Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – The Allegheny River Monsters are back and better than ever in 2021.
The Monsters are set for a night of fun on Friday, with Warrenstock 2021, taking the stage at Pellegrino’s Italian Foods and Market in Warren, beginning at 5 p.m. The concert is free of charge.
“The whole point is to bring the people together,” said event organizer Pat Hackett. “The feedback is just amazing. “It’s going to look like a family affair, a family event. You’re going to see people from all classes from Warren Area High School, people you haven’t seen in a long time.
“We have about 15 bands, really, throughout the course of the day. I have 30 people involved. The lineup is constantly changing for every song, with people coming and going off the stage. I have three drummers, three base players, eight guitar players and 17 or 18 singers. You’re going to see many different bands encapsulated within this one act. You’re going to see a variety show.”
The event started in 2010, out of tough circumstances for Hackett, who came back from his California home to bury his father.
“I had to come back and bury my dad,” Hackett recalled. “I was just driving around one day while I’m back home and I thought why don’t I make a positive out of a negative?”
The first event was held at Snuffy’s
“I talked to Monty over at Snuffy’s, and we decided to do something small,” Hackett recalled. “That first year, we had about eight people, and the stage there is really small.”
Out of the thought of getting the event to grow, Hackett conducted his second concert on Liberty St in Warren.
“That year (2011), we were called Pat Hackett and his Acoustic Flying Circus Extravaganza,” noted Hacket. We got together with the city and got it approved. That year, the event was called ‘Liberty Rocks,’ and we had 14 people with me. We had about 200 people show up.”
In 2012, they were back and with a new name, ‘Pat Hackett’s Electric Tsunami of Sound,” he said.
They got a little more than they bargained for with the name.
“Only a couple of warm-up bands got to play before the thunderstorms hit,” Hackett said. “We didn’t get to play a song that year. We had about 20 people involved with the show.”
In 2013, the event moved to the old Holiday Inn ballroom. That’s also when the current name, the Allegheny River Monsters, was born.
“It’s been the same ever since,” Hackett said. “I thought ‘Wow, I finally got a really good name.’ It ties in with the city, the whole deal. We had a tremendous turnout. The Holiday Inn was happy. The show stayed there until 2016 when the Holiday Inn became the Days Inn.”
They were without a venue for 2016 and 2017.
“We skipped those years,” noted Hackett.
But then, he got a hold of a lifelong friend, Thomas Pellegrino, Warren Area High School Class of 1975.
“I knew he had this great venue on Conewango, a 10-acre lot,” Hackett said. “He’d asked me to play in previous years, so I thought, let’s put our heads together and do this. So in 2018, that’s when I came up with the idea to call it ‘Warrenstock.’ It’s this great, outdoor venue with a grassy knoll. In a micro way, it resembles Woodstock.”
Woodstock, of course, is the world-famous music festival.
“That year, in 2018, we had 800 people,” Hackett said. “The next year, in 2019, we did it again. We had probably about 1,500 people in 2019.
“How it’s grown and grown every year is incredible. More and more people learn about it and it’s like a class reunion for all classes. People are always thanking me for bringing the people together. It’s a really good thing.”
The River Monsters only rehearse two times a year, and the songs are different every year.
“We run through everything a couple of times and then go out and do it,” Hackett said. “The Monsters only rehearse two times every year, and the songs are different every year. We never have time to be the tightest band in the world. We run through it a couple times and do it. But we prepare for months. The song list is made in advance. We have to do a lot of prep before we get together for those two rehearsals. It’s a blast, I can’t imagine not doing it.”
This year, Icyy Ink will be in attendance with Allegheny River Monsters t-shirts being printed on-site.
“Icyy Ink has been really cool,” Hackett said.
And, despite being a free concert, the event is raising money for a special cause that is near and dear to Hackett’s heart, with all the profits being a donation.
“It’s all going toward a fundraiser for the Warren Area High School marching band and music department. It feels really good to be able to help the kids,” Hackett said.
For Hackett, the event is something he can’t imagine not doing.
“It’s the highlight of my year,” he said. “It’s a real feel-good thing for me, knowing that the community is supportive and behind it. I love rock and roll, obviously, I’ve dedicated my life to it, for better or worse. For me, it’s a blast. I look forward to it all year long. As long as I’m healthy and can draw breath, I’m going to continue to do it. I feel like I’m giving back to the community that raised me.”
