MACRoCk

MACROCK, formerly known as The Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference (or MACRoCk), is an annual music conference held in the downtown area of Harrisonburg, Virginia the first weekend of April annually since 1997. It features local, regional, national, and occasionally international musical acts as well as a music label exposition and panels addressing issues of the media, music, DIY projects, and the independent music scene. MACROCK gives underground, indie, punk, and metal bands a chance to gain exposure and publicity by showcasing them during two days of performances around the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia. The event gives bands a much wider audience than would occur during a normal show.

The festival was originally organized by 88.7FM WXJM, the James Madison University student-run radio station, but became independent from the university in 2006 and dropped the acronym. Now, an annually changing committee of around 10 volunteers organizes MACROCK, with the festival day help of many volunteers, most of which are still found at WXJM.

MACROCK XIX will be held April 1 and 2, 2016, and will feature acts including Shana Falana, Mal Devisa, New England Patriots, Ono, Dogs on Acid, Crown Larks, Abdu Ali, Horrendous, Container, Buck Gooter, and Plattenbau.

Notable bands to perform at MACROCK have included Animal Collective, Archers of Loaf, Dismemberment Plan, Sufjan Stevens, Mates of State, Converge, Give up the ghost, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Of Montreal, Norma Jean, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Poison the Well, Bane, Superchunk, Elliott Smith (1997),An Albatross, Coheed and Cambria,Fugazi (2002), Best Coast, The War on Drugs (band),Screaming Females, S. Carey, The Bouncing Souls,Diarrhea Planet, Priests (band), and Waxahatchee.

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