199919991993's Hallowpalooza was scarred by an incident of vandalism, which unfortunately resulted in having us barred from playing there again. The culprits were never identified, so of course we were stuck with the bill for the repairs. This left the possibility and even enthuasiasm for a future Hallowpalooza in jeopardy.
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The bands for 1994 were: Three Bean Soup, Aneurysm, Alternate Root, and the premiere of Sledge. Three Bean Soup consisted of former Obsidian members Joe Mikelonis and Matt Hill (the drummer before me), and Kris Gruda, who is sort of the local music guru. They had a good deal of original material and a larger number of cover songs, including such bands as The Violent Femmes, The Beatles, Hater, and a good deal of eclectic classic rock classics.
Aneurysm was a Nirvana tribute band that sounded almost too much like Nirvana to be considered a mere cover band. The band had premeired earlier that year at the Punxsy Battle of the Bands -an event that Sledge had been scheduled for, but then bumped at the last minute by local DJ Chris Lash (but that's a whole other can of worms I won't get into!). Aneurysm won a great deal of local support from that show, as well as the fact that their oldest member was only 16, and this was reflected in the enthuasiasm of the crowd during their set. Later, drummer Josh and bassist Corey Cameron would start up a new band called Starch and singer Kevin Hopkins would experiment (although briefly) in forming a band with Joe Mikelonis.
Alternate Root, which I made the mistake of addressing as Alternate Route in the fliers for the show, was another band that had a pretty wide audience in the high school age crowd, as they played a number of the alternative songs that were frequently played on the radio at the time, as well as some classic tracks. The band had two singers, Dave Small and Chuck Edwards, and their drummer, Charlie Gambino, would later join the band Vinal.
The show was a transition show for Sledge, and it sort of came off poorly because of it. We had a series of songs which ranged from heavy to light techno-pop to the odd, which didn't really go over with the crowd. The three times that we kicked the breaker in the hall didn't help our set either.
Our line-up at that time was basically only Jeff and I, but Ryan played additional bass on two songs and Whitney played keyboards for two others. We tried to use some visual effects, such as a TV screen, to increase the interest of our set, but it only really transferred the crowd's interest from us and onto what was on the TV screen, fogger, and lights.
Fortunately, though, the other bands made up for it: Three Bean Soup, winning over the college-age crowd and playing late into the night; Aneurysm, creating a wild moshpit in which two individuals had to be rushed to the hospital after entering, one of which was Brad, Jeff's brother; and Alternate Root, who entertained the high-school crowd. Strawcutters, of Rossiter, handled the sound that year -who we didn't really know, which in my opinion reduced the interplay between them and the bands. This, combined with the power problems we had threatened the night's success, but in the end things were okay. The night, October 15th, was an extreme success and we achieved a profit (unlike 1993's show in which all cash went for repairs) that was double the amount that we expected.
With great success requires greater responsibility, however, and it was a tad too much for us as we soon found out. Unfortunately, we were again faced with vandalism, but this time it was unintentional. A table that we had left out on the floor was sat on and the brace had been broken. Again, we had to pay for the damage, but this time the crowd was much more congenial and contributed cash to pay for damages in the form of passing around a hat. Still, those in charge were not pleased and we were afraid to ask to use the same locale the next year.
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This new venue encouraged us to make 1996's Hallowpalooza bigger and better and we decided to rent sound from Sides Music Center, an organization centered in Williamsport, as well as spending much more in advertising the event and trying to book a more disperse and more distant bands to increase the event's base. We spoke to several bands outside the area about the show, including bands that frequented IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) frat parties and a semi-punk hard rock outfit, called Entropy, who Jeff had spoke to through a friend, Jaime.These particular acts fell through though, because of scheduling problems.
This was the second year that Sledge played in Hallowpalooza and Josh and Corey Cameron returned as well, this time as Starch, a punk band that specialized in, among many other great punk bands, Bad Religion and Operation Ivy covers and a good deal of original material, as well. Aneurysm had broke up in the year between the two Hallowpaloozas and the brothers had decided to start their own band Starch, teaming up with Todd Young on guitar. Their music was (and is) impressive, they are a really tight-knit band and probably (if I absolutely have to pick only one) are my personal favorite of all the local bands I've heard. (It goes without saying, however, that any band that I have asked to participate in Hallowpalooza is asked to do so because I'm impressed with them).
In addition to Starch, we also managed to work out (barely and luckily) booking Creekside's band-of-choice, Noise Buffet, a three-piece consisting of Matt Miller, Matt Baker, and Jason Hetrick. These guys already had a large following around the Marion Center and Indiana based crowd and we all hoped to increase their popularity by booking them (not to mention the fact that they're three of the nicest guys you can hope to meet). I think they achieved this goal, as the crowd seemed to really like their renditions of alternative based songs such as Bush's Machinehead and Live's White Discussion, as well as thier original material, which truly spotlights their talent. Noise Buffet later went on to some local fame before disbanding in 1997, with Matt Miller forming a new band, The Telefunken Two-Tones.
Sledge was a little more prepared for 1996's show and we even worked on cover material, including Pigface's (and later taken back by Reznor for NIN) Suck, Filter's Jurassitol, White Zombie's cover of Boogieman, and Nine Inch Nail's Head Like A Hole (which we've done since the earliest days of Sledge). However, due to our unique sound setup, we were forced to play without monitors and really couldn't hear what we were doing. This became obvious as we were forced to restart and even dismiss certain songs, such as Filter's Jurassitol. We had a little more interest in our set than the previous year, however, in part a result of the addition of Ryan and Mike on guitars. For some reason, people just can't adjust to the idea of a band without guitarists. Noise Buffet's Matt Baker mentioned another reason was that, despite Jeff's good overall stage presence during the show, we were hindered by having to stop certain songs in the middle of them.
All in all, Sledge did a pretty good job that night, October 25th, and the overall show in general was a success and our profit topped what we had made in 1994, although the bands received less because of the raised costs involved for venue and sound. We made some DIY tapes with two songs by each of the bands in attendance, as well as some prank phone calls that Noise Buffet had recorded, to sell at the show and the response to them was fairly positive, as we sold the majority of them. Despite the lower profit per band this year, we decided to keep Hallowpalooza at the Elks Lodge in the future, because it's really a great place to play.
Follow this link to see some art used for that year's show.
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This band is a great deal different than Sledge and is centered around the wishes of Ryan and I to do cover material. The band had minor crowd reaction, but not entirely terrible, considering that we were a new band and that we didn't know the crowd that well. For the most part our mistakes were a result of us being fairly nervous, including me -after all, I hadn't played "organic" drums in nearly 3 years! Although we were probably the least popular (and least prepared!), we weren't jeered off the stage, so we counted it as a success.
Starch, too had undergone change in the last year and now called themselves The Mad Cows. Their genre stayed the same, for the most part, but there music had become even tighter and reflected a more NOFX approach to punk and removed them farther from any relation the band might have with their Nirvana inspired origins. A lot of the people there were there to see the Mad Cows play, as was clearly apparent by the mosh pit that formed in front of the band. The crowd especially liked the "prosthetic mohawks" that they had placed on their heads before taking the stage.
Vinal was the band that filled out the 1997 ticket, unfortunately playing last, which somewhat reduced the crowd as it was becoming about the time most at the younger end of the "Under 21" crowd had to get home (also they were mistakingly cut off a little early). In spite of this, the band played a real tight set and I think the audience that was in attendance liked what they heard. Vinal helped to fill the gap of having an "alternative-rock" band pretty well, performing covers such as Bush's "Cold Contagious" and Nirvana's "Aneurysm" - a song they did with power and skill to match (the band) Aneurysm's version of the song covered two years earlier. They also had a good amount of originals that they played as well, which effectively complemented their selections of cover songs.
Again, because of the success the previous year, we manufactured a DIY cassette to distribute at the show, which at first didn't look like they would be sold until I lowered the price, sold for $2 (they were $5). The tape had two original songs by Vinal, Shaft Circumference and Real Life Misty -both live versions recorded at that year's Punxsy Battle of the Bands; four originals by the Mad Cows, Do You Believe in the Lies?, So You Think You're Punk, Tomorrow Was Yesterday, and Rossiter, PA; and two songs by Happyface, Cherub and Sometimes -Cherub having been composed only for the tape and both of which have since been dropped from our playlist. Also included on the tape was Marmalade, a newer song by Noise Buffet, who at the time were struggling with band problems much as Sledge was, and a "classic" (1991) track by the Chubby Naked Guys, The Monkey Song. Out of 30 tapes, we sold all but 5.
Of special interest to Sledge fans, both Mike and Jeff attended the show and Jeff even acted as the emcee, doing a great job of introducing the bands and keeping the crowd interested. I really appreciate the fact that Mike was able to tolerate the music being played (especially by Happyface) as I know that it's really not his style. That night I really remembered how much fun being in Sledge was and became optimistic toward a reunion in the near future, while not neglecting Happyface.
The show itself (turnout, profit, etc.) was good, but not as good as it had been the previous year. This didn't really disappoint us that much, however, as we all had a good time just playing in the show. The main problems were the long-distance rental of equipment and a faulty drum-riser that we had built for everyone to use -sorry guys! These were minor problems, though, and talks started that night (minimally) about the next year's show.
Follow this link to see some art used for that year's show.
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I was still, despite this, planning on sponsoring and holding the event, since I feel it's important to the area's bands that are still out there, as well as local music enthuasiasts. The only band, though, that I could say with any certainty as being able to play was the Mad Cows.
In closing, I can only say that I hope Hallowpalooza will return next year in full force. As for this year, 1998, sadly there will be NO SHOW.
Follow this link to sign the Hallowpalooza Guest Book.1996
After searching for places to play, we finally settled on renting out the dance hall at the local Elks Lodge, which had an enormous ballroom the size of a gymnasium, equipped with lights and even a disco ball! The rent of course was a bit steeper, but it was worth it. We took extra special care in adjusting for any sort of vandalism, but as it happened, there were no real problems that year in that regard.
Follow this link to see art constructed for this year's bands.
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1997
We did return to the Elks' Lodge in 1997, the first consecutive Hallowpalooza location, and although the venue remained the same, the bands participating in the event had undergone changes. As you probably already know, at this time, Sledge had not been active in nearly a year's time and so my brother, Ryan and I had gone on to a new band, Happyface. For more details, see the corresponding page.
Follow this link to see art constructed for this year's bands.
Follow this link to see Happyface's setlist for the show.
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1998
Too Late For '98
There was no Hallowpalooza. The truth is that the optimism I had for the involvement of area bands was unfortunately a bit misplaced. As I've mentioned, Happyface was not able to participate and unfortunately, SLeDGE's supposed reunion is yet to occur (11/98).
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