 PM.

👉 CTA: Details Here!

Nova Koloso w/ Krime Slugs, Glorian & Revvnant @ Metro Bmore

Heavy psych headliner Nova Koloso brings three openers and a wall of fuzz to North Charles Street. Doors at 7:30 PM, tickets from $15 — easily the loudest bill in the city tonight.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

Walter Beasley with Phillip "Doc" Martin @ Keystone Korner Baltimore

Smooth-jazz saxophonist Walter Beasley plays two sets in Baltimore's premier supper-club jazz room, backed by Phillip "Doc" Martin. Tickets run $15-$55 depending on set and seat — 6 PM and 9 PM.

👉 CTA: Reserve Now!

O.A.R. Three Decades Tour w/ Gavin DeGraw & Lisa Loeb @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

Rockville's own O.A.R. rolls into Columbia for a 30th-anniversary homecoming, with Gavin DeGraw and Lisa Loeb along for the ride. Gates at 5:15 PM, music at 6:30 — the marquee show of the night.

👉 CTA: Tickets Here!

DJ Diesel aka Shaquille O'Neal @ Power Plant Live!

Yes, that Shaquille O'Neal — behind the decks as DJ Diesel, dropping bass-heavy sets at the Inner Harbor's biggest party block from 9 PM to 2 AM. Early tickets start around $25; VIP mezzanine gets you a drink package.

👉 CTA: Get Info!

Emo Nite @ Ottobar

Emo Nite LA takes over Ottobar's main room for a night of scream-singing every 2000s breakup anthem you swore you'd forgotten. Doors at 9 PM, 18+.

👉 CTA: Tickets Here!

Fat Butt Rodeo @ Upstairs at the Ottobar

Two floors, two totally different Friday nights — while Emo Nite rages downstairs, Fat Butt Rodeo takes the small upstairs room at 10 PM. 21+, and yes, that's the real band name.

👉 CTA: Details Here!

Friday Night Swing and Lindy Hop @ Mobtown Ballroom

No partner, no problem — Mobtown's weekly swing night opens with a free beginner lesson at 8 PM before the floor opens at 9. Cover's $10 (or $20 on live-music nights), one of the friendliest dance floors in the city.

👉 CTA: RSVP!

Mundy / Shiloh the Messenger / D Skillz Harris / Shango $upreme @ Wax Atlas

Four-deep local hip-hop bill at the record shop's small stage, 7 PM, $10-$15. This is the pull-up-if-you-know show for heads who like discovering names before they blow up.

👉 CTA: Learn More!

Ricky Wise Trio @ Cat's Eye Pub

Fells Point's living room for live music does what it always does: no cover, great trio, 9:30 PM start. Grab a rail seat before it fills in.

👉 CTA: Details Here!

Joe Scala & The Heath Street Band @ Cat's Eye Pub

Earlier and mellower — Joe Scala and his band hold the 5 to 8 PM slot before Ricky Wise takes over. Perfect happy-hour-into-dinner soundtrack.

👉 CTA: Get Info!

🎤 Comedy

Friday Fun and Games: Improv Comedy @ Highwire Center

No script, no AI, no second takes — Highwire's improvisers build a full show from your suggestions. 7 PM, $10, all ages welcome.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

All Made Up: Improv Comedy @ Highwire Center

Same building, later slot — All Made Up follows Friday Fun and Games at 8 PM with a fresh cast and a fresh crowd of suggestions. Both shows are real, both are worth staying for.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

Tyler Fischer @ Magooby's Joke House

The internet-famous "walking around NYC in a suit yelling at people" comedian brings that same unhinged energy to Timonium for a two-night run. Shows at 7 PM and 9:30 PM, 18+, two-item minimum.

👉 CTA: Reserve Now!

Katt Williams @ THE HALL at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland

We know Hanover isn't technically Baltimore — but Katt Williams doesn't come through the region often, and this one's confirmed for tonight, 9 PM (doors 7:30), 21+. Worth the drive down 295 if you can still find a ticket.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

🎨 Arts & Culture

Tew Years Later @ SNF Parkway Theatre

Three generations of Black Baltimore painters — James Phillips, Ernest Shaw, and Charles Mason III — anchor an evening of storytelling, live performance, and a shared meal from The Mixing Bowl. Doors 4:30 PM, program at 5, sliding-scale $5-$50.

👉 CTA: Learn More!

Dreamseeds: Dreaming in Times of Chaos @ BMA Lexington Market

Free drop-in basket weaving, zine making, and journaling with BMA artist-in-residence Hannah Brancato, 11 AM to 3 PM. No registration, just show up.

👉 CTA: Details Here!

Baltimore Beat Summer Jam and Legacy Gala @ Baltimore Museum of Industry

Baltimore Beat's summer bash doubles as its first-ever Legacy Gala, honoring W. Paul Coates, Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, and Afro Charities for preserving Black media in this city. Dinner and program 6-9 PM, afterparty to midnight, 21+.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

Ursula: The Greatest Story Never Told @ Le Mondo

A two-night run of original theater in Station North's scrappiest black-box space, 7:30 PM curtain. GA is $15, priority seating $35.

👉 CTA: Details Here!

The Magic Showcase @ Poe's Magic Theatre

Close-up illusion and sleight of hand inside the Lord Baltimore Hotel, 8 PM, $25-$35. VIP tickets add a half-hour aftershow meet-and-greet with the headliner.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

🎬 Screen Time

The Odyssey @ The Senator Theatre

Christopher Nolan's mythological epic — Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, the works — is still packing the Senator's big room. Showtimes today: 12:15, 3:50, and 7:30 PM.

👉 CTA: Details Here!

FREE Community Movie Night: Amadeus @ Church of the Redeemer

The 2026 Opera Campers host a free screening of Amadeus on North Charles Street. Doors 6:30 PM, movie at 7 — bring your own dinner and settle in.

👉 CTA: Learn More!

⚾ Sports & Outdoors

Orioles vs. Atlanta Braves @ Oriole Park at Camden Yards

First 20,000 fans 21+ get a Birdland Hawaiian Shirt courtesy of Old Bay, and Party at The Yard (21+, presented by Coors Light) keeps going after the last out. First game of a three-game set, 7:05 PM.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

🦀 Community, Food & Family

Baltimore Restaurant Week Kicks Off @ Various Locations

The 20th-anniversary summer edition of Baltimore Restaurant Week launches today and runs through August 2, with 70+ restaurants offering prix-fixe brunch, lunch, and dinner menus citywide. Ten days, no excuse not to try somewhere new.

👉 CTA: Learn More!

Craft & Trinkets @ Village Learning Place

Make a rosette and a pin-back button to keep — or donate a set to the Baltimore Trinket Library — at this cozy Charles Village craft night. $7 covers supplies for one set, 6-8 PM.

👉 CTA: Sign Up!

Book Arts 101: Make Your Own Journals @ ARTEASY

Learn Japanese stab-binding and saddle-stitching and walk out with two handmade journals, including covers eco-printed from Baltimore flora. Beginner-friendly, all materials included, at the Federal Hill art studio.

👉 CTA: Reserve Now!

Between the Sheets Book Club: It Ends with Us @ Red Emma's

The worker-owned bookstore-café's book club digs into Colleen Hoover's most-talked-about (and most-debated) novel, 6 PM. Come with opinions.

👉 CTA: RSVP!

⭐ Our Bonus Pick

O.A.R. Three Decades Tour w/ Gavin DeGraw & Lisa Loeb @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

Gates 5:15 PM, show 6:30 PM · Columbia, MD · tickets via Live Nation

Thirty years ago a bunch of Rockville teenagers started a band. Tonight O.A.R. brings the Three Decades Tour home to Merriweather with Gavin DeGraw and Lisa Loeb in tow, and if you grew up anywhere near a Maryland high school parking lot in the 2000s, you already know exactly what "Love and Memories" sounds like blasting off a lawn full of strangers. This is the one night this week that's genuinely once-in-a-generation — a Maryland band, in Maryland, thirty years in. Go.

👉 CTA: Get Tickets!

That's a Wrap!

You made it, Baltimore. You survived the week and you earned this weekend — go spend it loud. We'll have your Saturday guide ready first thing tomorrow morning.

Until then: yodel it from the rooftops. 🗣️⛰️