Dozens of people trudged through the slush and muck on an unusually warm night Feb. 19 to see Baltimore noise-rockers Roomrunner tear up the basement of 614 Gladstone.
The room was packed for three sets, including local punks Pregnancy Scares and another Baltimore group Multicult, with each band finding no trouble getting the crowd to move.
Multicult warmed up the crowd and had everyone moshing by their last few songs. After an intermission of drunken foosball matches upstairs, Roomrunner kicked off their set to the cue of couch cushions vaulted into the pit.
Roomrunner, originally slotted for the last set, was pushed to second due to time restraints.
They released their debut LP Ideal Cities in May 2013 on Fan Death, a Baltimore label. The album followed a string of EPs and was engineered and recorded by Roomrunner’s guitarist Dan Frome in his Baltimore studio.
Roomrunner’s vocalist Denny Bowen said Frome was active in the Baltimore scene recording fellow noise rock acts Dope Body, Multicult and Double Dagger—Bowen’s old band.
Bowen and Frome both worked with Baltimore mainstay and scene catalyst Dan Deacon prior to forming Roomrunner.
“He inspired the current scene, though that era is mostly gone now,” Bowen said.
Roomrunner’s music is inspired in equal parts by ‘90s grunge and noise rock, and the current experimental math rock scene that has been going strong on the east coast for nearly a decade.
The sound was a good fit for Ottawa, which is going through its own experimental renaissance.
Bowen, who also plays guitar and is the band’s primary songwriter, said the turnout for the show was great.
“We love playing house shows, as soon as the couch cushions started flying, I was like ‘yeah, now I’m ready!’” he said.
Though Roomrunner has played Canadian dates on previous tours, this was their first time in Ottawa.
“We got into contact with Ottawa Explosion through our friends in Greys from Toronto. As far as our touring schedule goes we always try to fit in a few Canada dates,” Bowen said. “We’ve played London, Guelph, Toronto a few times. It’s kind of weird that we kept passing Ottawa so might as well play there.”
He said touring bands from outside Canada may skip Ottawa because of its proximity to two larger cities Montreal and Toronto.
“We’re used to that in Baltimore—we’re an hour away from DC and two hours away from Philadelphia,” Bowen said.
The similarities don’t stop there.
“The way shows are in Baltimore . . . it’s kind of a city that celebrates its own, bands from there that are nationally big will have a terrible show there while the smaller bands have huge following,” he said. “I can see how we’re, like, estranged city siblings.”
