Live music is back at Wilkes-Barre skate park Keystone Rampworks on Aug. 21
While many venues still cannot host concerts due to health and safety regulations regarding the coronavirus pandemic, one place in Wilkes-Barre is uniquely equipped to host indoor shows that require social distancing.
Keystone Rampworks is a skate park located inside the Wyoming Valley Sports Dome and its 76,000 square feet, spread across three playing fields. The skate park section is 8,500 square feet with “ample space for social distancing,” according to organizers.
“We’ve heard the concerns. We’ve weighed the pros and cons. Now, for the first time in more than five months, we’re bringing back live local music,” Keystone Rampworks posted on its YouTube channel.
“The building itself is inflated by continuous flowing outside air; it is not a normal indoor facility. Masks will be required throughout the performances to keep everyone safe. The purpose of this show is to help support our local musicians.”
Rather than use the building’s smaller room that typically hosts live music, shows will now be held in the skate park itself starting this Friday, Aug. 21.
This first concert will be headlined by Jacob Langley of Handguns, a pop punk band from Harrisburg who signed with Pure Noise Records, played the Vans Warped Tour, and toured with Senses Fail, Man Overboard, and The Wonder Years. Langley has since released several solo EPs and toured under the name Jacob Daniel Langley.
The lineup also features Scranton/Dunmore punk rockers The Mesos, Mountain Top metal band Black Horizon, Wilkes-Barre heavy metal band 5-7-Zero, and Lehigh Valley punk trio Blind Choice.
The all-ages show will run from 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at Keystone Rampworks (131 Bear Creek Blvd., Wilkes-Barre). Tickets, which must be purchased online in advance, are $15 and on sale now at keystonerampworks.com. All funds from ticket sales will be given to the musicians. Food and drinks will be available from the Keystone Rampworks Coffee House to support the venue.
“In the event a physical show cannot occur, a live stream broadcast will be provided for all who purchased tickets,” Keystone Rampworks said.
“If you have any questions, please reach out to 844-476-5779 or contact@keystonerampworks.com.”
Keystone Rampworks owners Mikki St. Pierre and Jeffery Mushell explain more and show how the concert will be set up in this video:
In 2017, the couple started a crowdfunding campaign to open Keystone Rampworks, a “sports and recreation complex for all skill levels of freestyle BMX, scooter, skateboard, skate, and other alternative extreme sports participants with a cafe for friends, family, and non-participants.” Since then, they jumped over many hurdles to make this dream a reality and opened in the spring of 2018.
As businesses began to reopen this summer as pandemic restrictions lifted, Keystone Rampworks was able to open by appointment only, with shorted sessions and increased safety regulations.
Learn more about Keystone Rampworks in an interview with Mushell and friends/supporters George Rittenhouse and Patrick Ventura in Episode 60 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
