I’m still in disbelief of this year and who we were honored enough to book and as I write this Its not even over yet. I knocked out a huge top 5 bucket lister in may when Ugly Kid Joe came to Lovedrafts. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to hear Whitfield Crane say “How you doing Mechanicsburg”? Absolutely insane to hear that and to know I brought them to my hometown. So honored. Another Huge one was Soulfly and getting to meet the Legend Max Cavalera. He even thanked me onstage which was a total “pinch me” moment. I don’t “fanboy” all that often at shows but for those to and a few others (Save Ferris, Filter, Powerman 5000) i certainly did.
All in all 717 Entertainment whipped through over 60 shows at 3 different venues and booked in the ball park of 200 acts this year. Not bad for the 16th year. A milestone was also reached as we hit 300 shows (a good bit beyond that now) in September when we hosted 2 Tribute festivals. Lets Dive in, shall we???

THE NEW BLOOD:

One of the most important aspects of 717 Entertainment is the new bands we are lucky enough to work with year in and year out. Remember, every band we’ve booked 10+ times, there was a first booking.
THE OTHER LA - One of our most favorite new bands of the year that we got to work w/ is a band called The Other LA. An absolutely incredible band that we had play at the Tourist inn. We got to see them again in Ohio at the Inkcarceration festival for a special camp ground performance. We closed out the year w/ a two night stint w/ them opening for my sometimes band Green Jelly. They played at the old Gulliftys and back at the Tourist inn. It was amazing getting to spend time w/ them and seeing them two nights in a row. I Can’t wait to bring them to our homebase of Lovedrafts in 2024.

THE NATIONALS (OUR FAVS)

Let me start by saying this year was an absolute dream for me in regards to some of the bands I was able to bring to town. Here I’ll go w/ my Top 5 National Artists We booked this year.

05. FILTER - TUESDAY MAY 30TH 2023
AT LOVEDRAFTS

05. FILTER - I’ve been listening to this band since they released “Hey Man Nice Shot”. The band features Richard Patrick who was a member of one of my all time favorite bands Nine Inch Nails. I had them booked a few years ago but it fell through and I was so so fortunate to be able to bring them to town this year. The show was fantastic and I can now say we saw them play “Take a Picture” and all thier other top hits in Mechanicsburg PA.

04. SOULFLY - SATURDAY JANUARY 25TH 2023
AT LOVEDRAFTS

04. SOULFLY - Back in 1998 I saw Max Cavelera’s Soulfly at Ozzfest. Max is the original Vocalist of Sepultura and is an absolute heavy metal legend. This is a band that I’ve always wanted to book. It was an amazing night as the crew and band were the nicest guys. Getting to Meet Max briefly was incredible. He even thanked me onstage and pointed to me calling me a great promoter. I’m sure he says that nightly but I don’t know that he’ll ever know how much that meant to me. Not to mention this was my first SOLD OUT show at Lovedrafts. I’m excited to host Max again w/ his new outfit Go Ahead and Die in February of 2024.

03. POWERMAN 5000 - FRIDAY AUGUST 4TH 2024
AT LOVEDRAFTS

03. POWERMAN 5000 - I’ve literally listend to “Tonight The Stars Revolt” over 500 times in my life and have seen Powerman live a few times and everytime it ends up being one of my favorite shows. I was fortunate enough to bring them to my hometown of Mechanicsburg. Thats another thing, hearing these legends and idols of mine say “Hello Mechanicsburg” is really wild. PM5K was awesome at Lovedrafts. Once again amazing guys. Can’t wait to see them back in March of next year.

02. SAVE FERRIS - WEDNESDAY AUGUST 16TH 2023
AT LOVEDRAFTS

02. SAVE FERRIS - My favorite Ska band ever is undoubtably Save Ferris. I was only able to see them in concert one time but man did I play the hell out of that disc. The one w/ thier “Come on Eileen” Cover that was all over the radio in the late 90’s. What a way to bring in a new genre, that being Ska. I sound like a broken record but again the band and crew were the biggest sweethearts. The show was fantastic and I’m looking to hopefully bring them back in next year along w some other great Ska bands…

01. UGLY KID JOE - FRIDAY MAY 26TH 2023
AT LOVEDRAFTS

01. UGLY KID JOE - Top 3 on my bucket list of bands to book and a band that I’ve never seen in concert. Not only that but the band hasn’t even played in the United States in 20 years and I was lucky enough to bring them to Mechanicsburg as part of thier first US Tour in over 20 years. I fan boyed so hard that night, jumping up and down singing and made sure to buy every shirt they had available. I got to meet Whitfield Crane and talk to him for a few minutes. He even gifted me what he said was one of the last copies of their new album “The Rad Wings of Destiny” on Cassette. In fact he said it was one of the last 5 available. I will never in my life forget this night.