[Jim Price]

WEEKEND RECAP 3/26:

THURSDAY NIGHT 3/20: Although I got a late start, I headed to City Limits to check in with IUP’s Foundry Avenue. Unfortunately, I only got to see four songs in all, the last two from their second set, and with only a sparse crowd present to witness them, a very abbreviated two-song third set. A version of Sublime’s “Santeria” and a bluesy-rocking original song (I think?) called “Super Sensual” ended the second set. The group got up to play the last two songs to accommodate a friend’s request to get onstage and sing with them. The friend attempted to sing lead on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” (making me BADLY miss The Hurricanes’ regular Thursday Peter C’s gig), before Foundry Avenue capped the night with Guns’n’Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” From what I witnessed, Foundry Avenue is instrumentally talented across the board, especially bassist Ryan Suley and drummer Kris Betz. Their vocals were adequate, but their singer didn’t quite have the high end to pull off the Axl vox on “Sweet Child.” Overall though, Foundry Avenue does have solid musicianship, energy and enthusiasm going for them; and they’ve reportedly amassed quite a following at their IUP home base. They return to City Limits again in a few weeks, hopefully some more folks will turn out to give them a look.

FRIDAY NIGHT 3/21: I celebrated winter’s end by doing something I haven’t been able to do much of during this past winter – roadtrip to Johnstown to catch a band! I decided to check in with Ribbon Grass at the Boulevard Grill. A good-sized crowd was on hand as I arrived, and Ribbon Grass had a good portion of that crowd on the dance floor getting down to a version of Lipps Inc’s “Funky Town.” This was the first I’ve seen Ribbon Grass since the addition of former Inside Out/Rival bassist Ron “Gooch” Gallucci. “Gooch” appears to give Ribbon Grass more of an upbeat edge, and his addition also further strengthens the group’s vocals, as he shares lead mic duties with frontlady Terri Hilbrecht and keyboard man Dave Single. Ribbon Grass kept the Boulevard dance floor happy, mixing up a wide variety of tunes, spanning current favorites from Pink and Shania Twain to 70’s/80’s funk/disco favorites from the aforementioned Lipps Inc, Wild Cherry and Salt’n’Pepa; 80’s tunes from Bangles, Poison, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, and even a version of Cyndi Lauper’s hit ballad “True Colors” (giving folks a chance to slow dance, a rare sight any more). The big highlights for me were versions of Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” and as expected, the Ike & Tina take on “Proud Mary.” Terri’s voice lit up the Boulevard on the former, and she and Dave again made for a lethal duet on the latter. The audience began to thin out some during the third set, but the diehard partiers kept the dance floor occupied until the end. Another strong showing for Ribbon Grass, making my roadtrip worthwhile. Terri may be reaching for the stars soon (provided she ever gets the paperwork done, lol) - more details as they become available.

The new guy in Ribbon Grass, Ron Gallucci.

"Gooch," Terri and Dave sing it to the crowd at the Boulevard Grill.

Chris Klym of Ribbon Grass.

Terri and Dave of Ribbon Grass.

From another angle, "Gooch" of Ribbon Grass.

Dave Single of Ribbon Grass.

Let's get this party started - Terri Hilbrecht of Ribbon Grass.

Terri Hilbrecht and Dave Single of RibbonGrass.

Terri Hilbrecht, belting out the voice.

Ribbon Grass, slamming the lid on the party at the Boulevard Grill.

SATURDAY NIGHT 3/22: I decided to catch the new band in town this night, Pittsburgh's Shatterpak at Aldo's. Glad I did, these guys rock! Not much crowd present in the early going, but Shatterpak brought a few fans from the 'Burgh along who cheered them on. Shatterpak mixed hard-edged current and 90's rock favorites with hard-hitting groove-laden original songs. The original songs were strong; my favorites were "Conscience" and the ballad "No Direction." (I also liked one dual-speed original assault, but didn’t catch the title.) This group's main focal point is frontman Tony Scarfone; I was impressed with the power, intensity, detail and texture of his vocal delivery. Tony did excellent work on tunes from Staind, Creed, Tool and Rage, totally sinking himself into each tune and going full-out! The remaining three members; guitarist Dave Davis, bassist Bob Fuller and drummer Paul Kirstein; were tight and solid together, and sounded clean and concise. A few more local fans showed up during the third set, including an off-duty member of Half Tempted and a former member of Carbon 14. (Suicide Switch represented earlier in the night.) Though small in number, the assembled fans in attendance became huge in voice at the end of the night, overruling Aldo and succeeding in encouraging the band to encore at night's end. Aldo listened to the fans, because Shatterpak returns to Aldo's on June 14. Good hard-hitting band, remember the name and catch their return!

Paul Kirstein of Shatterpak.

Dave Davis of Shatterpak.

Not to be confused with the guy who sang "I Fought The Law" all those years ago; Bob Fuller of Shatterpak.

Shatterpak, tearing it up at Aldo's.

Going full-vent, Tony Scarfone of Shatterpak.

Again, Paul Kirstein of Shatterpak.

Again, Tony Scarfone of Shatterpak.

Happy to be rocking in an exotic locale called Juniata on a Saturday night, Dave Davis of Shatterpak.

From a different angle, Bob Fuller of Shatterpak.

One more time with feeling, Tony Scarfone of Shatterpak.

SUNDAY NIGHT 3/23: My weekend concluded with a bang. Actually, Superbang, at Pellegrine's. Their sophomore visit to Pelly's, Superbang mixed mostly current and 80's favorites. It took the crowd a little while to shift into dance mode, but the beer had loosened everybody up by the third set and the dance floor became busy. Superbang mixes it up pretty well, jumping between 80's and current favorites from Blink 182, Violent Femmes, Outfield, Billy Idol, Jimmy Eats World, 311, Weezer, a Ramones medley, Nena's "99 Redballoons" and more. The group also mixes it up on vocals, with frontman Eric Troop, guitarists Todd Schwambach and Jeremy Nolen swapping lead mic duties. These guys kept it uptempo and nonstop, and had a good party going by the end of the night, complete with lots of fans platooning on and off stage. A good time that slammed the lid on the weekend.

Jeremy Nolen of Superbang.

Todd and Jeremy of Superbang.

Todd Schwambach of Superbang.

Todd and Matt of Superbang.

Eric Troop of Superbang.

Matt Hoffman of Superbang.

Again, Todd Schwambach of Superbang.

Eric Troop of Superbang addresses the fans.

Again, Jeremy Nolen of Superbang.

In the night's latter stages, Superbang is joined onstage by the Pelly's party animals.