Alas, we open the new book on 2026. I open by wishing everybody a prosperous, safe and Happy New Year, and best luck with your 2026 resolutions!
I experienced several noteworthy shows during the homestretch of 2025, including one major concert…But first a story…Two years ago, I attended my very first in-person Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) concert at the Giant Center in Hershey. The concert was great, but my health that day not so much…I felt fine when I arrived, but my midsection started to revolt, and midway through the performance I beat a hasty path downstairs to a restroom, where I spent at least the next half hour of the concert. (Devoted musical scribe that I am, I took my trusty notepad and pen with me and kept track of the concert from my new temporary “seat.”) Since that afternoon, I’ve been determined to get back to the Giant Center for a re-do of TSO, and just before Thanksgiving, I did the return journey. I’m happy to say this was a much better experience; my gut behaved, and TSO was again incredible! Part of their “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” winter tour, this show – a rock opera – delivered constantly awesome musicianship, vocals and choruses, vivid visuals and production, and the alluring and hopeful Christmas-driven narrative to tie it all together! Rooted in TSO’s original “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” 1999 television film, TSO favorites – including “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” “This Christmas Day,” “Christmas Dreams” and others – intertwined with traditional Christmas hymns as musicians and singers platooned on and off stage, and Bryan Hicks’ emphatic and expressive narration help tie the story and music together. Following a short intermission, TSO celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 2000 album “Beethoven’s Last Night” during the homestretch, performing their classical rock interpretations of various Ludwig van Beethoven works, mixed with several other classical works, a few more of their own creations and some Savatage numbers in as well. This show was a dazzling spectacle of musicianship, visuals, lights, storytelling and more that kept the audience entranced from start to end. Trans Siberian Orchestra invested all in their performance, and clearly left it all on the stage!
Twenty years ago, an Altoona Area High School junior named Ryan Wapner started a nonprofit promotional enterprise with his mother called An Emergency Scene (AES), with the purpose of staging all-ages shows for the area’s younger live music fans. They booked up-and-coming young local acts, traveling regional acts and even a few rising national names – among them Bayside, Valencia, All Time Low and – on December 3, 2003, at a show at Blair Run Kennel (yes, a dog kennel) in Duncansville, an unknown traveling band called Fall Out Boy, opening for Pittsburgh’s Punchline. Within the next 13 years AES had presented 302 shows, building a large local youth-driven do-it-yourself community along the way. On Thanksgiving weekend, Ryan and AES, along with Jim Logrando and Craft Services and Brass Factory Presents, assembled a 20th anniversary celebration of AnEmergencyScene, featuring several of the bands and performers that defined the promotion’s first 20 years. Walkney opened the night; the group’s frontman and ringleader, Derek Mrdjenovich, played several AES shows fronting his prior project, The Big Time. He, guitarist Jextin Pugh, bassist Nate Nagle and drummer David Applas fired up the large crowd with their original song arsenal, including new songs such as “Not My Fault” and recently-issued songs like “Tourniquet” and “Take Me.” Derek was clearly fired up to play this celebration, as he triggered the night’s first moshpit action and left the stage to run through the crowd. Playing together for the first time since 2019, the five members of Altoona’s The Hope Fallacy were also elated to be on the stage, as they played many of their melody-driven pop punk song creations. The audience hadn’t forgotten, as they enthusiastically sang back the words to such Hope Fallacy numbers as “Up All Night,” “Over and Out,” “Caroline Street,” “Behind Closed Doors,” “Candida” and more. The group’s singer and bassist Eric Crum at one point exclaimed, “I feel like a kid again!” Jimmy Mowery and Jeff Wendle performed in two different groups that played for AES, Dropout High and Like A Movie. With a sarcastic recorded voice harassing them, they performed an acoustic set of songs from both projects next; and as during The Hope Fallacy’s Set, fans remembered and sang back lyrics to several songs, especially their set-closer “I Took the Bullet” off their 2007 album “Say It Again.” They also another popular original, “The Views of the Revolutionary Towards Himself.” Making their first area appearance, Pittsburgh trio Eternal Boy hammered out high-powered punk rock originals plus a surprise thrashing version of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Lead singer and guitarist Rishi Bahl expressed admiration of the crowd support at this event, and encouraged the audience to keep fostering what AES has started in the area. Booked at Ryan’s first show in 2005, Pittsburgh’s Punchline received a hearty welcome as they closed out the evening. Formed in 1998, Punchline recently released their ninth studio album, “Somewhere to Land,” and did several songs from that album, along with a number of earlier numbers that the audience recognized and sung along with. Punchline’s sound is rooted in rock with touches of pop punk, reggae, ska and more. As with the earlier bands, this crowd remembered Punchline, even after a 15-year gap since their last Altoona area appearance. This night had a constant fun vibe from start to finish. The crowd was ecstatic for each band, and the bands appreciated the full house. I observed that a number of those “kids” who attended the AES shows back then are now parents themselves, and some of them brought their own kids to enjoy live rock music. As I saw the audiences singing back lyrics to these local and regional bands this night, it occurred to me that these groups and their music provided part of the soundtrack that these people grew up with. And I heard more than one voice this night express the hope that Ryan may rekindle AnEmergencyScene to keep bringing live music to the youth of this area.
The 15th annual Patched Together: A Day of Music to Benefit the Healing Patch event returned to Altoona’s Bavarian Aid Society in late November, again raising funds and awareness for the Healing Patch program, which assists and provides counseling and mentoring services to families and youngsters who have lost loved ones. Four performing acts provided the music this year, kicking off with longtime area musician Bruce Schettig. Bruce presented a smooth voice and pleasant personality while displaying adept skills on his guitar, showing delicate fingerwork and distinctive stylings as he did numbers spanning Van Morrison’s “Moondance” to Steve Winwood’s “Back in the High Life Again, plus numbers from Ben E. King, Nilsson, The Mavericks, Charlie Chaplin and more. Autumn Rising then kicked the dance floor into action with their lively set of dance-friendly classic rock, pop, country and more. Guitarists Scott Imler and Kirk Robison, bassist PJ Kelly and drummer Shawn Gioiosa provided the hard-rocking backdrops behind frontlady and namesake Autumn Shiffler as she rallied the crowd into busting their best dance moves on favorites from Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Walk The Moon and more. Autumn remembered her late father, longtime area frontman Steve Shiffler, by challenging her daughter to a push-up duel on stage during the group’s rendition of the Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.” (Energetic singer that he was, Steve often promoted fitness with his antics on stage.) Young power trio Open Ends kept the benefit rocking with their set of classic hard rock and metal spanning the 1970s to 90s. Singer and guitarist Tyler Bollman, bassist Noah Martin and drummer Gino Passanita showed power and poise as they played numbers from Black Sabbath, Alice In Chains, Danzig, Live, Staind, Green Day and others, and also played two of their original songs, “Oh My God” and “Awakened.” This was one of Noah’s final gigs with Open Ends, as he was leaving the group at year’s end to pursue other interests. Providing the finale set were the Sun King Warriors, who have appeared in the most Patched Together events so far. Lead singer, guitarist, drummer and ringleader Jim Donovan, lead guitarist Kevin McDonald, bassist and singer Kent Tonkin, guitarist and harmonica player Dan Murphy, drummer Joe Marini and hand percussionist Bryan Fazio quickly triggered more dancing with their brand of multi-tiered roots rock. They performed a number of songs off their latest album “Like A Light” such as “Right Into Your Love,” “The Way You Shine” their version of The Record Company’s “Off the Ground” and the intensifying “Feeding On You All Day.” They also did established numbers like “You In My Arms” and “You Are My Everything,” Kent sang lead on Golden Earring’s “Radar Love” and was joined onstage by his brother Otto, and the song “We Have Arrived” escalated into ‘two tons of drums’ as Jim, Joe and Bryan delivered a drum jam free-for-all, before the group finished with a song from Jim’s former band – Rusted Root – and “Send Me On My Way.”
The fifth annual Toys for Tots fundraiser took place early last month at a new location, the Patton American Legion. A good-sized crowd turned out to donate toys and funds to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys For Tots campaign; this area’s office serves families in Blair, northern Cambria and Jefferson Counties. I was both a spectator and performer at this year’s event, and arrived early to see the first two bands, Nero and Abstentious. From Clearfield County, Nero played hard-hitting rock from such names as Poison, Volbeat and Presidents Of The United States of America, but also were capable of shifting from hard rock into not-so-hard hits such as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.” The only band to play all five of these benefits, Altoona’s Abstentious again brought their mix of hard-hitting original alternative and high-velocity punk rock. Frontman and bassist Noah Keller, guitarists Jaxon Swisher and Gage Ickes, and drummer Jake Hicks introduced a number of powerful new numbers; several showing interesting tempo and rhythm shifts – one new number, “The Silent Treatment,” takes a reggae direction to the finish line. And when Abstentious shifts into punk rock mode, Jake throws down on the kit with the most hyperspeed beats around. As my Backyard Rockers brethren and I were up next, we asked “How do we follow that?” Well, the best we know how, with our acoustic renditions of classic rock, folk and country. Singer and guitarist Rich Dasch, guitarist, harmonica man and backing singer Pete Wolf and myself on djembe, bongos and kazoo entertained with tunes from Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and others. Electric Swamp then cranked up more rock, presenting their array of original songs. Singer and guitarist Tom Bearer, guitarist Sam Bassett, bassist Garret Cunningham and drummer and singer Bryon Stanek bring a distinctive style; merging southern and 90s rock flavors. Their songs were solid; they introduced numbers such as “Feel Good Blues,” “Trouble,” “Hollywood Hotel,” “Cigarettes” and more. The crowd’s approval rose with each number, and Electric Swamp again made a good impression. The Lee Miller Experience followed with their mix of rock and other favorites. Namesake Lee sings and plays guitar, flanked by guitarist and singer Bob Gray, bassist Josh Yahner, and drummer and singer Mike Davis. Lee showed a smooth and steady voice up front as he sang out numbers from Badfinger, Stealer’s Wheel, Collective Soul, Steppenwolf, Midnight Oil, the James Gang, Fastball and more. And Deny Your Negan – a cross-breeding of Mike Davis’ original metal project Negan and his Alice In Chains tribute Deny Your Maker – finished the benefit with ample power on a number of 90s rock favorites. Mike Davis sings lead here; his son Grant joined to sing lead on Deftones’ “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and Alice In Chains’ “It Ain’t Like That.” The group – Mike, Bob Gray, Josh Yahner, guitarist Rich Johnson and drummer Damien Falatek – also did strong work on tunes from Live, Weezer, Audioslave, Stone Temple Pilots and more. The benefit also featured a free pizza party midway through; kudos to The Thirsty Dawg Taverne, The Park Avenue Pub, Lou Who’s Pizza and Pasta, Captain Ron’s Deli, Taylor Ann’s Pizza and Fox’s Pizza Den in Hastings for donating the free pizza! This year’s Toys for Tots benefit raised 355 toys and a good sum of cash to help out area families during the holiday season. Kudos to Mike Davis for organizing this event; the 2026 Toys for Tots benefit will take place on Saturday, December 5.
After the Toys for Tots benefit finished, I had enough time to head to McGarvey’s, where The Warped Band was finishing up their two-night stand. Drew Zimmerman and crew kept the crowd excited as they rocked the house with their explosive blend of Warped Tour-era music, firing off tunes from Blink-182, Offspring, Limp Bizkit, Three Days Grace, Wheatus and a whole lot more. These guys brought the energy, and their cartoon video backdrops added to the fun! If you missed them this time, The Warped Band returns to McGarvey’s in April.
The Unter Uns Musical & Entertainment Society celebrated Krampusnacht early last month, keeping with German holiday season tradition and mythology. The Christmas demon Krampus (actually two of them, apparently the crowd had been particularly bad this past year) and Saint Nicholas paid their annual visit in between sets by Fortune & Glory. The Krampuses (or Krampii as I call them) swatted the bad kids (mostly adult) with weeds and twigs, while St. Nicholas rewarded the good kids with St. Nick and Krampus cookies. As in years past, Fortune & Glory pacified the Krampii by playing Ghost’s “Square Hammer” and AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell. Singer Dana Martino, guitarist and singer Art Martino, bassist Nicholas Martino, guitarist Devin Sherman, keyboardist Adam Baranik and drummer Bryan Starr triggered some dancing after the Krampii left the building with favorites from Janis Joplin, the Police, The Who, Three Doors Down, CCR, Tesla, Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin and more.
Burn The Jukebox made their first Altoona visit last month as they took the stage at McGarvey’s. The JW Project – singer John Brehm and guitarist Wes Shriner – opened the evening with a set of their hearty, punk-edged acoustic songs. Shortly after, Burn The Jukebox – singer and bassist Virginia, guitarist Luke, singer and guitarist Hoffman and drummer Carter – “burned the jukebox” with their edgy takes on various classic rock, alternative, punk, pop hits and more. Virginia handled the majority of the lead singing duties, showing good range and power on numbers from Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Kings Of Leon, Cranberries and more. Burn The Jukebox brought a lot of energy with their performance, and received a good response from the folks in the house this night. Keep an eye open for their return.
I caught my first look at Altoona’s 8-1-Funk in late November as they played their final set of the evening at Altoona’s Levity Brewing Co. Featuring lead singer and guitarist Andrae Holsey, lead guitarist Matt Markham, bassist Wes Shriner and drummer Zach Hepner, 8-1-Funk specializes on what their name suggests, funk, soul and blues flavors. Guest singer Natalie Nikao from Texas displayed some great, high-soaring voice on Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and the Roberta Flack hit “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” and she helped with backing vocals on Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” 8-1-Funk also did good-sounding versions of “House Of the Rising Sun” and Radiohead’s “Creep.” 8-1-Funk is spreading its reach to venues in Indiana and Johnstown; watch out for them.
While delivering last month’s PA Musician issued around Johnstown, I took a live music break at Southmont Gardens to check in on longtime Flood City rockers the Desperadoes. Hoyt Axton appeared to be a theme this night, as singer and guitarist Mark Middleton, bassist Mike “Soupy” Suppes and drummer Harold Knappenberger performed several hit songs written by Hoyt; including the requested Ringo Starr-popularized “No No Song” and the Three Dog Night hit “Joy to the World.” No two nights are the same, and you can never predict what this group will pull out on a given night. The Desperadoes rocked a variety of favorites and requests this night, including Wings’ Letting Go,” the Eagles’ “James Dean,” Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” and “Ocean,” Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” a cosmic rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe/Time” and more. The Desperadoes never disappoint; these guys love playing, and sink full purpose into each song they do.
Other groups I saw recently included The Jaded Lips as they rocked night away at Altoona’s 4D’s Lounge in late November, and Autumn Rising during their Thanksgiving Eve party at McGarvey’s.
Several members of the state’s music community passed in recent weeks…A former member of Harrisburg-based rock band Tukurpa lost his life in an automobile accident. Roger Loop Jr., who had played keyboards with Tukurpa on their self-titled 2013 debut album, died after his vehicle struck a utility pole near Red Lion in York County on December 1. He was 55…The area music scene was saddened with the passing of Johnstown’s Carl Duda on December 16; he was 55. Carl was an avid fan of the music scene and participated in open mics, plus sang in the short-lived band Swipe Right…Also passing recently was northeast PA polka legend John “Stanky” Stankovic, who died on Christmas Day; he was 89. He became a nationally known and tremendously loved polka musician for 80 years, and recorded over 20 albums with his band Stanky & the Coal Miners…
News and notes…Altoona’s Sweet Desire is back in action after finding a new singer and drummer; Guy Mauro takes over microphone duties with Nolan Darr stepping in behind the drum kit. Sweet Desire’s new roster played their show late last month at McGarvey’s, opening for 8-1-Funk…Cresson youth rock trio Open Ends announced that their bass player, Noah Martin, was leaving the group at year’s end to pursue other interests; the parting was friendly one, and his bandmates Tyler Bollman and Gino Passanita wish Noah the best going forward…After 12 years and more than 680 shows, Centre County-based acoustic duo Hops & Vines are stepping away from live performing in 2026; members Jonathan “Hops” McVerry and Christy “Vines” Clancy aren’t ending the duo, but taking a needed break and plan to return to stages down the road…Jae Smith issued his second solo album online in early December; “Reimagined” presents a departure from Jae’s acoustic singer-songwriter debut album “Murmur” from 2020; as he explores electronic frontiers with an experimental instrumental album that draws inspiration from The Legend of Zelda series…And we wish speedy get-well wishes to Images Of Eden singer Gordon Tittsworth as he recovers from recent heart surgery.
Please send correspondence and recordings to: Jim Price, 1104 S. Catherine St., Altoona, PA 16602. You can also e-mail me at jptheprofessor@gmail.com. And if you’re into social networking, look me up on Facebook. SUPPORT LOCAL and LIVE MUSIC IN 2026!
