Speech Impediment

September 4, 2000: Leatherface, Cross My Heart, Pezz, River City High @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-30T14:32:00.003-05:00

This is definitely one of my favorite shows ever. Getting to see Leatherface in a place as small as the Sidebar was near euphoric. The place was packed with friendly faces and something about it was just really special. Cross My Heart played one of the best sets I ever saw them play. Dwayne somehow managed a dive off the 6" high stage at the end of their set, guitar in hand. I'm not sure I watched Pezz or River City High, but I'm sure they were just fine. Jamie Arthurs booked the show. Looks like he made the flyer as well.

August 24, 2000: Neil Perry, Joshua Fit For Battle, Contra, Latterman, Break of Dawn, Buried Inside @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-29T14:25:00.003-05:00

This is one of those shows I did because I'm just such a nice guy. I can't say I really had any interest in any of the bands. I knew some of the guys in Break of Dawn because Looks Like Rain would play Rochester a bunch and we got friendly with the Head On/Standfast crew, and someone from Head On played in Break of Dawn, who were on tour with Buried Inside. I was a part of Emogeddon Records, who put out the Falsies' "Theory and Motion" CD and they would play shows and trade records with Latterman (well before anybody outside of Long Island gave a shit about them) so I volunteered to help them out on their trip with Contra, also from Long Island. I think I was familiar with Neil Perry and Joshua Fit For Battle through the board.crewcial.org (or whatever incarnation it was at the time) messageboard. I honestly don't have any specific recollection of this show. I'm sure some people were stoked. Glad I could help.

August 20, 2000: What Lies Ahead, Project 208, Latchkey, Looks Like Rain, Tries Too Hard @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-26T14:07:00.003-05:00

I booked the show, Brian Flowers made the flyer. Project 208 were a hardcore band from VA Beach with a sense of melody to their music. No idea what those guys are up to these days. I still have no idea who was in Latchkey. Any help would be great. I also don't remember who was in Tries Too Hard, but I know they were from southern Maryland. What I do remember about them is that they insisted there name was Tries To Hard. At least, that was what was on their stickers, and when I mentioned the grammatical error to them they told me that was how it was supposed to be. Don't ask me what it means to try to hard. I've never heard hard used as an action. Still makes me chuckle after all these years.

August 16, 2000: the Honor System, Looks Like Rain, the Chase, Latchkey @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-20T17:23:00.004-05:00

This one was a Craig Boarman (now Ottobar co-owner) joint. The Honor System were the two dudes from the Broadways that didn't go on to form The Lawrence Arms (Dan and Rob), along with Nolan McGuire (who would go on to tour manage and play live 2nd guitar for Alkaline Trio) and Tim McIlrath (who would go on to form Rise Against), although I'm pretty sure Tim was already out of the band at this point. Pretty decent poppy punk stuff. I don't remember who was in Latchkey but they were from southern MD/DC suburbs.

August 13, 2000: Misfits @ Recher Theater, Towson, MD

2012-01-18T12:51:00.007-05:00

I don't believe I ever saw the Misfits at the Recher Theater so I don't think I actually attended this show. The two times I saw the Misfits in Baltimore were once at Memory Lane with H2O opening and once at Bohager's with H2O and Sick Of It All opening. The Memory Lane show (Oct. 30th, 1996) was amazing because American Psycho hadn't been released yet so they just played classic songs from start to finish. I had no idea that H2O was on the bill so that was a pleasant surprise to see them when I got there. There's also the fact that the place could not have held more than 150 people or so, but it was waaaaaaaay overpacked, but so much fun. The Bohager's show (Nov. 1997, according to the Google / 2 tracks from Evillive II are from that show) was way less fun because the venue sucked and the Misfits played too much crappy new stuff. I did however interview H2O that night for a zine that I never completed. I still have the tape and have daydreams about publishing that interview in some new zine I have yet to get started on. Same for the Descendents, who I interviewed at the 9:30 Club on one of their tours for Everything Sucks. Maybe one day.

If anyone actually went to this show, please tell us about it.

EDIT: Some friends have jogged my memory...

Ryan Brown: "Pretty sure I went to this one. I think Ignite played as well. For some reason, I'm also thinking that Zoli sang for the Misfits instead of Michael Graves."

Tru Pray: "Reach the Sky opened up and Zoli did sing a few songs [for the Misfits]."

August 11, 2000: The Grey AM, The Gap Scatter Recovery, The Misery, Charlie Brown Gets a Valentine @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-16T14:13:00.002-05:00

The following day we're back at the Sushi Cafe for a little indie rock and melodic hardcore. I don't remember anything about The Grey AM. The Gap Scatter Recovery were from New Jersey and were friends of a friend so that's who I booked the show for. Pretty standard emo/indie rock of the time. I've mentioned The Misery before and if you missed it, I posted their demo on here about a week ago. Check it out if you dig the Saves the Day/Lifetime sound. I've also mentioned Charlie Brown Gets a Valentine on here before, and if you haven't heard Dead Mechanical, which is Lucas's current band, please do yourself a favor and check them out.

August 10, 2000: The Convocation Of..., Ampersand, Blue Skies Burning, With Arms Still Empty @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-15T10:44:00.004-05:00

Three days later and we're at the Sidebar for a show with the Baltimore supergroup, The Convocation Of..., headlining. The band was the new project featuring Tonie Joy (Universal Order of Armageddon, Moss Icon, The Great Unravelling, Born Against), Guy Blakeslee (Behind Closed Doors, Entrance), and George France (Prisoner of Conscience). Ampersand was the other local on a bill filled out by two out-of-towners who I am not familiar with. Carl Caracia made the flyer and Jamie Arthurs booked the show.

August 7, 2000: Carry On, Count Me Out, Striking Distance, Gamewinner @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-14T14:32:00.004-05:00

We're back at the Sushi Cafe for the 3rd day in a row. This was another great show. I believe it was the first time Carry On had come out east (south of Boston, at least) and they were doing this tour with Count Me Out, who had just put out "110". "Roll With the Punches" had been out for a couple of months and people were pretty psyched on them. Little would we know that they'd go on to become one of the biggest hardcore bands of the 2000s.

August 6, 2000: The Ultimate Warriors, Kung Fu Rick, Mad Cow Dizeaze 182, Daybreak @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-13T14:47:00.010-05:00

For those that were there, this was a show of legendary proportions. People still bring it up to me to this day. Easily one of my favorite shows I've ever booked. It was a few hours of people going apeshit in that little room upstairs above the Sushi Cafe. Complete mayhem. Every band tore it up and everyone had a smile on their face the whole time. For those unaware, The Ultimate Warriors were a power-violence band from northeast Pennsylvania. Members were/are in Pissed Jeans, The Gatecrashers, Slingshot Dakota, and a million other bands. Kung Fu Rick were a midwest power-violence band and members went on to form Seven Days of Samsara, Hewhocorrupts, High on Crime, and others. Mad Cow Dizeaze 182 were a spazzy thrash band from Long Island. The only member I know is Alex Sanchez. He did Mike Fitzgerald Records (who put out a couple records for The Spark) and now he lives in Allentown and sells stuff on Ebay. Daybreak were some record nerds from Baltimore. Great show.

Here's some video clips from the show (I'm the guy in the DS-13 shirt in the Daybreak clip):

Pissed Jeans - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuYdA2eGiJE&feature=plcp&context=C32cc450UDOEgsToPDskI_MyABPvUY8wtENTXVr2y6

Daybreak - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5MVOP9Fm1s&feature=plcp&context=C393c4bbUDOEgsToPDskJ1Vlj1AjYxUmmzYQgoz-F3

Kung Fu Rick - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM172wiZkYs&feature=related

EDIT: Quote from Tom P of Ultimate Warriors - "on the first day of that tour with kung-fu rick, we were all in the van talking about how unfamiliar we were with KFR's music. we agreed that no matter what, if KFR were dicks or even if they sucked, we would go crazy during their set. turned out that they were really nice dudes and their music was insanely good."

August 5, 2000: Standfast, What Lies Ahead, Shock Radio, the Chase @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-11T15:40:00.008-05:00

This one was an Andy Norton joint. Standfast were a screamy emo/hardcore band from Rochester, NY. They had a lot of friends in Baltimore so would come down here often, but they actually canceled this show. Rory now sings for Soul Control, Nate now plays guitar in Polar Bear Club, and Brian is the head chef at a vegan restaraunt in Boston called Veggie Galaxy. I'm not sure what the other guys are doing these days. I have no idea who Shock Radio were.

Andy Norton: "I was pissed at those dudes for years. Nobody contacted me about canceling until a year later!"

The Misery demo & Althea - Ladders To Climb and Stones To Throw

2012-01-10T19:46:00.003-05:00

As promised, here is the Misery demo and that Althea EP I mentioned a while back...

The Misery - demo: http://www.mediafire.com/?j2btpong6z7qy5a

(check it out if you like Saves the Day and all those early 2000s bands that were taking the Lifetime sound and running with it)

Althea - Ladders To Climb and Stones To Throw: http://www.mediafire.com/?9404mcioaniyr08

(check it out if you like Deep Elm Records at their prime [first few Emo Diaries comps])

July 25, 1999(?) & May 16, 2000(?): I Farm, Clancy 6, Boom Boom Cats, Charm City Suicides, Caste, Kerum, Die Cheerleader Die, and the Overprivileged

2012-01-10T17:39:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lapse there folks, I had to scan more flyers. While doing so I found these two older ones, so this post is a little out of sequence.

The first flyer was actually on the flip side of a flyer I was scanning from 2000. I didn't go to it. I've asked the promoter and one of the band members and the best guess is that this show was from 1999 (but possibly 1998 or 2000). Josh from The Sound Exchange in Ellicott City booked the show.

I didn't attend the 2nd show either. Someone gave me this flyer for the blog, but now I can't remember who. Club Ozone was what is now the Ottobar. The best guess for the year of this one is 2000 (not long before the Ottobar took it over), but possibly 1999.

We'll get back to the regular rotation of flyers tomorrow.

July 28 - Aug 12, 2000: Sidebar calendar

2012-01-06T14:13:00.005-05:00

This is a calendar flyer designed by Carl Caracia for a handful of shows at the Sidebar. I don't remember who Box Car Children were (did they play that Swarm show at the Kaffa House?), but The 65 Film Show were a rad post-hardcore-ish band from Virginia Beach. I think Curtiss Williams from Time Flies played in that band if I remember correctly. Not sure if any of them made any music after that band. Garrison was a post-hardcore band on Revelation that had a couple of decent songs, but didn't really grab me. Same thing goes for The Stryder from Long Island. That August 5th show was pretty cool. Midtown sucked and I don't know who The Falls Version was, but The Stereo, The Movielife, and The Misery were all great. The Misery were a melodic hardcore band out of Baltimore with Aaron from Torn Apart/Behind Closed Doors, PJ (Ziggy from The Wire), Pete Hilton, and I can't remember who else. I'll try to remember to upload that demo this weekend. I definitely didn't attend that Commin Correct show, but CodeSeven were a decent band with cool guys.

EDIT: Found this post-posting this post...

July 27, 2000: Purpose, Worthless, Holding On, Looks Like Rain @ the Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-04T17:28:00.003-05:00

I don't remember this show being hugely attended but I do remember having a good time. I really enjoyed every band on this show. Purpose were some cool "Revolution Summer" inspired hc/punk from NJ. The singer and I went to the same elementary and high school. He was a few years younger than me, but it's cool to think that anyone from my tiny grade school in Bumfuck, NJ went on to play in a cool band. (The drummer from Rad also went to the same elementary school.) He (John) went on to sing for the Break a few years later. Their first record is great. Not sure what any of the other members went on to do. Worthless were a cool punk band, also from NJ. Matt Times (Fast Times, Tear It Up, the Rites) played drums for them. I think this show was right around the time they were suing Ann Beretta (no shit, AB just popped up on my iPod as I'm writing this) for ripping them off on a song that was on their Lookout! album. I remember being told about this situation at this show. Not sure how any of that ever panned out. Also not sure what any of the other members went on to do except for a short-lived band called Rock, Star that put out a decent demo. I think this was the first time Holding On came through Baltimore. Looks Like Rain would go on to play with those guys quite a bit and it was always a pleasure. Good band and really good guys. Karl went on to work for Bridge 9 Records, and is now at Epitaph. Some of the other guys formed bands but the only one I can remember right now is Hope You Choke (named after a lyric from my favorite Poison Idea song). Not sure if any of them are still playing in bands. Fun time.

July 23, 2000: Churner, Looks Like Rain, Angel Eyes, Ourselves Alone, Victory Red, Flirting With Disaster @ 1253 Columbia Rd, Woodbridge, VA

2012-01-03T11:46:00.004-05:00

First things first, I actually did what I said I was gonna do. Here are Ampersand's two EPs for your listening pleasure:

1a34959u - http://www.mediafire.com/?oh8h2o2wompx12b

Telluric Currents - http://www.mediafire.com/?3ves3anw7m0pv6o

Check 'em out if you dig 90s heavy discordant hardcore, somewhere between Bloodlet, Die 116, and Lungfish. Mitch Olshansky, I'm looking at you. "Interrogation Techniques" on the first EP is the jam.

Onto the flyer...The only recollection I have of this show is that it was in the back yard. I have no idea whose house that was. I remember that Churner were from NoVA. Heavier stuff if I remember correctly. No idea what any of them did after that band, if anything. Angel Eyes was Matt Bidwell from the Green House in Vienna, VA and friends. They played Gravity Records-kinda stuff. I have no idea who Ourselves Alone or Victory Red were. Flirting With Disaster were an all-female band, though I don't remember exactly what they sounded like; metalcore, I think. So much for my memory.

July 20, 2000: Engine Down, the Future Perfect, Ampersand, Looks Like Rain @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

2012-01-02T12:04:00.003-05:00

Hey there. It's been a while. Sorry about that. My one new year's resolution for 2012 is to get this going again. I welcome your participation. Any memories you have about any of the shows or bands I post, please feel free to contribute. Thanks for checking this out...

One of these things is not like the other. Don't ask me why Looks Like Rain got asked to play this, but I'm glad we did because all the other bands were great. I never owned any of Engine Down's albums but I always enjoyed seeing them live. So tight and really interesting songs. I'm not sure if any of them are still making music. I hope so. The Future Perfect - first of all, great band name - I've mentioned them before on here. Cool band featuring former members of Blank and Bridgewater. The brothers Silanskis both played in the band. Any band with a family connection already has a leg up. There's a connection there that can't be denied. I don't think they ever recorded anything which is a bummer. I promised a friend I'd send him rips of the Ampersand demos and EP a while back and still haven't done so. I'll try to do that this week and post them here as well.

July 15, 2000: Kill Your Idols, Grey Area, Life's Halt, No Reply, Looks Like Rain @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

2011-08-10T15:45:00.003-04:00

I booked this show on the Life's Halt / No Reply tour a couple days after the Philly show. As you can imagine with that line-up, it was a lot of fun. I still have an orange towel that one of those dudes left at my house that night. This may have been the first show I booked at the Sidebar.

July 13, 2000: Kill Your Idols, Life's Halt, No Reply, Last In Line, A Poor Excuse @ 4040, Philadelphia, PA

2011-07-29T17:18:00.004-04:00

The following day I headed up to Philly to catch this show. This one was a blast. With the exception of A Poor Excuse, who were decent, every band on this show was a favorite of mine at the time. I was not let down in the least. Every band killed it. Life's Halt and No Reply had some of the most high-energy sets I've ever seen. Great show. Robby Redcheeks put it together. For those unaware, No Reply featured Dave from Suicide File on vocals. Not sure if the other dudes went on to do anything else. I believe someone from Life's Halt plays in Broken Patterns now, but don't quote me on that. If you're into fast, thrashy hardcore and you're unfamiliar with any of these bands, do yourself a favor and check 'em out. All quality.

July 12, 2000: Kill the Man Who Questions, Reversal of Man, DS 13, the Dreadnaughts @ Wilson Center, Washington, DC

2011-07-28T16:58:00.003-04:00

I always loved seeing shows at the Wilson Center, even if they weren't all that well attended. The place had such history as far as DC hardcore goes. It was sad to see it close its doors when it did. This show wasn't super small, but the room was pretty big, so shows of 75 - 100 people left it feeling kinda empty. I don't remember who the Dreadnaughts were. And while I liked KTMWQ and RoM OK, I definitely went primarily for DS 13 who were some total Swedish ragers. Members also played in ETA, The Vicious, the Lost Patrol Band, and many others. Great legacy.

July 6, 2000: Good Clean Fun, Throwdown, 18 Visions, Fast Times, Carved In Stone @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2011-07-26T14:21:00.003-04:00

Not 100% sure I went to this show. I probably did but I have no recollection of it. GCF would have been the only band on here I cared about seeing. Carl Caracia made the flyer. Jamie Arthurs booked the show. Sorry I can't give ya more than that.

June 30 - July 2, 2000: Hellfest, Syracuse, NY

2011-07-22T18:06:00.006-04:00

The day after that Dillinger Escape Plan show I headed up to Philly to meet up with my high school friend, Doug Spangenburg, who was doing High Roller Productions at the time. He did videos for Brother's Keeper, Earth Crisis, and more, and was the man behind the first, and probably some of the later, Hellfest video. I was on board as one of his camera men, so we rolled up to Syracuse together. Doug was way more into the metallic hardcore scene than I was so he knew a lot of the people involved in the fest and we stayed with DJ Rose (Halo Tattoos, Path of Resistance) for the weekend. (Fun fact: Many years later the Spark was on tour and stayed with Chuck from Black SS after our Syracuse show. We followed him to his house and I was stunned to realize I had been there before, as he moved into the same house after DJ moved out.) I actually met Chuck at this Hellfest as he was helping out with the video shoot as well, but I didn't make the connection until he pointed it out many years later. I was on the stationary camera in the middle of the room so I got to sit down and use a tripod the whole time and I had a great view of the bands. That was a crazy weekend. The original venue was a fairgrounds just outside of the city and something happened they day before the fest was to start where the town or the fire department or something wouldn't allow it. Then they tried to move it to the Lost Horizon, which is a club with about a 500 person capacity, if that. Not sure if the powers that be realized that wouldn't work for all the people that had bought tickets or what but they finally got it set at a large club that seized on the opportunity and charged the promoters out the ass for the venue for the weekend. At least it got to happen. I don't remember every set from the weekend (I never even got a copy of the DVD, somebody hit up Josh Trustkill for me) but highlights I remember are: God Below being one of the heaviest sets I've ever seen (their LP was a big disappointment though), Head On's set cuz it was cool to see my friends and their small band on such a big fest, Bane's set being possibly the biggest 30-minute long pile-on I've ever seen (I think Aaron got about 7 total words into the mic), Every Time I Die's set being a full-on party with streamers and poppers and goofy hats, and Brother's Keeper and their Misfits cover set. That was the one and only time I've been to a Hellfest but it was probably the only one I'd ever cared about being at. Good times for sure. Check me out at the end of the video, during the credits. And seriously, if anyone can get me a copy of the DVD, I'd be stoked.

June 28, 2000: Dillinger Escape Plan, Candiria, Burn It Down, National Acrobat, Killswitchengage, Caste @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2011-07-21T16:39:00.005-04:00

I only remember seeing Dillinger Escape Plan and National Acrobat at this show. Most likely because those are the only bands I cared about seeing. Actually, I remember seeing a little bit of Candiria and thinking they were awful. Caste featured the only and only Beast, aka Alex Henderson, Pulling Teeth drummer. I remember hearing their EP and thinking they liked Torn Apart a lot. I used to work with the singer, Durv, and know he was super into Candiria as well so that probably found it's way into their sound somewhere. Killswitchengage was at least one of the dudes from Overcast. I think they got pretty big in the Alternative Press/Decibel metal world but I couldn't tell you for sure. They were no Overcast. Burn It Down were actually pretty good but I didn't realize it at the time. Hindsight.

January 23/24, 1999: Matt Leveton benefit show, Manville Elks Lodge, Manville, NJ

2011-07-06T14:19:00.003-04:00

Dan Paulson sent me this flyer to post, so we're stepping out of the chronological order for a minute. I remember this show happening but I was not able to make it. The show was a benefit for Matt Leveton who booked a lot of the Manville Elks Lodge shows and was severely injured in a car accident in South Carolina, on his way to a Quicksand show. The shows there didn't start up until after I had moved to Baltimore so I never went to any, but they were a great boon to the NJ hardcore scene. (My experiences with Manville consisted of trips to the paintball supply store located there when I was in high school.) The line-up of this show is a testament to what Matt's shows meant to some of the best bands of the era. Agnostic Front was the special guest on the 2nd day. Killer show for a great cause.

June 21, 2000: Scumbrigade, Sbitch, Foil In the Works, the Scam, InSpite @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-06-30T16:57:00.004-04:00

This show was a case of "sometimes I can't say no". I wasn't into any of the touring bands but I'm a nice guy and like helping out when I can, especially for bands from overseas. Scumbrigade were a crusty thrashpunk band from Sweden. I let them stay at my house after this show and my couch reeked of body odor for months afterwards. Sbitch and Foil In the Works were two bands on tour that needed a hole filled. Again, sometimes I can't say no. I think at least one of them, maybe both, was from Texas. Neither were very good. The Scam featured one or both of the twins that did a lot of the Wilson Center shows (Wade and ?). InSpite have been mentioned before. One of Baltimore's best powerviolence bands.

June 16, 2000: Atari, Head On, What Lies Ahead, Looks Like Rain, the Chase, Society at Stake @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-06-28T17:42:00.004-04:00

I wanna say Andy Norton put this show together, but I'm not positive. Can't remember who lookitt@hotmail.com was. I don't remember much about this show, which is a shame, cuz Atari were one of my favorites of the late 90s youth crew revival bands. Super simple, but super fun. Head On were from Rochester and featured members that went on to play in The Disaster, Not Sorry, Bad Business, and many others. Looks Like Rain played a bunch of shows with those guys, the most fun being a weekend with them and Gamewinner that took the highway food fight game to unprecedented levels. The Chase and What Lies Ahead were some solid MD bands from this era. I can't remember who was in Society at Stake, but I wanna say it was Andy Norton and some of the Laurel / Columbia kids.

June 4, 2000: I Hate You, Time Flies, No Justice, Damage, Striking Distance @ 4040, Philadelphia, PA

2011-06-24T14:52:00.003-04:00

Four days, four shows. Second reunion show in a row. This time around it was Philly's infamous I Hate You getting back together for a gig. This one was at 4040 in west Philly. I think this was in the same building as the Rotunda, maybe on the same block. They were very close. It didn't last too long though. I think UPenn bought the building. Saw some cool shows there. This one was no slouch for sure. Look at that line up. Solid from start to finish. I Hate You were solid. Robby Redcheeks put this one together.

June 3, 2000: Four Walls Falling, Rain On the Parade, Strike Anywhere, No Justice, American Nightmare @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2011-06-23T17:37:00.003-04:00

Definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen. Somehow the Malfunction crew got Four Walls Falling to do this one time reunion show and it was a blast. I got into them just after they broke up so I never got to see them when they were around. They killed it. I've got an OK 8mm video from this show if anyone would be into digitizing it. I definitely remember AN doing the Op Ivy cover at this show. No Justice were a fabulous mess as usual. The venue was a bit large to really revel in the chaos of a typical NJ show, but Timmy made the best of it and managed to throw himself around with the usual abandon. Strike Anywhere were still a pretty new band but I think Chorus of One might have been out at this point so kids were definitely into them. Linas Garsys made the flyer.

June 2, 2000: Earth Crisis, Darkest Hour, Reach the Sky, Page 99, Right Brigade @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2011-06-16T16:50:00.002-04:00

This is day 2 of four days in a row of shows. Sick weekend. This was around the time that Earth Crisis released "Slither" so they were beyond horrible at this point. Right Brigade were probably the highlight of the evening for me, but I loved the fact that Jamie put Page 99 on this show.

June 1, 2000: Strike Anywhere, As Friends Rust, De Nada, Looks Like Rain @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

2011-06-15T14:06:00.003-04:00

This was a fun show. I've got a screen-printed poster for this show that David Hardy made. We had to do it as an early show cuz there was already a late show booked for that night. As Friends Rust's first few releases were great. I still revisit them from time to time.

May 28, 2000: Page 99, Creation Is Crucifixion, Xibalba @ unknown, Baltimore, MD

2011-06-14T17:53:00.003-04:00

This is a double-sided business card flyer for Xibalba's (Baltimore) last show with Page 99 and Creation is Crucifixion. I know Ben Valis (Stars of the Dogon / the Small Intestine) was in Xibalba. Can't remember who else. Awesome flyer. I don't believe I made it to this show as the venue sounds completely unfamiliar to me. It says it was across the street from the Copycat Building on the 1500 block of Guilford Ave. As far as I know, the only building there is a charter school. If anyone made it to this show, please fill us in.

May 27, 2000: Count Me Out, Time Flies, Wheelbite, Striking Distance @ Falls Church VFW, Falls Church, VA

2011-06-11T15:49:00.004-04:00

Here's another one I know I've got some photos of that I'll have to dig up and post. Solid basically-local show. Count Me Out and Striking Distance are two of my all-time favorite bands from the MD/DC/VA area. I can't remember who the other band was. Maybe they're in the pics. I'll get around to digging through the photos this weekend.

May 13th, 2000: Ensign, Shutdown, Time Flies, 200 North, Looks Like Rain @ Kingpin, Hagerstown, MD

2011-06-09T18:30:00.004-04:00

The Kingpin was a short-lived venue that Zac and/or Adam from Strong Intention ran in Hagerstown after the 180 Club closed down. I only remember a few hardcore shows happening there. This one was pretty fun. I met Dave Jannes at this show. Solid dude. He got pretty stoked on Looks Like Rain, which made shows with him in attendance more fun. I couldn't tell you much about 200 North besides the fact that they were a youth crew band from western Maryland. I think that Think Fast! Records released something for them. Might have been someone else. If anyone knows if any of those dudes are still playing in bands, fill us in.

May 6, 2000: Page 99, Daybreak, Kissing Contest, The Others @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

2011-06-02T15:59:00.004-04:00

This was the 2nd show I attended on May 6, 2000. This was the record release show for Page 99's Document #5 and Daybreak's split 7" with Ultimate Warriors, if I remember correctly. This looks like a Tony Pence flyer. I can't remember anything about Kissing Contest or The Others. I love the little note to the under-agers about bringing a fake ID or helping the bands load their equipment in to get into the show.

May 6, 2000: The Index, Lycosa, Goat Shanty, Pay the Price @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-05-26T16:16:00.003-04:00

Keeve from Daybreak put this show together. It was a matinee because Page 99 was playing a record release show for Document #5 with Daybreak that night at the Ottobar. That's a full day of grind mayhem. The Index were a decent metal band with Rich from Enemy Soil, Drugs of Faith, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, and many others. I think Jake, who currently plays drums in Triac and Hatewaves, may have also been in the band. Can't remember for sure. I don't remember anything about Lycosa, except that they were from Richmond, or Goat Shanty. Pay the Price featured Forbes Graham of Amalgamation and Kayo Dot, Pat Vogel of Sick Fix, Crispus Attucks, and a million other bands, and I forget who else. Hot show. Literally.

PHOTOS: April 30, 2000 - De Nada, No Justice, Striking Distance @ GWU

2011-05-26T16:09:00.005-04:00

I told you I had photos from this show...

PHOTOS: May 13th, 1998 - Hot Water Music @ Supreme Imperial

2011-05-26T16:01:00.005-04:00

Nick Vance dug up these photos that Mike Thompson took. My favorite thing about these is that my wife is in these photos, but we wouldn't meet until 8 years later. The only other people I recognize, besides myself, are John Waszak, Mike Dubin, and I think I see Kevin Lamiell, but I'm not positive.

April 30, 2000: De Nada, No Justice, Striking Distance, Arcangel, Bleeding Head Good @ George Washington University, Washington, DC

2011-05-24T16:28:00.002-04:00

I really gotta remember to email myself the photos I have of a lot of these shows so I have them when I'm making these entries. I know I have some of this show. Was this the one where No Justice brought that mini-trampoline to the show? Pretty sure it is. I don't think it lasted too long before it got destroyed. I have no idea who Arcangel or Bleeding Head Good were.

April 28, 2000: Fast Times, Worthless, The Real Enemy, Red Angle Dragnet, Looks Like Rain @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-05-21T15:16:00.003-04:00

This was a pretty sparsely attended show at the Sushi Cafe. Decent line-up but nothing too crazy. Matt Times used to rage behind that drum kit. That was fun to watch.

April 22, 2000: Rain On the Parade, For the Living, Best of Times, Gamewinner, Brace @ Homebase, Wilkes-Barre, PA

2011-05-20T16:04:00.002-04:00

Pretty sure this was the first show I ever saw at Homebase. Went up with Gamewinner. It was a pretty small show for such a large space but it was cool that WB had a place like that for a while. They hosted a bunch of Posi-Numbers fests. Not sure why they shut down. Someone remind me who was in Best of Times.

April 16, 2000: the Control, Innerside Burning, Emerge, Think Fast @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-05-19T15:18:00.003-04:00

This is a show I booked at the Sushi Cafe. The Control were dudes from Buffalo who were previously in bands like Halfmast and No Reason. They had some good songs, but never really seemed to catch on. Jeremy went on to play in Dead Hearts. Innerside Burning was Gus Bowman and crew. Gus went on to play in Looks Like Rain, Never Enough, Desperate Measures, Pulling Teeth, and Unrestrained (OR). Emerge was a chunkier hardcore band from the Bowie area. Matt Moulis played drums. He went on to play in What Lies Ahead, Looks Like Rain, and some others. He's currently living in Austin teaching kids how to play drums. Think Fast were from MD's eastern shore. I have no idea if any of them are still playing in bands but I doubt it.

more from the March 24/25, 2000 weekend

2011-05-19T15:14:00.002-04:00

I forgot to post these yesterday. These are the flyers John Bachman made for these two shows.

March 24/25, 2000: Good Clean Fun, Bane, Brother's Keeper, Atom & His Package, the Hope Conspiracy, Daltonic, Dead To the World, Sick of It All, more

2011-05-17T15:14:00.003-04:00

Ah, a Jamie Arthurs flyer...an assault upon all that is understood as good design. This one is for a weekend of hardcore at St. Andrew's Church in College Park. Both have pretty stacked line ups. I don't remember anything about the first show so I'm not positive I went. I can't imagine Good Clean Fun actually headlined that show but maybe they did. I definitely went to the second show it was a blast. I can't remember the last time before this show that I saw Sick Of It All at anything other than a large club with a barrier. SOIA sounded so tight and kids were going off their whole set. Lots of speaker dives. I loved every band on that show so I had a blast all night. Helluva fun show.

February 22, 2000: Althea, River City High, Boom Boom Cats @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

2011-05-14T16:33:00.002-04:00

I went to this show to see River City High. I'd never heard of Althea before but they were great. I picked up their EP. Still have it, but haven't listened to it in a while. Real catchy indie/pop/punk. I'll have to dig it out and post it. I have no idea if any of them went on to do any other bands. I'm not sure if I watched Boom Boom Cats. There were a rockabilly band with punk rock roots, but not punkabilly, from the area. I didn't know any of them at the time but I currently work with their bass player, Lee Verzosa. He's a tattoo artist at Ghost Town in Ellicott City and does the label for Stillwater Artisinal Ales. He recently did the artwork for a Pulling Teeth shirt as well. Great dude.

February 19th, 2000: De Nada, Striking Distance, What Lies Ahead, Gamewinner @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-05-12T15:58:00.001-04:00

This is an Alex D flyer. He loved using artwork from Ebullution records for flyers. Kevin Hodges booked the show. I've got a great photo from this show that I've gotta dig up. The Sushi Cafe was in one of the more run-down neighborhoods in the city and sometimes the locals would come check out the shows. On this night a guy came up during De Nada's set and started freestyling between songs. This was a super fun all-local show. Apparently, according to the flyer, it was Michelle's birthday. I'm guessing Michelle Metrinko, but I could be wrong.

February 12th, 2000: In My Eyes, Ann Beretta, Time Flies, Count Me Out, Right Brigade, American Nightmare, Brace @ 1st Cong. Church, Washington, DC

2011-05-10T16:44:00.005-04:00

Sick show. One of these things is not like the other. I love Ann Beretta's first LP though, so it didn't bother me, but I think the room kinda cleared out when they played. I think this was the one where I was doing sound and got stuck in DC traffic on my way and didn't get there until an hour or so after doors opened. Needless to say, sets had to get shortened. I think this was also the last time the Malfunction crew used the First Congregational Church, but I'm not sure why. This may have also been the first time AN played the area. First time I remember seeing them was at the Falls Church VFW though.

Update from Alex Z: "This was the first time AN played DC. They covered Op Ivy and had the demos and matt rinks designed shirt for sale. I think may have been dave and aarons first show with Brace too."

February 9th, 2000: Turmoil, Himsa, Haste, Daybreak, The Allied War Effort @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2011-05-06T12:34:00.004-04:00

I have no recollection of this show so I'm not positive I actually went to it. Maybe I did. I liked Turmoil, and Daybreak and AWE were friends, so it's quite possible that I went, but I have no idea. I never liked Himsa and I have no idea who Haste were. Tony? Mike Wolf? Jamie? Help me out here.

February 8th, 2000: Future Perfect, Ampersand, Red Died Out, Spot @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

2011-05-04T15:16:00.004-04:00

This is a Carl Caracia flyer. He played guitar in Ampersand. Kinda funny how they're the only band name in bold. The Future Perfect were a cool indie band with members of Blank and Bridgewater (Kerry and Jeremy Silanskis, Scott Cullum). I forget who else was in the band. To my knowledge they never recorded a demo but I was always bugging them for one when they were around cuz I really dug a bunch of their songs. I'm not sure if the Spot on this flyer is the SST producer or some other band with that name. It would be weird if it was that guy and he was opening this show.

January 29th, 2000: De Nada, Ultimate Warriors, Daybreak, Striking Distance, Gamewinner @ Kaffa House, Washington, DC

2011-04-29T13:43:00.003-04:00

What a great line-up. Unfortunately I don't remember a thing from this show. Alex D, please grace us with your memories. Until then...the Ultimate Warriors are the only band on this flyer that I haven't already mentioned in the blog. They were a powerviolence band from the Lehigh Valley in northeast Pennsylvania. Members also played or currently play in the Gatecrashers, Pissed Jeans, and Slingshot Dakota. If you can't tell by their name, their schtick was wrestling. They put out a couple 7"s, an LP, and a bunch of split 7"s, including one with Daybreak. Rad, fun band.

January 20th, 2000: Kind of Like Spitting, Ampersand, Apathy, Red Died Out @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2011-04-28T13:22:00.004-04:00

After an unexpectedly long break, about six months, the blog is back in action. Sorry for the wait. I'll do my best to keep it updated on a regular basis from now on.

This was the first time I saw Kind of Like Spitting. Pretty sure it was just Ben and his guitar at this show. Really nice quiet songs with huge emotional tension in many of them. Haven't listened to any of this stuff in a while, but I'm sure I'd still dig it. Ben went on to play in The Thermals for a while. Great band. I've mentioned Ampersand on here before. Carl and Adam now play in a band called Black Birds. Their love for 90s Dischord sounds still shines through. Apathy were a terrible metal/hc band from Glen Burnie. Their sound was much more proto-nu metal than anything that really had to do with hardcore. Red Died Out were a local band featuring Tom Fortwengler, Donald Lefkowitz, Josh Medoff, and maybe someone else. Their sound was sorta a more indie-rock version of bands like the Doughboys or Big Drill Car. Donald went on to play in Can't Say, who were a great pop-punk band.

January 15th, 2000: Gamewinner, Crash Davis, El Secondhand, Choker, Looks Like Rain @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

2010-11-15T15:52:00.002-05:00

We now make our way into the 21st century. Exciting stuff. Looks Like Rain's second show. I remember this one being small but fun. Choker featured Chris Camden and Dwayne Bruner from Cross My Heart letting their love of the Doughboys shine (pun intended). Great band. I don't think they ever recorded a proper demo, but I know there were some live tracks floating around cyberspace. El Secondhand were a melodic punk band from NJ who could cover Slayer better than any band I've ever seen. Great dudes. Not sure what any of them are doing these days. Crash Davis was a pretty decent fast hardcore band from western Mass. Gamewinner played with them on their first tour and returned the favor here. I don't know if anyone from Crash Davis went on to form new bands either.

December 19th, 1999: The Swarm, Daybreak, Gamewinner, Brace, Boxcar Children @ Kaffa House, Washington, DC

2010-11-12T09:13:00.003-05:00

This was the only time I got to see the Swarm play and they were rad. I thought this show was gonna be a wild one but the turnout was weak. I don't think there were more than 20 people there. I was shocked cuz The Swarm were the shit and I was super pumped for this show. I'm not sure who Boxcar Children were. I think they were a poppy punk band. No idea who was in it or what they're doing now. Alex Dimattesa had a hand in the show. Pretty sure he made the flyer. I think "timmysly" was Tim Hefner, currently of Chaos in Tejas, but I can't remember for sure. To this day The Swarm are my favorite Chris Colohan (Burning Love, Cursed, Left For Dead, etc) band.

December 12th, 1999: Indecision, Kill Your Idols, Zao, Dragbody, Blue Skies Fade, Looks Like Rain

2010-11-11T08:12:00.003-05:00

Minus the god-rock, that's a hell of a line up. This was Looks Like Rain's first show. Thanks to our friend Michelle Northam (currently of Sick Fix), she got her friend, a young Nolen Strals (currently of Double Dagger and Posttypography), to make a banner for us. I still have it. We only had four songs and a Misfits cover but I was super pumped to play a show with Kill Your Idols and Indecision. This was when Artie Phillie was on vocals for them. I also thought Blue Skies Fade's first EP was pretty cool. Not sure if they released anything after that but I feel like they did. Dragbody were a noisy/chaotic heavy metallic hardcore band from Florida. Decent, but not really my thing. Great first show. Jamie Arthurs booked it and I made the flyer at work.

December 8th, 1999: Turmoil, Torn Apart, All Out War, Darkest Hour, the Jehovah Jury @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2010-11-10T08:12:00.003-05:00

I have no recollection of this show at all. Pretty classic metalcore line up. I have no idea who the Jehovah Jury were though. Pretty sure Chris Brady booked this one. Someone share their memories for us.

December 4th, 1999: Kid Dynamite, Thursday, Crispus Attucks, No Justice @ the Wilson Center, Washington, DC

2010-11-09T08:44:00.006-05:00

Kid Dynamite broke up a few days before this show so they didn't play. I'm struggling to remember who replaced them. I wanna say Majority Rule but I could be way off. Thursday only had Waiting out at this point so they weren't the huge band they are today. It was cool seeing them as Tucker and Tom are old high school friends of mine and I didn't get to bump into them that often. I still think that first album is pretty decent but I never bothered checking out anything after that. I'm pretty sure this is the show where Timmy chucked one of Gene's cymbal stands into the crowd during the No Justice set which collided straight into the skull of Dave Nada. Pretty sure stitches were involved. Even though KD cancelled this still ended up being a hell of a fun show. This one was a Sara Klemm production.

November 26th/28th, 1999: Page 99, Pig Destroyer, Daybreak, Midiron Blast Shaft, InSpite @ the Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

2010-11-08T07:58:00.004-05:00

These two shows were in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Reptilian Records. I only made it to the Sunday matinee show. Great line up. InSpite were a powerviolence band from Harford County that didn't take themselves too seriously but were pretty rad. Nick Vance, currently of Deep Sleep, played drums. Brian Redbeard played bass. Jim Branscome sang. I forget who played guitar. They released a posthumous 7" on Torture Garden Picture Company which is well worth picking up if you ever see it. Midiron Blast Shaft were a noise-rock band with touches of metal/hc from Philly. I have no idea what any of the members are doing these days. I interviewed Page 99 during this show for the one and only physical issue of Speech Impediment zine that exists. Daybreak and De Nada were also interviewed in it. RIP Reptilian Records.

November 13th, 1999: Crispus Attucks, What Lies Ahead, Striking Distance, Brace, Gamewinner @ Kaffa House, Washington, DC

2010-11-05T08:04:00.005-04:00

A solid local show at the Kaffa House. Not sure who set up the show but it looks like a Steve Clark flyer. Gamewinner is the only band here that I haven't mentioned before. This is a band near and dear to my heart. All good people, some of which I still hang out with or talk to on a regular basis. I released their 7" on my label at the time, Emogeddon Records, and my old band Looks Like Rain would play and hit the road with them often. I'll have to dig up the CD master for the 7" so I can upload it for your listening pleasure. Nik Korpon, who sang, is currently teaching classes (English I think) at CCBC in Essex, MD and has just had his first novel published, titled "Stay God". He also played in The Failure Design, a cool local post-hardcore band. Guitar player #1, Andrew "Duff" Duffy went on to start Desperate Measures before fading out of hardcore for a dependable job at BGE. Guitar player #2, Alex Dimattesa, is an avid reader/helper with this blog, currently works for the Independent Label Collective in Richmond, VA, operates Grave Mistake Records, plays in Government Warning and Wasted Time, and previously played in Crispus Attucks and Mendoza. He also loves quoting Fear of a Black Hat. Pat Martin played bass and would go on to play in Never Enough and sing for The Wishing Sickness (aka the Rock Band). He is currently bartending at the Ottobar and roadie-ing for Thursday and Strike Anywhere (literally currently for the latter, like right now). Ryan Brown played drums and would go on to play in Brace and Black Birds (the Baltimore one). Great band. Someone remind me to upload that 7", or do so yourself if you've already got it ripped.

November 9th/18th, 1999: Get Up Kids, At the Drive-In, Frodus... / Saves the Day, Grey Area, the Exploder... @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2010-11-01T09:27:00.006-04:00

Here's a flyer for two great shows at St. Andrew's Church. Maybe this STD show was the poop-doo show? I can't remember. That Get Up Kids show may have been the first show to "sell out" St. Andrew's Church. It was freakin' huge. Jamie booked the shows. I made the flyers. Woo.

Interesting note: There's been a show on November 9th on every year since the blog began.

November 6th, 1999: De Nada, River City High, Crispus Attucks @ Cambridge Community Center, UMD, College Park, MD

2010-10-29T08:23:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure I actually went to this show. Not sure where on campus the Cambridge Community Center was. Strange line up. I'd guess it was the De Nada/Crispus Attucks - Latebloomer :: River City High - Funsize connection. I liked RCH's first record and they played the area quite a bit around that time. Lost interest with the second one though.

November 5th, 1999: Led By the Blind, Akuma, Daybreak, Objection To Oppression

2010-10-28T08:23:00.004-04:00

I don't remember anything about this crust-tastic show. I'm sure I just went to see Daybreak. I can't remember who was in Akuma or Objection to Oppression cuz I didn't really pay attention to that scene at the time, so I'm not sure if any of them are still playing in bands. Not sure if this was my first time at the Sushi Cafe or not but it probably was. The Sushi Cafe would become a pretty standard venue for a year or so. Jin, the proprietor, moved his sushi restaurant from well-trafficked but expensive Fells Point over to the supposedly soon-to-be-redeveloped SoWeBo (south west Baltimore), right across the street from the Hollins Market. His rent was much cheaper but it was hard getting people through the door in the low-income neighborhood so he opened up his second floor to punk bands. I can't verify but word on the street was he was pretty lax about enforcing the legal drinking age. I booked and saw some pretty rad shows in that space during it's time as a Baltimore punk venue but alas the redevelopment never came and he just wasn't getting the restaurant traffic he desired to he packed up shop and moved out west. I believe the building houses a title agency currently.

October 21st, 1999: Kill Your Idols, No Justice, What Lies Ahead, Sleep It Off @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2010-10-27T07:50:00.005-04:00

This was a fun show. I'm trying to remember who was in Sleep It Off. I think it was Laurel area kids. I wanna say Andy Norton (Praise, Champion, Desperate Measures, Warpriest...) was in the band. I could be remembering that wrong. Someone refresh my memory. I'm pretty sure this was the show where Timmy and John kept kicking at each other during the No Justice set. Timmy liked to get wild during the NJ sets and his band members weren't off limits in the chaos. John had had enough at during the set and may have threw his bass at Timmy at one point. Can't remember if this was John's last show with them or not. This is a classic Steve Clark flyer.

October 20th, 1999: Franklin, Q and not U, Scaramouche, the Future Perfect @ UMBC Patapsco Hall, Baltimore, MD

2010-10-25T09:33:00.005-04:00

Here's a show I went to more for the cause than for the bands themselves. They're all fine bands, just not really my thing. I had been involved in the college radio station at UMBC since my freshman year and worked my way up through the ranks to assistant station manager. I spent a lot of time there, made some cool friends who I still keep in touch with, and got introduced to a lot of cool music through my time there. Station volunteer Drew Theimann put this show together in the basement of one of the dorms. The Future Perfect were a rad new band made up of members of Blank and Bridgewater. I don't think they ever recorded a demo but they played locally a bunch and I always enjoyed seeing them. I have no idea who Scaramouche were. Q and not U were the darlings of the DC indie scene. They were the first band signed to Dischord that had no members of previous Dischord bands since the first year of the label. They played smart catchy music and the kids loved 'em. Franklin were a dub/reggae influenced indie band from Philly. Their rhythm section was incredible.

October 20th, 1999

2010-10-25T09:33:00.002-04:00

October 20th, 1999

2010-10-25T09:33:00.001-04:00

October 20th, 1999

2010-10-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

October 16th, 1999: Fastbreak, Reach the Sky, Bane, One King Down, Daltonic @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2010-10-22T08:51:00.003-04:00

Minus Daltonic, this show was rad as hell. Actually, this was post-God Loves, Man Kills One King Down and that album blew so I remember not being too stoked on them at this show. Bane, Reach the Sky, and Fastbreak were three of my favorite bands at the time and they all killed it. Fastbreak's Fast Cars, Fast Women record was great. Whenever You're Ready was pretty good too. I know a lot of people were bummed on it when it came out cuz it seemed like they were trying to jump on the Saves the Day bandwagon, but I thought it had a bunch of good songs. I made the flyer while working a temp job in an office where I had maybe one hour's worth of work to do in an eight hour day. Needless to say I learned to love messageboards while working that job.

September 24th, 1999: Daybreak, De Nada, the Thumbs @ CV house, Baltimore, MD

2010-10-21T08:41:00.007-04:00

Rad little Baltimore basement show here. This house is on the other side of the block from where I currently live. After I scanned this flyer I walked the dogs over there to see if it would jog any memories but no such luck. I have no idea who lived there at the time of the show. My guess would be one of the Thumbs. I know it wasn't anyone in Daybreak or De Nada. I'd be stoked if there were basement shows in my neighborhood these days. The only other house I remember doing shows in Charles Village was Brody from Bridgewater's parents' house on the 200 block of E. 32nd St. I was living two blocks up the street on Guilford Ave when I saw a flyer for a show there with Torn Apart, Bridgewater, Christ, and Underneath in 1997. It was rad being able to skate two blocks downhill for a show. Anway, if anyone has any memories of the show above, or any other Charles Village house shows, please share.

September 19th, 1999: Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, Six Going On Seven, Ampersand @ St.Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2010-10-20T09:29:00.002-04:00

The next day we hauled it back to Maryland for this show at St. Andrew's Church in College Park. I'm pretty sure this was the infamous "poop-doo" show. For those unaware, this was an incident involving a local rabble rouser that was working on footage for his pre-Jackass video show of him doing stupid/gross/funny stunts. He took a bit of his own shit and smeared it on the door handles of Saves the Day's van and hid inside a dumpster with his video camera waiting for them to come outside after the show to load their van back up and catch their reaction on tape. For reasons I can't remember, he never did get the footage he wanted but I remember sweeping up the church after the show and hearing them all yelling and freaking out outside when they found what lay in store for them. Pretty foul stuff. This also may have been the show when Saves the Day had the bright idea to bring a bunch of those plastic balls from ball pits at kids' playlands, like at McDonald's, and toss them into the crowd. As would be expected, the balls started getting whipped back at them from the crowd, which got pretty annoying for the band pretty quickly. As far as the bands go, they were all great. I was pretty into every band that played so it was a good time for me.

September 18th, 1999: Earth Crisis, Brother's Keeper, Buried Alive, the Enkindels @ Forward Hall, Erie, PA

2010-10-19T11:05:00.003-04:00

This show was put on by Mike Ski, frontman for Brother's Keeper, as a celebration of his wedding the day before. I can't remember who I made the trek up to Erie with but I'm sure Kelly Shaw was involved. I think The Enkindels were the band I was most excited to see. I was playing their Buzzclip 2000 record a lot around this time. Buried Alive always kinda bored me. Brother's Keeper were fun but I wasn't digging them as much by this time as I had earlier. I had no interest in Earth Crisis's Breed the Killer album and besides that they pretty much only played the "hits" from their earlier stuff, which was fine and fun, but they just didn't do much for me anymore. Still, the entire show had a really fun vibe to it and it was all for a happy occasion. Too bad sometimes the memories last longer than the marriage.

August 22nd, 1999: Time Flies, For the Living, Gun It, Affront, Striking Distance, What Lies Ahead, Brace... @ Falls Church VFW, Falls Church, VA

2010-10-13T09:00:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure if this was the first show that Tru, Steve, and Eric booked at the Falls Church VFW, but I'm pretty sure it was the first show I attended there. Pretty sure I did sound for it. Those guys would go on to host some incredible show at that place. I have no recollection of Left Hand Black. Not even sure who Matter of Pride were. I'm assuming they were some NoVA locals who didn't do much. This was Brace in their original line up. Let's just say that they improved greatly over the years in their later line ups. Still, it was through this line up that I got introduced to Steve McPherson and Carrimus Henton, two stand up members of the DC hardcore community. I mentioned What Lies Ahead in the last post. Great band. Maybe one of those guys or Alex D will be kind enough to post a link to their demo and/or 7" for all to hear. Striking Distance were a brand new band featuring Dave Byrd, known only as a drummer up to this point, on vocals. I can't remember if they had their 7" out yet by this show, but as soon as I picked it up I was hooked. They brought a rage rarely seen to the area and were a very welcome addition. Affront were some of the dudes that went on to form The Scare. They were a bit more youth crew influenced than their current band but still had touches of that AFI influence, only an earlier incarnation of that band. I have no recollection of who was in Gun It. I remember the name and I know I saw them a couple times but I have no memory of them. For the Living and Time Flies, along with Count Me Out, were the bands carrying the youth crew flag for the DC/VA/MD area at the time. Time Flies were always fun to see live. Good show.

August 6th, 1999: Chernobyl Kids, Bionic Man, What Lies Ahead @ Joe's Movement Emporium, Mt. Rainier, MD

2010-10-07T08:43:00.003-04:00

This was a nice little local show at a new venue. I'm not sure if this was the first show at Joe's or not. I think John Mutchler set it up, but I could be wrong. Joe's Movement Emporium was a dance studio near DC that became a pretty regular venue for hardcore shows for a few years. What Lies Ahead were a great "negative youth crew" band featuring Trevor from Longshot on vocals, Dave and Tem from De Nada on guitar and bass, and Matt Moulis from Emerge on drums. They were great. Steve from the First Step released their 7" on his short-lived label, Urgency Records. Grave Mistake later bought his remaining copies and re-released it with a new cover. Definitely look for that one if you don't already own it. Bionic Man were a band that seemed most active in the late 90s/early 2000s but seemed to pop back up every now and then over the following years. They had a cool sound that mixed gruff melodic stuff like Hot Water Music with more traditional fast hardcore. I know they have a few recordings out there but I don't own any. The main guy behind the band, Shane, is a stellar dude and an excellent guitar player. He's been playing in some metal bands lately from what I understand. Chernobyl Kids were a fairly new band made up of Funny from the Pee Tanks, John from Crew Jones (later the Aftermath, No Justice), Steve from Longshot (later No Justice, 86 Mentality), and Matt from SQUID. They were an awesome Dag Nasty-ish sounding band. They released a demo, a split 7" with my old band, Looks Like Rain, and a full-length CD that I highly recommend seeking out. One of my all-time favorite area bands. Cool show.

July 30th, 1999: the Thumbs, Panthro UK United 13, the Degenerics, Shoutbus!, Worthless @ the Wilson Center, Washington, DC

2010-10-06T09:09:00.004-04:00

Not sure if that's Sara Klemm or Beauchamp listed on the flyer as the contact person. Pretty sure this was my first time going to the Wilson Center for a show. It definitely felt like hallowed ground for me. The place has such incredible hardcore history. Worthless were a pretty decent punk band from New Jersey. I think Fid from the Measure [SA] played with them for a bit. Can't remember if he played this show or not but I feel like I remember seeing him there. A year or so after this they would go on to sue or threaten to sue Lookout! Records over an Ann Beretta song that completely lifted the tune from one of their songs. I can't remember the outcome of the ordeal but it was interesting to say the least. Shoutbus! were an eccentric band of DC folk. I couldn't even tell you who to compare them to. I remember Billups was in the band. He's been writing for Razorcake lately and is also doing his own short story writing and living in Tucson. I can't remember who else was in the band. This was my first time seeing the Degenerics and I've been hooked ever since. Their LP wasn't out yet but I picked up a 7" they had. The Degenerics are one of the most underrated bands in hardcore history. Their musicianship is mindblowing. They don't sound like Bad Brains but the comparison is fitting. Totally tight, super fast, high energy hardcore punk. I highly recommend picking up their Generica LP if you don't already own it. PUKU13 were back in town a month after their visit with Hot Water Music and Leatherface. Decent band for sure. The Thumbs were Baltimore's punk rock heroes. Ex-members of the Pee Tanks and other classic MD bands. I can't remember if Randy or Phil was playing drums with them at this show. If you're into local music and you're unfamiliar with the band, go find Make America Strong. These days Mike and Bobby are playing in Sick Sick Birds (well, Bobby is on a school hiatus right now, but he's still in the band).

July 25th, 1999: Ensign, Stretch Armstrong, Good Clean Fun, Mainstrike, For the Living @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2010-10-05T08:18:00.003-04:00

A day later and I'm back at Phantaz for a youth crew revival show. I'm not sure who set up this show. I don't recognize the email address on the flyer. The most memorable thing about the show was some choice stage banter from the singer of Mainstrike, in choppy English with a Dutch accent. The crowd was pretty tame, as they can tend to be at matinee shows and the singer was really trying hard to get kids pumped up. At one point between songs as he was pacing the stage he shouted, "C'mon! This is a hardcore show, not a walk in the park! Let's go!" As you might expect it didn't fire up the crowd like he might have hoped. I know there was more but I'm drawing a blank right now. The whole show remained pretty tame despite every bands' best efforts to get the crowd going. It was the late 90s and the youth crew revival thing was getting stale.

July 24th, 1999: Grade, Cross My Heart, Radar Mercury, Allied War Effort @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2010-10-04T08:08:00.002-04:00

Here we have a silk-screened 8.5" x 11" flyer done by David Hardy. I know I went to this show but I don't remember much about it. Grade's Under the Radar album wasn't out yet but I'm pretty sure they mostly played songs off of that album. I think by this point Kyle had cut off the dreads and was sporting the rockin' 'do and chinstrap that so many people found so humorous at the time, especially coming from someone who was known for being somewhat grubby. I was never big into Grade, but there are definitely a few pretty good songs on Under the Radar. Cross My Heart were always great to see, especially in this era of their self-titled record. Their later records definitely had a lot of good songs on them, but every song on that first one was great. I don't think I realized that Radar Mercury played this area as much as they did until doing this blog. Fun, catchy band. Allied War Effort was made up of a bunch of "older" Baltimore and DC punks having some fun and making a racket with very loosely structured songs. I remember Mike Wolf and Mike D being in the band. Maybe Jim Ventosa was as well. I can't remember who else.

June 18th, 1999: Reversal of Man, Combatwoundedveteran, ForceFedGlass, Joshua Fit For Battle, Daybreak @ Black Aggie's, Baltimore, MD

2010-10-01T08:28:00.006-04:00

Florida invades Maryland yet again. This time for some grind/powerviolence action. Didn't Combatwoundedveteran coin the term "powerviolence"? I believe this kid Angel booked this show. I used to see Angel and Jordan hanging around together all the time. Jordan would eventually move to Florida and become Against Me!'s merch guy/manager and start Sabot Records. Sabot released records for Lucero, Against Me!, None More Black, the Gaslight Anthem and more. Not a bad roster. I remember at the time thinking that those two were just a bunch of goofy drunk punks. Glad I got proven wrong. Not sure what Angel is doing these days. You don't see too many two color flyers. Nice touch. Black Aggie's (formerly known as the Laff n Spit) was a building on the corner of Hollins St. and S. Carrollton Ave., in SoWeBo, near the Sushi Cafe. Someone will have to refresh my memory. Was this the show where we showed up to open up and get ready for the show to find that Black Aggie's had flooded after some heavy rain storms? It flooded so bad that part of the second floor had caved in creating a wet mess of wood and plaster. Pretty sure that was this show but it could have been another one. Anyway, on to the bands...I pretty much only went to see Daybreak and hear Reversal of Man play that one song about Earth Crisis. I didn't care much for the sound of most of these bands. All out fast, chaotic, and screamy. At least Daybreak kept an undercurrent of hardcore going within their music. The rest of the bands were just a chaotic screamy mess to me. People flipped out over this shit at the time. Probably still do. Tony Pence has a good story about ForceFedGlass trying to mooch off of a tour they had booked, calling up the promoters and telling them they were on tour with Daybreak (which they weren't) and need to get added to the show. I can think of a couple other bands that tried this trick around this time. Lame. This show would have been eBay gold a few years ago. Don't know if anyone cares anymore though.

EDIT: Maryland expatriate Jim Branscome reminded me that National Acrobat hopped on this show. I knew there was a reason I was there so early but couldn't remember exactly. Members of National Acrobat went on to form Coliseum and Young Widows, as well as a bunch of other great Louisville bands. They also used pics of a show I did for them at the Sushi Cafe for one of their releases (the glitter pics). Jim also remembers that there was a two hour gap between National Acrobat and Daybreak for some reason and that Reversal of Man didn't even play "Get the Kid With the Sideburns". Good memory Jim. Thanks!

June 15th, 1999: Hot Water Music, Leatherface, Swank, Panthro UK United 13 @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2010-09-30T07:43:00.005-04:00

Two days later and I get to see Hot Water Music and Leatherface again, this time in a much better venue. Jamie Arthurs and I began working on this show together, but by the time the show came around I was a bit disillusioned by the whole booking agent thing, which just wasn't my idea of how punk bands operate, that I let Jamie take things on himself and stepped back from booking these big shows that would be held at the Church and stuck to helping out the smaller bands at smaller venues. I still helped Jamie staff the Church shows but I just had no interest in being involved in dealing with parties other than the band members. Hot Water Music were one of my favorite bands at the time and they played a great, hot, sweaty set. Leatherface were great to see live and thankfully played a set full of hits sprinkled with a couple of songs from their split with HWM. It was cool to see a bunch of "older" people come out of the woodwork for them. Swank was kind of a funk/ska/punk band from Virginia featuring the inimitable Tony Weinbender, future head honcho of The Fest in Gainesville, FL. Dave from Codeseven also played trombone for them sometimes as a fill in, but I can't remember if he played this show or not. It sounds like an odd combination of sounds, but they made it work. Very high energy and especially fun live. Panthro UK United 13 were a solid band from Gainesville on No Idea Records. They had a couple of really good songs and then a handful of decent ones. The bass player Jimmy "The Truth" would move to DC a few years later to start SuperChinchillaRescueMission with members of Latebloomer and De Nada. Good stuff.

June 13th, 1999: Hot Water Music, Kid Dynamite, Leatherface, Radar Mercury @ Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA

2010-09-29T08:42:00.002-04:00

What a line up. I think I went to this show by myself which, looking back, kind of blows my mind that I couldn't find anyone else to travel an hour and a half with me for this show. Maybe cuz it was a work night, but that's no excuse. This was my first time seeing Leatherface. Unfortunately it was at the Chameleon Club which is a terrible venue for hardcore/punk shows. Shitty staff, meathead security, and a barrier in front of the stage. Weak. If I remember correctly Kid Dynamite's split 10" with 88 Fingers Louie had come out just before this show. Their songs on that split were great. All the bands on this show were really good but it was just a lame vibe cuz of the venue. Thankfully I'd be seeing HWM and Leatherface again in College Park a couple of days later.

May 28th/29th, 1999: The final Sound Exchange shows

2010-09-28T08:37:00.003-04:00

This is the flyer for the final two shows held at the Sound Exchange in Ellicott City, MD. SX was run by the genial Josh Greenbaum and staffed (I think mostly voluntarily) by a good group of Columbia/Ellicott City punks, notably Jon Falk and Aaron Fishbein (the Falsies). I found the place on a whim when I moved into a house in between Ellicott City and Catonsville and took a bike ride into old EC. To my surprise I found a little punk rock record shop nestled cozily amongst the antique stores and boutiques. I checked it out and found some flyers for some upcoming shows, one of which was for Kill Your Idols. Stoked that the place was doing shows for cool bands I became a regular there and met many of the people that I am still close with today. I saw and booked a lot of rad shows there. Josh lived in the apartment above the store and during and after the shows he would hold Tetris tournaments up there. Lots of rad late night hangouts. Josh was working on writing a book about those years of his life but I'm not sure if it's still being worked on or not. As you can see by the flyer, Josh was always super supportive of local bands and the store was really an important factor in getting a lot of Columbia, Baltimore, Annapolis, and College Park area bands some good shows. For those with poor eyesight, the line ups for the shows were: Kill Your Idols, Codeseven, Torn Apart, El Secondhand, Chernobyl Kids, Allied War Effort, Bullet Holes and Blood Stains, and Third Strike on the first day and Purpose, Two Man Advantage, Crispus Attucks, De Nada, Mendoza, East Liberty, The Falsies, Code Blue, and Third Strike on the second day. Josh now lives in Brooklyn working quite happily as a pet groomer. It's always good when I get to bump into him. Thanks for the memories and the friendships Josh.

BONUS TIDBIT: I used to live up the road from the Sound Exchange. Literally up the road. You went up a big hill from Ellicott City to get to my house, so I became known to those around the store as "Mike From Up the Street". If you read this blog regularly you know that I have a terrible memory. The time that the Sound Exchange was around was the time before everyone had a cell phone. I know most of the people I knew did not. I called the Sound Exchange so often to chat or book shows that it was one of the few phone numbers I had memorized. One night while driving some friends to the movies in Towson (on a suspended driver's license) I got pulled over for speeding and got arrested. I got taken to a police station somewhere around Reisterstown and the only phone number I could think to call was Josh's. He and his roommate Jason came to bail me out and from then on out I became known as "Mike From Up the River". That crew was the best.

photos from March 19th, 1999 show at St. Andrew's Church

2010-09-27T23:21:00.005-04:00

I found a bunch of photos that I scanned and edited but forgot to upload for the March 19th, 1999 show entry (Kid Dynamite, Grey Area, Kill Your Idols, Fast Times. Sorry, no Good Clean Fun photos). I forgot that Kid Dynamite was in between bass players at this time so Ernie from Grey Area Played bass for them this night.

Fast Times

Kill Your Idols

Grey Area

Kid Dynamite

MACRoCk 1999 photos

2010-09-27T22:36:00.006-04:00

Here's those photos from MACRoCk 1999. I couldn't find any of the ones of bands playing, though I know I have some. Maybe one day. Until then, here's the MD posse...

(I don't remember the names of the four on the left. The group on the right is Alex D at top left, Cristin Ryan to his right, Mike D to her right, Aaron Fishbein in the middle, Funny at bottom left and Chris Penna at bottom right.)

May 9th, 1999: Ensign, Kill Your Idols, Good Clean Fun, Committed @ Stalag 13, Philadelphia, PA

2010-09-27T08:50:00.006-04:00

A few weeks after my last visit and I'm back in Philly at Stalag 13 for another show. I never liked Committed. The fact that the singer really tried to ape Ray Cappo always bothered me. Good Clean Fun were still pretty fun at this time. I remember them covering "Not Just Boys Fun" and most of the crowd going apeshit. Kill Your Idols were the band I primarily went to see. They were great. I broke my hand getting rammed into the speaker during their Sheer Terror cover by Jesse from Something In the Water. To this day I wonder if it was on purpose or not since I was friends with some of the people that went to his house to fuck with him after he made a rather disrespectful comment about the frontman of a very popular band at the time. I never cared for the dude and that didn't help matters. Ensign's Cast the First Stone album had just come out and while there were a few decent songs on it, it didn't really grab me like their previous stuff had. Actually, to this day I still think their debut 7" and their split with Good Riddance contain their best stuff. They played a good amount of of the older songs at this show along with the best songs off their new album so it was a good set, although my hand was a bit sore (I didn't realize it was broken until the next day) so I couldn't fully enjoy it. Good show.

EDIT: Former Ensign/Something In the Water/Purpose member Chris Oliver noted that I was remembering some of my history incorrectly...It wasn't Jesse's house that they visited but Jesse said something along the same lines when Looks Like Rain played a house show in New Brunswick with Something In the Water, Tear It Up, and Holding On, and that had gotten back to that same group of people, though this time nothing came of it except for some words on some message boards, but he said something that made me think he thought it was me that said something, and that's why I wondered if the shove during KYI's set in Philly was purposeful, but the New Brunswick house show wasn't until August of 2001 so this was not the show where I broke my hand, it was another KYI set and it may have been at the Killtime since I think Stalag 13 was not still running in August of 2001. My memory sucks.

April 30th, 1999: Daybreak, De Nada, Kojak, Lycosa, Midian, Noothgrush, Page 99, Pig Destroyer, Xibalba @ E-Level, JHU, Baltimore, MD

2010-09-23T07:56:00.004-04:00

Here's another flyer for a show at a room on a college campus that I'm pretty sure doesn't exist anymore due to renovations. I only heard about ten or so shows booked at E-Level at Johns Hopkins University, and I probably caught four of them. Strike Anywhere played there when they still only had a demo out. This was the first show I saw there. Keeve from Daybreak booked it. I think this may have been the only Necrofest. Solid line up of grind, powerviolence, and metal bands. Xibalba was Ben Valis (Small Intestine, Stars of the Dogon), Dan Jensen, and friends doing some evil metal. Pig Destroyer is one of my all time favorite heavy band names. I don't remember what they sounded like back then compared to now, but everyone into that stuff in the area was super into them from the start, so I'm sure they ruled then as they rule now. I remember picking up the Pg. 99 /Enemy Soil split 7" at this show. This kinda stuff was never really my scene so I couldn't tell you anything about Noothgrush, Midian, Lycosa, or Kojak. I'm sure some of my readers will have a better recollection of this show.

April 23rd, 1999: Zegota, Page 99, De Nada, Hiretsukan, Haddonfield @ Stamp Student Union, UMD, College Park, MD

2010-09-22T07:49:00.005-04:00

Let's see here...I remember catching Haddonfield and seeing Colin play drums for the first time and being really impressed. Wait, I think I probably saw Colin play drums for Disbelief, but my memory is a little hazy there. Anyway, Colin was young and he was a beast. He went on to play drums for Most Precious Blood and the reformed Damnation AD. Joe Denney sang if I remember correctly. Solid line up of locals. Good heavy band. I think there was a demo. I didn't care much for Hiretsukan or Zegota and De Nada and Page 99 were great as usual. I know there were a few shows at the Stamp Student Union, which I don't think exists anymore, but I think this was the only one I caught there. My memory sucks. Someone help me out with better details of this show.

April 18th, 1999: Turmoil, Another Victim, the Judas Factor @ Stalag 13, Philadelphia, PA

2010-09-21T07:56:00.003-04:00

This would have been the record release show for The Process Of... which was a pretty good Turmoil record, but I didn't like it quite as much as Anchor. Actually, those are the only two Turmoil records I ever listen to. I didn't care much for From Bleeding Hands and I stopped paying attention after The Process Of... I honestly don't remember anything about this show. You read my thoughts on The Judas Factor in one of last week's posts and I thought Another Victim were pretty boring. Stalag 13 was a rad DIY venue in west Philadelphia that had a pretty good run and hosted some great shows in the late 90s/early 2000s. It was a pretty much gutted house so the show room was almost the size of the entire first floor. I think the old kitchen was still walled off and there was a backyard you could hang out in. I never went upstairs, but I remember it being accessible at one time. It had a good sized stage and a decent enough PA. The neighborhood was probably about the same as where the Loft was in Baltimore, so if you were used to going to shows in west Baltimore, it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but I remember constantly hearing complaints from out-of-towners about how sketchy the neighborhood was. Whatever, there was a pretty good pizza place a few blocks away and parking was almost never a problem.

April 10th, 1999: MACRoCk '99 day two

2010-09-20T08:01:00.004-04:00

I found those photos that I promised in the last post but I just got a new computer and my scanner is so old there are no updated drivers for it, so I have to go get a new scanner. Pics coming shortly...

Here we have a flyer from the second day of the MACRoCk festival. This show was a blast. I was really stoked on almost every band on this show. I'm not sure if the Submerge on the flyer is the band from Long Island or not. Not even sure I caught them on this night. Radar Mercury were a pretty decent indie/rock/punk band from NJ featuring some of the guys from Endeavor and the bassist from Bound. I think Doghouse put out their debut EP. It had some pretty good songs on it. I never loved the Jazz June, but they were a decent band. ErrorType:11 were an indie rock band from New York on Walter Schreifels's label, Some Records, with an all-star cast of Long Islanders from bands like Mind Over Matter, Bad Trip, Clockwise, and Milhouse. I have their debut CD, their EP on Crank, and their split with Gameface on Revelation and I like it all. Ann Beretta's Bitter Tongues CD is still on regular rotation on my iPod. Didn't care much for anything after that but they were great live at this time (unlike at the reunion shows from a couple of years ago when they played everything at half speed). I was super pumped to see Discount as I had only seen them once before and they were great. They mostly played stuff from Crash Diagnostic, which is a fine record, but it was the Half Fiction songs that really got me excited. Hot Water Music played an incredible set. I loved everything they had released at this point and they played a good mix of all of it. I remember most of our crew being right up front for this show and everyone singing their hearts out and having a blast. I've got some pictures of this set. Coming soon, I promise.

April 9th, 1999: Two MACRoCk showcases, Harrisonburg, VA

2010-09-17T08:00:00.007-04:00

This would have been the second or third MACRoCk (Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference) festival I attended. It's held annually at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA and while I haven't paid attention since 2000 or so when I stopped being a part of the UMBC radio station (except when The Spark played in 2006) I remember the ones in the late 90s being chock-full of great bands. The first one I went to had Archers of Loaf as the headliner with the Get Up Kids (pre-Something To Write Home About) on the same bill. I also saw Alkaline Trio for the first time (pre-From Here To Infirmary) at a MACRoCk festival. I remember this particular trip to the festival being really fun as we had a good group of people from Baltimore and College Park all traveling and staying together. That bottom flyer is kinda funny to think about these days. Darkest Hour as the opener. Saves the Day on a show with a bunch of metal and metalcore bands. Nothingface, who nobody ever gave a shit about, not even in Baltimore, their hometown, as the headliner. I don't remember too much about the Lovitt showcase. I think I only went to watch Frodus. I may have caught Engine Down as well as I always thought they were good live. I've got some good pics of our crew, featuring Alex Dimattesa (with dyed blonde hair), Cristin Ryan, Chris Penna, Funny, and others, that'll I'll have to dig up.

March 24th, 1999: Angels In the Architecture, Ampersand, Houseboy, Midway @ Sound Exchange, Ellicott City, MD

2010-09-16T07:49:00.007-04:00

Here's a flyer for Ampersand's first show at the Sound Exchange in Ellicott City. By the looks of it I'd say it was a collaborative show between Josh, who ran the SX, and Johnny or Carl from Ampersand. It's definitely a Carl Caracia flyer. Ampersand was Johnny and Adam from Prisoner of Conscience teaming up with Carl from Underneath. I can't remember who played drums, but it might have been George from P.O.C. (and later The Convocation Of...). I recorded their demo at UMBC for a studio recording class I was taking at the time. The band was very much influenced by the mid - late 90s Dischord bands. Kinda heavy, but with a touch of groove. A little Fugazi, a little Lungfish, as well as some other influences. They definitely had some cool songs. Angels In the Architecture were a post-hardcore/indie/emo band from Michigan (I think). Not really my thing but they were friends with John from Ampersand. I have no idea who the other two bands are. This was definitely a sparsely attended show but the record store was small so it worked well for that sort of thing.

March 21st, 1999: Turmoil, Torn Apart, the Judas Factor, the Old Grey Whistle Test @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2010-09-15T08:49:00.004-04:00

I don't remember too much from this show except that I had never heard of The Old Grey Whistle Test before this night and I was really impressed by them. I believe they were from northern Virginia, but I couldn't tell you who was in the band or what any of the members went on to do. I don't even know if they ever put a demo or anything out. They were just a really good melodic rock-influenced hardcore band. If anyone has any info on them, or knows of any available recordings, please let me know. The Judas Factor was Rob Fish's band after 108 broke up. They had a similar discordant heavy sound, but none of their stuff ever really grabbed me like 108 did. Torn Apart were always fun to see live and I liked Turmoil live better than I did on record. There's a couple songs they have that just slay in a live setting. Chris Brady did this show.

March 19th, 1999: Kid Dynamite, Kill Your Idols, Fast Times, Grey Area, Good Clean Fun @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

2010-09-13T08:24:00.008-04:00

This is one of my favorite shows I ever booked. Probably the biggest one as well. It was also the first show at St. Andrew's Church, which eventually became a somewhat legendary venue for the area. This show was originally booked at the Chop Shop so when it got shut down I had to scramble for a new venue and make sure it was gonna be big enough for the show. This is when John Mutchler and Steve Clark stepped in. They were trying to get their Second Wind Revolution shows going in the DC area so they'd been looking around for possible venues. One of the places they had talked to was St. Andrew's Church in College Park. The location was perfect as it was in between Baltimore and DC/NoVA and the hc/punk scene around College Park was at it's height with loads of people doing bands and a bunch of houses hosting shows, as well as a few places around the UMD campus like the radio station (WMUC) and the Food Co-op. They solidified the Church as the venue for the show and we got to work getting the word out about the show. I knew it would be one of the bigger shows I had ever booked at the time, but I was quite surprised by the turnout. I don't remember the exact number right now, but the church was a big space and it was at least half-full. It definitely would have been way too big for the Chop Shop. Every band was great, as you might imagine, and everyone had a blast. Kid Dynamite ended up using photos from this show taken by Mark Beemer on a release. I'd have to look but I think it was the 88 Fingers Louie split. The photos with Jason wearing a Redskins t-shirt are the ones from this show. You can see some video of it in their DVD as well. A few other people began using the church as a venue for shows with Jamie Arthurs eventually "taking it over" and booking a bunch of really big and really memorable shows. I'm pretty sure Steve Clark made this flyer. Amazing show.

February 7th, 1999: Bluetip, the Farewell Bend, French Mistake @ Ottobar

2010-09-10T07:47:00.002-04:00

Here's another flyer for a show at the Ottobar in it's original location on Davis St which later became the Talking Head and is now slated to be a parking lot I think. I didn't like too much of what was coming out on Dischord post In On the Kill Taker until I heard Bluetip's Join Us LP. Something about that record just grabbed me. I'd always been into Swiz so maybe it was the Jason Farrell connection, even though the sound wasn't really similar at all. I just think he's a really cool guitar player. I quite enjoyed them at this show. I don't remember who the Farewell Bend were. The French Mistake were a band with my friend and fellow UMBC student Mike Borneman. I'm pretty sure they put a CD out but I never picked it up. Don't remember exactly what they sounded like. Great Blazing Saddles reference though.

February 6th, 1999: In My Eyes, Ten Yard Fight, Brother's Keeper, Reach the Sky @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2010-09-09T07:47:00.004-04:00

We're back! (No lie, Youth of Today came on my iPod while typing this.) Sorry for the delay but I generally only have time to work on these posts at work and things have been pretty busy around here lately. Our busy season is slowing down however so hopefully I can get back to regular updates here. Thanks for all the encouraging words over the interim. Enjoy.

Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the final flyer for this show. As you can see above this show was originally slated to be held at the Chop Shop, but as you read in the last post the venue got shut down, so we had to scramble to find new venues for all of our shows. I don't remember how many shows I'd been to at Phantasmagoria in Wheaton, MD (a suburb of DC) before this but this definitely wasn't my first experience with the venue. It was a pretty cool coffee shop / record store with a good sized stage in it. I definitely saw some pretty cool shows there. (It's now a place called the Charles Gilchrist Cultural Center. No shows there as far as I know.) Jamie Arthurs secured the venue for this show with a week's notice. I don't remember the exact turnout for this one but it was pretty good. Definitely a room full of kids getting their pile-ons and stagedives on. I was super psyched on all of these bands at this time so I had a blast. I know there was a fifth band and I think it was Redline, who I may have mentioned before featured people that went on to play in the Chase and FVK DC. Any time I put "special guest" on a flyer, it had nothing to do with hyping up some secret act, but a nod to one of the funniest movies of all time, Fear Of A Black Hat. I know Alex D will understand. It was a real bummer that the Chop Shop got shut down but I was really happy that we were able to pick up and move on and get just about every show moved to a new venue.

January 29th, 1999: Longshot, Crispus Attucks, Reinforce, Darkest Hour, Until Today, Fallen Empire @ St. John's Episcopal Church, Mt. Rainier, MD

2010-07-07T08:00:00.002-04:00

This is the flyer for the last Longshot show. Looks like a Steve Clark flyer. I don't remember anything about Fallen Empire. As mentioned in an earlier post Until Today and Reinforce were a couple of North Carolina hardcore bands that featured Steve and Aaron who would go on to form The First Step. Both solid youth crew inspired bands. Darkest Hour hadn't really come into their own yet at this point. They were still just kind of a generic metal/hc band. Not bad, just nothing that grabbed me. I think I went and ate when they played. Crispus Attucks were another local band that wouldn't really hit their stride until a year or so later. They were solid and fun at this point but not yet the ripping fast hardcore/punk beast they would become. Longshot shows were always a lot of fun. They were carrying the youth crew torch for the Maryland area for a long time and the singalongs and pile ons were always crucial. This is the only show I attended or remember hearing about at this church. Not sure why there weren't more shows there. I'm pretty sure John Mutchler booked it. Good times.

January 22nd, 1999: Boy Sets Fire, Zao, the Jazz June, Inside, Atom & His Package, Tear It Down @ the Chop Shop, Baltimore, MD

2010-06-23T08:02:00.008-04:00

This was the final show held at the Chop Shop. We had had issues with the owner of a strip club down the street from us who complained that his customers had nowhere to park when we had bigger shows, and this was by far the biggest show we had done at the space. About 3 or 4 songs into Boy Sets Fire's set the fire marshal showed up with a bunch of cops and shut us down. They had received a complaint that there was a party going on in a condemned building. The building was not condemned, however we were not a legal venue and we were definitely over capacity. Still, the show was a lot of fun and a great way to go out. Tear It Down were a local hardcore band featuring Gene M. (Lion of Judah, Give, No Justice, etc.) on drums, Doug Fresh (Stout, Slumlords, etc.) on bass and I forget who the other members were. I think I still have their demo. Atom & His Package opened his set with a song about black metal and smeared fake blood all over his face. Inside were a pretty good indie/emo band from Long Island. The Jazz June were an indie/rock band from PA featuring members of Atari. They definitely had a bunch of really good songs. Zao were boring Christian metalcore. It was sad to see the place end but none of us were in a financial position at the time to get the place legal so we all scrambled to find venues for the remaining shows and moved on from there.

Notice a young Alex Dimattesa in that Boy Sets Fire photo and a young Jason Hamacher and Mike Dubin in that first Atom photo.

SIDE NOTE: Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Between the World Cup, being short-staffed at work for the next month, taking care of wedding stuff, and going to Costa Rica for our honeymoon my days are pretty busy for a while and new posts may not happen on a daily basis. Come August everything will be back to normal. GO USA!

January 16th, 1999: Floorpunch, Vision, Onesidedwar, Time Flies, Where Fear and Weapons Meet, Fast Times @ First Congressional Church, Washington, DC

2010-06-14T14:01:00.007-04:00

This was a Malfunction show set up by Tru Pray, Eric Mann, Steve Schott (sp ?), and Linas Garsys. I can't remember who the "plus one more" was. The only sets I remember from this show were from Time Flies and Floorpunch, probably cuz they were the only bands on the bill I was excited to see. I liked Fast Times OK, but wasn't crazy about them, and I'd seen Vision a bunch around this time at this point so it was nothing special. Time Flies were almost always great live. Solid band, good energy. Floorpunch's set was great but not as much mayhem as I was expecting. It was a decent sized crowd too, but people were just having a good time and not trying to kill each other. I can't remember if Carlos Guillen and I did sound for this show or not. I know we did for the In My Eyes/Ann Beretta show at this place a few months later. Linas Garsys did the flyer.

January 15th, 1999: Kill the Man Who Questions, Page 99, Forthright, Seven Ages, Mad Cap @ the Chop Shop, Baltimore, MD

2010-06-09T13:09:00.005-04:00

Just over a week after their last visit Page 99 return to the Chop Shop, this time with Philadelphia's Kill the Man Who Questions headlining. As you can see in that bottom photo, Orchid also hopped on this show. I don't remember the circumstances behind that. Not sure anymore who Forthright was. Seven Ages were a metallic hardcore band from Blacksburg, VA featuring a young Bryan Flowers (Looks Like Rain, Bail Out, Tiny Bombs, etc.) on drums. I also don't recall anything about Mad Cap or if any of the members went on to do anything else of note. I made the flyer and took the photos. Be sure to notice Tony Pence standing behind Mike 99 in that middle pic.

January 13th, 1999: Saves the Day, Purpose, FSJM (Chernobyl Kids), Paris, Texas, the Cotton Weary @ the Chop Shop, Baltimore, MD

2010-06-08T15:54:00.009-04:00

Is that a young David Goldberg in the front of the crowd in that Saves the Day pic? I quite enjoyed this show. I don't know anything about what the members of the Cotton Weary went on to do after that band but they were a decent emo/pop band from New York. I think I still have their demo in a box in the basement. I never cared much for Paris, Texas, or most Polyvinyl bands for that matter, but I think they went on to release records of some modest acclaim a few years later on into the early 00's. This was Chernobyl Kids' first show but they didn't have a name yet so I listed them as FSJM (Funny, Steve, John, Matt) on the flyer. For those unaware, this was a solid supergroup featuring members of the Pee Tanks, Longshot, Mendoza, and SQUID (and future members of No Justice, Longshot, Set To Explode, the Aftermath, etc.). They released a demo, a split 7" with my old band, Looks Like Rain, on my old label, Emogeddon Records, and an incredible self-released CD full-length. If you're into bands like Dag Nasty, 7 Seconds, and Circle Jerks then you really should check that album out if you've never heard it. Easily one of Maryland's best hardcore/punk bands ever. I was a big fan of the Purpose and everything they released. That picture shows a young Fid (currently of the Measure [SA]) playing guitar for them, as well as a young Chris Oliver on bass. This is still "Can't Slow Down" era Saves the Day, so of course their set was great. I made the small flyer and I'm pretty sure Steve Clark made the big one.

January 6th, 1999: the Exploder, Majority Rule, Bulletholes & Bloodstains, Daybreak, Page 99, InSpite @ the Chop Shop, Baltimore, MD

2010-06-07T08:29:00.005-04:00

This was a very last minute show set up when the Exploder and Majority Rule were touring together and had a show fall through. I think it was booked on maybe ten day's notice or so. This was the first time that I saw Page 99 that they really blew me away. I know they had the demo out. I can't remember if either of those first two split 7"s were out at this show or not. I remember hanging out at Reptilian Records later that week and Tony and I both telling Chris that they were a band he needed to work with. Bulletholes & Bloodstains was a grind band featuring the one and only Joe Mitra. I can't remember who else played in the band. This was pre-"Interviews with David Frost" Majority Rule. They were a solid band then but I think they really matured and came into their own with that record. The Exploder were awesome as always.

January 1st, 1999: Reinforce, Until Today, the Bolshevics, No Dice, Born Under Saturn, Bull Roarer, Hovel, more @ the Chop Shop, Baltimore, MD

2010-06-04T09:30:00.006-04:00

I've got the flyer for the Jan 13 show ready for posting, so we'll elaborate on that one next week. This post will solely concern the New Year's Day 1999 show. I don't remember much about how this one came together. I didn't know any of the bands except for Reinforce and Until Today (both featuring future The First Step members Aaron and Steve), but I also don't think those two bands were the first booked for the date. I think I just wanted to put a New Year's Day show together and a bunch of those NY punk bands were touring together and looking for a show. Then Reinforce and Until Today hit me up looking for a show that day. Followed by the NC punk bands and the FL bands. I don't recall hearing anything about any of those other bands after the show so I couldn't tell you if the members went on to do anything else. If anyone is familiar with any of them, please let us know.

December 17th, 1998: Abstain, De Nada, Page 99, Churner, the Falsies, Angle Eyes @ the Chop Shop, Baltimore, MD

2010-06-01T10:46:00.003-04:00

If I remember correctly it was Keeve or Blake from Daybreak that approached me about doing this show. Abstain from LA were coming through on tour and they wanted to put something together for them. I can't remember if I had anything to do with the line-up at all. Angel Eyes were a Gravity Records-type band from northern Virginia featuring Matt Bidwell of the Greenhouse on drums. The Falsies are one of Maryland's most underrated punk bands. Their "Theory and Motion" album is fantastic, but unfortunately they did one US tour right after it came out and then broke up shortly afterwards. I still listen to it quite often to this day. If you're into bands like Dillinger Four, Hot Water Music, Rivethead, etc. I highly recommend seeking a copy of it. This may have been the first time I saw Page 99 play. I remember not being super impressed with them the first time, but I would see them again a week later and their set was way tighter and floored me. Abstain were pretty brutal for a two-piece. I also think they were the first band I saw where the drummer sang. That was impressive to me in and of itself, but doing it at the speeds they played was kinda mind-blowing.

Ink & Dagger and Kid Dynamite reuniting for This Is Hardcore 2010

2010-06-01T10:36:00.004-04:00

Those of you that keep up with this blog will be aware of my love of two of Philadelphia's finest bands, Ink & Dagger and Kid Dynamite. Both bands will be reuniting for this year's This Is Hardcore fest on the Sunday. Pulling Teeth is playing on the same day. I couldn't be more excited...

"Ink & Dagger is playing This Is Hardcore to benefit Maks & Zielanski family. (http://miraclesformaks.com)
Ed Zielanski (Crud Is A Cult / Flagman)'s son Maks was diagnosed with rare childhood cancer. Ed & Kim Zielanski moved across country to get Maks treated at CHOPs.
Maks has made a full recovery but the family is still under a huge financial burden. Ink & Dagger is donating all show and merch profits to their family.
The Lineup is Don Devore-guitar Josh Brown-bass Terry Yerves-drums Chris Tropea-lights Geoff Rickly (Thursday) - Vocals."

For more info on the entire fest line up visit: http://joehardcore.net/thisishardcore/

December 13th, 1998: Ink & Dagger, Torn Apart, Saves the Day, Kill the Man Who Questions @ Phantasmagoria, Wheaton, MD

2010-05-28T14:22:00.002-04:00

I actually don't remember much about any of the sets from this show except for the fact that Chris came out with an acoustic guitar and played "Handsome Boy" to open up the Saves the Day set, a song which they very very rarely played. I thought that was cool. Someone else will have to fill in the gaps on the rest of this show for me.