Photo submitted to Times Observer. Pat Hackett, the founder of the Allegheny River Monsters, will share the stage with about 30 musicians during Warrenstock 2021 from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 2, at Pellegrino’s Italian Market on Conewango Avenue.

The Allegheny River Monsters are making their way up the Conewango for Warrenstock 2021.

The monsters are not legendary giant fish from the base of Kinzua Dam nor prehistoric beasts that roam underwater pathways from here to Lake Erie and beyond. They’re the musicians who have banded together over 10 years to enjoy making music and to entertain all those who want to listen.

The Monsters will take the stage at Pellegrino’s Italian Foods and Market at 449 Conewango Ave. from 5 p.m. Friday, until 9:30 p.m. “give or take, given how much banter and fun occurs,” the event’s organizer, Pat Hackett said.

In that time, Monsters will perform 43 or 44 songs, he said.

“We have 30 people this year that will be on stage,” Hackett said. “It’s like a revolving stage. The only person that’s out there for the entire duration is me.”

That’s a long time to be on stage. “It’s a labor of love,” he said.

Joining him throughout the evening will be “three drummers, two bass players, about seven guitar players, and about 17 singers,” Hackett said. “What you see throughout the course of the show… you’re going to see about a dozen different bands.”

“It kinda coincides with these shows you see on TV like America’s Got Talent and the Voice,” he said.

“People in the crowd will always mention to me… ‘I was getting ready to go, but we just couldn’t leave. We had to see what happened next.'”

The musical selections are mostly rock (80 percent) and country (20 percent).

Hackett, who is a 1982 graduate of Warren Area High School, started the community concert back in 2011. There was a different venue, a different name, and not as many musicians.

Hackett was returning from his California home after the death of his father in 2010.

As he was handling arrangements, he decided he didn’t want his return to Warren to be entirely negative.

“Maybe I’ll do a show while I’m back there,” he said. He played at Snuffy’s.

“A couple people asked in,” he said. “Three people turned into six.”

And it kept growing.

In 2011, Hackett put together a community music festival in downtown Warren – “Liberty Rocks.”

“We played on Liberty Street,” he said. “That year, it was called ‘Pat Hackett and his Acoustic Flying Circus Extravaganza.’ That first year it was all acoustic.”

Back in town for his 30th high school reunion in 2012, he needed a new name.

“It was called ‘Pat Hackett’s Electric Tsunami of Sound,'” he said.

He got more than he bargained for in the tsunami department. “There was a thunderstorm. … It wasn’t just any thunderstorm,” he said. And the event was rained out.

He moved indoors — to the ballroom at the Holiday Inn — for 2013.

The name evolved.

“The Allegheny River… it’s a main thing in our hometown,” Hackett said. “We’re known for it.”

“If we want to kick ass and rock and roll, we want to be monsters,” he said.

And so were born the Allegheny River Monsters.

“I liked it so much we stuck with it ever since,” Hackett said.

Monsters come and go.

“Over the years, I know a lot of funny people and a lot of funny places,” he said. “People started asking in to the thing. If I knew them, I’d say, ‘Sure, come on down.'”

Hackett is not out doing talent evaluations to make sure everyone is ready for the big-time.

“The first couple of years, I was worried about it,” he said.

Then he realized it was OK if someone wasn’t up to his old standards. The event is about music, but it’s more about people.

“This gig is not about getting a record deal,” Hackett said. “It’s not about being the tightest band ever. These people just love being together. It’s like we’re preaching to the choir.”

“It’s like a class reunion every year,” Hackett said. “People come up to me every year… ‘I saw so-and-so.’ Everybody just reunites. That’s the best compliment that anybody could give to me.”

“We do this to bring the people together,” he said. “It’s a feeling of community. It’s like throwing a party. Like we’re in our back yard.”

There was no Warrenstock 2020, thanks to COVID-19, but the Monsters are ready to get two years of pent-up musical energy out.

“I’m very pleased to be literally back in my old neighborhood, bring the people together and share this event,” Hackett said. “People are ready to get back together and they’re ready to party and not have these walls up.”

There is no cost to attend.

Hackett said the attendance at the 2019 event was put at 1,500, but there could have been many more — up to 3,000, because people come and go throughout.

Those in the crowd include “kids running around all the way to people with walkers,” Hackett said. “It’s family atmosphere.”

“People party, but people are well-behaved,” he said. “We keep it clean. It’s helped out attendance. Not only is it free… it’s safe.”

Despite being a free concert, the event is raising money to help support the music community that encouraged the interests of so many of the participants.

“Since we’re a musical act, what better thing to do than give money to kids at the high school?” Hackett said. “So many times when budgets are cut, they start with the art and music departments.”

There will be an Icyy Ink kiosk at the venue. “We’re going to print Allegheny River Monster T-shirts on-site,” Hackett said.

The profits will be a donation. “We’re raising money for the WAHS band,” he said. “I feel really good about that.”