Show Journal 1996-02-18
(Added Oct. 2001) – This was upstairs on a balcony in a clothing store. They didn’t pay us but instead gave us each $50 store credit! I bought shoes. Dave’s mom came to this show and Dave was careful to mumble the bad words. I also still recall that this store had the worst staircase ever. It was three stories high and straight up from the street. Each section was narrower than the one before it and eventually got so small that you couldn’t stand two people across. Dave permanently dented his shin on his bass amp outside this store while rolling it at high speeds.
Show Journal 1996-02-17
(Added Oct. 2001) – This was our first real road trip. We got this cool show booked in Dave’s hometown with some friends of his so we made plans to cruise up there. Bryan ended up having some issue where he couldn’t go so we found a local drummer named Daniel, taught him the songs on a Wednesday and drove up to play on Friday. This was the first show where we were an anonymous out of town band and it was so liberating to play where no one knows you. I still love that about playing out of town. All in all it was a great show … even with the borrowed drummer. A van was rented specifically for this trip. After using a real van once we bought our own van shortly after this trip. I also remember this was the first time I saw the Swank CD and I was so disappointed that I ended up smashing mine before even opening it. The artwork looked like total shit. Wrong font, bad pictures, lame design, it was just … bad. When I finally opened up another one I discovered that the pictures were really washed out and crappy looking. To top it off due to a poor DAT transfer the CD plays slower than the studio original. The whole thing sounds flat and slow because of it. God I was so pissed. I think I still am. Lesson to other bands … get proof copies of your artwork and recordings!
Show Journal 1996-01-19
(Added Oct. 2001) – Yep, our big CD release party. Too bad our CD’s weren’t ready on time like they were promised. We invited Railroad Earth from Wilmington to come play the show since they were really cool guys. I remember it being very cold as Paul and I sat in his car making hand written coupons to get a discount on our CD when it came out. The CD ended up being over a month late.
Show Journal 1995-12-08
(Added Mar. 2002) – Face First was headed by a friend of ours named Chet. They were this totally heavy thrash/hardcore band from Raleigh. Listening to their old demos it’s amazing how far ahead of the times they were. They were pulling heavy rap breakdowns long before it became popular. They kicked ass live so we played the fastest songs we could. It was all in vain compared to them. Even a GBH cover couldn’t save us. For some reason I remember playing Mortal Kombat for hours after the show with them.
Show Journal 1995-11-11
(Added Mar. 2002) – Ewww. This show was bad. I remember I was honestly embarrassed of our band at this show. I thought for sure it would never last after this humbling performance. The “crowd” literally sat on the floor while we played.
Show Journal 1995-11-09
(Added Mar. 2002) – This show sucked because we drove 6 hours there and it had been cancelled! Our friends in Face First drove from Chapel Hill to discover the same thing. This experience is when we learned to always call ahead to confirm shows. Face First went home but we were determined to play so our friends in Railroad Earth literally took us from bar to bar in town trying to get us a show. When we finally found a venue we called a local radio station and told our sob story on the air in an effort to get more people to the show. We ended up playing at midnight literally for a jar of tips. The picture on the inside of Swank came from this show.
Show Journal 1995-10-14
(Added Oct. 2001) – Damage Done were know by us as “The Metal Guys”. They practiced next door to us and we instantly became good friends with them. They were all the nicest bunch of guys and we actually wrote a song about them. And good lord, they were so f-ing metal. They all had full stack amps, a PA larger than most clubs own and a full double bass drum kit. They would literally shake the walls in our space. Those were the days.
Show Journal 1995-10-07
(Added Oct. 2001) – We actually didn’t play this show. We were supposed to but Bryan wiped out on his mountain bike and went head first into a tow truck! He cracked some of his vertebrae and was unable to play. We all still attended and gave the Pink Collar Jobs the honor of taking our place. I do recall really being impressed with Otis Reem. I wonder what happened to those guys?
Show Journal 1995-09-18
(Added Mar. 2002) – When we played this show Lustre had just gotten signed to A&M Records and we were shocked because there were like 10 people in the crowd. They did put out a good album (which I still own) but their biggest claim to fame was when they eventually got on the soundtrack for the movie Empire Records. I always thought they were a cool band. Oddly enough their drummer was the brother of the singer for Antiseen.
Show Journal 1995-09-09
(Revised Jul. 2023) – God I used to love Antiseen. If you lived in NC and you liked punk then you like Antiseen. The stories about their shows were legendary. Our memories have faded a bit so it’s hard to recall exactly who called Dave’s apartment, but it was either Jeff Clayton (the very tough, frequently bloody, and heavily tattooed singer for Antiseen) or Merle Allin, the brother of GG. Either way, Dave’s roommate Matt (also a huge Antiseen fan) was the one who was shocked with this phone call and got to break the news to us that they were calling to book a show with us. I recall shouting because we were all so excited about this show. I also remember those guys were surprisingly nice when we finally met them, and oh my god they rocked live. After that show Dave announced there was a party at Lee and Paul’s house. Antiseen and all their biker friends showed up to the house to hang out. I bailed early from the party (as I normally would) but the next morning I drove by and there were Harleys in the front yard and a few bikers passed out on the couch. Crazy evening.
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