Musical Harmony

BY JEREMIAH KNUPP
PHOTOS BY HOLLY MARCUS

The basement bar of the Blue Nile restaurant is dark, except for the back corner. There, in the sterile glare reflecting off the white wall, Dave Laney, lead singer in indie rock band Auxes, belts out a chorus, the sound reverberating off the low ceiling and pounding against the crowd that is inches from his mic stand.

Down the street at Clementine’s, the orderly arrangement of tables filled with the Friday night dinner crowd dissolves into the random shape of a pulsing crowd drenched in the visual and auditory overload of a performance by Video Hippos.

A stone’s throw away, at James Madison University’s Memorial Hall, the audience is silent, held spellbound and anonymous in the auditorium’s darkness by the soft, melodious voice of Brooke Waggoner, a sound that fills the space despite Waggoner’s inhabiting the stage alone with her piano.

The location is Harrisonburg. The event is MACRoCk, a two-day indie music festival that fills the city’s downtown with a schedule packed full of an eclectic mix of sight and sound.

MACRoCk, the acronym for Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference, was first held in 1996, the brain child of the staff of WXJM, JMU’s college radio station. It quickly grew from its humble beginnings, small crowds at venues located in off-campus student housing, to a peak of 120 bands and a crowd of several thousand that nearly took over the JMU campus. Along the way it developed a reputation for its mix of local, regional and national talent that over the years has featured many up and coming performers in the indie music scene, including Elliot Smith, The Dismemberment Plan, and Fugazi.

“Virginia and the entire Mid-Atlantic region has such a rich independent and progressive music scene, and MACRoCk showcases that,” said Harper Holsinger, one of MACRoCk’s co-directors.

Changing Times

In 2006 festival organizers and the university ended their association and instead of scrambling to put together a hastily assembled show, the organizers skipped that year. The hiatus marked a watershed in MACRoCk’s evolution. For 2008 a whole new MACRoCk was planned. The event was incorporated and moved to downtown Harrisonburg. Although no longer officially sanctioned by the university, the core of MACRoCk’s board of directors, volunteers and attendees remain JMU students.

For that first year off campus and on their own, organizers held their breath. The success or failure of MACRoCk 2008 would define the event’s future.

“It went off without a hitch,” Holsinger said. “We got positive feedback from everyone involved. “It was a big step forward so the success was really overwhelming.”

Scaled back in size, 2008’s event was concentrated in Harrisonburg’s downtown area, allowing participants to walk from venue to venue.

“Our mission statement and vision didn’t change,” Holsinger said. “Our focus was still on college radio and independent music as we moved that concept into the local community.”

Utilizing small spaces, like restaurants and cafes, meant that all shows were full to capacity. The crowd of 900 was a mix of locals and those who traveled from around the eastern seaboard to see 80 different acts perform.

“We’re planning [2009] with confidence following the success of 2008,” Holsinger’s co-director, John Reiss, said. “We’ve shown the town and the local businesses that even though we’re a bunch of kids we can pull something like this off.”

No Logos Here

Planning is a year long event, with the band selection process starting in January. Board members will narrow down 500-700 applicants to fewer than 100 final selections.

“We’re looking for bands that complement each other and that will draw crowds that will fit into the venue we have available to use,” Reiss said.

MACRoCk isn’t your typical music festival. It forgoes the industry standard of charging an application fee for bands looking for a performance slot. Organizers also offer housing (albeit on the floors and couches of volunteers’ homes) to any performers who need it and provide a “band banquet” at the end of the weekend.
It’s all within the spirit that has defined the event over the last decade. Don’t look for the Pepsi logo hanging behind the main stage. MACRoCk has always passed up expensive headlining acts, large crowds, high ticket prices and the burden of corporate sponsorship. The entire staff is volunteer. Eighty percent of the bands aren’t paid; they’re up-and-comers looking for exposure. The result, some of the best music you’ll hear anywhere at a price anyone can afford. With ticket prices under $20 for the entire weekend, the cost per band is “pocket change,” Holsinger said (contrasted with major multi-day festivals where ticket prices hit triple digits).

Options, Options

Organizers see expansion in the future, but in a manner that is responsible to the community that has given them a home.

“We hope to grow based on the size of the community and the resources that are available to us,” Reiss said.
No matter your musical taste, MACRoCk has something for everyone, from bluegrass, folk and Americana to hip-hop, electronica and heavy metal. The mix of performances are so accessible, it’s a chance to stretch your musical horizons. But the festival’s attractions go beyond performances.

“We have a lot of attendees who don’t come for the music,” Holsinger noted.

There are panel discussions and workshops featuring topics that range from political and social issues, to screen printing and do-it-yourself recording. For those wanting to be more than spectators, volunteer opportunities are available in every capacity, from crowd control to moderating panel discussions.
“It’s an event that each person makes into their own thing,” Reiss added.