Fuel and Soul Asylum bring ’90s rock to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Aug. 17
From a press release:
It was announced today that Fuel will return to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Friday, Aug. 17 at 8 p.m., this time with fellow ’90s rock band Soul Asylum. Las Vegas hard rock group Adelitas Way will open the show.
Tickets, which are $42 in advance and $47 the day of the show, go on sale next Friday, April 20 at 10 a.m. and will be available at ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak box office (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe), and Roadies Restaurant and Bar (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe). Penn’s Peak box office and Roadies Restaurant ticket sales are walk-up only; no phone orders.
Fuel formed in 1993 while playing the club circuit in and around Harrisburg. The band signed to Sony Records and in 1998 released their critically lauded debut album “Sunburn” with the massive hit single “Shimmer.” They celebrated the 20-year anniversary of “Sunburn” on their nationwide tour with Marcy Playground and Dishwalla last year.
Their second album, “Something Like Human,” took the band to a new level of stardom, hitting multi-platinum status driven by the singles “Innocent” and “Hemorrhage,” which remained at No. 1 for 10 weeks. In 2003, Fuel released their third record, “Natural Selection,” and found success on the radio again with the hit song “Falls on Me.” At that point, the band had sold over 3.5 million records in the U.S. alone and had scored a trio of releases with Top 5 singles. The band has headlined their own sold-out tours and supported the likes of Aerosmith and Kid Rock.
But even what seems like the best of circumstances can prove to be difficult and, unhappy with the direction and lack of unity inside the band, singer/guitarist Brett Scallions amicably parted ways with Fuel in 2004. During his time away from Fuel, he continued to write music and toured with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors.
“When I left Fuel, I was miserable; it did not feel like a band anymore,” Scallions said. “Unity was nonexistent. Performing those amazing Doors songs with two legends, who are two of the architects of that sound, was eye-opening, life-changing, and opened a whole new perspective on music and life. I realized much music is about freedom and not being confined to formats.”
In 2014, Fuel released “Puppet Strings” on MRI/Red. Catapulted by the first single, the driving, hypnotic “Soul to Preach To,” the album entered the Billboard rock charts at No. 1. The fans spoke loud and clear to the band, and “Cold Summer” became the second single. The Fuelies were right, as “Cold Summer” became a staple on rock radio, cracking the Top 20 throughout the summer with a video that is a classic throwback to when rock videos were fun.
“Rock ‘n’ roll is very much alive on this record,” Scallions noted. “Fuel is fully reignited, and it feels like we are just getting started.”
Soul Asylum has been inspiring an incredible level of passion for their music since 1981, when the band, initially known as Loud Fast Rules, formed in Minneapolis. Their raucous live sets and early releases on the hometown indie label Twin/Tone – including the albums “Say What You Will, Clarence… Karl Sold the Truck,” “Made to Be Broken,” and “While You Were Out” – earned them a loyal fan base and widespread critical acclaim.
Soul Asylum’s indie success led to the band entering the major label mainstream with 1988’s “Hang Time” and its 1990 follow-up, “And the Horse They Rode In On,” achieving a huge commercial breakthrough with 1992’s triple-platinum “Grave Dancers Union” and 1995’s platinum “Let Your Dim Light Shine.” “Grave Dancers Union” featured the international hits “Runaway Train” (which won a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song) and “Black Gold,” while “Let Your Dim Light Shine” spawned the hit “Misery.”
The band went on hiatus after 1998’s “Candy from a Stranger,” during which time vocalist Dave Pirner released his first solo effort, “Faces & Names.” Soul Asylum returned to action in 2006 with “The Silver Lining,” “Delayed Reaction” six years later and, most recently, with 2016’s “Change of Fortune.”
