X's Millennium Melee

X's Millennium Melee

by Angie Johnston

What better a way for a music fan to ring in 2000 than to have been a part of 105.7 the X’s Millennium Melee Party at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster on January 15, when six national recording artists — Staind, P.O.D., Reveille, Chlorine, Murder 1, and Mary Prankster — took the stage in front of some 800 lucky fans.

A closed event, fans were only able to attend the listener appreciation concert by filling out entry forms and winning the tickets on-air. In addition, four pairs of VIP passes were auctioned off by four on-air personalities, with proceeds benefiting local charities of the personality’s choice. In total, the auction raised $1940 for the four charities — the Make A Wish Foundation, the Children’s Miracle Network, the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank, and PAWS, an animal welfare organization.

WQXA radio personalities, including the evening’s host, Jen Shade, the X’s program director Claudine DeLorenzo, Nixon, and Michelle Cruz, were on hand all evening mingling with the listeners and doing live, on-air interviews with the bands in between performances as part of their comprehensive coverage of the event. In addition, Pennlive.com hosted an Internet party for listeners both local and across the country to chat live with the bands and enjoy the music as part of the live streaming audio.

Mary Prankster, a local favorite out of Baltimore, kicked the party off at 6:30 p.m., playing to an audience that was ready to rock. Prankster was followed by Murder 1, an act whose most recent CD, American Junkie, seems to be garnering a warm reception in the Midstate music scene. Following Reveille and P.O.D. (Payable on Death) and finishing the evening, was the event’s headliner, Staind, a group out of Boston who were first discovered by Limp Bizkit’s front man Fred Durst and who spent much of this year as part of his 1999 Family Values Tour.

Last year’s equal to the Millennium Melee, the Triple X New Year, brought up-and-coming national recording artists such as Kid Rock, Godsmack, and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack to the Chameleon Club. Through good luck and great timing, 1999 proved to be huge for all three acts, as they have all made a name for themselves in the music industry, finding individual success with major releases since their Lancaster performance. After watching — and listening to — the acts at the Melee — especially Staind — this year’s line-up looked to have just as much potential as the Triple X outing to turn out the next big thing.