I know it’s only two less days, but February always seems to come and go so much quicker. On the up side, Spring (and outdoor music) is just around the corner. I’ve got several festivals on my plate already with hopes of more as well as the Backyard Concert Series up at Spyglass Ridge which always puts out a number of great shows each summer, things are shaping up nicely!
My first trip out was with the boss man himself – Josh. We first headed down to the West Shore Theater for a sold out show. Starting out the evening was a three piece rock band The Resistors covering some great classic rock tunes like Jumping Jack Flash, Knocking On Heavens Door, Mustang Sally, and more. The guys had a great stage presence that included some well timed jokes that made for a great show. Headlining the evening was Katz 22, a Central PA based band providing the Classic Rock & Roll Experience. Putting their own spin on songs like Everyone Wants To Rule The World, Jane, Never Been Any Reason; they had a great sound that filled the room and was very polished. Prior to their set, we realized together that I actually had the pleasure of seeing their very first show back in 2017 at a private party. It was very cool to finally see them again and see how far they’ve progressed.
Josh and I then headed over to Live Underground to round the night out with some punk rock. The band playing as I walked in was Harrisburg based Calling Hours. These guys have a huge energy on stage cranking out their original punk rock tunes like Heavy Future, Curtain Call, Low End Theory and more. They’ve recently released their debut album “Say Less” and have been touring all over the country and even over in Europe. Calling Hours is definitely a band to check out! Next up was local favorite Jet Silver who quickly had the crowd dancing along to tunes like Undercover, Cool Bitch and Riddim Of My Bones. Headlining the evening was a group that I’ve been looking forward to covering again for a while: The Jellybricks. Based out of Mechanicsburg, the guys have been rocking our area and beyond since 1996 and it shows every time I see them. Rolling out tunes like Rock & Roll Suicide, Dreaming In Stereo, their newest single release Mondays Never, and perhaps my new favorite song Age Of Stupid; The Jellybricks met and exceeded any expectation I may have had in seeing them again.
The following week I headed down Lovedraft’s Brewing in Mechanicsburg for a night of metal opened up by a band I caught a few years ago – Take The Name. I first saw Take The Name at the iRock Radio Birthday Bash at Reverb in Reading two years ago, so it was cool to see how they’ve progressed since then. Tyler and the guys kicked the evening off with their all original tunes like Love Letters and Low. Next up was Sacremento based Alt Pop-Rock band Nerv. They had great sound and presence mixed with a ton of energy and were a total blast to see. Hitting the stage third was Maryland based Savage Hands. These guys had huge energy, awesome stage presence, and a ton of fans in the crowd singing along to every song they performed. Headlining the evening was ARCHERS, self-billed as the “Softest bois in metalcore”. Playing songs like Composure, Smiling Out Of Habit, Shadow, and more…they put on a great show with lots of feeling and emotion that went back and forth between a softer/melodic feel to pure hard driving rock.
A few days later, I headed down to Millersville University for an event I love: The Central Pennsylvania Music Hall Of Fame Youth Music Showcase. I love how this particular event shines a light on the youth in our local music scene and gives them this opportunity to not only play their music but to get quality feedback and advice from a panel of judges with a wide breadth of experience in the music business. The judges this year were Mitch Hood, Holly Serio, and Alan McCutcheon. We had eleven performances this year from: Kane Silva (of Raising Kane), Addily, Nora Grace, Alejandro Martinez and his band Nightshift, Maggie Marre, Sonii Bora, Alex Lee Warner, Julia Denne, Kira Bomboy, MoeJoe, Addi Grace, Carmine Gontz and Faith Noel. There was also a performance by Millersville first year students’ band “Barkley Cove” while the judges deliberated the performances. All of these kids did an incredible job getting up on stage and performing the song of their choice for the crowd and judges and should be very proud of themselves.
Our next trip out was down to the Doyle Hotel to grab some dinner and catch some tunes from Chuck Britton. Chuck did a bunch of acoustic covers of songs like Message In A Bottle, The One I Love, Wicked Game, Stray Cat Style and many more. He did a great job putting his own spin on each song and clearly has a lot of fun playing for a crowd.
Final trip of the month was up to Iron Vines Winery in Sunbury. Wendy and I hadn’t been up in a while so it was nice to get back up there for some good wine and music. This was my first time catching Fully Loaded and their “Redneck Rock” so I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly…no need to be worried though as Dave always brings good music to his winery and this evening was no exception. Covering songs from the likes of Eddie Rabbitt, Janice Joplin, CCR and even a really cool county styled version of Purple Rain that worked way better than I’d have ever guessed, these guys did a great job getting the crowd up and dancing as well as singing along.
So there it is, my month of music through my eyes and ears. I want to once again thank all the bands, venues, and everyone else involved in our incredible local music scene for everything they do. Just a reminder: if you’ve got a show coming up that I should see; make sure to send me an invite, shoot me an email or a message, let me know about it. Venues: please don’t hesitate to reach out to me as well. The majority of the shows that I go and shoot I find out about through invites from all of you or your friends. Hit me up on facebook: @chrisriderphotography or email: chrisriderphotography@gmail.com, stop me if you see me out & around and say hi. Until next month…go find some live music and give them and the venue your support, they truly need it more now than they ever did.
