THURSDAY NIGHT 6/5 – I’m not a superstitious person, but this had to have been an omen: Earlier in the day, I was running one of my delivery routes for Pennsylvania Musician. I had just left the Wildwood Inn in Grampian, and was headed south on Route 36 between LaJose and Westover. I just rounded a curve onto a stretch of straight road, to find three wild turkeys crossing the highway in front of me. Fortunately they were far enough in front of me that I slowed down and didn’t hit any of them (hey, I like roast turkey just like everyone else, but I didn’t want a turkey hood ornament!). I didn’t think much about it at the time, but those turkeys were an omen. Later this evening, I had initially planned to roadtrip to State College to catch some bands, but had to work late at the office and had to scrap the roadtrip. Upon leaving work, where would I go? Those wild turkeys lingering in my mind, I headed to where Wild Turkey is much appreciated – Felix & the Hurricanes at Peter C’s! And it had to be an omen, because when I walked in the door, some special guests were onstage with Felix, Bob and Jeff: Felix’s brother, 1st Sergeant Dick Kos, and Specialist 1st Class Dave Wessels of the 28th Infantry Mechanized Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Both Dick and Dave were on leave for several days, before returning to Fort Hope for another week’s training, and then heading off to active duty in Kosovo for several months (possibly until April of next year). Also in the house was Dave’s former Coil/Madcheddar bandmate, Josh Crownover, and Ron Novak, both who joined the ‘Canes’ onstage during the third set. In addition to the special musical guests, Bob Watters' brother was also in the house and celebrating a birthday! As expected, the music onstage was great, with the Kos brothers delivering those sweet Allman Brothers guitar harmonies on "One Way Out" and "Jessica;" the Dick-fronted version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Redhouse” with Ron, Felix and Josh mixing it up on guitars; and the night-ending finale of “Dixie” into Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps.” Good crowd on hand to experience this special evening; and our thoughts are with Dick and Dave as they head overseas, we wish for a safe return.
Dave Wessels, giving the Hurricanes added percussion punch.
The brothers Kos, Dick and Felix, light it up onstage at Peter C’s.
Bob Watters and Dave Wessels swap percussion duties.
A night of brother reunions: Bob Watters and his brother celebrate at Peter C’s.
Once again, Dick and Felix Kos create sweet guitar music at Peter C’s.
Josh Crownover and Dave Wessels join Jeff Clapper and the Hurricanes onstage.
Once again, the Kos brothers get down to some serious jamming at Peter C’s.
Once again, Dave Wessels.
Josh Crownover.
Triple guitar army; Dick, Felix and Josh.
FRIDAY NIGHT 6/6 - This became a Peter C's weekend for me, as I returned to catch the rocking triple bill of Elysion Fields, The Grimm and Num. Lancaster trio Elysion Fields was performing as I arrived, performing old-school-styled thrash metal in the early "Kill 'Em All" Metallica vein. These guys were fiery and intense as they performed original thrashers like "Flirting With Morphine," "Dead Man Walking" and "Blood Rite;" plus a torrid metallic take on Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line" and the Misifits' "Skulls." Bassist Craig A. Hickle's feral Hetfield snarl was convincing atop Paul Stuckey's torrid beats and J. Kile Ulmer's jagged guitarwork. I was pretty impressed with my first look at Elysion Fields; here's hoping they're back in this neck of the woods soon. The Grimm mixed original songs and select covers; breaking out tunes from Chevelle, Tool, and Perfect Circle along with tunes from the "Resurruption" CD, "Black Sheep," "Angry & Shirtless" and more. Highlights included "Suckapon," where frontman Bob Lee enlisted the help of Cheeze from Suicide Switch to sing along; and the appearance of Bob's Big Bad Bag'O'Stuff. I hit the mutha lode on the bag this night, scoring hygiene implements (two bars of soap), several plastic soldiers, several pieces of bubblegum and a can of Armour slurpy meat! Num then played two sets of original metal tunage, including songs like "Balance Of Power," "Break Away," "Stitches," "Neglect" and "Edge Of The World." Num's sound is rooted in both old- and new-school metal, and the group mixes up the tempo between slow, medium and fast assaults. Frontman Randy is an in-your-face singer who lets it all out and breaks a serious sweat on the lead mic; and the rest of the band behind him is solid. Again, strong performance for my first time witnessing Num, I’d definitely be up for seeing this band again in this neck of the woods.
Elysion Fields rips and shreds at Peter C’s.
Kile Ulmer of Elysion Fields.
Once again, Elysion Fields putting pedal to the metal at Peter C’s.
Paul Stuckey of Elysion Fields.
Craig A. Hickle of Elysion Fields.
Big Bad red Bob of The Grimm.
Bob enlists the services of an off-duty Cheeze from Suicide Switch for “Suckapon.”
Kirk “Otto” Tonkin of The Grimm, assisted by Phil Wagner.
Kent Tonkin of The Grimm.
Again, Big Bad Bob Lee of The Grimm.
Again, “Otto” of The Grimm.
Num receives accolades from Big Bad Bob of The Grimm.
Num continues the metallic maelstrom at Peter C’s.
Frontman Randy of Num.
Paul of Num.
Shawn of Num.
Again, Randy of Num.
One more time, Randy of Num.
SATURDAY NIGHT 6/7 – More metal at Peter C’s was the order of the evening, as I caught three bands of the Blair County Collective-backed four-band “Metal Fest.” (I missed Suicide Switch, whose set ended before I arrived.) Originally six bands were on the bill, but By Any Means Necessary and Inversion had to withdraw due to personnel departures (BAMN needs a new bassist, Inversion needs a new drummer). Delaware’s Von Kull was onstage as I arrived, in the latter stages of their set. This foursome delivered a heavy, aggressive and ferocious brand of power metal, fronted by the all-out vocal carnage of Ben Garcia. Ben was often out in front of the stage and in the faces of the crowd, while his bandmates tore it up with a tenacious roar. I only got to witness 3 songs from them, but thought Von Kull was strong overall, especially on their closer “Addiction.” I look forward to catching them again sometime soon. Choking Faith then continued the onslaught, mixing torrid original songs with select covers from Pantera, Slipknot and Slayer. They ripped through the three songs on their EP; “Freedom in a Body Bag,” “Overdosed” and “Porno Tongue;” and introduced at least one new song, “3-Minute Symphony.” Frontman Jason was his trusty feral self, while guitarists Dan and Punkinhead scorched both with solo and dual leads. This set offered more strong testimony that Choking Faith is fast evolving into a metal juggernaut that this area – and state – needs to heed and pay attention to. Although giving a disclaimer at the top of their set that they were not metal, Altoona hardcore punksters Chapter 5 still slammed the exclamation point on the night their own unique way, slamming forth exhuberant and brash punkcore original songs like “Normal Life,” “I Hate Everything You Are,” “Changed,” the patriotic “Liberty Eyes,” the gang shout-along finale “Suicide” and more. Chapter 5 is about pride, passion, defiance and standing their ground; and their performance was fittingly explosive and all-out, with increasing numbers of fans rallying with the band at stagefront as their set progressed. This was a good show, with the bands giving all onstage and their fan bases cheering and supporting each other. Kudos to Jason and Choking Faith for putting this show together, and the Blair County Collective for demonstrating how unity between bands benefits all.
John Seymour of Von Kull.
Ben Garcia of Von Kull.
Von Kull leaves no survivors onstage at Peter C’s.
Jason of Choking Faith.
Punkinhead of Choking Faith.
Once again, the malevolent Jason of Choking Faith.
John of Choking Faith.
Dan and Tim of Choking Faith.
Once again, John of Choking Faith.
Tim of Choking Faith.
Mike Long of Chapter 5.
Tim Mort of Chapter 5.
Tim and Mike of Chapter 5.
Jamie Mort of Chapter 5.
Tom Noel of Chapter 5.
Billy Mort of Chapter 5.
SUNDAY NIGHT 6/8 – I finished up my weekend at Pellegrine’s, catching the first Pelly’s appearance of The Bugs from Reading. Evolved from their previous incarnation as Ice 9, The Bugs fired off lots of popular favorites from Greenday, Cheap Trick, Bryan Adams, Weezer, Poison, Good Charlotte, Violent Femmes, Sublime, etc. In other words, mostly the same setlist as the party band norm, just a different band. To their credit, The Bugs had energy and enthusiasm going for them, and they were decent on their instruments and vocals. On the down side, they decided to run their own sound from the stage rather than hire production like most of Pelly’s other bands do; as a result, the vocals and guitars were undermixed and hard to hear. Ultimately, The Bugs did succeed in getting the beered-up Pelly’s crowd on the dance floor during the third set, and had a respectable party going as the night drew to a close. But this group was ordinary at best, and their lack of decent sound and lights didn’t make The Bugs’ first impression at Pellegrine’s a particularly lasting or memorable one.
George and Dave of The Bugs.
Barry of The Bugs.
The Bugs step up the party during their last set at Pellegrine's.
Dave of The Bugs, singing lead.
Phil of The Bugs.
Barry and Dave of The Bugs.