Hot on the heels of the highly successful 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Uptown Music Collective will return to the Journey Bank Community Arts Center stage for its first major performance of 2026. “Back to the Garage: Songs That Rocked the 2000s” — a one-night-only concert — is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 24. The show, which is presented in partnership with UPMC North Central Pa. and UPMC Health Plan, was chosen through the UMC’s annual People’s Choice online voting event last summer. It will feature 23 student performers aged 11 to 18, supported by the school’s student-led technical crew. This is also the school’s annual fundraising performance, which raises money for the school’s scholarship and financial aid fund, in addition to the Collective’s other free programs.
“Back to the Garage” explores the wave of rock music that defined the early 2000s — a sound that blended emotional honesty, youthful rebellion and unapologetically loud guitars. The set list includes songs made famous by artists like Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Yellowcard, Avril Lavigne and more — music that shaped a generation and continues to connect deeply with young musicians today.
“The themes of this show are universal,” said UMC Founder and Executive Director Dave Brumbaugh. “Every generation finds its own sound, but the thread is so often the same — that deep vein of angst and feeling misunderstood, where music becomes the place young people recognize themselves in one another. I’m sure this music was that force for many of our students’ parents, and I think they’ll love watching their kids feel it with the same passion they did at that age.”
Audiences can expect an evening packed with songs like The Rock Show (Blink 182), In Too Deep (Sum 41), Misery Business (Paramore), Welcome to the Black Parade (My Chemical Romance), The Middle (Jimmy Eat World), Sk8er Boi (Avril Lavigne), Sugar, We’re Goin Down (Fall Out Boy), and more — played loud, with passion and with all the joyful intensity of young musicians who grew up loving this music (even if most of it came out before they were born).
Collective students have been diligently preparing for this event for more than two months. Along with the music, there will be a professional-grade light and sound show, organized by the students themselves, who work alongside the professionals at the Journey Bank Community Arts Center. As with all Uptown Music Collective performances, the students are not only the performers but also the directors of the show. A group of younger students, or “Tech Monkeys,” will serve as stage technicians and spotlight operators. The cast for the show is drawn from the Uptown Music Collective’s much-heralded “Special Performance Group 1.”
This show is directed by Uptown Music Collective senior Mackenzie Hakes (South Williamsport Area High School), along with Ella Hertwig (Loyalsock Township High School) and Elle Donlin (Stanford Online High School). The show’s leadership committee consists of UMC students Matthew Bellino and Nick Willoughby (Danville Area High School); Lila Butters, Jake Butters and Jocelyn Moser (Loyalsock Township High School); Caiden Scarfo and Cash Street (Williamsport Area High School); Hailey Campbell (Montgomery Area High School); Christian Williams (Walnut Street Christian School); and Rian Gephart (Montoursville Area High School).
“I’m very excited to direct this as my senior show,” Hakes said. “I grew up listening to bands like Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance, so this show has a special nostalgia factor for me, and I hope it resonates the same with the audience. This show is going to be very high energy and exciting, and I can’t wait to see the final product onstage. My fellow directors and I have put a lot of work into this show, so we are very excited for the audience to see what we’ve been working on. Showcasing this era of music is something the Collective has never done before, so this sure will surely be a historic presentation.”
Additional partners and sponsors for this performance include Chartwell Hotels, KFC of Williamsport, Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships, The Kiessling Group of Janney Montgomery Scott, Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, Woodlands Bank, Miele Amusements, The Brickyard Restaurant and Ale House, The Stonehouse Wood Fired Pizza and Pasteria, The Crooked Goose, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Roche Financial Inc., The Hartman Group, Hudock Capital Group, and Beiter’s Furniture, Mattress and Appliance. Media sponsors include Backyard Broadcasting, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Lamar Advertising, 92.1 WSQV, NorthCentralPa.com and The Graphic Hive.
For more details about “Back to the Garage: Songs That Rocked the 2000s,” as well as ticket information, visit uptownmusic.org/thegarage or caclive.com/umc. Check out the Collective’s official Facebook page, as well as other Collective social media outlets, for teasers, previews, behind-the-scenes info and more from the performance.
