February 22nd, 1998: Boy Sets Fire, Daltonic, Pastime, Pressgang, Prisoner of Conscience @ UMBC UC Ballroom, Baltimore, MD

This one's a Damon Pieri classic. He did the illustration and the text at the bottom and the left, and the P.O.C. lettering, and I did the text on the right and the rest of the band lettering. I think I ended up doing most of the band lettering as the line-up changed once or twice. The flyer says it was to take place at the Commuter Cafe but for some reason it ended up getting moved to the UC Ballroom, which holds about 800 people. I think a little over 100 came out so it seemed a bit empty. Pressgang was a band that featured the imitable Mike Wolf, who was the co-founder of the Charm City Art Space with myself. They were from Pittsburgh and were out for a weekend trip so I added them to the show, long before Mike and I were friends. I remember adding Daltonic on fairly short notice and told them that I already had two out of town bands I had to take care of so I couldn't promise them much money. They said that was no problem, they were just looking or a show. I ended up giving them more than I planned but they still complained about driving all the way down from Boston and not getting enough. My friends Carlos Guillen and Kevin Weston did sound for this show. They were setting up the PA and asked if I had any CDs on me that they could play. I told them there were a bunch in my bookbag and to help themselves. One of those happened to be the Boy Sets Fire - The Day the Sun Went Out CD which is the one they happened to pop on. I was running around getting things organized so I didn't even realize it and then the band walked in with a bit of a perplexed look on their face. That's when I realized what was playing. Awkward. This was also the first time I had seen any of them smoking cigarettes and I remember thinking it was such a sham that they came off as this righteous political band but still supported such abominable corporations. You gotta pick your battles I guess.