Independent bands to be exposed this weekend at annual MACRoCk

Over 110 bands ranging from punk rock to hip-hop will be showcased this weekend at the eighth annual Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference. The events will be sponsored by the student-run radio station, WXJM, according to senior Justin Bridgewater, the MACRoCk coordinator.

“MACRoCk was started by college deejays in 1997 to bring together college radio stations in the Mid-Atlantic region,” Bridgewater said.

MACRoCk will span Friday and Saturday in various venues across Harrisonburg and on the JMU campus. About 10 different genres will be represented through the showcases, according to Bridgewater. 

MACRoCk is a way for independent bands to gain exposure and is a stepping stone for their careers, according to Bridgewater.

Senior Peter Dering, who was in charge of bookingbands to play at MACRoCk, said the conference’s goal is to steer clear of the major label music industry as much as possible.

“Independent music is [do-it-yourself], where the label is there to put out artists’ music because they love it, not to make a ton of money,” Dering said. “When booking, I was looking for stuff that I felt had more ideology behind the music because the whole point of the independent community is to be different from the mainstream.”

According to Bridgewater, MACRoCk now places more emphasis on the music as opposed to when the conference was first started.

“The bands are chosen based upon current industry hype, such as bands you hear people talk about and that get fair play on college radio, or bands that we read about in magazines that are getting press,” he said.

In addition to these 60 recruited bands, 700 other bands applied to perform by submitting their demos. However, there only were 45 spots to be filled, according to Bridgewater.

Friday night will feature mellow rock at the Court Square Theater, jazz in Dave’s Taverna, pop/rock at the PC Ballroom, hard-core metal at the Godwin Gym, hip-hop at The Pub and bluegrass at The Little Grille. 

Saturday night showcases include punk rock at Godwin in Sinclair Gymnasium, rock at The Pub, hardcore at the College Center, country at Little Grille, techno at Dave’s Taverna and mellow rock at the Court Square Theater.

The rock show at Godwin Hall Saturday night will feature Prefuse 73, one of the biggest acts to attend the conference this year according to senior Kimberly Deaton, also in charge of booking bands for the conference. The band has been featured on the covers of Spin and Rolling Stone magazines.

Deaton said that the band is performing only two shows this spring, one in California and one in Harrisonburg.

Panel speakers will be featured Saturday from noon to 6:30 p.m. in various rooms in Taylor Hall, including topics ranging from “Booking and Promoting Shows” to “Indie Business 101.”

The Label Expo also will take place Saturday in Transitions from noon to 5 p.m. This will include various record labels, independent businesses, artists and booking agents.

“You should see [MACRoCk] at least once while you’re at JMU,” Deaton said. “It’s one of the biggest events of its type, and we’re really fortunate to have it here in Harrisonburg.”

Tickets to MACRoCk can be purchased at the Warren Hall Box Office for $20 for a full weekend pass, $12 for Friday shows only and $15 for Saturday shows only. Tickets allow admission to any of the show locations. For more information and a complete listing of more than 100 acts, check out the MACRoCk Web site at www.jmu.edu/wxjm/macrock/.