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

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.