Baltimore Sun: September 19, 1983, page D1
To police it appeared to be a pagan ritual: cymbals clanging, a naked man chanting, a dead dog hanging in a dark railroad tunnel.
To Michael F. Tolson, it was simply a performance.
But the show was cut short early yesterday and its leading man handcuffed, dressed and led to the Southern District police station.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," said one police sergeant, a 26-year veteran of the force. "I'd rather run up against a man with a gun than that situation."
Police were called to the Chessie System railroad tunnel in the 1000 block of South Howard street about 3:50 a.m. yesterday.
As they entered the tunnel, which leads into Camden Station, police heard a loud banging sound, like cymbals crashing. Then, police said, they saw a dead animal hanging from the ceiling and a man standing in the dark tunnel, his naked body covered with "a glowing paint."
Thirty-five persons were also in the tunnel, all watching as the man swung the dog, police said.
"We put the handcuffs on him and of course we put a pair of trousers on him" and cleared the others out of the tunnel, the police sergeant said.
Police arrested and charged Michael F. Tolson, of the 1000 block South Charles street, with trespassing.
Those attending the performance told police they had been invited to the pre-dawn event by Mr. Tolson.
Mr. Tolson, who has produced other performance pieces on some unlikely stages in Baltimore, said last night that the show was part of a convention of "The Church of the SubGenius" -- which is not, he stressed, a religious cult of any type.
"First, we were not praying to the dead dogs. Secondly, I'm not the leader of a cult group. I may have an audience who's interested in what I'm doing. But I'm not their leader."
Yes, two dead dog carcasses were used in the show, Mr. Tolson said, but he added that he found them in the tunnel.
And, yes, he said he was naked, but he added that his body was covered with white greasepaint.
The crashing cymbals, the 30-year-old artist pointed out, were in fact a "thunder sheet," a metal sheet that simulates the sound of thunder when shook.
As for the "Church of the Subgenius," Mr. Tolson said, "There's no simple explanation. It's something I consider to have a very benevolent social purpose that centers around people getting more slack."
Mr. Tolson said 30 to 40 people from out-of-town attended the three-day convention that he and two others sponsored at the Galaxy Ballroom on West Franklin street.
Conventions for the Church of the SubGenius have been held before, he said, in Chicago and Dallas.
Mr. Tolson, also a filmmaker, was once featured on an "experimental" radio show on WJHU earlier this year under the pseudonyms of "tentatively, a convenience" and "Tim Ore."
Last New Year's Eve, he hosted a party in the same tunnel as the performance yesterday.
But, as for repeating the performance? Unlikely, he said:
"I'm not redundant."