College radio has always been the lifeblood of indie rock, giving artists whose talents fell below the stony gaze of the Top 40 a chance to be heard by America's multitudes of graphic design students. The Mid Atlantic College Radio Conference, or MACRock, has been fostering that relationship for ten years.
The conference is held annually at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. For two days last weekend, the sleepy southern town became a playground for label executives, college radio staffers and over 100 independent bands from genres across the board. The schedule is organized into different showcases - one venue is rock, one metal and so on - so it is difficult to see everyone on the bill. With a line-up featuring The Wrens, The Walkmen and Municipal Waste, choosing venues was hard. But the conference organizers put months of time into listening to demo tapes, so all the acts were worthy of an open ear.
Spazz was showcased at this year's conference, receiving it's own venue on Friday night. A bastard child of hardcore and jazz, spazz is noisy, abrasive and meticulously technical. Ahleuchatistas, a three-man group from North Carolina, slayed the small crowd with a stop-and-go noise set that sounded more like a drum solo than anything else. The Number 12 Looks Like You also took the stage, which incidentally was in an establishment rather similar to a Chuck E. Cheese.
These New Jersey all-stars had just finished a 10-week tour, and during their set, it showed. The songs were tight, and there was an overarching sense of order throughout the chaos. The band has two singers, and their trade-off spastic vocals were timed perfectly. If time treats Number 12 and other acts from the spazz set well, they may move out of the ball pit at Harrisonburg Fun Center and on to bigger and better things at MACRock's to come.
Saturday was overcast and cold, setting the mood for the mellow rock showcase at an independent theater in Harrisonburg. Throngs of concertgoers, unsure of what to do in the strange and new sit-down setting, stood awkwardly in the aisles adjusting their side parts. None were prepared for the majesty of the Boston noise symphony, Sparrows! Swarm and Sing!
Sparrows has been around for a few years now, maintaining a fairly standard line-up. In recent past the group has added a second drummer to their standing orchestra of bass, guitar, saw, violin and cello. Seeing Sparrows is like meditating or having a religious epiphany. The music has this sad beauty to it at the start, as the strings and bass calm the mind. The drums, both of them, get louder and louder and the music rises to a crescendo. Think Unwound and Explosions in the Sky on a train about to go over a cliff.
Municipal Waste, Richmond bad-boys of thrash, headlined Saturday's metal showcase. They opened their set, as per usual, with an introduction by The Wizard. No one is sure how The Wizard got to be in the band, but as he was pushed toward the stage on a piece of scaffolding, no one was about to ask. With robes adorned with images of marijuana leaves, The Wizard gave his blessing to the band and the audience, informing them that "Municipal Waste will fuckest thou up." With the introduction finished, Municipal Waste tore into their set of hilarious party thrash. Highlights included boogie board crowd surfing and three different versions of their political opus, "I Wanna Kill the President." Waste played the song at first fast as they could, racing each other to finish. Then, they played a disturbingly slow rap-rock version, and ended with the original.
MACRock is in its 10th year, and will probably see many more. The chance for college radio staffers to talk with labels and build relationships with bands is invaluable to all concerned. With years of experience under their belts, the organizers of the conference don't seem to have any interest in quitting. The first MACRock in 1997 featured Elliot Smith; they can only go downhill from here.
