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

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

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

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

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

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

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.