November 16, 2000: Gamewinner, Joshua Fit For Battle, El Secondhand, Looks Like Rain, Worn Thin @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

I don't really have a memory of this show. I can tell you that I booked it and I made the flyer. Looks like it was one of Worn Thin's very early shows as I described them as pop-punk. If you haven't heard the first demo, you might not know their origins. That demo was great, but so was the later hardcore incarnation of the band. I'll see if I can dig that up and post it. Also looks like Gamewinner's 7" had just come out. I should post that as well. I can't believe it's been 12 years since that came out. Someone should really convince them to do a reunion. Don't they know how hardcore bands work?

November 12, 2000: Le Shok, Charm City Suicides, League of Death, Revenge of Nigel Winston, Bad Blood @ the Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

Here we have a great flyer from Nolen Strals for a show at the old Ottobar (Look at that early love of hand-lettering!). Pretty sure I only went for League of Death and Charm City Suicides. I'm not sure who Bad Blood were. Revenge of Nigel Winston was a sort of performance art thing from Ben Valis (the Small Intestine, Xibalba, Stars of the Dogon). I don't remember how it went exactly but I seem to recall him reading from a book dressed as a sort of stereotypical late 19th century explorer or anthropologist. That's the memory I have in my head. I could be way off. Someone please clarify if you can. League of Death was Bruce and Nolen's band pre-Double Dagger. They all wore home-made black t-shirts with white skulls printed on the front. I can't remember who was in the band besides those two. Pretty sure it was all MICA students at the time. They played pretty rad punk that wasn't too far off from some of the early Double Dagger stuff. The flyer says "x-Denim Skeleton", but I don't remember that band at all. I've mentioned Charm City Suicides on the blog before. Cool off-kilter noisy punk rock from Baltimore. Walker (Baltimore's Mike Muir) played bass and wore giant Xs on his hands. He's played in South Carey for a bit, I think, but I don't think he's done any other bands since CCS. Mike A. sang and was a fucking wild man. He went on to "head" Human Host, who still plays shows from time to time. I can't remember who else was in the band or if they've gone on to do anything else. The only thing I know about Le Shok was that they were from California and they did a split 7" with Ink & Dagger. Screamy, chaotic hardcore if I remember correctly. Don't know who was in the band or what else they've done.

November 9, 2000: Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, Strike Anywhere, Fairweather @ St. Andrew's Church, College Park, MD

Here we have the Carl Caracia version of the show flyer alongside the Jamie Arthurs version. I'm really glad Carl did flyers for Jamie for a while. Anyway, on to the show... This was a real humdinger. Look at that line up. I don't really think much needs to be said. This was probably the last time I saw Alkaline Trio in a smaller venue. After this it was big clubs and small arenas. If any of you have specific memories of this show, please share.

November 5, 2000: Ralph Nader rally, MCI Center, Washington, DC

The next day it was back to DC for me to attend this Ralph Nader rally. I don't recall getting there in time for any of the bands but some of the speakers definitely blew me away, particularly Cornel West and Tom Tomorrow ("This Modern World" comic), who isn't on the flyer. I'm still registered Green and I still believe the two party system we've got going on now is doing more harm than good.

November 4, 2000: 400 Years, Kill the Man Who Questions, Engine Down, Milemarker @ the Wilson Center, Washington, DC

Here's a flyer for 400 Years's last DC show. I can't remember where there actual last show was. Probably Richmond. I actually don't have any memory of this show. I may not have actual been there but I'm pretty sure I was. If you were, tell us about it.

October 21, 2000: Mouthpiece, Count Me Out, The Killing Flame, Intention @ The Kill Time, Philadelphia, PA

I only attended the Mouthpiece show on this double-flyer. The Kill Time was a cool space right next door to Stalag 13 in West Philly. It was basically a gutted rowhouse that was primarily an art gallery, if I remember correctly. It probably held 200 people jam-packed. Robby Redcheeks booked this one, which was one of the first, if not the first, reunion shows that Mouthpiece did when they got back together for a little while in the early 2000s. Count Me Out were (and are) one of my favorite bands of the time so travelling to Philly for this one was a no-brainer. I never cared for The Killing Flame (mems. of Unity, Uniform Choice, Ignite, Hands Tied, No For An Answer) and seeing them live didn't help. A bit of a bummer considering the resume of the members. Intention were a band of younger kids doing some straight forward youth crew hardcore. The band was decent but not long after their demise came the birth of Full Contact, who released a decent demo and then went on to become Knockdown who put out one of my favorite records of the mid-2000s. Zach later formed Violent Minds who put out a bunch of killer records. I have no idea if he's still doing bands or not.

October 15, 2000: Staring Back, Time Flies, Rod, Standard Issue, Worn Thin @ The Green House, Vienna, VA

I didn't actually attend this show but I've always found this flyer interesting as it has a band I've never heard of headlining over Time Flies. If anyone knows who Staring Back are, please fill me in. Same goes for Rod and Standard Issue. This is probably also one of Worn Thin's first shows, so that makes it pretty cool.