Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Friday November 14, 2025 - Baltimore, MD

Road Blog
November 14, 2025
Baltimore, Maryland

After posting the blog yesterday I went for a little walk around the farm and counted six bald eagles in the field behind the house. That was awesome! They seemed to be aggravating a flock of some smaller birds, a couple adults on an adjacent hill and two adults and a juvenile behind the house. I was taking some photos when the farm kitty came up and wanted to show me the turkeys and Guinea fowl in exchange for some scratches. I told her she should be careful around those eagles cuz she’s ripe pickins for dinner, but she wasn’t paying them any mind. Anyhow, more about her later.

We stopped for some coffee on our way into the city and it quickly became a gas station debacle so we all walked over to McDonalds for some real coffee. The cute girl like my Panama patch on my jacket and I think she was into me, but Adam and Nicholas weren’t as convinced.

Our first stop in Baltimore was the inner harbor, which is like tourist-central, but it’s way off-season and a cloudy morning so there weren’t many people around. We walked around a bit, Jack and I got a couple souvenirs, found a restroom with the best hand dryer I’ve ever used ever, saw a couple jellyfish and a mangy, sick rat, and headed back to the van.

Joel wanted to see the Edgar Allen Poe house so we worked our way over there, and there wasn’t a whole lot to get into. Outside the house Tommy was standing there, and as if on queue, he went into the Spinal Tap Graceland “Heartbreak Hotel” bit and I assumed the Nigel role and took the high harmony and it all unfolded as if by fate in a few fleeting seconds.

Just as we were wrapping up our verse-chorus a good-looking couple came out of the museum and complemented us on our harmonies and said we should be in a band. He and I got to talking and he was like “I know a guy in a band in Detroit – Darren McCarty” and I was all “no way – how do you know him” and it turns out the dude was Keith Yandle, ex-NHL Coyotes, Ranger, Flyers, and Panthers and host of the great Spittin' Chiclets hockey podcast. We talked a little Red Wings for a minute and I told him about our show and he told me about his podcast. Super nice dude and crazy encounter that will always be remembered.

Jack was itchin’ for a beer and these dudes are quick to say what we should do but slow to actually offer up a destination, so I picked this dive-lookin’ bar nearby called Fielders Sports Tavern. Turns out it wasn’t a dive bar at all. We turned a few heads as we walked in, on the count of we weren’t exactly the demographic of that joint, if ya know what I mean, but it was cool, and we sat down and ordered a round. Here’s where it gets good.

So they’re playing like RnB, pop-soul stuff – Micheal Jackson, Spinners, whatever, all good, but I had the hankerin’ for some Cheap Trick, as those who know me know, so I dialed up my jukebox app and did some Apple-Pay and loaded up my credits and queued up “Dream Police,” assuming it would be at normal levels and just sort of assimilated into the rotation after a couple songs. Welp, nope. “bam bam - Doo Doo da Doo Daaahhh” and the tune kicks in immediately OVER the RnB stuff and twice as loud, like almost concert level. Holy shit it was loud and a little alarming, but whatever, thinks me, it’s a great tune, what’s the worst that could happen? So Joel, the most even-keeled, go-along-with-anything dude ever looks at me and sternly barks “Did YOU do this?” and me, innocently queuing up the Stones “Loving Cup,” with a Dream Police patch on my jacket, looked to my left and right, then up like a scolded child “um yea who else in this joint is playing Dream Police?” thinking it was kinda funny but also not lost on me that we basically turned these nice folk’s lounge into a classic rock concert hall.

I went into damage control mode and apologized to a couple of the staff who couldn’t have been cooler “All good bro! it’s your money – play what you want! We're happy you're here!” but the damage was done, I’d disappointed the Kernel, and back on was Michael Jackson “Human Nature” and all this stuff. As the afternoon progressed the group was able to laugh about it, but Jack and Tommy made it clear they wouldn’t have had my back if the shit went down, and on the sly Adam said he thought it was Awesome: “Rod Stewart, Kenny G, Kris Kristofferson, the dude from Crash Test Dummies all walk into our bar…” he joked at dinner. That was hilarious. Nicholas was quietly taking it all in, so I’m not sure where exactly he landed. But I bet that bar will be talking about these white dudes (Rod, Kenny, Kris, etc) from Michigan who came in and blared “Dream Police” at 2 o’clock on a Friday afternoon one day. I felt like I’d disappointed Kernel and that bummed me out, but at the same time, I know we’ll be laughing about this for years so the guilt is slowly waning. Had I known it would come in hot like that over the music they were already playing I never would have done it. To our friends at Fielder’s… I’m sorry too, hope you all got a kick out of us, signed Rod Stewart.

After the bar we headed over to Federal Hill Park which overlooks the city and has a cool cannon and some great photo-ops. Tommy knows his way around as his brothers lived here for a while and he’s put in some time too. From there we headed over to LP Steamers for some seafood, recommended by Joe S. I got the crabs for dinner and to share along with some Maryland seafood soup. It was super delicious but a lot of work to hammer those suckers out and very messy. Despite washing my hands a half-dozen times I smelled crab every time I took a drink for the rest of the night.

We drove to the other corner of the city for our show at Micky's Joint and got some pretty good parking. I saw my good pal Patti who is always so welcoming and friendly, just a great person. We couldn’t load in much because the place is so small, but her helped our friends The Starlings a little bit with their gear and getting the PA set up before they went on around 8pm. They are such a great band and a great fit for this tour lineup too.

After their set we loaded in and set up as quickly as we could and kicked into about 90 minutes of our A-list material. The crowd was great and everyone was engaged and responsive – a really fun set. We’re a little road-worn at this time from too much time together in small quarters, but hopefully that just lends to the fun of it all. We played pretty well, maybe not our tightest set but one of the most fun. Afterwards we had a couple rounds and visited with our friends for a while before packing up and loading out. What a great night – THANK YOU to Micky’s and Quinn and The Starlings and Patti and everyone who was there. I love Baltimore!

We cranked Ride the Lightening and Kernel got us back to the 1880s farm house in about 45 minutes. Farm kitty came in with us, apparently surviving another day of avoiding eagles, and Kernel made the executive decision that, unsure of the house rules, she might belong outside, despite my protests. Sorry cute girl, I tried! I'll go out and check on her and the eagles here soon.

TONIGHT we leave it all on the table at The Rialto Theatre in Akron, Ohio where the tour ends. Good pal Brian Lisik Music and Easton Union are playing too. Then it’s back in the van and home to TrooperGirl22. SEE YA TONITE in Akron! xx