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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!