On Friday, March 5th, 2003, Copeland played third of four at Ace’s basement in Greensboro, NC. Ahead of them on the bill was Mae, with supporting acts The Working Title and Slow Coming Day warming up the crowd.

In an article on the venue and its impression on the Greensboro scene which flourished from 2003 to 2005, Jordan Green writes for the Triad City Beat:

[Ace’s Basement] was in the subterranean level of a crack hotel. The Coliseum Inn, a hive of prostitution and addiction across the street from the Greensboro Coliseum, has long since been demolished, taking the briefly illustrious Ace’s Basement down with it.

Show promoter Joe Ferguson was pivotal in this scene, propping up local pop-punk acts and pulling in touring staples in the genre to headline gigs. On top of that, he recorded the shows he put on, creating a video record of the venue’s impact.

“My specialty was on-the-fly, multi-track editing,” Ferguson recalled to Green. “After the show I was able to hand a DVD to the band before they could even get the sweat off of them.”

Closely associated with the venue were bands like The Necesssary/House of Fools, Alli with an I, Kudzu Wish, Sullivan, Farewell, and Far-Less. Thanks to Ace’s Basement, many more bands would make tour stops in NC, including Lovedrug, The Format, Armor For Sleep, Hot Water Music, Codeseven, Bear vs Shark, A Static Lullaby, The Lawrence Arms, Bayside, Between The Buried And Me, Stretch Arm Strong, Underoath, Glasseater, Halifax, Silverstein, Alexisonfire, Hawthorne Heights, Emery, Demon Hunter, Haste The Day, Dead Poetic, Piebald, The Chariot, Gatsbys American Dream, Circa Survive, Alesana, and Lucero.

Did I mention the venue was only open for two years?

Short-lived as it was, the recordings live on. Some of which were produced into unauthorized DVDs. The Militia Group founder Chad Pearson brought to my attention one such DVD produced for Copeland’s set that night in March of ‘03. He said that that he was “pretty sure only a few copies exist.” The band’s singer, Aaron Marsh, recalled Pearson sending a cease and desist over it. That I have not been able to confirm.

Now that I know about Joe and Ace’s Basement, I’m hoping to track down more footage. If you have any, reach out. In the meantime, I’ve uploaded a rip of this DVD to YouTube. You can watch the set below.