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June 2, 2016
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Running Like Thieves, The First Step
John and I got ALL the Garfield jokes out on the way up to this show. Garfield is *quite* a hike from Manahawkin, so I am not so sure what really compelled us to go so far for bands we only kind of liked. I think part of it was this weird desperation to feel a connection, at least for me, to the hardcore scene, which I felt like I was quickly losing. I had just started my first “adult” job and was taking night classes, a lot of which I slept through. During this time period, I had horrible…
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June 2, 2016
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97a, Adventures In Immortality, Bleed, Elements Of Need, Hardware Fanzine, Judge, Knotwork, Still Life
This was the last show at this VFW Hall. It got shut down early and one of the people who did the show got on the mic and really ripped into the people from the VFW Hall. It was awesome to have shows be ten minutes away that summer, but oh well. Elements of Need were a local emo band, I think? I think Knotwork canceled this show. I wish I could remember Bleed because they were pretty good! Adventures In Immortality came back on their tour and played again. They looked happy to see some familiar faces when we…
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June 2, 2016
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Devoid Of Faith, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dissolve, Full Speed Ahead, Hell Child, Human Remains, Malefaction, Monster X, Unanswered
I ended up meeting a bunch of people I still talk to in 2016 at this show. I had no idea who any of them were at the time, but they are friendships I value to this day. Devoid of Faith and Monster X were gateway bands for me and my friends into a lot of other cool stuff. Hell Child were from Japan. I do not remember a lot about them unfortunately, nor do I remember Dissolve. Human Remains were this incredible metal band from the area. They were pretty influential on a lot of bands that would come…
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June 2, 2016
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Adventures In Immortality, Kurbjaw, Mandella Strike Force, Spirit, Unanswered, Words Of Honor Fanzine
We got flyers for this show and others in Bayville that summer during summer school. I failed driving class (and the first time I took the test!), so I had to go for a week. Our school also took in a few other schools students for summer school, so we had kids from Lacey and a few others. Sometime that week, someone gave me a flyer for these shows. These Bayville shows were done by the guys behind Words Of Honor Fanzine, which was a local Straight Edge fanzine. My prom date was best friends with one of their cousins.…
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June 2, 2016
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Ink & Dagger, The Icarus Line
This was The Icarus Line’s first show and I guess they got to be a pretty popular band later on? I do not remember anything out of the ordinary from Ink and Dagger. Justin went off and dove a few times during some song and a bunch of emos bummed out. We went through this phase where we decided to go off for them a lot after this one time where some of those douchey PC types really did not like it. Looking bad, it is pretty dumb, but at the time it was hilarious to us. Sean McCabe and those…
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June 1, 2016
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Degenerics, Ensign, Murphy's Law, Refuse To Fall
The best part about this show was the “Manville!!!!!!!!!!!!” jokes. The lodge had a bunch of trophies on the wall that straight up looked like some Viking/Game of Thrones stuff. Jimmy Gestapo noticed this and riffed on it a lot during their set. I had to ask around about who else played this show and it turns out it was Refuse To Fall and Degenerics and probably some others. I do remember Refuse To Fall, but I think I went for food during their set. Maybe Ensign played too? There is a pretty high chance that Ensign played any and…
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May 31, 2016
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American Nightmare, Bane, Daltonic, Right Brigade, The Purpose
This was at a house but I cannot remember which one. I could never keep any of that straight. When Purpose played a few of us went off, which bummed out emos and I think a member or two of the band. That band blurred the lines between the hardcore and emo parts of NJHC a lot. Daltonic were a melodic band from Boston, I think, right, and played occasionally in the area. They were okay but not really my thing. I went outside to hang out with some people when Bane played, which is so weird because six months later…
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May 19, 2016
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Dan Hornacker, Ensign, Fastbreak, Geoff TDT, Good Riddance, Hands Tied, In My Eyes, Joe Oz, John Coltrane, Judge, Kurbjaw, Matt Smith, Nate Gluck, Sean McGrath, Shutdown, Sisters Of Mercy, Spice Girls, The Purpose, Turning Point, Weapon X, What Was Said Fanzine
This show was one of the big end of summer shows (along with Back To School Jam and the show that Gordo did) as the summer of 1997 began to wind down. We packed a crew into my car (and literally packed lunch) and headed up to the show. Weapon X would play their only show. WX had members of Ensign, Purpose, Kurbjaw, and some others and played pretty generic 1988 hardcore. They covered Turning Point and Judge. I interviewed Nate after the show. Their 7” was released in a limited edition of 200. I ended up with a handful…
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May 16, 2016
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E-Town Concrete, Fastbreak, Fury Of V, h2o, Killing Time, War Zone
I think Fury Of V played this show too. Killing Time canceled. This was the first time I saw Fastbreak. I had just heard them a few days before (remember, music traveled a bit slower back then) and they were really good. This was also the first time I saw E-Town Concrete too, who seemed to play a ton of shows back then. This was a record release, or right after it, for the first H20 album. I remember a ton of people from my high school were at this show. Lots of rando pop punk kids. That is why…
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May 11, 2016
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Bane, Black Flag, Fast Times, Fired Up, Negative FX, Rain On The Parade, Underdog
Maybe Fast Times played this show too???? Bane got super big like six months after this show, but at this one they played to very few people. I remember their drummer blasting out some beats from a Negative FX song before they played. I yelled out “play that instead!” to some tumbleweeds. Wah wah. He seemed to appreciate it though. Rain On The Parade broke up at this show. For the first time. It is a long story, but there was some beef and they ended up breaking up. Not many people were into them besides the car of people…
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