The Harbourfest was held at Georgetown Waterfront Park right across from The Bayou from 1992-1994. This day was all WHFS artists. I was there for emmet swimming, of course, but also liked The Dambuilders (second band after Dave Matthews Band who had a violin player) and Sam Phillips (love her voice and the single “Baby I Can’t Please You”).
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I returned to Fat Tuesday’s to what was likely another multi set evening, but I don’t remember it.
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I must have gone here because Eric lived in Woodbridge and I’d been raving about the band.
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Tickets must have been free from the record company; don’t remember the show.
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When the first show sold out, I instantly bought tickets to the second night (and that was smart, as this turned out to be their last tour). It was fun seeing the same show again (except they switched out one “The Division Bell” song) as I could focus on other things (this time I was watching to see the giant disco ball in the middle of the field show up).
Pink Floyd was one of my favorite bands, and I really wished I’d seen their “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” tour as I love that record (ok, and their classic stuff too). But I wasn’t fooling around, and I bought tickets to the first show the day they went on sale. A great stadium show, with great sound and visuals. I liked “The Division Bell” as well, and the setlist seemed to me just about prefect with its balance of old and new material.
Now that I was working at Digital Exchange, I started getting perks. In the wake of alternative rock becoming mainstream, most of the 80’s rockers lost their record contracts. Like many others, legendary guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen signed to CMC Records, and they were always willing to give us tickets to their acts. So I went to The Bayou a second time to see Yngwie, and I remember him doing most of his hits.
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The other thing I didn’t share about emmet swimming was how I found them. Three fraternity brothers of mine had started a mostly used CD store called Digital Exchange near the Outback Steakhouse in Springfield the previous year, and I’d go over there frequently. There was a company called Local Music Store that would get CDs and cassettes from local bands on a consignment, and stock them in a store, along with listening copies (the store had 2 CD players you could listen to on headphones in addition to the main sound system).
Two popular CDs were from emmet swimming & The Excentrics. Without the internet, I found out by reading the CD booklet my former classmate was in emmet swimming. Since that was such a good show, I decided to give The Excentrics a try after buying and loving “Why the Long Face”. It turned out that they were putting on a Kiss tribute at their home base of Nick’s Nightclub, so me and the guys from the store went and had a fantastic time (I don’t believe they did the fire or blood trick though).
It was also about this time that my job writing tax software ended (the division was sold), and I got a big bonus to help write the transition software. I used that money to buy out John at Digital Exchange and started working there.
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I was a huge Dennis Miller fan when he had his HBO show. This was a funny show, but most significant for introducing me to Jon Stewart. I watched all of his MTV show, and when he got The Daily Show, started watching it too.
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Bender Arena is basically the gym at American University. They plop the stage at one end and pull out the bleachers, and they’re done. Which seemed appropriate for a grunge-y lineup. The main thing I remember about Tad is their singer was very large, and every time he threatened to jump in the mosh pit, a giant patch of floor became visible right in front of the stage. I had Eleven’s second album, and liked them – this was the first time I saw drummer Jack Irons, and I knew he was different because he was wearing nothing but tinfoil. Soundgarden crushed it with the whole crowd getting into it. They mostly played songs from then album Superunknown, but had plenty of hits from Badmotorfinger as well.
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