On Sunday, July 4 Pudge and I experienced one of the most interesting, diversified musical events that I have been to - Rock the Block. Held in Shamokin, PA, small-town USA, this is THE event to welcome in Independence Day.

Here's what RTB is all about; two stages are set up in the middle of an empty parking lot (about the size of a city block). From 2:45 till after 10:00 at night bands alternate playing for 30 minutes on the two stages. You have to realize that a band gets a half of an hour to play and as soon as the crowd walked to the opposite stage to hear the next band, they have only 30 minutes to tear down, get off stage, and let a new band get set up. It is quite the synchronized feat!

Most of the bands that played were a harder sound than I am used to, but they all were of a really great quality. Some of the lineup included TruckStopLoveChild, Lessen One, 4*Saken, Imperfect Vision, Seventh Hour (whose lead singer looks exactly like Al Borland from Tool Time), Cell 7, Carfax Abbey, Halestorm, Cyphilis (the hardest sound of all the bands present), and Dead Leaves. Other bands that played you will see featured in the magazine in future months.

In between the two stages, vendors sold food & beer, the bands sold their promo items & CD's, a bucking bull gave all the drunks a run for their money (that's you, Drunk Jay!), and a small skate park sponsored by Bastard on Wheels amazed & awed bystanders.

The highlights of the day were seeing a kid about three years old whose parents had left him in charge of about six cups of beer; watching an 8-year old light up a smoke like he had been doing it for years; and, the best - a 10-year old who came up to me wearing a Bastard on Wheels trucker hat that said 'Show Me Yer Tits'. He pointed at the hat, looked at me, and smugly ordered 'Read the hat, do what it says'. What could I say? I told him to come see me in ten years when he had grown up.

All in all, this was a great day! There are a lot of undiscovered sounds in the area, and this event gives them a chance to get heard and recruit a few new fans. You can check out RTB next year with us. In the meantime visit their site at www.rocktheblock.net for highlights throughout the year.