100th Post! Freemasonry Live Recordings and Rejection Letters

Here are the live recordings for download:

Freemasonry Live at WREK 1995-05

Freemasonry Live on WRAS 1995-03-18

Freemasonry Live on WSBF 1994

Freemasonry Live 1994-02-12

Of course, you can download everything by Freemasonry here.

I would like to thank Kip Thomas, of course, for all the great Freemasonry tapes he loaned me from his collection. As you might know, they were my favorite of our "friend bands" during the mid 1990's, and thankfully they actually turned on a tape recorder and put down some of this music for us to enjoy later on. The first show posted is from their last Live at WREK session, and includes two songs that were never otherwise recorded or released. One was called "OK to Forget", as announced by Sarge, but the other one is a mystery. It is funny that they were in a different style from the Sparring with the Varmit stuff, with Bruce also singing dual vocals with Sarge. For a minute, I didn't even know it was Freemasonry when I listened to the tape. Soon after this recording, Sarge was out to be replaced by Rick Moore and they continued as Galanas:Cerdd, but more on them later.

The Live on WRAS (Album 88) recording is also good late-period Freemasonry from the Georgia Music Show. Kip told me that in his opinion this was the best time they recorded on the air. Too bad the set was so short! I remember back then on Album 88, they used to have you play a song or two, and then do some interviewing, which was completely awkward, and then go back to playing some songs. The Live on WSBF in Clemson recording is not so good in quality, but my favorite era of Freemasonry to have a recording, so I had to include it. Lastly, the live show recording from February 12, 1994 is very early, but does include Bruce on second guitar. It must of been one of their first appearances with him. They actually play "Poolhall" from the first demo, which is a nice surprise. Can anyone tell me where this show took place?

And now on to the rejection letters. These were saved in Kip's files, and included postcards and letters from various labels that received copies of the Pool Hall demo tape in 1993.

Slap A Ham Records - Chris Dodge tells them that he is "not your passport out of demoland". Brilliant.



Shredder Records - Mel tells Kip that Freemasonry is too generic and unoriginal. I've never heard of Shredder records before - what non-generic, original music did they put out? I'll give them Jawbreaker, but that's about it.

No Idea Records - Var avoids the whole issue of whether or not to put out a Freemasonry record by trying to book a show instead with his band Bombshell. I love that guy!

Lookout Records - Patrick calls Kip, Chris and Marcus "Freemasons". Actually all of these letters refer to the guys in strange ways. That's what happens when you call your band Freemasonry.

Jade Tree Records - Tim tells the guys to put more money into recording and not packaging. Remember the days when having a professional looking demo was a detriment? There is also a Railhed shoutout in the letter as well. Classic Jade Tree. This might have been the best label for them overall, but unfortunately it was not to be. They did like Snowden 15 years later!

By the way - here is that great Freemasonry first demo package:

Allied Recordings - I guess this is John Yates' signature, but it was definitely during the time that Kip's old band, Fiddlehead, were having singles put out on this label.

So that is all for now. Supposedly Kip has some letters from Freemasons to him about his band, but that will have to be included another time.

Thanks for 100 great posts!

Infinite Potential - Freemasonry

(Insert cover for the Freemasonry/Scout Split LP)

Download the stuff here: Split LP with Scout

Freemasonry in my opinion was the best band that ever existed in Atlanta. I will just put it on the table right there. They took the power of a John Reis band (e.g. Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu), and combined it with the melodic elements of post-punk bands like Jawbox to make such an amazing mix of power and melody. This was a combination you got sometimes in bands like Naked Raygun, for example, but in this case sounded completely different. Sarge, the singer/guitarist had a great voice that was powerful, melodic and completely original. The dude was also one of the funniest guys I have ever met. I remember going to see them play a show in Andy Stivers’ basement, and he told me that "anything was okay in moderation" – yeah thanks for the tip Sarge. Bruce, the second guitarist, had a guitar sound that was unbelievable – especially when matched with Sarge’s guitar. Kip’s drumming might not be the most versatile out there, but it was solid and 100% Freemasonry, and was perfect for the music they played. Even later, when I played with him in Chocolate Kiss, I would hear Freemasonry whenever he played the drums. Not Fiddlehead, or Galanas Cerdd, but always Freemasonry. Also, all of the printing on the Freemasonry records were in his handwriting, so I always had him make our Chocolate Kiss set lists just to remind me of them. Lastly, Marcus was a great bassman, adding all these extra little flourishes and melodies into the guitar layers, and one of the nicest guys I ever met. I have included in this posting the songs from the split 12” with Scout, which was their 3rd and half of their 2nd demo tapes. Also included is the non-LP instrumental “Acacia”, and the last half of their Live at WREK show. If anyone has a good copy of the entire Live at WREK show (Kip?), please get in touch.


(Lyric Sheet for the Freemasonry/Scout Split LP)

The first time I saw Freemasonry was when Car Vs. Driver played with them in the fall of 1993 at the Liquid Bean. They were only a 3-piece at that time (Bruce hadn’t joined the band), but already they were amazing. Chad Wiener and I thought it was awesome that the drummer was named Kip. We kept on asking if his name was Kip Winger, and I think he got really pissed at us. Sorry Kip, we were in high school. We played with them a few more times, but things really kicked in when they added Bruce Bohannon from Fiddlehead on second guitar. That guy can play guitar like nobody’s business, and somehow had the best sound in Atlanta. I have played his guitar since then and could not get anything near his sound, it is true that so much of what makes a musician sound the way he does is not so much his or her equipment but how they play the instrument, and that dude could play. This addition improved the band’s sonic depth and composition exponentially. They were now able to add more power to the songs as well as an additional melodic element that was missing in the 3-piece lineup. For example, when they used to play “Freemissionary Style” as a 3-piece, Sarge would play harmonics on the guitar while singing the chorus, and it was very difficult to tell what was going on in that part. However, once Bruce joined he added a thick guitar melody which perfectly complemented Sarge’s vocal on the part. I don’t know why they didn’t put that song on their Sky LP, it was one of my favorites, how can you beat that opening line: SO YOU DON’T WANT ME ANYMORE - YEAH SO WHAT! They released the Pool Hall demo tape (Kip – I need a copy), and the Sensible demo tape as a 3-piece. Both “Everyday” and “Easy” are from the Sensible demo, so although they were great in that lineup, you can see what Bruce contributes to the sound. Once the 3rd demo was released, with Bruce on guitar, we knew something on a level much higher than any of us was taking place. When Car Vs. Driver was approached by Sky records to do an album, we played for them the 3rd Freemasonry demo tape and told them that this is the band they should sign, and they promptly went ahead and did it. I will post the Sky record soon, but I wanted to post all of my non-Sparrin’ with the Varmit tracks on this post as the golden years of Freemasonry.

I can’t explain in words how much I loved this band. The music is hard for me to listen to these days, because in my mind they could have been one of the biggest post-punk bands of the 90’s, easily on par with any of the Touch and Go, etc. bands of the time. And they were gone so fast, with such tragic consequences, which makes me miss them even more. As for Marcus, I don’t know if I believe in any kind of afterlife, but I hope he is at peace and wish more than anything that he was still here playing bass for us. I would love to hear “Everyday” or “Sensible”, or any of their songs played again.



(Acacia 7" cover - notice Kip's handwriting in all Freemasonry texts)

Freemasonry – Sparrin’ With The Varmit and Others

Tightly packed bowls go out to the dude who sent the link to all the gaps in my Freemasonry collection (Kip?), now I can post pretty much everything you can find on this band here. Included is the Sparrin’ With The Varmit LP/CD/Tape on Sky Records from 1995, the complete 1993 Demo, the Pool Hall Demo and the complete Live at WREK from May of 1994 (the split LP with Scout is in an earlier post - and also on the right side of this page).

Here they are:

Freemasonry Sparrin' With The Varmit Album

Freemasonry Live at WREK May 5, 1994

Freemasonry Fall 1993 Demo

Freemasonry Pool Hall Demo


So let’s talk about Sparrin’ With The Varmit, because it is a landmark album for DIY bands from Atlanta in the 1990’s, for several reasons. For one, this was the “breakthrough” album for our scene. They were the only ones of our circle of bands that got a true record deal, recorded at a real studio, and released and album on multiple formats. That being said, the album itself had some major flaws that I’m sure the band acknowledges, but probably hindered its success at the time of release. One is that the album title is possibly the worst title in the history of Atlanta bands (although “Out of a Silent Sky” is a close second). Second, the album art is really cool, but the “Sparrin’ With The Varmit” printing on the jar looks ridiculous. I remember Kip saying the same thing to me once, agreeing with this statement. The recording is very professional, however seemed to be mixed poorly. Sarge’s vocals are really weak compared with other Freemasonry recordings. I wonder if he was having voice problems at the time, or if the engineer/producer didn't know how to place his voice in the mix. Also, Sarge’s guitar is more buried in the mix while Bruce’s is more dominant. I think this was a mistake, as Bruce is really a master of texture and complementing Sarge’s riffs, but Sarge is really the guy who leads the melodic element of the band, so his guitar should have been more prominent. Another criticism is that the recording is actually too clean for Freemasonry. They need some grit and dirtiness in the mix to give it the crunch it needs, especially in songs like “Everyday” when Sarge and Bruce start chugging together. It sounds amazing on the Live At Wrek session, but almost muted on the Varmit LP. Marcus and Kip are in top form, however, so no complaints there. I think Kip (I believe it was him) captured the feeling of the album and band very well here:

“thnx for posting these. the label went bankrupt and destroyed all remaining copies of sparrin with the varmint. members went on to Haricot Vert, Chocolate Kiss, Copa Vance (all on Moodswing Records) and presently The Forever War. three fourths of Freemasonry experienced serious bouts with drug use: one is dead, one is unaccounted for and the last fled to isolation far from atlanta.

most would be surprised to know that those songs were born of it consistently heavy drug cocktails at practice and during shows.

and sparrin with the varmint is a pretty poor representation of the band vs other unreleased recordings. it presents a pretty sterile and inconsistent album. you are your worst critic.”

My last criticism is something that I had at the time of its release, but now am glad they did it this way. The album is over 50 minutes long, which is way too much Freemasonry to take in one sitting. It’s like listening to a Rocket From the Crypt album that is 50 minutes long – it just is not a good idea. These types of bands need to come in, blow your head off, and leave before you even know what is going on. Sparrin’ with the Varmit is epic, and like it or not is a milestone in Atlanta post punk, and I am glad now that they released such a long album. There is more Freemasonry out there to listen to due to this album, and it plays as kind of a greatest hits collection for the band, along with some new jams thrown in. I really like “Kitty Come Home”, which was my favorite of their post-Lunchbox songs. It was great that they included older songs like “Everyday”, “Einahpets” and “Mrs. Ecoli” from the Fall 1993 demo, but I wasn’t too into the new vocals by Sarge on “Everyday”. It kind of took away the power of those 3 lines in the middle of the song “Every little thing, you’ve given, every little thing you’ve taken, take a little look inside and see what’s changing”. That was just so amazing when they would play that song, which was essentially an instrumental, and then hit you with those lines in the middle – it was one of the most powerful moments in music that I have ever experienced, no joke. I also wish they had included “Freemissionary Style” as that was probably one of their best songs, and definitely the best song that was not included on the album, but you can’t have everything.

All criticism of their last release aside, the band was amazing and I am very happy to have this music around to listen to every once in awhile. So many monumental bands never even go into a studio, and I’m glad that Freemasonry didn’t take that route. Now if I could just get some video footage.

(back cover from the cd version)

(Insert and Lyric Sheet from the LP version - of course I own both LP and CD versions)

Car Vs. Driver Flyers

Okay guys, so here's the big one. I pulled together all the Car Vs. Driver flyers that Steve Wishart and Matt Mauldin have in their collection and posted them here. They are in chronological order, so you can see how things progressed from the Summer of 1993 to the Summer of 1995, with regards to the Atlanta scene and our flyer design. Feel free to comment with your stories, etc. related to these shows.

I have posted all these flyers for download here - Enjoy

August 27, 1993 - Jon Rothman flyer. This was the first time I saw Freemasonry. Liquid Bean was a 24 hour coffee shop on Ponce De Leon on the corner by where Beep Beep Gallery sits today. It was a really fun place to play, and even hosted some national acts, such as Nuisance and Monsula, but I think Monsula never showed up.

September 24, 1993 - Another Jon Rothman flyer. I think we forbade him to make more flyers after this. We were no longer in high school and needed to move away from the cut and paste goofy flyers.

September 26, 1993 - We played a few shows with Tilt, but I guess Bad Religion and Green Day were playing the same night. Probably at the Masquerade.

September 28, 1993 - We played with a lot of Lookout bands around this time (Tilt, Fifteen, Samiam), as they were the main bands touring around the country and coming to the Southeast.

October 16, 1993 - This was a classic flyer. Another show at the Liquid Bean with Freemasonry. We couldn't get enough.

October 31, 1993 - We played with the Queers and the Pink Lincolns at the Somber Reptile on Halloween. I thought Midget Farmers played this show as well, but I could be wrong. The boy in the photo is Jon Rothman.

October 31, 1993 - Another flyer for the same show. I remember Steve threw up after our set at one of these Queers shows, but I can't remember which. I remember that one of the guys in the Queers saw Steve puke, though.

November 7, 1993 - Classic Atlanta local show flyer. I think Rebar might have played instead of Barrel, but I'm not sure.

December 4, 1993 - No Fraud gets last billing on this flyer, even though they were the only touring band on this show. This has Matt Mauldin humor all over it. We played our very first show with Quadiliacha (and Gauge from Chicago), but I think this is the only time we played with Crisis Under Control.

January 4, 1994 - The recording for this show is posted on this blog on the right. Check it out.

January 8, 1994 - Habeus Corpses gets top billing. All the best local bands at the time, including Picasso Trigger. I barely remember this show, and didn't know WGHR before this (we've never heard of you either). WGHR was the Marietta Tech radio station, and Steve Wishart had a punk show on it when he was studying Civil Engineering. I still have a few records lifted from the WGHR vaults in my collection.

January 27, 1994 - The Midtown Music Hall was in the place where the Highlander currently resides in the Midtown Promenade. I'm not sure if the Mastodon guys were in Today is the Day at that point, but it was a pretty rocking show. 18 and over show, one of Car Vs. Driver's only.

February 19, 1994 - This was probably the best show we played thus far. Rain Like the Sound of Trains tweaked people pretty hard at this show, but they were awesome and totally won me over. They are on my top 10 list of all-time favorite Dischord bands, and I'm glad we got to play with them. Another flyer for the show below, which is also possibly my favorite Car Vs. Driver flyer of all time.

March 9, 1994 - This was a show for the ages. Hoover, Fiddlehead and Car Vs. Driver, what a lineup. I remember we played terribly, and I think it was because Steve played to my left and Jon on my right, which was opposite to every other show we played. For some reason, probably superstition, I always needed Steve in my right ear and Jon in my left. The opposite happened in Hal al Shedad, when Ben had to be on my left and Ed on my right.

March 10, 1994 - This was one of my favorite shows of all time. Hoover in a living room in Auburn, Alabama - unbelievable. We played much better that night as well and solidified ourselves with the Auburn hardcore scene. After the show we ate with the guys in Hoover at a diner and Jon was messing with Alex Dunham, telling him he was going to squirt the ketchup bottle in his face. Alex responded by telling Jon that he was going to run Jon over in their van full of equipment, and then back over his crushed dead body. Jon shut up after that.

April 13, 1994 - Harvey Milk was a bit too much for me to take back then, but nowadays I look at them as one of the best bands to ever come out of Georgia. I think their van was stolen after this show and all their gear was ripped off. I was never a big Holy Rollers fan, but it was fun to play with any Dischord band.

April 23, 1994 - I made this flyer from the instruction manual for the Indy 500 Atari game. I always liked the artwork for Atari games as they made them look so interesting, but then the actual game would be horrible. Indy 500 was not a bad game, though. I especially liked the ice levels where the cars would drift all over the track.

May 4, 1994 - Man, what a lineup. Lungfish on the Rainbows from Atoms tour, Brainiac touring under Smack Bunny Baby. Both bands were amazing of course. I saw Dan Higgs outside the venue and thought he was homeless.

May 6, 1994 - Unfortunately Unwound didn't show up for this show, but instead Highway 66 and Don's Ex-Girlfriend from Gainesville played instead, who weren't bad at all. One rumor is that Unwound broke down in Birmingham and couldn't make it to the show. Another rumor is that Unwound was told the show would suck, and not to show up. Either way, I was bummed as New Plastic Ideas had just come out and I was really excited about seeing them. I got to see them on their next tour for The Future Of What at the Midtown Music Hall. Here is a video from that show. This is the first contribution by Scott Wishart to our flyers, which greatly improved the design and overall professionalism of our promotional material.

June 3, 1994 - This was a big show. Probably the largest show Car Vs. Driver had played so far at the Somber Reptile. Act of Faith were always nice to include us on their shows, even though we were not in the same style of hardcore, but they were inclusive like that.

June 4, 1994 - Probably the pinnacle of Car Vs. Driver shows. Steve worked with a booking agent on this one, which he said he would never do again. This show was amazing. Drive Like Jehu ended their set with "Luau", and at the last hit, blew the entire power for the club. Also, Sunny Day Real Estate played at the Lazy Lizard Lounge downstairs on the same night, but I didn't watch them.

June 19, 1994 - The first time we ever played with the Lukens brothers (later to appear in Hal al Shedad, Year Zero, Retconned, Ultivac and a million other bands) as well as our friends Friction from Chicago. A few days later we went on our first East Coast tour, and played several shows with Friction, Current, Angel Hair, The Yah Mos, Spirit Assembly, Hose Got Cable, FYP, Assfactor 4 and many others. I remember Jon Rothman asking the crowd during this show for donations to help with our tour costs. I think Matt and Steve told him to shut up.

June 23, 1994 - The first show of our first tour. Amazing show, very hot, bad vibes (Jon punched Steve in the face a few hours before). This venue was right next door to the stairs where the priest fell down in the Exorcist. Both Angel Hair and Current were so awesome, we felt like little kids playing on the same show with them.

June 29, 1994 - What was most amazing about this show was that The Yah Mos showed up at the last minute and asked to play, and completely destroyed every band that had just played that night. They were one of the best live bands I have ever seen. This was around the time OJ went on his police chase after murdering his wife, and the guys in the Yah Mos in between songs were talking about him going through "his own personal Vietnam" in his mind. This was at a VFW hall, and they were going off on the US government and the military, and the head of the VFW (total WW2 vet) was standing right there in the audience. I had to run outside I was so uncomfortable and laughing so hard at the same time. I also got to meet Charles Maggio that night, which was awesome.

Here are some photos from the show:

The Yah Mos rockin it - check out Tristan playing on FYP's Eddie Van Halen guitar

Icki and Steve at the Merch table

July 23, 1994 - According to Steve's notes, this show never happened, but I remember seeing Floodgate at the Somber Reptile, and buying their LP, which I still have. Am I remembering this wrong? Also, very early Inkwell show here.

August 16, 1994 - This was a coming home party for Assfactor 4 in Columbia, SC. I always loved them, they epitomized everything this music was supposed to be about, and seemed to have more fun doing it than any band I have known. I wonder what caused them to break up, as I somehow can't envision it knowing the guys in the band. I loved how the drummer used a cooler as his drum stool.

September 10, 1994 - According to Steve, these bands didn't play and Freemasonry played instead. This would have been Freemasonry's golden era, right after Bruce Bohannon joined the group.

September 24, 1994 - First appearance by Levelhead on the Car Vs. Driver flyer archive. Great band. I'll post their single sometime.

October 10, 1994 - We played the Masquerade a couple of times, but it was always a difficult place to play. Stage is too big, monitors don't work, staff are lame. What can you do?

October 14, 1994 - Another show with the Queers. We always played well with them.

November 9, 1994 - I made this flyer from a game I used to play called Car Wars. This was at Frijoleros in Athens, which closed sometime in early 1995. They had some good shows there, and they were always free I believe. I remember Matt was kneeling on the floor at one point of the show and Steve did a jump off his back.

November 11, 1994 - Car Vs. Driver "Keepers of the Seven Keys". Early computer designed flyer. I think some of the guys in Thenceforward made this one. Justin? I think we had to start early because it was disco night at the Somber Reptile.

November 18, 1994 - Worst flyer ever. Blame Auburn for this flyer, Atlanta had nothing to do with it. Deterrent were two guys and a drum machine that was unlistenable. Nice guys, unlistenable music.

December 2, 1994 - Our funniest flyer ever. Assfactor 4 didn't play, I think someone in the band had a urinary tract infection. According to Steve's notes Inkwell played this one.

December 8, 1994 - Our winter tour 1994 begins in Knoxville. I forgot my jacket at home, and had to go to a thrift store to get something as we were going to Chicago, Kalamazoo and Detroit in December. This tour had us play with Thumbnail, Cap'n Jazz, The Make Up, Slant 6, and Braid. I have video from this tour, which I would like to post someday if I could ever figure it out.

December 9, 1994 - Show from the same tour in Cincinnati. The bass player from Railhed set this one up. Dissenting Opinion was a SXE hardcore band, and the show had a big beer banner above them while they played. Billy Nation and Ashley Moore took pictures of them with the banner over their heads. 10 O'Clock Scholar was good. I have their album on Grass Records somewhere.

December 16, 1994 - Our last show of the tour at Lucy's Record Shop in Nashville. There was a fight (or a pit or something) in the audience and Steve and Matt jumped off stage during our set to break it up. Nashville was always a weird place to play.

December 17, 1994 - Horrible computer-generated flyer. You can't read the bands, I couldn't find the date on the flyer, and who was Blindside? I remember Frail from Philadelphia playing this show, those guys were young back then. I also remember Dan and Dave punk on stage between every band acting as MCs for the show. Round Ear Spock - Somber Dave loved them, but could there be a worse band name?

December 18, 1994 - Car Vs. Driver ended up headlining the show, as all the other bands were local. I don't remember if they were into us or not. Birmingham was another weird place to play, like Nashville and Huntsville.

December 30, 1994 - Our first show with Lowboy, who included Craig Lee Dempsey later in The 42/At The Price Of The Union/Thoroughbred/Good Friday Experiment and Brian Fielden (sp?) later in The 42 and San Augustin. These were kids from Stockbridge - Southside Atlanta. This was also Inkwell's last show with their original drummer Josh, who moved to San Francisco. I have a video of them at this show which is pretty good.

January 7, 1995 - Another show in Columbia, SC. Policy of 3 went on a Southeast tour with their girlfriends to Key West, playing shows along the way. I believe these are the last shows we played with them (Columbia and Atlanta at the Driverdome).

January 13, 1995 - This is a Quadiliacha flyer if I ever saw one. Driverdome officially starts having shows.

January 24, 1995 - I liked 8 Bark, but that girl in the band always looked like a pissed-off school teacher to me.

February 3, 1995 - This was at a rock-climbing center in Birmingham - no joke. It sounded horrible with the high ceilings, and Jon flipped backward and knocked over his amp on the first note of the first song. I think he also got a bloody nose at this show, which he often did during our sets.

February 4, 1995 - At the Malformity house in Auburn. Auburn was our favorite out of town place to play. They loved the song "Blame", so we always had to play it there.

February 10, 1995 - I made this flyer from GI Joe cards I had. Pretty dorky.

February 18, 1995 - This was our first show with In-Humanity. We played in North Carolina at some kind of neighborhood clubhouse. Some of the kids at the show were playing duck-duck-goose during In-Humanity's set, so the guitarist took off his guitar in the middle of the song and tapped a kid and started running. Before the kid could catch up to him, he put his guitar back on and continued playing the song, and the kid had to go back to the circle. Horrible flyer.

February 25, 1995 - This was at the location that was next to what became Eyedrum (original location). I used to go down to Trinity Cafe when I was in early high school to watch the jazz nights that the guys in Cicada Sings would put on, so it was nice to play there a few years later. The Dribbling Hermits were awesome, some kind of creepy folk music and had topless women going through the crowd with masks and candles on their heads. One woman fell while she was crawling over some guy and her candle went out. The guy re-lit her candle with his lighter. Classic. Bob was great. Pineal Ventana were great. I poked my eye with a drumstick during a song, and my eye was having spasms for a day afterwards.

March 23, 1995 - The start of a short East coast tour with Scout. I remember the guys in Barrel showed up to this show, as they were recording their album with J. Robbins. The album never came out, but you can download it here.

March 25, 2005 - On tour with Scout, playing in State College, PA. Great show, another one I have some video which I hope to post someday. This might have been my favorite Scout show, as they would get really tight on tour and kill it.

Here are some pictures of CVD from that show:

March 26, 1995 - Another show with Spirit Assembly in their own stomping grounds of Lancaster, PA. I love the Amish Electric Company promotional group. I'm not sure if Halfman actually played this show.

April 8, 1995 - This was not a Car Vs. Driver show, as Matt got into a car accident and was a little skiddish about playing an out of town show, so my new band The hal al Shedad stepped in and played. I had just joined the band about a week before, and we were already playing out of town. Marty from Inkwell slammed Ben's fingers in the van door on the way down, and I'm still paranoid about doing that to this day. There is a video of Inkwell from this show here.

April 27, 1995 - Driverdome show with Ice-9, which I have a 7" by, but can't remember this show at all.

June 11, 1995 - This was a festival in Detroit. Hal al Shedad played first, Car Vs. Driver played last. Carbomb was amazing at this show, Jihad was amazing, Boy's Life were amazing, Spirit Assembly was always amazing, Rye Coalition didn't show up. This bummed Ed and Ben out in hal, as they were huge Rye fans at the time.

Here are some pictures from the show:

CVD rocking out - the guys met me in Detroit, as I was on the first Hal al Shedad tour at the time. I think Steve's car broke down 2 or 3 times on the way.

Jihad - their PA had a light that would come on in the speaker when it was getting overloaded, which was every line the singer sang, so it was like a beast was in the PA speakers screaming at us.

Spirit Assembly - always amazing. They broke the mold with those guys.

July 7, 1995 - Our first show with The Crownhate Ruin. Vin was one of the best drummers I have ever seen. You should check out some of their footage here. And here. We slept on top of the van that night, as it was so hot inside the van and the house we were supposed to stay at was a disease-ridden dump. The guys in Crownhate Ruin slept in their van as well, which incidentally was the old Hoover van, as immortalized in the Lurid Transversal of Route 7 album.

July 8, 1995 - On our "farewell tour", this time with Frail and Spirit Assembly as well as Crownhate Ruin and also Daredevil, which was a combination band of the two brothers from Indian Summer, the drummer of Mohinder and the guitarist from Ordination of Aaron. They only lasted one tour and as far as I know never recorded anything (possibly a demo).

July 9, 1995 - We drive back and play the Somber Reptile with Crownhate Ruin, Spirit Assembly and Frail. It was nice to have all these bands play a club instead of the house shows we were playing elsewhere in the Southeast. This flyer always creeped me out.

July 21, 1995 - Our last show. I remember Inkwell played on the floor of the Somber Reptile because they didn't want to play on a stage. The crowd was bummed. Bob Nanna from Braid read a little speech before their set - here it is:

It was a good show, and we had just finished recording the "Out of a Silent Sky" album, so it wrapped up the band in a nice neat package. This was the last time we played together until around 1997 when we were all living in Atlanta again and decided to play another show just for fun (see next flyer below).

October 18, 1997 - Our "Reunion" Show. I remember that I was worried about going on after the Promise Ring, as they were the hot band at the time. They insisted, and it worked out for the best. We sold out Under the Couch, and Gavin had to move his records outside. I remember Jon Rothman backing his jeep right into Gavin's record table after the show and knocking all his crates of records over into the street. It still makes me laugh to this day. I will post a recording of this show soon, so stay tuned.