April 19th, 1997: Vision, Ensign, Disbelief, 97A, Bridgewater @ Crofton Fire Hall, Crofton, MD

Although I started going to shows in 1992, I somehow managed to lose all of the flyers I saved prior to this one. I still have hopes that they'll pop up in a box in my parents' basement one day, but it's more than likely that they accidentally got thrown out during a mass purging of junk from my bedroom closet sometime during college, when my parents wanted to turn my old bedroom into a guest room. So here is the oldest flyer I still have on hand. I can't remember if this was the first show I saw at Crofton Fire Hall (I moved to Maryland from New Jersey in September of 1994), but the place hosted some great punk and hardcore shows in the mid-90s. I believe Mike from Disbelief and his brother did most of the hardcore shows. I remember never really being into 97A and then really disliking them after this show when their singer, Chris Kelly, talked shit on the kids he skated with earlier in the day at the Lansdowne skate park, which was where I spent more time than I did in class for most of my college career. I'm not sure if the illustration was pulled from something else or was created for the flyer, but I've never seen it anywhere else. I really liked Vision's "One and The Same" EP at the time and Ensign's debut EP was on constant rotation. Also, Bridgewater is still one of my favorite local bands. This was a rad show.

Commentary from Alex DiMattesa (Government Warning, Grave Mistake Records):

"I don't remember actually seeing this (probably because I luckily learned early on that it was best for a n00b to stand towards the back during these shows), but apparently during 97a's set, Dave Nada got on his skateboard and rode it into the pit, only to be scolded by Chris Kelly on the mic for doing so. What a poser."