We’ve made it to 2019, everyone!
It’s time to move past the setbacks and outdated habits of last year and make way for our better selves in a new year. As usual, I’ll be giving you my best picks from Harrisburg’s growing music scene. Hopefully this month, you will take some of my advice and support musicians and artists here in the city. Make it a resolution to get out more to benefit both yourself and the art community here. I wish you all a very happy new year, and I hope you make the best of it!
ABSOLUTELY FREAKED! A ROCK SHOW OF ZAPPA’S EARLY WORKS, 1/10-13, 7:30PM, OPEN STAGE OF HARRISBURG, $25-35
This is going to be one heck of a local live performance that you don’t wanna miss out on. Absolutely Freaked! is an experiential rock concert performed by local talents from Open Stage and arranged and directed by Joseph Osborne and Chris Gibson. This show got the thumbs up from the Zappa estate and covers his works from 1966 to 1972, including some of his hit songs like “Plastic People” and “Who Are The Brain Police?” If you’ve always wanted to get into Zappa and never had a good reason, your time has come. If you’re a longtime fan looking got a night out, this one’s for you, too.
LETTUCE, 1/22, 7:30PM, WHITAKER CENTER, $38.50-43.50
It’s time to get funky with some Lettuce. And no, I’m not talking about romaine. This funkadelic band is bringing you a fresh take on some classic funk sounds at the Sunoco Performance Theatre in Whitaker Center. Hear samples of their latest EP, “Mt. Crushmore,” and rock along to tracks like “The Love You Left Behind.” Included in the ticket price is a $1 donation to HeadCount, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization “dedicated to voter registration and inspiring participation in democracy through the power of music.” Support a good cause and get down with your bad self at the same time.
GOOD IN THE DARK, 1/25, 7PM, THE UNDERGROUND BIKE SHOP, $5
A local band is celebrating a birthday, and what better way to do it than with music? Heather Perry of Harrisburg’s own Good in the Dark is putting on a special bday show at The Underground Bike Shop. This pop/punk/disco/dance band will blow you away with their heavy and groovy sounds. I first saw them at the Underground awhile ago for a Halloween cover show, and they really knocked me over when they closed out the evening strong with a Pixies set. They’re joined by Dear Forbidden from Philly and Northern Gloom from here in the Burg for a perfect taste of the local scene. Grab a six pack and take a walk to Olde Uptown to see some of our town’s very best.
Mentionables:
U.S. Bombs & Total Chaos, Jan. 3, Club XL;
Martin Sexton, Jan. 5, H*MAC Capitol Room;
Litz, Jan. 5, The Abbey Bar;
Lexa Terrestrial, Jan. 5, H*MAC Stage on Herr;
Driftwood, Jan. 18, The Abbey Bar;
Appetite for Destruction, Jan. 19, Club XL;
Jarrad Briggs & The Jayplayers, Jan. 26, River City Blues Club;
Cognitive, Jan. 27, J.B. Lovedraft’s
