After seeing the pre-memorial day show written about in detail in both InterStitial #1 and neufutur.com , and having such positive comments on the review of the show by members of the bands, I felt that I should get something together as a sort of thank you to anyone who is making the Lancaster scene what it is now. Eventually getting in touch with all five bands that played the original concert (minus Jadisonotes � but I was assured that they would play), I rapidly set up a time (July 12th) for what would be the hardest-rocking show Lancaster had ever seen. As the days to the concert rapidly passed, I put out some monies to reserve the Utica Banquet Hall (the same hall that was used for the first show), and added two other bands to the list : The Hospital Bombers and Love and Squalor. Trying to make this a show one that people would actually like see, I hopped to making up tons of flyers (and having various buddies help me � thanks Barton), talking to the local paper, and getting in touch with some local pizza places to help with the food dilemma ( the hall doesn�t have any food/pop machines anywhere near it, and the local convenience store is a few blocks away).

Well, a few days before the concert was to happen, I was informed by the local paper that one of the bands that I had thought was going to play the show had broken up, which came as a complete surprise to me. I made sure that the news was true before going on with trying to find a replacement, and then was lucky enough to have a band waiting for a spot � Enjoit. For those not familiar, Enjoit (and this is ONE word � they yell at you if you enunciate it as two different words) is one of the tornados of youth to come out of the sleepy town of Somerset. Finding a replacement act for Jadisonotes was not the biggest hassle to come from the show, however, as the manager of the Domino�s that had promised ten free pizzas was canned the Friday before the show (this is the 11th, if anyone is interested). Unsure of what the food situation would be for the show, my dad in his wisdom suggested that I call the other pizza places in town and see if any would be able to pick up the slack momentarily left by Dominos. Two pizza places were nice enough to donate pizzas that night : Nick�s Pizza (a small, independent pizzeria in Lancaster � they donated 5), and Pizza Hut (3 Pizzas).

Hoping that nothing else would happen in the time between when I started work on Saturday to when the show actually started, I ignored everything else and threw myself in the menial wasteland that is Arby�s. Getting over to the hall about 4:30 (Barton takes 20 minutes to put on his damn shoes), about 4 of the 8 bands that we had booked for the night were already getting their gear ready to go in the hall. Opening up the hall, we rapidly stashed whatever gear wasn�t being used and waited for the opening band to come. Finally, at about 5:30 (20 minutes after they were scheduled to start), Love and Squalor took the stage to a rapidly-growing crowd.

Love and Squalor was a band that many people were not familiar with. Consisting of Lancaster High graduate Jeff Kell and two other Athens, Ohio musicians, Love and Squalor started enflaming concert-goers ears with their breakneck style of post-hardcore punk. Aurally similar to some of the guitar progressions and solos used by California punk pioneers Bad Religion,Love and Squaloremployed a continual bass presence to add that extra oomph to their live set. Keeping the same strong standards throughout their set,Love and Squalor had the disserting effect at time in starting off some of their guitar lines awkwardly � instead of smoothly moving into a different line, times existed during Love and Squalor�s set with transitions that brought attention to the very different lines being brought together � almost like a patch for a pair of pants. Still, Love and Squalor gets that extra nod for so successfully bringing together all sorts of different genres � early 90�s grunge (OLP/Moist), post-hardcore (a la Amanda�s own Cause for Diversion, post-punk (Refused), and packaging it in such a way that it drew so many people into a hall that was just recently vacated except for the band members.

Providing a different musical direction than Love and Squalor, Somerset�s Enjoit took their stage with their own brand of pop-punk that surprised even those that had seen the act before. Another three-piece act, Enjoit interspersed covers in with their original tracks at the ratio of about 1 to 1. However, if an individual was not aware of some of these tracks being covers, the originals are at a high enough level in lyrics, music, and presence to make the set sound coherent and more polished than even the sound system would allow. If an individual is looking for the technical finesse of an act like Stevie Ray Vaughn or even Guns and Roses, Enjoit won�t be the band you want to see. If you want to see a package � its Enjoit all the way. From their sped up cover of Blink 182�s �Carousel� and their spot-on version of American Hi-Fi�s �Flavor of the Weak�, Enjoitkept the crowd going. While their set began strong, Enjoitdid begin to slip up during the second half of their set, beginning to drop lines and such during some of their tracks. The time that was allotted to Enjoit was more than they were used to, and their cover of Blink 182�s �Anthem� really showed this. However, with a few more live dates and a few more original songs, Enjoit could really blow threw a 45-minute set with the same intensity throughout.

Expresco might have been the biggest surprise of the night, as the progress that they have made in the two months since the last show was the most evident of all the bands at the concert. Where there was so much lag time in between each song during the last show, each track immediately followed the last, no wait, no delay. The �squeaking� that was such a problem during the last show had disappeared as did the problem with all the bandmates becoming in sync. Experimentation is now one of the tenets of Expresco, vacillating between being innovative with the sheer simplicity of their chord progression at times to becoming even more intricate in the sound that they attempt. Since the last Utica Hall show, other individuals have also noticed the progress that Expresco has made � their fan base was easily the strongest for any one band of the night. What can be pointed to as still something that needs to be worked on is the power behind the vocals � the vocals, especially those during �S.O.B.�, are still weak and are just begging to be empowered.

The Hospital Bombers brought yet another view of what �punk� rock is to the Utica Hall, and a whole other breed of fans to their set. Where the majority of individuals were either listening to Expresco or sitting outside at the time, it was as if a swarm of locusts descended onto the space right in front of the Bombers. Sitting at the back of the hall, taking money, I was only able to see Matt, the lead singer, a total of three times during their 40 minute set. The energy of the hall was absolutely crackling by this time � the stage act of Matt, spastically thrashing around infused everyone present with power. The only band with a tambourine, The Hospital Bombers were definitely a sight to be seen. At times sounding like The White Stripes with less anemic bass lines and plodding guitar lines that are dinosaur prints in the aural soundscapes that are various in themselves. Like the mythical Proteus, The Hospital Bombers writhe out of any stereotypical definition of their sound � moving from spacy riffs to those more near those of a metal band, the only thing that maintains its constancy is the beat and volume level of the tambourine. Unfortunately, the volume level of the act as a whole reaches a crescendo, utterly dwarfing any possible sound being released by the tambourine. Other notable things during The Hospital Bombers� set would have to be the more garage-y cover of Compiler�s �O Death�, which still maintains its general sound.

Now, if anyone has read the glowing reviews that I have did of The Charlestons' live set and their EP, its not hard to tell that I really like the act. The Charlestons are just one of the many reasons that I got this show together, and needless to say, I was really looking forward to their set. So, when they started, I broke my tether (the cash box � got my buddy Shayne and his girlfriend Tumeka to watch it), and got somewhat close to the act. When I say close, I still mean about 10-15 feet away � the crowd during this show was so much more alive than they were during the last Utica show, and actually stood up and crowded around the act during most of the show. Evan, the lead singer, still amazes me with how drunk he can get and still provide the audience with a stage presence that is absolutely amazing. While his guitar playing may suffer (all his guitar work during the first few songs is spot-on except for the fact that his guitar is completely out of tune), Evan is still up there, bouncing along with each song and recreating the EP to an amazing degree � �Kelly� and �Two Drink Girl� seem as if someone is playing them off a tape deck (not a slam, but the sound was not absolutely perfect during the night due to some miscommunication between me and the bands), and �Grudge� follows up the later part of the set, being recreated to a lesser degree. The two part harmony so present on the disc is still able to shine through during this set, and in proper fuck-you style, The Hospital Bombers utterly implode during their last song, dying in the midst of a rapidly-growing ovation.

By this time, the police had came to Utica Hall a few times, and I really hadn�t paid much attention to it. A little lip service, a few �yes, sirs�, and they were out of our hair. A new, revamped Tripping Linda took the stage (with a new guitarist). Besides Expresco, Tripping Linda are probably the band that shocked me the most during the night. What seemed like a band that was just going to be getting into their stride at the last concert has truly searched out their weaknesses and made themselves a solid punk band. Definitely influenced by such acts as Sparechange, Relient K, and Staring Back, Tripping Linda blasts through any one definition and one style, flawlessly meshing together styles as diverse as pop-rock and grit-punk to make something completely transcendent. However, I was not able to see more than half of Tripping Linda�s set, as this is when the police came by for the third or fourth time, informing me that I would have to shut down the show or face both myself and the band playing getting a $90 citation. Tripping Linda finished up their set as I was talking with the police, and perhaps some other individual could give a more-informed review than I for the entirety of Tripping Linda�s set.

So, as most of you can tell, the concert has ended by this time in the narrative. You all might be wondering about what happened to The Freedom Fries and Cause for Diversion, and whether they were able to play or not. Actually, the show did continue, but in a different venue � Gooddog music, in the downtown section of Lancaster, which is in a commercial zone. I would have went to the �make-up� show, but I was stuck cleaning up Utica Hall � which was an absolute mess. Another set of thank-yous go out to my mother and father, who came out to make what would have been about a three-hour cleanup into something that was slightly over an hour. What really amazed me about the clean-up after the show was not the umpteen beer bottles, or all the places I found full beers, but what people left behind. I had to drag home a mic stand, about 4 patch cords, somebody�s bookbag, and a Fender Stratocaster with a hard-shell case.

Overall, the show was good, tons of people (over 100) showed up, and every band did get to eventually play. All the acts were cool, and I felt like I was finally giving back to a Lancaster scene in which I had taken so much in listening to the various bands over the years. If anyone wants to write a review of Tripping Linda, Cause for Diversion, or The Freedom Fries, please get in touch with me. I can give proper credit to anyone who writes, as well as give them a copy of InterStitial #2.

Check out CFD at http://www.causefordiversion.com and The Charlestons at http://thecharlestons.2ya.com ; and Tripping Linda at http://www.geocities.com/trippinglinda .