These “Alive & Well” shows were a huge deal at the time. I did a three show weekend starting with the Ink & Dagger/Bluetip show the night before in Philadelphia. I was really running my car all around the tri-state area. I cannot believe it lasted almost all the way into 2004! Day two was better than day one for sure, but more on that in a minute…
So two big rumors that summer: Judge was rumored to be playing this, but the story went that Mike eventually said no. That actually seems reasonable. The other big rumor was Rest In Pieces, who eventually did play out a few years ago.
I got there really early for this show of course because I basically snuck out of town after telling my boss I was “going away with family” for the weekend, so I needed it off. He bought it, but I was paranoid. I somehow went alone to this day too, which seems so odd looking back.
I remember very little about Indecision, Enkindels, Skarhead, or Fahrenheit 451. DBX were, as the flyer said, from Japan, which seemed very exotic to some of the crowd. Ugh. It’s so shitty how America-Centric many hardcore fans are.
I ate at the Krishna table, ironically, during Better Than A Thousand. Ha-Ha.
The pit during Fury of V’s set was one of the largest, and most brutal, I have ever seen in my life. There were some gruesome injuries and a lot of blood. One person had what looked like a pretty significant eye injury. Yikes.
Back to back to back you had Madball, who were absolutely the best live band in hardcore at this time, Murphy’s Law, and 7 Seconds. I lost my keys, but then found them under the stage, during ML. 7 Seconds were great and people were genuinely really excited to see them play.
A band not listed: Underdog! This was their first show back of what would be a pretty hit or miss group of shows in the area during the rest of 1998. The room was really moving for them.
I went and hung out with friends during Earth Crisis and probably Sick Of It All. I left while Misfits were playing to drive home an hour, sleep, eat a late breakfast, pick up friends, and then drive right back to Asbury Park for the next day.
