MACRoCK 2026 !!!!!!!!

VERY LATE and VERY LONG presentation of the world's only nonprofit music festival hosted by a university radio station in a small to medium sized college town

(spoiler: ITS AWESOME) 

so background for me.... yes this is doxxing kinda but anyway i love macrock ive been going since i found out it existed a couple years ago (actually missed last years bc im dumb) its truly the DIY superbowl and brings so much joy

the premise is a ton of bands, local or not, crash in the homes of harrisonburg residents for the weekend and play epic sets across a couple venues willing to host them. usually theres about 5 venues that act as the "stages" and all the bands will be spread out in cafes or bars playing at the same time.

sometimes you can tell what vibe theyve set for each venue ex. one coffee shop plays only electronic sets and another one plays only hardcore sets so ya know where to go .

its been going on since the 90s which makes me feel personally special and cool. and theyve hosted a lot of cool big bands before. they got a whole list on their site! 

its hosted in april or may every year, and its a 2 day long festival. my issue this year is that i had a CATASTROPHIC track record on my exams this past spring semester so i had to figure out how i could go amidst my studying. p.s. it was so worth it and i did pass my exams 

here was the lineup for this year's macrock:

day 1; friday, april 10 

i took off work this day before i found out the showtimes of the bands started after 5pm (in the past i remember the day starting at noon, so not sure why this scheduling occurred). i am young and free. i took advantage of the day by studying which was crazy difficult when all i could think about was the BANDS! 

i also had another conundrum that isnt really important, but ill share anyway. well, because of this weird scheduling, the friends i planned to go with were unable to make it due to time conflicts. i was nervous to be on my own wandering around town so when i picked up the wristband for myself and a friend who would join later (9 pm!!!!???) i recruited my other friend who had ntohing to do and did fraud with the extra wristband so they could join me....

anyway i stopped studying around 6 to meet my friend downtown so we could head to the venues. i said hi to some town friendos by bella gelato while i waited for my friend to show up at the parking deck.

"studying" "hard"

when i was waiting on the corner i was flipping through the booklet to check the lineup and i heard some people down the block saying like... "the view is so good... this is so cool.." and i was wondering what they were seeing.. but then these gay lookin people who seemed younger than me came down the street and said something like ~we were looking at you reading your booklet you just looked so cool like a 2000s cartoon or movie or somethin~ i dont really remember i thought it was kind of ridonk but flattering and they lookd cute so i said they look cool too. so kind.. 

day 1 oufieeeee

anywy........i didnt really know who to see first because my favies would be on closer to 8 so we saw fit check at the golden pony first. and by saw i mean maybe 10 minutes of their set was sawn but its ok . 

in the booklets we had received that had the set times and activities, there was 2 blank pages in the back to be treated like a yearbook. so at the pony i ran into these 2 girls i met before (we spent time in the ballpit together in february) and got them to sign our books first, and then the bartender and then some other acquaintances before we left . fit check actually gave us their highlighters to keep so we could continue getting signatures which is so kind...

then we walked to restless moons to gear up for my best friends but we saw the tailend of ken mujo's set. he is very local so i am used to his antics ,,,,, 

then we saw best ever... DIALS DIALS DIALS setting up and i was so shy and nervous because ahem ahem they told me theyd look for me at macrock last time i talked to them (them lying to make me happy) but i was too nervous to ask them to sign my book so my friend did while  i stood there really scaredly i am happy though . my friend is never a pussy in their life . 

before the music started we met this guy shawn and his dog named tony. the last time i saw them was macrock 2024 and shawn says tony loves the music. tony is an old white pomeranian so he looks like a dandelion. he is so brave he doesnt even need ear protection (probably hes deaf by now) both shawn and tony signed my booklet (tony says "ruf") we tried to feed tony goldfish but he doesnt have teeth so he coudlnt really do it. tony plays by his own rules.... restless bartender THE DICK also signed after.

tony kinda ^

we stood in front of their set which  idont know if i described before but they always set up in the middle of the room and have everyone circle around them. they like when people get really close so of cousre i got really close i was in between milo and donovan with a good look at their instruments. of course why of course .and they played some new stuff since they were about to release their 2nd album (they sold the cd at the venue so of course i got it and a tshirt too) just so happy and i love them. 

there was a guy with a long stick and a camera at the end and he held it over dials' heads and i got nervous because that stick was so comically long like what if the camera flew away?!? so i didnt think much of it until later on instagram we saw dials' story and they reposted the video that this videographer had filmed and it was a ridiculous insta360 thing like the influencers do now to look goofy i think it looked like shit but at least u can see me and my friend so happy to be there . he will come into play again later. 

so dials was so good and i got...how many videos.... you guessed it.... ZERO but i promise they step it up every time I LOVE YOU DIALS!!!!! KYAAAAAAAAA

as soon as their set ended i was so blissful but i couldnt get lost in sauce for long cuz i had to run to pale fire to catch...omg .... VIRTUA DX OMGGGGGG it was almost 10 minutes walk so we had to be quick because their set was 10 minutes after dials!!!!!

there was a small line (there always is) because they card (not very well) and they made me throw away my water bottle ヽ(`⌒´メ)ノ many such cases.... but a guy in the line told me he had the shirt i was wearing (virtua dx merch they sold last time they played here) as well as the cd :D he was like my brother in arms .

everyone stood really far away from the band when they started which always makes me kind of sad like why are you scared.. but im a sheep too... so i stood bcak but still in the front because u must think im crazy if i am not in the front for their set ok. and then they started lalalala 

i forgot what song they start with but when they pulled out the one of a kind prize cow u know everyone had to go crazy... i am sorry to my friend who i did not warn that the room would immediately act like a swarm of bees just entered the building and they unfortunately got caught in the crossfires. they were gripping onto me for dear life.. im sorry.... but i wrangled them to the back and told them to sit and stay and hold my bag too so i could jump and play....

 

unfortunately we LOST the highlighters that fit check gave us earlier but the bartender at pale fire gave us a pen after the set so we could harass virtua dx for their autographs (っ˘ω˘ς ) everyone so kind to us. 

 

the long stick camera guy from dials' set was also here trying to film but his camera flew off the stick during one of a kind prize cow (dont know why he was expecting to survive the crowd) but once i saw the footage later i couldnt stop laughing because you could see my friend clinging to me when everyone started tussling it was like they were caught ni a tornado. side note.... my friend is under 5 foot so i understand the fear they are valid  

i of course had to grab merch from them too because one day my wardrobe will only be virtua dx merch i think they love to make tshirts.  the guy from earlier lined up with me too and told devon that he had the shirt i was wearing (pointing at me omg stop putting me onthe spot) and he just literally wanted to give him $5 in cash because thyere so good. id do the same. but devon gave him a casette just cuz he was like bro you dont need to give us money. i got 2 new tshirts and i asked devon about the merch he said he hated my shirt (okay) i told him i love them and they need to come bcak so bad. PLEASE!!!

 

my friend and i went around to the other members and got them to sign my book and im so happy because theyre so cute and they even signed right next to dials so it is meant to be #dialtua4L

le haul~

after all that my friend who was with me decided to head out because i had another friend on the way to see the one.. the only... D D D D DJJJJJJJJ SHARTCHAN 

her set started at 9:20 so we had a good 30 minutes after virtua. the walk to broad porch from pale fire was also close to 10 minutes and when i got there i sat on the PORCH. because its broad porch . i didnt end up catching the tailend of onokio's set since i arrived while they were switching their setups which is sad because i still havent seen onokio somehow but itry... anyway i was so tired from just the act of seeing and hearing dials and virtua with my eyes and ears but i had goldfish in my bag to chomp on. 

when shartchan started playing i didnt even want to go in because i was so sore and tired so i enjoyed from the outside. however....the minute she started playing my little white pony i went in to get a video.

by the time my friend got there, the venue was at capacity so even though i was on the porch (technically part of the capacity) i left so i could wait with him outside cuz itd be weird if i talked to him while i was "inside" the venue. i didnt relaly care so i joined him outside .. 

we talked to the bouncer girl who was drunk (these bouncers arent really bouncers but they volunteer for macrock thats why they suck at carding) and she was apparently from idaho so i was like no effing way me too girl. and then some capacity opened up so we had to leave her and i compltely forgot to keep talking to her later. i hope i meet idaho girl again cuz im so sad... 

we went inside to dance and i really had nothing in me to keep me going but the energy is always good at shartchans sets so i just kind of enjoy standing there 

 

around like 10 i was like on my last life so i said we must go get burger IMMEDIATE so we walked to texas inn and something about my friend he is too good at talking in like an anime way so anyway he was charming the waitresses bad (i actually think hes 30 uears old but im too afraid to ask?) i got my delicious burger and a cherry coke float since thats probably the only thing i ate that day besides breakfast i dont remember now.  a float is sustenance 

he was showing me some kind of metal concert footage he took on his phone like those big mainstream metal concerts... i dont know i had no brain at that point so iwas hoping smoeone would take us out by then. at like 11 i was like bro its bedtime goodbye . so we walked back to our cars and he was showing me the shoes and jacket he designs for school and im sorry i was so tired it was actally really cool but i was going to die. FINALLY i was set free and i also had to fucking pee so bad so i was really like the most relieved i ever felt in my life ...

since my friends in the scene were too busy to go to macrock today, i felt like my school friends wouldnt be comfortable going to afters with me (esp because they go on until like 3am) and i was so tired anyway so i didnt feel like hunting down any addresses. i am REALLY sad because during their set virtua said theyd be playing afters, and i assumed dials would be too, which would fulfill my dream of a dialtua joint show.. but my health and grades matter more UNFORTUNATELY (｡T ω T｡)

went home....showered.....passed out.............END OF DAY 1

day 2; saturday, april 11

rise and shine~~~ another day another studying. this day was ESPECIALLY hard to focus on studying because i was still riding the high of seeing dials and virtua last night and i was also really sore and tired.

i studied for a couple hours and then around 1-2pm i went to get lunch from jersey mikes sub since i was gonna meet my friends around 4:30 (they wanted to do macrock from 5pm-1am as intended so i agreed to join despite it all) 

at jersey mike, the guy taking my order at the front of the line noticed my dials shirt (since i repped virtua dx the day before i wanted to rep dials today with the shirt i bought last night) and he said that dials played at his house last night!!!! FUCK!!!!!!! i forgot what house he meant but one of his roommates is a guy who does booking so one of the afters were hosted there. i think shartchan had afters under a bridge with some other electronic acts too. but im very tickled  to have met this jersey mike employee who was closely involved. he said hes part of doomsday x3 which ive still not gotten a chance to see. 

macrock is truly the kindest time of the year cuz it feels like everyone is everywhere. finding people in the scene at their day jobs bcomes more common...

anyway. after lunch i was insanely jittery so i could hardly study and then i just decided to go to sheetz to get iced tea of which i barely drank because i went downtown immediately so it started transforming into tetsuo the iron man in my car 

i first stopped at the expo which had a few vendors, some organizations and free stuff. i got lots of stickers from virginia tech's radio station, got a random cd for a dollar (with a skillfully placed naked man on the disk) and looked thru the little rack the uni flea market brought, the guy there complimented my jacket and asked if it was legit (its not)

day 2 outffff feat. mesh adidas jacket

i met my friends... one was volunteering for macrock but wasnt going on their shift until later so they were able to come to the first sets. my other friend brought her partner who i met for the first time and they were tres charmant! 

i brought up to them that i was getting my book signed by ppl and bands so my friend's partner suddenly started trying to get as many people as possible to sign theirs which was a good outlet for me (shy) to get more signatures in my book. this was a fruitful day..... muahaha

first set at broad porch was process//sleep and i really liked their stuff they were super sweet. it was still bright out so it was kind of offputting to be at a hardcore set at 5:30pm but tjey did really great and i really wanna see them again. apparently this was like their 4th macrock too so beloved .

after they sat down i asked them to sign my book and they PIERCED ME! they had little badge buttons for a dollar but they stuck one in the page and signed around it. i remember us talking about writing in cursive because one of the vocalists said she hoped i could read her signature, and i said dw im a cursive soldier too but the other band members could not defend cursive. 

in between sets i got my friends to sign too and one drew a cute bunny which made me so happy. the others doodled cutely in mine too. i dont remember what i put in all theirs but im hoping i made the informed choice to stay kawaii..

next up was idol talk who were TOTALLY RAD darkwave guys and out of all the synthy goth acts ive seen this felt the most 80s to me so iwas happy and idol talk is a great band name too. all the friends i was with today are goth so i was just following their whims cuz i didnt know who to see today. 

we left to go to coffee hound to see doltz because we didnt really know who to see. the other bands around this time were all kinda in the middle of their sets but the description for doltz sounded the most interesting. each member of the band was dressed in black shorts, a white shortsleeve button up, and a rainbow propeller hat. this kind of gimmick happens sometimes as an Ironic Goofy Moment in bands with people my age, but these dudes were in their 40s and serious as fuck. they had crazy expressions and postures while they played and i was just really happy.... got them to sign somewhere on my booklet after the set . 

we were in between 2 different bands to see next but i just had this gut feeling that we should to go to pale fire because there was a band called my wife's an angel. im so glad i wnet with my gut because this was honestly one of the best fucking acts ive seen in my life omfg .

we arrived a little late because as doltz set ended, MWAA's set started, and at coffee hound we got hung up a little bc my friend's partner ran into somebody they knew, and we chatted a little bit but secretly inside i was dying to leave bc it was truly this gut feeling that MWAA would be really effing good 

(we said goodbye to my friend who was volunteering at this point so they had to leave, but we would reunite again later o( ❛ᴗ❛ )o)

so when we got there, there was less of a line which was good, but while we were outside we saw the vocalist garrett run through the door and run around the patio while singing, i think he took a sip of somebodys drink?, and then he ran inside. we got inside shortly after that, and the first thing we saw was garrett on all fours on top the bar. still singing... he kept hitting the lamps with his head .

when he got down and back to the center playing area i had to shove myself to the front because i just did not want to miss whatever this was ,i forgot the setup of the gear but garrett just took the center of the room and the way he interacted with the audience was very intimidating and sexually charged. he would get in someones face and circle around them and he had really miserable looking eyes and never broke eye contact with anyone ε=ε=┌(;￣▽￣)┘

his shirt was cut to expose his chest and he would constantly tug on it and it was terribly stretched out nipples on display and he had a tattoo on his stomach that said gods child, he kept rubbing himself and pinching his nipples,i was super entranced. it was a really miserable and pathetic feeling .he pretended to suck dick and jerk himself off . 

this was definitely the most moving set of the year for me and after they finished playing garrett talked about the band and stuff, he said hes only been playing for a year or two and praised the others talent, i really liked the instrumentation so it was well deserved

i got their cd for don't fall asleep immediately after and then i asked garrett to sign my book, i felt really nervous and guilty because he must have been pooped and i didnt really know what to say except that was so fucking cool i hope you play here again etc im just the worst fangirl ever i dont know. 

anyway all that to say..... i had such a good time....... and thankfully my friend's partner is really tall so they got sum videos of it whew .

we drove thru burger king to get snacks before the next set all i could think about was chicken fries omfg it was just so blissful to finally eat food.

after that we walked over to coffee hound to see lay waste who  is  was a local (no longer local.) grindcore band, and this set i dont really remember since i was spiritually altered by MWAA but ive seen lay waste a ton so im familiar with their antics. a buddy of mine was doing spinkicks and stole the mic, and when i talked to him about it back at school he thought it was cringe but i think this is the one place where you should always act a fool, so i hope he never stops spinkicking at every show!

i also dont remember if we stayed the whole time, i think we mightve left early sicne we expected the next act to reach capacity quickly. the next place we went was back to broad porch for PUBLIC CIRCUIT! alongside shartchan, public circuit had the longest set length of the whole macrock. harrisonburg LOVES public circuit and after this night, i can confidently say they have the deadliest crowds after having been suffocated both times ive seen them  ԅ(¯﹃¯ԅ)

i dont remember (this is a pattern ok by 9pm i lost my brain) but i think they mightve been at capacity, so outside of broad porch this is where we ran in to the most people my friends and i knew. my friends wanted to smoke so i held my breath really hard and we got signatures from lots of people here. 

one girl i wish i remembered her name, her purse had 2 nuns kissing and she had a lot of crazy rings, i think one was a photograph of a president. she said she really liked the virgin mary and stuff so i was sad my bestie couldnt be here to gag over her. my friends and i were planning to go to waffle house and i forgot what we were talking about but i brought up double fisting, when she signed my book she used two pens (we got lots of pens from bartenders over the day) and wrote double fist that waffle house  ＾ｐ＾ 

the friends of my friends were really good artists and showed us their books, they drew a lot of fish and weird creatures for each other and that was super cute.. 

public circuit were about to start soon, but my friends were super entranced in getting every signature (and smoking more) so i got in line and i was by this really short girl who had alien antenna and lots of kandi and kandi necklaces, one necklace had a pokemon card in it, and she was talking to me about something really strange but i forgot... i think she was high 

my friends came over and started getting signatures from the people around me, including one guy who i saw his band play one time over 2 years ago. i saw him around school a lot and a long time ago he gave me a flyer downtown for a show i went to where no bands showed up;; it was cancelled and i didnt find out until literally now. so i thought... this is my chance to tell him i loved his band and wtf happened. and also asked if hes a business major cuz i see him around so much. he was like no fuckin way that is so cool and he asked what i study.. i told him and he said i looked like an accountant but hes never met a cool accountant . so i guess im chill as fuck. 

while we were talking some capacity opened up so we could go in and watch the set, and he said to find him at school to chat more and maybe i could get some old merch. score~~  

anyway, i was on my own since my friends were still caught up outside so i scooched to the front and to the side to get a good view and dancing in the front was really fun , public circuit always sounds great and i like taking this spot in this venue because the center is too stressful. the side has a little bench, so when im tired of the crowd i can stand on the bench to get a birds eye view.

typical for public circuit the crowd started getting INSANELY rowdy like excessively violent. this ALWAYS happens. and it doesnt make any sense because all they make is electronic music, no shade. hardcore shows around here are less dangerous than this ....... but since macrock is an all day thing everyones been drinking for 5 hours straight and acts like this is their first time witnessing electronic music.

so sweaty and painful owowowow. i kept getting knocked over into these people (one person had a crochet burger hat) and i felt so fucking bad because i just could not hold myself up against 10+ people slamming into the me up against the bench where these people were sitting (honestly dont know why youd sit there but do as u wish) 

the crowd was just really dense and i couldnt really enjoy myself without getting crushed, at some point someone gripped my arm super fucking hard and wouldnt let go which pulled some kind of muscle in my shoulder. yeah i had to leave NOW LOL last time i saw public circuit it was the same exact thing. 

after the set (since i lived) my friends and i talked to the keyboardist to sign our books, and i brought up how crazy harrisonburg goes for them, and he was like "honestly these crowds arent as bad as some other places" i was truly baffled. anyway gud show. on my book he wrote "pc luvs u" i was tempted to get their merch but it was kind of uum...ummm.. like.... 2026 electronic band merch. u know? eugh. 

i was pretty freaking winded, but my friends wanted to keep going (prob cuz they didnt experience the torture i just went thru) so iwas like okay yes dear. we went to clementines because we figured we'd just get in, sit, and wait for coma cinema who were prob the biggest headliners. 

when we got there the beginning of the line was starting to form since they were at capacity. at this point i was kinda curious about afters, cuz if we were gonna be up anwyay we might as well try tonight. we asked around but it was pretty much fruitless. its ok. behind us was some dudes from process//sleep teehee. anway we probably waited for 20 or 30 minutes, and the line was getting crazy crazy long behind us, we definitely came at the best time. i heard some people saying they just came from a set (i think muscle? or mean jesus?) and there were naked women. i was f*cking seething. ....

at last we were let in but i dont even care ebcause i just wanted to sit and drink water i was dying so bad AGAIN like incredibly sleepy. the current band playing was dogwood tales and with all due respect its just not my thing and i had to pee so i waited in the long peeing line and eavesdropped!!! yeah!!!

i ran into the jersey mike employee i met earlier since he told me he was gonna be volunteering here at this time, so i said hi after i had my pee . 

i love to sit so i sat and my friends wanted to take pics so they did their thang. we wanted to stick it out for coma cinema but we were like.............................. this is exHausting............ wanna hit da waffle house....... yess.............

finally . to freedom . my macrock was over. after 10 million years in musical purgatory .

bye macrock!

post macrock ; waffle house timeeeeeeeee

hi waffle house!

we took our cars separately to waffle house, i had 1 friend in my car and the others in their car. it was a serene drive.....peace and quiet.......

at waffle house there was the typical college student groups after having their formals, but we didnt have a long wait and got a booth. our server was so nice they had bright pink hair and piercings and a trans flag pin, they pulled on it and pointed at us and said "i think we have something in common" omg i thought that was so cute my gay little friends. 

my friends wanted chocolate milk so bad but i just needed water and they were out of glass cups so we got foam ones which is perfectly wonderful. i ordered my classic cheesesteak melt hashbrown bowl mmm so yummy it was the best meal i ever demolished in my life. and then i got a regular waffle cuz i somehow havent eaten a waffle house waffle before. it was definitely worth it but i want to try some more toppings next time...

one silly thing was i saw idol talk come into waffle house, they had to wait to be seated, and then they left. poor guys just wanted a quickie after they worked hard today =( 

aaaanyway, we left waffle house around 2:45am, i went home by myself so pooped so tired didnt wanna do anything. i fell asleep by like 3:30 and it was just so needed. i think i got up the next day around noon. ugh.......so good........

final thots

i had a lovely incredibly time and i cannot keep writing this fucking post. it took m about 3 months to get the strength at all to sit down to do this, and after 3 days i QUIT! 

i hope you enjoyed the read, if you actually read at all, and i really really really look forward to next year and the next and the next , as long as im in VA i will be at macrock  (^ω~) i love seeing so many bands and meeting so many people and its very wholesome.....

heres how my booklet ended up!

my biggest treasure~

enough...........enough..................... BAI