Avid fans camp out

The music, memories and the
band members’ graciousness
all spark fans’ devotion for the trio.

The Youngstown Vindicator
ENTERTAINMENT
Monday, August 13, 2001

By Debora Shaulis
Entertainment Editor


YOUNGSTOWN - There oughta be a welcoming committee when rock trio Glass Harp gives local performances. Dave Yanovich would be a natural for that line of work.
Yanovich, 35, of Warren – a tall, dark-haired and friendly guy – sat front and center Saturday night at Glass Harp’s free performance at Mill Creek MetroParks Morley Pavilion. He earned the best seat in the house. He parked his folding chair at 8 that morning for the 7 p.m. show.
"I personally am just a huge Phil Keaggy fan. I have like 30 of his albums. I have all of the Glass Harp stuff," Yanovich said minutes before the concert began. About 5,000 people were seated beside and behind him on the lawn on a comfortable summer night.
Becoming a tradition: Yanovich is used to being the first to arrive at concerts. He waited for six hours outside Pleasant Valley Church in Liberty last December to see Keaggy, Who’s an icon in Christian rock as well as Glass Harp’s guitarist-vocalist.
Yanovich saw both Glass Harp’s most recent performances in Youngstown. Actually, he almost missed the "Strings Attached" concert last October at Edward W. Powers Auditorium. Yanovich bought, then lost his ticket. He showed up anyway and told his story to Val Sferra, wife of drummer John Sferra. She gave him another ticket.
Yanovich seemed to be "really distraught" recalled Val Sferra, who was also seated Saturday in front of the stage. She arrived with the band around 1 p.m.
Asked what he did for 11 hours before the concert, Yanovich said he packed a cooler, a stereo and his Glass Harp CD’s.
Fans bridge gap: He also bonded with a 14-year-old Stef Grimaldi of Youngstown when she arrived at 9:30 a.m.
Yanovich and Stef have met John Sferra as customers at The Drum Shop in Struthers.
When Yanovich didn’t make it to the store one day because of a household emergency,
Sferra called him from there to chat. When Sferra wanted to play his new drum set before taking it home from the shop, Stef loaned her drumsticks to him.
Yanovich and Stef are too young to have witnessed Glass Harp’s initial musical ascent in the early 1970’s when the band had a national recording contract. Stef said her parents introduced her to the music by taking her to "Strings Attached" concert with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. "I’ve been hooked ever since," she said, referring to their lyrics as "poetry."
For Yanovich, discovery came in 1984, after he was "saved" (a religious practice). Someone played Keaggy’s music for him. He wanted to hear more. He eventually learned of Glass Harp.
Keaggy’s faith is reflected in music. "I respect that integrity in him," Yanovich said.
Personality is also a factor in Yanovich’s appreciation of the band. "They’re just three of the nicest, most gracious guys you’d ever want to meet," he said.
Family affair: Compared with Yanovich and Stef, Kathy Wire of Struthers was almost late for the concert. She arrived at 3:30 p.m.
Wire and her sister, Patty Wilson of Youngstown, were in elementary school when Keaggy would visit at their cousin’s house. "We grew up listening to them play guitar," Wire said.
It was their memories that drew them to the concert in the park.
"He’s neighborhood. He’s a friend of the family," Wire said.
"They play great music," said her husband, Alan Wire. Their children, Calan, 13 and Emily, 11 were hearing the band for the first time.
The Glass Harp musicians hadn’t played together in Youngstown for almost 30 years, until last year. Their return was overdue, said two other fans who squeezed in Saturday near the stage.
"They didn’t do too much, but what they did is phenomenal," said Donny Santraelli, 41 of Youngstown.
"If they had stayed together years ago, they’d be a supergroup," said Gary Schindler, 43 of Austintown.
Schindler wasn’t overstating it, according to Jef Cline of Cortland, a k a "Chicken Man." "They were the greatest original group that ever came out of the Mahoning Valley," he said. That’s why there were many 50-ish people like him at the concert, he added.
Supporting the park: Fans weren’t the only ones demonstrating their devotion Saturday.
Bass player Daniel Pecchio called for support of the park levy that will be on the November ballot. All three musicians grew up on the West Side and fondly recalled time they spent in the park.
Pecchio, who lives in Chagrin Falls, said he was pleased to see that Mill Creek "is better than it has ever been.
… This is one of your treasures. Don’t lose it."
Summer concerts at Morley Pavilion are usually 75 minutes each, said Tony Leone, the park’s deputy. The Glass Harp show was a special event, so the band was permitted to play longer, he added.
The band performed some of its best-known songs, including "Changes," in a 90-minute set of extended jams and inspiring lyrics. Then Keaggy announced that they were taking a break and would perform an acoustic set. At least half of the crowd stayed to hear more Glass Harp specialties, such as "Southbound."
Besides the hometown followers, Keaggy noted that people had come to the concert from Cleveland, Akron, North Carolina and Nova Scotia.