December 16th, 2000: What Lies Ahead, Striking Distance, Gamewinner, Red Flower Society @ the Mosh Mansion, Laurel, MD

Here's another show that I know I have some pics from but have to dig up. Like the Longshot 7", which Trevor also sang on, this White Lies Ahead 7" is one of those under appreciated gems of MD hardcore. Their hoodies read "negative youth crew", which is a decent assessment of their sound. Stephen St. Germain released it on his Urgency Records label (not to be confused with the current Christian music label). I'm not even positive that he released anything else. Anyway, if you're a fan of late 80s NYC or SoCal HC, I recommend digging yourself up a copy. Red Flower Society were a fairly short-lived indie-rock/post-hardcore kinda band. My old friend Justin Kovalski ("Toypunks") played guitar in the band. They had a female singer, but I don't remember who else was in the band. I also like the fact that this mentions "DJ Dave Nada" on the flyer. That's gotta make it some Ebay gold in this era of Moombahton (the genre he created) blowing up clubs around the world. This show was at the Mosh Mansion, which was a house in Laurel that a bunch of hardcore kids (Gene M, Pat Martin, not sure who else) lived in for a while and hosted some pretty rad shows.

December 15th, 2000: Crispus Attucks, The Degenerics, Striking Distance, Looks Like Rain, Crestfallen @ the Crispus Attucks House, Hyattsville, MD

This was a cool show that Matt from Crispus Attucks (now owner of Smash! Records in Adams Morgan, DC) booked at the house he and some fellow punks lived in near College Park. One of the dudes from Crestfallen (a heavy, loud, screamy band, not unlike Page 99, Majority of Rule, City of Caterpillar, etc.) now plays in Mean Jeans (a Ramones-y punk band that sings mostly about partying). Not sure what the other dudes are doing. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but the Degenerics are one of the most underrated bands in recent memory. Totally unbelievably talented hc/punk (with dub interludes from time to time) from NJ. Seriously the closest thing I've ever heard to a reasonable Bad Brains comparison. You need to check out their "Generica" full-length if you've never done so.