Out & About: Hempfield Park concert 'amps up' Vogues fans

There’s something about the music you like when you’re young that just sticks with you.

So it was with the crowd who came to hear Chuck Blasko and The Vogues at the Amp Up Your Summer concert on June 18 in Hempfield Park.

Many of them were fans of the original Vogues, who burst out of Turtle Creek in the mid-1960s and onto the national charts with songs like “Five O’Clock World,” “You’re the One” and “Turn Around, Look at Me.”

These days, Blasko carries on the group’s legacy, along with vocalists Sean Moran and Timmy Scott.

Linda Nelson of Greensburg, listening with her husband Larry, said she’s been a fan since The Vogues sang at her 1968 senior prom at Hempfield Area High School.

“It’s a busy weekend,” she said, “but I said, ‘I’m not missing them.’”

Dan Wood of Greensburg called himself “a Vogues groupie. I never miss any of their shows on purpose — unless I have to.”

Diane Heshizer of Ligonier, with her husband Kevin, said she was the director of catering “many years ago” at the Radisson Hotel in Monroeville.

“Chuck was always my entertainment,” she said.

Not only was the entertainment good, said Ron Frey of Alverton, “the price is right.” He attended the free concert with his wife, Kathy.

Starting with “Five O’Clock World,” the group took the crowd that filled the hillside facing the amphitheater on a long trip down memory lane.

Seen: Tim and Kim Jones, Janice Harrold, Sharon Knatz, Rodney and Karen Rumbaugh, John and Millie Cramer, William Brady, Lisa Mahoney, Greg and Maria Olson, John and Sandee Kerlin, Debra Weibel, Anita Long, Doug and Jan Bailey, Don and Carol Ciampini and Tom and Cindy Mihun.

The Amp Up Your Summer series is presented by Hempfield Township Parks & Recreation. The full schedule is available at hempfieldtwp.com.