[Jim Price]

WEEKEND RECAP 1/14/03:

TUESDAY NIGHT 1/7 - After doing my Pennsylvania Musician paperboy duties this night, I headed to Peter C's to catch this week's episode of the Feight unplugged jam night. This night seems to be drawing increased interest, there were a number of musicians in the house to join Feight onstage through the course of the night, including members of Broken Neck, Xpendable, Saucemonster, Not Them Guys, Project 13, and Flea Market Five. This night saw several highlights, including a version of Greenday's "Basketcase," sung by Broken Neck's Phil Wagner while he was seated at the bar (the beauty of cordless mics!); also the pick-up version of Disturbed's "Sickness" with members of Feight, Saucemonster, Xpendable and Broken Neck; the Rob Carolus- and Dig-fronted version of Disturbed's "Stupified" and more. A continuous highlight to be witnessed during these acoustic nights is Feight's Jeremiah Shafer and the unbelievable sounds he gets out of his acoustic guitar! Overall this was a good night, and it sure was a helluva lot better-sounding than the "scary-aoke" I encountered at three different Altoona nightspots while delivering Pennsylvania Musicians earlier in the evening...oh, the HORROR!

Left to right: Steve Shiffler (Not Them Guys), Jay Herbert (Xpendable) and Rob Carolus of Feight participate in Feight’s acoustic jam night at Peter C’s.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT 1/8 - I was able to escape the workplace early to check out the all ages show at Peter C's. I missed the openers, By Any Means Necessary, again! (Though in all fairness, I didn't know they were on the bill; I will catch this band before the end of the month, guaranteed!) I walked into Peter C's as the second band of the night, Chicago's The Leroy Fix, was onstage. These guys smoked! Playing the second show of their “Alcoholapalooza” tour (they were to play in North Carolina the following night), this foursome did hard-driving, stripped down, blue-collar working class rock and roll with spit and vinegar, rooted in the tradition of the early Who, Kinks and Stones – loud, proud and unapologetic! The Leroy Fix did numerous original songs from their full-length CD and EP, plus a fiery version of Elvis Presley's "Kissin' Cousins" (the group mentioned that they were performing at an Elvis festival in a few days, and they had to learn a bunch of Elvis tunes) and a set-closing bare-bones rendition of AC/DC's "Sin City." The large all ages Pete's crowd enjoyed it, with a few young ladies even dancin' and wrasslin' in front of the stage! Altoona's Marauders then picked up the ball and ran with it, reinventing the roots of rock with their feisty brand of original rockabilly and roots rock. The group introduced a number of songs from their forthcoming new CD, and played favorites like "Prostitute," "Oh My My" and "New Tattoo" as well. The Marauders are always fun to watch, these guys are enthusiastic and into their music, and you gotta like Chris Lawson thumping away on that big stand-up bass! The crowd thoroughly enjoyed The Marauders as well, and I find it very cool that the young fans are embracing The Marauders' early-styled rock and roll sound. This show was one big happy, upbeat rock and roll vibe this night, and proof positive that ROCK AND ROLL AIN'T DEAD!

Pico Johnson of The Leroy Fix.

The Leroy Fix, tearing it up at Peter C’s.

Buster Highman of The Leroy Fix.

Ben Dumm of The Marauders.

Rik Golden of The Marauders.

Chris Lawson and Ben Dumm of The Marauders.

The Marauders party it down at Peter C’s.

Ryan Sager of The Marauders.

Chris Lawson of The Marauders thumps out the bottom end on his stand-up bass.

Theresa and Jolena, two more good reasons to show up at Peter C’s on a Wednesday night.

THURSDAY NIGHT 1/9 - Beginning this night, City Limits has begun running bands on Thursdays. The first band to do the honors was Baltimore rock trio The Soundmen. As you can probably figure, a first-time area appearance by a new out-of-town band, at a venue just starting to do Thursday night bands, adds up to: empty room. A few City Limits regulars and staff were on hand, but The Soundmen pretty much played to soundman Billy and yours truly. (At one point, an apparent catfight in the parking lot outside drew some people over to the window, and was getting more attention than the band inside was!) Anyway, the Soundmen took it all in stride, mixing a variety of classics, a few current artists and some original songs. All three musicians – guitarist Mike, bassist Jacob and drummer Erik – were good on their instruments, with Mike and Jacob handling the bulk of the vocals. I liked the varied songlist, everything from Jimi Hendrix’s “Redhouse” and Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” to a funk-rock version of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice,” a fresh-sounding jam take on Sublime’s “What I Got,” also Cracker’s “Get Off This,” Phish’s “Gumbo,” original tunes from their CD “We Make Sound…” and more. Nothing fancy, just good tunes played well. The Soundmen told me they’re booked for another Thursday at City Limits sometime in March, hopefully by then the Thursday live band thing will be better established and they will have a few more faces to play to.

The Soundmen, rocking the four walls at City Limits.

FRIDAY NIGHT 1/10 - My initial game plan to head up the hill to catch Emily's Toybox at Yesterday's Party in Ebensburg quickly was scuttled when early evening snow squalls coated Altoona area roads and gusty winds created bad visibility (translation – blizzard-like conditions were likely on Route 22 headed up the hill to Ebensburg). So I went to Plan B, which meant staying in Altoona and catching two different shows this night.
First, I headed to the Hitching Post to check out the acoustic pairing of John Charney and Matt Burns. I've seen John many times performing electric with Wine Of Nails and Honeybomb, but I had never seen him perform acoustic before. And I had heard impressive eyewitness accounts of the fireworks that take place when John and Flame Sky bassist Matt Burns team up. Those eyewitness accounts weren’t kidding, this was excellent! These two would get started on a song, the heat of the moment would take over, and the song suddenly went places totally above and beyond! Charney totally immersed himself in his guitar playing, and Matt on his fretless bass journeyed along for the wild ride! There were a lot of highlights this night, including versions of Led Zep’s “Going to California,” Santana’s “Evil Ways,” Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing,” and some unexpected highlights like the old Santo & Johnny instrumental chestnut “Sleepwalk,” an unplugged take on Duran Duran’s “Rio,” the bluesy version of Clapton’s “Layla,” the night-ending abridged version of Yes’ “Roundabout” and more. As intense as the musicianship was, this was also an upbeat, lighthearted show too, as John and Matt would take stabs at a few audience requests – most notably, the attempt at Peter Frampton’s “Show Me The Way,” complete with John’s wah-scat ‘talkbox!’ Added treat this night was Tom “Acoustic Brew” Keith stepping in during intermission to play versions of Bad Company’s “Seagull,” Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” This was the first time I had checked out live music at the Hitching Post since they started doing the acoustic thing, and based on the good time I had this evening, it won’t be my last!

Matt Burns and John Charney, letting it rip at The Hitching Post.

After the show at the Hitching Post ended shortly after midnight, I headed down the road to Peter C’s to get my first look at Driven. I arrived after opening band D-Cell had already played, but eyewitness accounts said these guys did a good job. Driven sounded very sharp on their set of driving metallic original songs, including many from their first CD “Incoherent Thoughts” such as “Primal Fear,” “Satanism,” “Rotting Away,” “Chaos & Rock & Roll” and more. They also broke out a number of new tunes from their forthcoming second CD such as “Ethnic Cleansing,” “Rat Race,” “Never Again” and others, and a few select cover songs like Rage’s “Sleep Now In The Fire,” Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and more. Driven’s base sound mixes old- and new-school metal influences, and even has a late 70’s/early 80’s New-Wave-Of-British-Heavy-Metal edge to it. Guitarist Scott Bush, bassist Josh Michael and drummer Jim Povitch were sharp on their instruments, and singer James Musselman – despite battling the flu bug during the week – was on target this night! Good crowd in attendance for a band doing mostly original rock, good to see! I was very impressed by what I witnessed from Driven this night, all this band needs to do is keep getting their show out there in front of people. Good stuff!

Driven, putting pedal to the metal at Peter C’s.

The bespectacled James Musselman of Driven.

Now without the specs, James Musselman of Driven.

Scott Bush and James Musselman of Driven.

SATURDAY NIGHT 1/11 - I headed to Glenn's Place in Claysburg to board the Flight 19 "Party Plane.” The ‘Plane’ got sky high this night, this was a great party! Flight 19 executed like a well-oiled machine on an action-packed mix of current and classic rock favorites, including tunes from Weezer, Led Zeppelin, Hoobestank, Lenny Kravitz, Cult, Ramones, AC/DC, Godsmack, White Zombie and much more. I was very impressed with the original tune “Migraine,” good melody and strong hook, I’m anxious to get a copy of it to play on the “Backyard Rocker!” Lots of cool surprises this night too, such as Flight 19 digging into the back of the rack for the KISS disco classic “I Was Made for Loving You,” their customized version of the Beasties’ “Fight for Your Right (To Party),” the night-ending version of Corrosion of Conformity’s “Clean My Wounds” and more. And it was neat to see ‘Toona axe vet John McKelvey jumping up and down during Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” and singing the lead on the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” – this man is ageless! Excellent high-octane rocking party that kept the dance floor packed all night – Flight 19 has hit their stride, and deserves to be a Saturday night party band in the ‘Toona…Sunday night too! (Hint, Harry, hint…) Great trip on the ‘Party Plane,’ enough so that I plan to become more of a frequent flyer in the coming months…

Brian Thomas of Flight 19.

Calm, cool and collective: John McKelvey of Flight 19.

Jim Phillips and Brian Thomas of Flight 19.

The Party Plane takes flight; John, Brian and Scott of Flight 19.

Darin Hand of Flight 19.

Scott Imler of Flight 19, taking his voice to the sky on Heart’s “Barracuda.”

Achieving maximum altitude, the Flight 19 ‘Party Plane.’

He wants to be sedated: John McKelvey of Flight 19.

Kicking out the jams, John McKelvey and Jim Phillips of Flight 19.

SUNDAY NIGHT 1/12 - As it usually does, my weekend finished up at Pellegrine's, with Papercut providing the music. This band's earlier incarnation, Bella Shame, played Pelly's once before, on that ill-fated Super Bowl party night last year (as you may recall, the night an overexhuberant football fan chugged a pitcher of brew, passed out in his puke, had to be hauled out of Pelly's on a stretcher and died two weeks later). Needless to say, although a light crowd (by Pelly's standards, at least) was in attendance, this was still a better night for Papercut – at least nobody died! Papercut has undergone some roster changes recently; Bellwood's Jason "Dax" Berardi is no longer with the band, replaced by new guitarist Zee. The group also now has a new drummer, Joe. This band sounded good, delivering a high-octane rocking party chock full of current favorites from Blink 182, Greenday, Lit, Jimmy Eats World, SR71 and more. Highlights included their Ramones pairing of “I Wanna (See You Naked) Be Sedated” and “Blitzkrieg Bop,” the interesting fusing of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” with John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” (I liked the way these guys harmonized lyrics from both songs together, way cool!), Nena’s “99 Redballoons” and more. Tight playing, strong vocal harmonies, good energy and enthusiasm, and Papercut took the party to the audience (at least what audience there was). Hopefully more Pelly’s appearances will build a following for this band, Papercut has their act together and sounded good this night.

Darren of Papercut.

Chas of Papercut.

Bassist Joe of Papercut.

Joe and Zee of Papercut, with unidentified female accompaniment.

Papercut, rocking the weekend home at Pellegrine’s.

Near night’s end, the ever-popular Guv’nor Jesse, enjoying his stagefront view of Papercut at Pellegrine’s.