[Jim Price]

WEEK/WEEKEND RECAP 4/9/03:

TUESDAY NIGHT 4/1: My week and weekend of bandwatching started with an uncharacteristic JP "brain-fart" moment. I've lived in Altoona all of my life, and have been past the Arandale Elks Lodge at least hundreds of times in my lifetime. I could picture the building in my head to look at it, but never having had to go there for anything, I never recalled the street address of the place. So sure enough, this night I wanted to catch the all-ages Blair County Collective benefit concert at the Arandale Elks, and - you guessed it - I drove around for a full hour, not able to recall exactly where the darn place was! I retreated back to my place of employment to look up the street address in the phone book, and upon finally locating the place, smacked my forehead in total disbelief that I couldn't remember where it was!

Anyway, there was a show taking place, but things weren't going as hoped. A few bands had to withdraw from the bill due to last minute workplace complications and sickness. In addition, attendance was off, with not a whole lot of fans present. But the show did go on, and Chapter 5 and Inversion had already performed before I arrived. I was able to catch part of Looking For June's set, and all of Choking Faith's. Looking For June did a respectable job on the three tunes I was able to witness, as they played catchy high-energy power pop/punk. Instrumentally they sounded on the mark, and their vocals were solid as well. The sound mix and room acoustics made them sound brash and distorted, and more stage experience should help them build their confidence. But overall, at least from what I saw, Looking For June did a decent job. Choking Faith then scorched paint off the Arandale walls with their apocalyptic set of metal originals and select covers. The band was intense and tight, and frontman Jason was suitably monstrous and evil as Choking Faith ripped through originals like "Freedom In a Body Bag," "Listen for Death," "Overdosed," "Darkness Falls" and "Porno Tongue;" plus select tunes from Slayer, Pantera, Slipknot and Black Label Society. Choking Faith hit with a wall of jagged metal sounds, and received good response from the tens of audience members in attendance. Blair County Collective has more fundraiser shows planned, keep checking the Rockpage forums and the Collective's website, www.bccollective.com, for updates.

Looking For June at the Arandale Elks.

Pat Lang of Looking For June.

Choking Faith, tearing it up at the Arandale Elks.

Jason Mittan of Choking Faith.

THURSDAY NIGHT 4/3: My bad bandwatching luck continued this night. Putting in a late night at the office, I tried to get to City Limits in time to see Flord's last set. But due to light crowd, Flord ended their show early just as I was pulling into the parking lot. Damn!

FRIDAY NIGHT 4/4: My initial game plan was to roadtrip to Happy Valley to see Boost, but the combination of lack of sleep and rainy weather made me reconsider and stick to the 'Toona this night, and I wound up catching E.S. Whitefisch at Peter C's. Not a big crowd in attendance this night, although a number of the band's Happy Valley fans made the trip to show their support. E.S. Whitefisch mixed original songs with current covers from Lit, Weezer, Jimmy Eats World, Fuel, Nickelback and more. The group’s original songs were hard-edged and melody-geared, and largely catchy. They displayed good energy, and overall sounded strong. In all, a routine night, except for the apparently drunk rotund woman who kept sitting down on the floor and couldn’t get back up, even prompting Big John to have to come and lend assistance at one point…

Ron Sherant of E.S. Whitefisch.

E.S. Whitefisch, rocking out at Peter C’s.

Doug White of E.S. Whitefisch.

Brandon Evans of E.S. Whitefisch.

From a different angle, E.S. Whitefisch.

Brandon Evans of E.S. Whitefisch.

Jason Fischer of E.S. Whitefisch.

SATURDAY NIGHT 4/5: Obviously this weekend's big highlight was The Front's 20th anniversary reunion extravaganza at Altoona's Bavarian Hall. In speaking with members of The Front in the weeks and days leading up to this show, they were hopeful of getting just 300 to 400 people through the door so they could at least cover their overhead production costs and raise some money for the charities involved. By the time all was said and done this Saturday night, though, over twice that expected crowd - an estimated 800-plus people - came out to rock and remember with one of the most popular bands this town has ever produced. After excerpts from Holst's "The Planets" and the theme from "2001" played through the huge sound system, singer Bob Gates, guitarist John McKelvey, keyboardist Harold Hayford, bassist Randy Rutherford and drummer Clint Carothers strode through the audience to the stage, drawing immediate and loud applause. Kicking off with their original rocker "Battleground for the Brave," The Front celebrated their 20th anniversary by playing several of their best known original songs, and lots of the covers that crowds loved to hear them perform during their tenure on area stages from 1983 to 1994. Assisted by an amazing sound and light system (the fiber-optics starlight effects were incredible!), highlights from the show included Front hits such as "Girl Like You" and "Still The Rain," plus a wide selection of 80's and classic rock from Simple Minds, Honeymoon Suite, Red Rider, Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix, the Moody Blues, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Alarm, The Fixx and much more. The group was called back up to do two encores to end the night; the first included versions of the 60's chestnut "Do Ya Wanna Dance?" and Grand Funk's "We're An American Band;" the second featured John McKelvey's scorching guitar rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" and Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." Not only was this a reunion onstage for The Front, but it also was a reunion of the many fans who used to follow this band around back in the day; I personally saw a number of folks I hadn't seen in quite a while! The huge crowd enjoyed a very memorable show, and raised thousands of dollars for both the Make A Wish Foundation of Western PA, and the Athleen Stere Scholarship Fund at Penn State Altoona. On behalf of the band, a big thanks to everyone who helped put this show together, and everyone who came out to remember The Front and support the cause!

Bob Gates of The Front.

John McKelvey of The Front.

Clint Carothers of The Front.

The Front gets them dancing at the Bavarian Hall.

A huge dancefloor crowd rocks and remembers with The Front.

Harold Hayford of The Front.

Clint Carothers of The Front.

John McKelvey of The Front.

Randy Rutherford and Bob Gates of The Front.

The festivities continue with The Front at the Bavarian Hall.

Randy Rutherford, Bob Gates and John McKelvey of The Front.

Harold Hayford and Bob Gates of The Front.

Randy Rutherford of The Front.

SUNDAY NIGHT 4/6: Pellegrine's on Sunday nights has been a crazy place lately, and things were zany this night with UUU and some unexpected guests on the stage. Apparently, with the Pelly’s crowd a little bit hesitant to pack the dance floor in the early going, UUU decided to bring a few audience members onstage, complete with their tables and chairs! So upon my arriving, I saw the right honorable Guv’nor Jesse and two accomplices, Shawn and Jim, seated at their tables onstage, enjoying their pitchers of beer while the band played around them! Eventually the dance floor started getting busier, and a few ladies even stepped onstage and demonstrated their best stripper-styled moves atop chairs in front of UUU’s seated guests! So not only were Guv’nor Jesse and his contingent enjoying the hospitality of UUU onstage, they were being entertained by frisky female action as well! UUU kept the music going nonstop with their everything-including-the-kitchen-sink blend of current favorites, 80’s rock, rap, hip-hop, oldies and more; spanning names like Def Leppard, Beastie Boys, Limp Bizkit, Diana Ross, Great White, Vanilla Ice and much more. A fun time was had by all; kudos to UUU for figuring out at least one way to keep Guv’nor Jesse out of mischief this night! Some apparent post-party parking lot fisticuffs prompted a cameo appearance from some of Altoona’s uniformed finest at the end of the night, otherwise it was a good time!

Unexpected onstage guests of UUU at Pellegrine’s.

Some more unexpected guests add to UUU’s party at Pellegrine’s.

Musicians and seated guests, enjoying the view onstage at Pellegrine’s.

Doug of UUU.

Again, Doug of UUU.

Guests Jim and Shawn, enjoying the party onstage with UUU at Pellegrine’s.

Looking very Elmer Fudd-like this night, Guv’nor Jesse onstage with UUU at Pellegrine’s.

Drummer Joe of UUU.

Shawn Banks and some more guests assist UUU’s onstage party at Pellegrine’s.

Shawn and friend add more voices to UUU’s party.

Guido of UUU.

Again, Joe of UUU.

Aaron of UUU.

Singer Jason of UUU sits in on the party.

Another guest, Dominique, sits in with Jason and the party gang onstage at Pelly’s.

More onstage dancing and festivities with UUU at Pellegrine’s.

One more time with feeling, UUU’s onstage party at Pellegrine’s.