New Furnace Jam features varied rock acts outdoors at Scranton Iron Furnaces on Sept. 22
After the success of the Alt 92.1 Furnace Frenzy with the Dirty Heads last month, local concert production company DamnMillennial! Promotions has announced another outdoor concert at the Scranton Iron Furnaces in downtown Scranton on the first day of fall.
Set for Saturday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m., the Furnace Jam will feature a variety of different musical genres throughout the day. Headlined by the popular Talking Heads tribute band Start Making Sense from Bethlehem, the show includes performances by Chicago funk rockers The North 41, Scranton folk singer/songwriter JP Biondo and Friends, and Stroudsburg reggae group Young Lion.
The all-ages event will have food trucks, vendors, and full bar service (for 21+). Blankets and lawn chairs are permitted at the Scranton Iron Furnaces (159 Cedar Ave., Scranton).
Tickets, which are $25 in advance, are on sale now and can be purchased via Eventbrite. No coolers or outside food and beverage are allowed. One unopened bottle of water per person will be permitted.
Based in the Lehigh Valley, Start Making Sense authentically recreates the music of the Talking Heads, with frontman Jon Braun portraying a “spot-on” David Byrne. Many Scranton concertgoers remember the seven-piece group’s excellent headlining performance at the fifth annual Arts on the Square in downtown Scranton last year.
Originally known as Walsher Clemons before changing their name, The North 41 released their debut full-length studio album, “Dancing & Praying,” in 2015 and have a poppy new single, “Living on Top,” out now, the first song from their forthcoming record. They followed this up with a “funked up” cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” that recently went viral.
A founding member of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre jamgrass band Cabinet, JP Biondo is currently working on a solo album and recently reunited with the group (currently on hiatus) for the Peach Music Festival in July. He also played a solo set (with Christopher Kearney and Ellen Siberian Tiger) as well as with fellow Cabinet member Pappy Biondo at the seventh annual Peach Fest.
Formed in Negril, Jamaica, Young Lion is made up of former members Wilkes-Barre reggae musician George Wesley’s band (before he passed away in 2016) with vocalist Jamie Zaleski of Scranton’s own SouthSide Bandits. Playing regularly at Sarah Street Grill, they released their first album, “Pride,” with a show at the Stroudsburg venue on June 8.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Start Making Sense in Scranton last year here and photos of JP Biondo’s Peach sets here and Cabinet’s reunion here. Watch or listen to Biondo talk about Cabinet and their last album, as well as his own solo work, in Episode 8 of the NEPA Scene Podcast, which includes two exclusive acoustic performances:
Photo of Start Making Sense by Tammy Heid-Malloy/NEPA Scene
