Organizers: 'A really good weekend' coming up Friday, Saturday at AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival is ready to rock.

The festival, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Peoples Natural Gas Park, 90 Johns St., downtown Johnstown, will feature 16 bands, including headliners Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew: Remain in Light and Andy Frasco & The U.N.

“We want to present some variety and have bands that do great live shows, bands who have an engaged following so their fans will turn out for the event, and we want bands who will be entertaining for our audience,” said Ron Carnevali, festival co-chairman. “We hit a home run this year with the lineup in that regard, because these are some terrific live performers.”

Andy Frasco & The U.N. will headline the Friday lineup. The band has long been DIY renegades of the touring scene, known and loved for its kaleidoscopic musical fusion and one-of-a-kind onstage audacity. The band performed at the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival in 2018.

Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew: Remain in Light will be the headliner Saturday.

Harrison was the keyboardist and guitar player for Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame and the 2021 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Grammy. He has multiple critically acclaimed solo albums, including “Casual Gods.”

Belew was the longtime lead singer and guitarist for progressive rock giants King Crimson. He has also recorded with, performed alongside and toured with David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos, Paul Simon and Cyndi Lauper.

Harrison and Belew, with their all-star backing band, will bring powerhouse renditions of Talking Heads classics such as “Once In A Lifetime,” “Psycho Killer” and “Take Me To The River” and selections from their solo careers, organizers said.

An additional 14 acts will perform during the two-day festival.

They include Melvin Seals & JGB with special guest Ron Holloway; Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country; Couch; Maggie Rose; Runaway Gin: A Tribute to Phish; Cool Cool Cool; Organ Fairchild; The Hillbilly Biscuits; Billy the Kid and the Regulators; Endless Mike and the Beagle Club; Soulful Femme; Smooth Sound Band; Whiskey River Panhandlers; and The Salt Brothers.

Funk, soul and rhythm and blues band Cool Cool Cool will perform in place of The Hypochondriacs, who are unable to attend the festival due to a work visa delay.

“Cool Cool Cool are well-known to us because they are all former members of a band called Turkuaz that played at the festival a couple times,” Carnevali said. “They are really high-energy and great musicians, and it’s going to be a fun show. It worked out great because they were going to be here anyway to back up Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew, so this way they get to do their own set.”

He said the festival offers a lot of appeal to music lovers.

“It’s going to be a really good weekend,” Carnevali said. “The festival crowd is very turned on by our event this year. It may be our strongest lineup ever.”

According to Accuweather, festival-goers can expect temperatures in the low to mid-80s Friday and Saturday, with mostly sunny skies.

General admission tickets are $45 for Friday and $55 for Saturday. A two-day pass is available for $65. A two-day VIP pass is available for $90.

For more information, visit www.floodcitymusic.com.