717 ENTERTAINMENT 400
”BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN”

When the idea of doing a 400th show celebration came up the original idea was to do 2 days at Lovedrafts Brewing Co. in Mechanicsburg. We had a pretty solid lineup put together including Lacey Sturm (from Flyleaf), Rivals, King 810, Deadlands and a few others. Then we got word that Lovedrafts would be relocating to Harrisburg and wouldn’t be open during the timeframe of the proposed 400th show. The planning for this show was in all honesty incredibly difficult w/ all the different moving parts. Numerous venues were considered as well as a plethora of acts that we had booked, unbooked. Dates were changed on multiple occasions. Then it all came to me, Lets do it in the room where this thing started over 15 years ago. Gullifty’s Underground, now just called Underground Live. So now we had the venue, dates and a few bands set but what to do w/ this show in March that was already planned. Well… We did our first show at XL Live w/ Lacey Sturm, Rivals and Observe The 93rd. More on that in the full year in review…

King 810 was signed on from the beginning and frankly it was more then fitting as they are one of my favorite bands and ironically looking back through our shows they also played our 200th show.

So w/ our headliner in tow we set out to fill this thing up w/ upcoming bands, reunions and special performances, not unlike festivals that we see. Originally we had Julian Fist signed on as they headlined our first ever show at that very venue, unfortunately they had to pull out a week before the show. We scrambled and added Atlas At Hold, an absolutely incredible band that is skyrocketing in the local scene. Nailbite was one of the first bands we asked to be a part of this and they gladly accepted. I thought itd be neat to include a tribute set as that has become a small part of what we do and I couldnt think of a better one than Eminenscence from NY who play the most spot on tribute to evanescence that you’ll ever hear. Another band we Had to have was Mantra of Morta who are from IN and have become some of our closest band buddies in recent years. Here is the actual schedule from the show…

The venue was BYOB so folks were encouraged to bring a cooler of liquor, beer or whatever they chose. One of the absolute best memories from that weekend is Jeff Porrini coming in on friday night w/ his big cooler of booze and jamming that night and then returning to his hotel (yes he got a hotel for the show) and then returning early the next day to do it all over again. Not many came both days but Jeff was there, laughing w/ friends, bands and standing front row for nearly every single band. Jeff was an absolutely amazing human being and I’ll talk more about him in our tribute to him and may even repeat this story as its honestly one of my favorite moments of the entire year.
I’ll be the first to say the attendance wasnt’ what it could have been for this weekend and there’s a million factors that could contribute to that but I think it was attended by some of the most wonderful people and I wouldn’t change it one bit as I was humbled and felt so happy the entire time. Between the bands that played and were excited to be a part of it, to the folks who came out one or both nights it was one of those happy tears type of weekends. When I did my first show at Gullifty’s I never dreamed of hitting 400 shows. I honestly wasn’t even planning on a second one at the time. The idea was one awards show and boom, cool that was fun. But there I was back in the same room after years of not being there and 17 years since that first time that featured some of the same people like Brad Cox (who performed at the first show w/ Skitzo Calypso and at this show acoustically).

EMINESCENCE

MANTRA OF MORTA

THE ART OF DECEPTION

It was a true honor to have KING 810 headline this weekend as they’ve become one of our favorites to book. The band was fresh off the heels of thier most recent EP “Rust Belt Nu Metal” and where heading home from thier tour w/ Upon a Burning Body so we got a rare Headline show on this particular run.

01. “Rustbelt Nu Metal”
02. “Midwest Monsters”
03. “Kill em All”
04. “Murder Murder Murder”
05. “Vendetta’s”
06. “Fat Around The Heart”
07. “Give My People Back”
08. “Widdershins”

NAILBITE

09. “Sues Song”
10. “Hurry Hurry Ahura Mazda”
11. “Hellhounds”
12. “Treading and Trodding”
13. “Suicide Machines”
14. “Heavy Lies The Crown”
15. “Alpha & Omega”

Performing directly before King was probably our closest friends in Nailbite. The band has made a name for themselves in the area and beyond the last couple of years w/ thier relentess touring and consistant single releasing. The band was plagued by sound issues to zero fault of thier own, however they still managed to rock the room as they always do. The big surprise was yours truly doing vocals on the set closing Limp Bizkit cover of “Break Stuff”, something we had planned a few months prior but did not practice. A late addition to the show was red hot Atlas At Hold who took the spot about a week prior to the show. They came out and played a short set and exploded on the stage w/ thier incredible energy.

Eminescence (Evanescenc Tribute) - When plotting this show we wanted every part of what we do represented and Tribute acts have become part of that. I could not think of a better band to incorporate then this band. I challenge you to close your eyes at an eminescence show and tell me you don’t think your watching Amy Lee and crew. The band ripped through all the favorites as well as some deep cuts.

KVRMA - 2025 saw the debut ep of KVRMA and they’ve been all over our best of the year lists. I found zero reason not to include them on this show as they are like family at this point. The band played a 30 minute set that felt like about 5 as they just blast through the most powerful sets w/ incredible stage presence and that unmistakable voice of lead vocalist Jack.

Mantra of Morta - Speaking of Family, MOM has become just that w/ us. I can almost gaurentee when the band begins to release more music they will be on our breakout bands list. For this show they came, they saw and they conquered bringing in avid MOM fans and gaining new ones at they do every time they come to town.

This is a Threat - The band came out and dominated the stage having the fans screaming for an encore.

No Fight No Victory - I’ve really grown fond of this band over the last year. The show was kicking into gear and many say the afternoon slots are rough but damn if these guys and gal didn’t make it feel like it was a regular night time gig.

The show was kicked off by a threesome of incredibleness. Akykosa, Fight The Fold and of course Blood & Earth who had a guest from Down to Ruins w/ them onstage or off as thier vocalist generally likes to come to the floor and get up close w/ the crowd.

NICK w/ NAILBITE

So how did we kick the weekend off? Friday night we had an absolute blast w/ a slew of bands. I figured one of the best ways to kick if off would be w/ a guy I’ve known for nearly the entirety of this journey of mine. Brenden Starr, a guy who’s been building momentum as the years go as well as he is now in year 5 of his Rock on the Hill festival.

The Art of Deception played a special set as they went through thier EP front to back and debuted the brand a track. Not enough is said about these guys.

Hate Grenade - Once again another band who is like family to us. I’ve known these guys forever and when booking this absolutely had to have them part of it. Holy shit did they sound amazing w/ thier blend of rap rock out of altoona.

Living Dead Girl - Canadian metal band LDG has more stage presence then some bands playing arena’s. They brought there goth metal to the show and had everyone up front watching them.

War on Women - They opened for Helmet a few months earlier and I had to have them back as they are just a ball of energy on that stage.

Discrepencies - We got a special performance that featured original vocalist. The band did not dissapoint, blasting through a 45 minute set to close out our first night…

LIVING DEAD GIRL

I wanna thank Everyone involved in this weekend. Underground Live, All the bands, all the fans who attended. I know I’ve said this but I never thought I’d do 400 shows. Doing it back at the venue where I started over 15 yars ago was sureal. Seeing some new friends like Nailbite, Mantra of Morta and No Fight No Victory on that stage was… again surreal. It was special to see Hate Grenade in that room again as well. I just can’t say enough about these 2 days.