September 24, 2000: the 1985, Swyvid, Looks Like Rain, Michinoku Driver 3 @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

This was one of the oddest shows I've ever played. I'm Looks Like Rain only got asked to play because Todd (Monozine/Ottobar booker) needed a band to fill out the bill. I have no recollection of what the 1985 or Swyvid sounded like or where they were from or who was in the band. Michinoku Driver 3 was Boson Au and maybe Joe Mitra doing really discordant noisy stuff. I can't remember if there was an angle behind it or not. Strange show for sure.

September 23, 2000: Time Flies, Fairweather, What Lies Ahead @ house, Falls Church, VA

Goddamn, I wish I could remember this show because this is one of my favorite Linas Garsys flyers. Who was there? Help me out.

September 19, 2000: Pollen, Choker, Fairweather, Looks Like Rain, Velvet @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

Again, one of these things is not like the other and Looks Like Rain gets put on a show more out of our love for good pop/rock than a similar sound to the other bands. Pollen were a rad poppy band from Arizona. The first song ("Pollen") on their last full-length (Chip) is still an all-time favorite. Choker were a too-short-lived Doughboys-ish band from Baltimore featuring Dwayne from Latebloomer/Cross My Heart, Chris Camden from Cross My Heart, and a few others I forget, except the singer, Kevin, though I don't know if he did any other bands. They were pretty great. I loved Fairweather's demo, solid catchy pop/rock, but I couldn't get into much more than a few songs after that. Still, great dudes, and people still love that band to this day. I think they recently reformed or maybe just played some reunion shows. Velvet were from northern VA if I remember correctly, but I don't remember what they sounded like. Craig Boarman booked the show and I made the flyer. Coincidentally, the guy who made that drawing, which was scanned from a City Paper article, is the same guy who did the cover art for Ruiner's What Could Possibly Go Right? EP and a bunch of Misery Index records.

September 15, 2000: De Nada, The Chase, Crestfallen @ UMD Food Co-Op, College Park, MD

If this is the show I'm thinking of it was a blast. Tons of good friends in one room and everyone going nuts for all the bands. I had found this weird protective helmet, kinda like this one, while roaming around the underbelly of UMBC and I brought it to the show with the idea that I was gonna pour rubbing alcohol all over it and set it on fire and run around during De Nada's set. I hadn't tried lighting rubbing alcohol on fire in years though and I guess I was expecting a hell of a lot more of a blaze than I got. Oh well. It's the thought the counts. The show was still a lot of fun.

September 4, 2000: Leatherface, Cross My Heart, Pezz, River City High @ the Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

This is definitely one of my favorite shows ever. Getting to see Leatherface in a place as small as the Sidebar was near euphoric. The place was packed with friendly faces and something about it was just really special. Cross My Heart played one of the best sets I ever saw them play. Dwayne somehow managed a dive off the 6" high stage at the end of their set, guitar in hand. I'm not sure I watched Pezz or River City High, but I'm sure they were just fine. Jamie Arthurs booked the show. Looks like he made the flyer as well.

August 24, 2000: Neil Perry, Joshua Fit For Battle, Contra, Latterman, Break of Dawn, Buried Inside @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

This is one of those shows I did because I'm just such a nice guy. I can't say I really had any interest in any of the bands. I knew some of the guys in Break of Dawn because Looks Like Rain would play Rochester a bunch and we got friendly with the Head On/Standfast crew, and someone from Head On played in Break of Dawn, who were on tour with Buried Inside. I was a part of Emogeddon Records, who put out the Falsies' "Theory and Motion" CD and they would play shows and trade records with Latterman (well before anybody outside of Long Island gave a shit about them) so I volunteered to help them out on their trip with Contra, also from Long Island. I think I was familiar with Neil Perry and Joshua Fit For Battle through the board.crewcial.org (or whatever incarnation it was at the time) messageboard. I honestly don't have any specific recollection of this show. I'm sure some people were stoked. Glad I could help.

August 20, 2000: What Lies Ahead, Project 208, Latchkey, Looks Like Rain, Tries Too Hard @ Sushi Cafe, Baltimore, MD

I booked the show, Brian Flowers made the flyer. Project 208 were a hardcore band from VA Beach with a sense of melody to their music. No idea what those guys are up to these days. I still have no idea who was in Latchkey. Any help would be great. I also don't remember who was in Tries Too Hard, but I know they were from southern Maryland. What I do remember about them is that they insisted there name was Tries To Hard. At least, that was what was on their stickers, and when I mentioned the grammatical error to them they told me that was how it was supposed to be. Don't ask me what it means to try to hard. I've never heard hard used as an action. Still makes me chuckle after all these years.