Join us for an unforgettable weekend!
David "Engraver" Platz
One day at band practice (lol) I expressed my desire to play an outside show. I immediately thought of seeing if we could rent Jim N I Country Music Park. We had played a benefit for “The Children of a Fallen Soldier” a few months earlier.
​
The “Tri State Metal Massacre” was born. Why Massacre? Because I wanted every show to be a massacre. Because my favorite movie is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And we were a horror-themed band.
​
Side note: The second year, the “Tri State” was dropped since we couldn’t find any bands from New York and it was just simpler.
I enlisted the help of Justin “Jayden” Denham to assist me in this endeavor due to his social skills and my lack thereof. So we both met with the owners. They were excited about the idea. They gave us three options: 1. No camping. 2. Pay per camper. 3. $400 and everyone camps for free. Jayden opted for option 3. So it began.
I spent the next few months booking the band and designing the flyer. I printed over 800 flyers using my personal printer at home and cut them out since they were four on a page.
​
Jayden and I started looking for sponsors for the first Massacre. We started at a local tattoo shop, which at first agreed to sponsor and to come tattoo at the first Massacre, but backed out at the last minute. Jayden saved the day and found another tattoo shop to cover that detail for the day, which became a staple at Massacre until COVID.
​
Then Jayden, Jordan, Teddy, and I set out, going to every show, community event, picnic, and event we could to hand out flyers and promote to anyone who seemed like they would be interested. Remember, this was at the infancy of MySpace. All promotion was done the old way, by flyers and word of mouth.
The day of the show, the responsibilities were divided up. Since I was running sound all day with the help of Pat Conti, I was focused on getting bands on and off the stage and trying to make them sound good.
I put Jayden in charge of the gate and overall managing and security. Our drummer, Dave “Dickler” Brown, roasted a full pig and served it as a meal for everyone.
​
All in all, the day went really smooth. If I remember correctly, we had 90-some paying attendees. I can’t remember how many bands there were, but I was able to pay out each band that stuck around, pay the venue, and still have some left over to pay ourselves (B.T.S.).
Shortly after the show, I had a meeting with the band. I expressed that I was feeling a bit burned out with having the responsibility of organizing, practicing, writing all the songs, booking all the shows, running sound when needed, making all promotions for the shows and the band, recording our demos, and designing and providing our merch.
Jayden stepped up and took on the responsibility of planning and booking our shows with a little help from me. Like when bands complained about their assigned spots, I told him to have them sell tickets but have the counting and assigning of spots done in the open so everyone could see it.
I also convinced him to put up a second stage for more draw of people.
​
I stayed running sound on the main stage for the first five Massacres and ran the first pit stage sound for Massacre VI.
Since Massacre VI, I really haven’t had much involvement in the planning or running of Massacre besides donning the stage when I am in a band.
​
I feel pride in being a starting force in the creation and development of the early years of Massacre.
​
I love what Jayden has built Massacre into since he took on all responsibility for its life on his own.
​
Side note: My daughter Aria was conceived at Metal Massacre X.