A few years ago, I used to do hardcore shows. Sometimes in a firehall, sometimes in the basement of the old bookstore. Years before that, I did the same thing. Tons of bands. Hell, I did a Scared of Chaka show! Nobody who came to the show knew who they were. Did a Latterman show too. Great guys.

One of the shows that I’m “remembered” for was the Fire Down Below/Turn Around Norman/Witch Hunt/Die Cheerleader Die/… and another band whose name alludes me at the moment.

It’s funny how this one show has stuck with me for years (It’s been five or six since then).

Turn Around Norman was my friend Jeff’s band. We’re still, of course, great friends. Witch Hunt I lost contact with, but they always come up in conversation and from what I hear, they’re doing quite well for themselves.

Die Cheerleader Die (I think that was their name… or Cheerleaders of Death.. I really can’t remember shit anymore) sounded like the Misfits if Danzig was a gal. Such a fun band. They went over pretty well too. They’re in a new band and I wish I could remember their name. Just as fun. We emailed back and forth a bit. Every time I talk to Joey of Homicide, he brings them up.

The band whose name I forget (Blast Shaft Furnace Thing or something) was pretty forgettable, but they brought the beer that caused us to lose the only venue we had.

Fire Down Below felt responsible for us losing it, but they weren’t. Well, their female lead vocalist sort of was, but ultimately, it came down to me. It was my show, afterall.

I came across a couple of Fire Down Below CDs the other day. I popped them in and relived the old days. Well, the middle days. The old days go a bit farther back. Anyway, FDB had male and female vocals. As did Turn Around Norman. Bree was the gal and James was the fella. Last week, James emailed me, letting me know that he’d be in Lewisburg on business.

And today, he came into the bookstore. The first thing that struck me was that he looked the same. The second thing was that he looked like my old roommate, Ned (from Columbus – who I also recently got in contact with – he’s married with a 2 year old daughter, btw). We talked for a bit about being all grown up and he told me what the other members of Fire Down Below are doing. It’s really weird to hear shit like this.

One is an accountant, one is touring the country as a one-person synth-pop band with a “keytar” (this I HAVE to see), one just bought a house and land and James cleans and repairs microscopes for a living. It’s all sorts of weird, isn’t it? No, I guess not. I mean, most of us get to the point that we need real jobs (or something like that) and civility creeps in and we find that we’re actually pretty happy and comfortable with it. Nothing wrong with that.

But it really did feel like we were talking about “Glory Days.” Yeah, they’ll pass you by. It was maybe a 20 minute visit. But damn am I glad that he stopped by. It was great to see an old friend, of course and it was great to hear how the other ex-members of FDB are doing. But it was best to know that he’s happy and they’re happy and … well shit… that just made my day.

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Later…

Ok, I was looking through some old photos and it turns out that I have combined two shows in my memory. I’m awesome.

The one that I meant to write about was the Fire Down Below / Mid-Iron Blast Furnace / Caught Like Fire / Die Cheerleader Die (or something like that)/Truth about Lies / and some band whose initials are T.R. The other show was Turn Around Norman/Witch Hunt/Fiesel/Hannah Bingman and maybe another.

Here are some pics of the FDB show….