October 29, 2000: De Nada, Chernobyl Kids, What Lies Ahead, Gamewinner, Ampersand, Looks Like Rain, The Chase, Bloody Corpse @ UMD Food Co-op, College Park, MD

Halloween shows are almost always a blast, and this was no different. That's a pretty sweet line-up of turn-of-the-century Maryland hardcore bands. I have another version of this flyer that replaces Chernobyl Kids with Daybreak. I can't remember which was the correct line-up. Were you there? What do you remember?

October 28, 2000: Looks Like Rain, Avulsion, Ramona Forever, Willhold, Horror Business @ the Solar Haus, Blacksburg, VA

Looks Like Rain shows at the Solar Haus in Blacksburg, VA were always fun, especially since our drummer, Bryan, went to school there at Virginia Tech, and still had a lot of friends there. Pretty sure we did a bunch of Misfits covers since it was a Halloween show. Don't remember the details of this one much. I wonder if that house is still standing and if it's current residents have any idea of the fun that was had on that 2nd floor.

October 14, 2000: Acedia, Avulsion, From Earth to Ashes, Looks Like Rain @ Jamie's General Bean, Centreville, VA

To this day, this show is a favorite amongst Looks Like Rain members as a classic WTF story. Holly Le booked this at a coffee shop in northern Virginia. All of the bands were from Virginia except for LLR (Baltimore). About a week before the show she asked if I could provide a PA for the show. No problem. Looks Like Rain opens and then are followed by a bunch of Virginia metal bands (remember Tribunal Records?). (Aside: I don't remember Avulsion containing any members of Count Me Out, and From Earth To Ashes is a weird name for a band when there's already a band called From Autumn To Ashes that are on the same label as other bands on this show.) Anyway, the show ends and we're all packed up and Holly comes over and says 'Thanks for playing and bringing the PA. This is for you.', and hands me a 6-pack of raisins. Now, mind you, I've been in small bands for years and am used to not even getting gas money, but WE GOT PAID IN RAISINS! An experience I'll never forget.

October 7, 2000: The Assistant, The Convocation Of..., Charm City Suicides, Stormshadow, Cex, The Cable Car Theory, Michinoku Driver 3, Looks Like Rain, Gary Barrett, Chris Myers @ the Wilson Center, Washington, DC

Here's a couple variations of flyers for a marathon of a show at the Wilson Center in DC. I don't have any recollection of this show. I'm assuming it happened, but I really don't remember. Drop some comments below if you do.

October 1, 2000: Run Devil Run, The Warriors, Looks Like Rain, Klopek's Furnace @ 123 Pleasant St, Morgantown, WV

It's October of 2000 and Looks Like Rain are back in Morgantown, WV for the third time in less than a year. This time we're featured on the flyer! We weren't actually that big in Morgantown. The photo was taken the first time we played there during a Misfits cover. We did always have a good time at those Morgantown shows. Run Devil Run were a Krishna-core band from Cleveland. I think there was some Erie hardcore connection as well. According to Discogs, apparently Mike Ski (Brother's Keeper) was a member for a bit. Looks like they also featured members of Abnegation, In Cold Blood, and someone that went on to play in Mushroomhead. Can't say I remember what The Warriors (not the band from CA) or Klopek's Furnace sounded like.

September 30, 2000: Left Unsaid, the Overprivileged, Flirting with Disaster, Looks Like Rain, U.S. Agents @ the Vienna Community Center, Vienna, VA

Here's a flyer for a show in Vienna, VA with Looks Like Rain and a bunch of bands from NoVA. I have zero recollection of this show. May not have actually happened for all I remember. Only shows I remember playing in Vienna were at the Greenhouse. If you remember this one, let us know.

August 25, 2000: Intention, On Deck, What Lies Ahead, Looks Like Rain, Nero @ Dave J's house, Bethel, PA

I had met Dave Jannes a few months before this show when Looks Like Rain played with Ensign and Shutdown in Hagerstown, MD and Dave had made the trip out for that show. He hit me up about playing a show at his house when his parents were going to be out of town. The flyer mentions "in cooperation with UKI". UKI was United Kids Incorporated, which was the name I gave to myself for the shows I put on. I don't remember having a hand in booking this, but I must have gotten What Lies Ahead on the show. Intention featured Zach Amster, who would later go on to play in Full Contant/Knockdown, Shark Attack, Violent Minds, and No Warning. I can't remember who else was in the band. Can't remember who was in On Deck, but I remember seeing them a handful of times at shows in Wikes-Barre. No idea who Nero were. I do remember Dave telling me that he did get busted by his parents for having the show, and to my knowledge, that was the only show that ever happened at his house.

Speedbump Productions Calendar for Aug/Sep 2000

Here's a calendar of shows put on by Craig Boarman for the end of the summer of 2000. I posted about the August 16th and September 19th shows previously, but there's some other really good ones on there. My favorite being the Samiam, ErrorType:11, and The Misery show.

June 25, 2000: Esteem, Gamewinner, The National Acrobat, Christiansen, Looks Like Rain @ The Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

Looks Like Rain capped off our little weekend trip with a fun little show back in Baltimore at the Sushi Cafe. I'm not 100% sure Esteem played this show. Larry, who I think sang for Esteem, would later found Think Fast! Records with Ryan from Outbreak. Pretty sure Gamewinner's 7" did not come out at this show. Don't even think it came out at their actual 7" release show a bit later. The National Acrobat were the stars of this show. Super energetic set that blew everyone away. Photos from this show were used in the layout of one of their CDs. I can't remember if it was "Can't Stop Casper Adams" or "For All Practical Purposes, Is Dead". The National Acrobat were from Louisville, KY and featured Evan and Ryan Patterson (Coliseum, Young Widows, Black Cross, Breather Resist, Automatic, Fotocrime, etc.), Robby Scott (Christiansen, By the Grace of God, etc.), and few other Louisville kids that I don't believe did anything else. Christiansen would later go on to release a few records with Revelation Records.

June 24, 2000: Gunspiking, Looks Like Rain, The Deadbeats, Chase @ The Mr. Roboto Project, Pittsburgh, PA

The next day Looks Like Rain headed down to Pittsburgh for this show. I can't remember if the Chase listed here was the band from Maryland or not. I don't recall playing this show with anyone we knew. Gunspiking were a kinda screamy/chaotic local band. I don't remember what The Deadbeats sounded like.

June 23, 2000: Two Man Advantage, Phil Ashes with The Goods, The Falsies, The Cuban Music Crisis, Duct Tape Pussy, Looks Like Rain @ Colossal Taco, Cuba, NY

This is a show that Looks Like Rain hopped on after the flyer was made. I'm not sure The Falsies played this one. We may have taken their place. Ryan Cappelletti from I Object and Punks Before Profits Records may have had some involvement in this show. That was long before I would come to know him through his bands and label. I still have a scar on my palm from this show. I was circle pitting to 2 Man Advantage, tripped on the carpet, and gouged my hand on a carpet tack that was sticking up a little bit. My other memory from this show was staying at someone's house (possibly Ryan's) that night with the Two Man Advantage guys and watching a VHS tape compiled with what seemed like an hour of farting preachers. I have laughed that hard very few times in my life.

June 16, 2000: Atari, In Reach, What Lies Ahead, Looks Like Rain, Society at Stake, the Chase @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

Here's another version of a flyer for this show I posted about a while back. xHead Onx took the place of In Reach, and I'm fairly positive that Atari did not play. Andy Norton (Desperate Measures, Champion, Praise, etc.), who I'm pretty sure played in Society at Stake, booked this one.

May 26, 2000: De Nada, The Chernobyl Kids, Awake, Looks Like Rain @ the Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

This one is interesting to me because I'm pretty sure computerswilldestroyusATyahooDOTcom was Aaron Fishbein's email address, but I don't remember him ever booking shows at the Sushi Cafe. I don't remember if Sara Klemm or Sara Beauchamp did DC Books to Prisoners, but I don't remember either of them being connected to Aaron Fishbein either. Regardless, a show at Sushi Cafe with De Nada and Chernobyl Kids was most certainly a good time. Can't say I remember who Awake were.

May 20, 2000: Kitty Badass, The Deacons, The Pac-Men, Tomorrow We Die, Looks Like Rain @ Newtown Teen Center, Newtown, CT

A week later and Looks Like Rain is up in Connecticut for a show in Newtown, a town to later become known nationwide as the location of one of the worst school shootings in American history. (Sadly coincidentally, I'm writing this post on the day of yet another school shooting in the U.S.) I don't remember much from this show except that I bought a cassette copy of "Age of Quarrel" off of someone selling a bunch of used records and tapes. Still have it. The Pac-Men were a rad hc/punk band, that I just realized featured ex-Pist member, and future WarXGames drummer, Brian Marshall on vocals. Neat little round-about Baltimore connection.

May 13, 2000: Ensign, Shutdown, Time Flies, Looks Like Rain, 200 North @ Kingpin, Hagerstown, MD

Here's another flyer for the show Looks Like Rain played in Hagerstown with Ensign, Shutdown, Time Flies, and 200 North. See my original post on this show for my recollections.

May 7, 2000: Kill Your Idols, Indecision, Down to None, Looks Like Rain, Fast Times @ 123 Pleasant St, Morgantown, WV

This was a really fun show out in Morgantown, WV playing with our friends in Kill Your Idols and Indecision. Artie was singing for Indecision at this time and had some classic between-song banter. I remember them playing on the floor, but can't remember if all the bands did or not. 123 Pleasant St shows were always a blast for Looks Like Rain and this one was no different.

April 28, 2000: Fast Times, Red Angel Dragnet, Worthless, Looks Like Rain @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

Here's a show LLR played at the Sushi Cafe with Fast Times and Worthless from New Jersey and Red Angel Dragnet from Richmond. Bryan Flowers booked this show and made the flyer.

April 18, 2000: City of Caterpillar, No Solution, Looks Like Rain, Pollyanna's Lazy Eye Band @ Girls, Inc, Newark, DE

Looks Like Rain took a little trip up 95 on a Tuesday to play a show in Newark, DE. No strong recollections of this show.

April 15, 2000: Indecision, Walls of Jericho, Good Clean Fun, Onslaught, Battleground, Twelve Tribes, Not Waving But Drowning, Looks Like Rain, etc. @ Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY

Looks Like Rain's second out of town show was little festival at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. This flyer is on a fluorescent yellow/green paper that doesn't scan well, but is equally hard to read. The other bands on this show were Indecision, Walls of Jericho, Good Clean Fun, Onslaught, Battleground, Twelve Tribes, 502 Heads, Not Waving But Drowning, Supergrub, My Life Denial, Crestfallen, Skam Impaired, and the Bellarmine Jazz Trio. The best thing about this flyer is the band descriptions. Walls of Jericho ("rock"), Good Clean Fun ("pop rock"), Looks Like Rain ("indie rock"), etc. My favorite is the description for Onslaught ("Sean Nolph's band"), cuz, you know, everyone getting this flyer must know who Sean Nolph is. I don't think the Crestfallen listed here was the band from northern VA, but it's possible. If so, "pop rock" is another great description.

This was an outdoor show on a stage at the bottom of a hill. Probably great for jam bands, but not so great for a hardcore show. My memory from our set is covering Slapshot - "In Your Face" and getting picked up and carried around by a bunch of huge Courage Crew dudes. Either Onslaught or Battleground (or maybe both?) was a Courage Crew band. Full on hand-tattoo Xs and all. Since this was a college-sponsored show, we also got paid handsomely for being a band from out of town that nobody knew.

April 14, 2000: Good Clean Fun, Monotonoushhh, Broadside, Looks Like Rain @ Vinyl Assault, Cincinnati, OH

This is the flyer for Looks Like Rain's first out of town show. We did a little two day out-of-town trip to Cincinnati, OH for this show and then played the next day at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. I don't remember a ton about this show other than that it was a little record store and that before the show we met up with Chris Penna at Xavier University, where he was attending college at the time. I've got a picture somewhere that Chris took of the members of Looks Like Rain standing on a giant X at the university's common area.