9 Centre County bands to join virtual anniversary celebration for ‘Concerts With a Cause’

Live music may be mostly on hold during the pandemic, but that won’t stop Centre County musicians from celebrating the 10th anniversary of a concert that raises money for local nonprofits.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, The State Theatre will present “We’re All In this Together: 10 Years of Concerts With a Cause,” a pre-recorded live music event that features longtime Centre County MC Jeff Brown and nine local bands.

The event will be streamed live via YouTube and Facebook, and includes performances by Pure Cane Sugar, Eric Ian Farmer, Tommy Wareham, Ted McCloskey & the Hi-Fi’s, Hannah Bingman, Lemont, Andy Tolins & Richard Sleigh, Miss Melanie, and Jeremy Frank.

“Some of the artists recorded safely and distantly at the theater, while others worked remotely from home, collaborating with bandmates and engineers,” co-organizer Jason McIntyre wrote in an email.

In years past, the event has focused on the music of a certain musician, such as the Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan, and most recently the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. Shows have typically been highly anticipated and sold-out.

“For the last nine years musicians from the community have come together at the theater,” McIntyre wrote, “while also raising money for local nonprofits.”

In lieu of a set ticket price this year, virtual attendees are asked to donate to The State Theatre, a nonprofit community arts center that has been unable to host traditional large-scale and in-person events for nearly a year.

The programming of the anniversary show will reflect an amalgam of the music from years past.

“The music will be vast as it will celebrate the music of the various artists and genres from past years’ production,” McIntyre wrote.

The event comes at a critical time for local musicians. The COVID-19 pandemic decimated the local music scene, sending musicians to online platforms such as Facebook to livestream shows for tips, a development that worked surprisingly well considering its novelty. Even so, “We’re All in This Together” is essentially about giving back to the community.

“This community prides itself on the commitment to giving,” Purse Cane Sugar singer Natalie Race wrote in an email. “The State Theater, local nonprofits, musicians, businesses and area residents work together time after time, year after year, to help one another.”

As traumatizing and shape shifting as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, there are signs of hope, certainly with The State Theater continuing creative programming.

“Depending on how COVID-19 evolves, the State Theater is looking forward to reopening at the end of the summer,” event organizer Roy Love wrote in an email.

To theater board member and State College business owner Amy Frank, the event is important for multiple reasons.

“We hope to remind the community of the vibrancy and energy the theater brings to our downtown,” Frank wrote in an email. “This engaging, fun evening will showcase the incredible array of talented local musicians in our area — many of whom haven’t been able to perform this year.”