Rick “Noodles” Horvath has been singing Creedence Clearwater Revival songs since he was 13 — his first band, his first real obsession. The stripped-down arrangements that made CCR so compelling in the late 1960s and early 1970s leave no room for fakery, which is either the best reason to spend 15 years working on a tribute or a test that never really ends. Now fronting Green River, billed as the country’s top nationally touring CCR/John Fogerty tribute act, Horvath brings the 15th Anniversary Legacy Tour to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Saturday, February 27.
About the Show
Green River formed in 2010 as a deliberate four-piece, mirroring the original Creedence Clearwater Revival configuration; Horvath considers matching that lineup essential to getting the arrangements right. CCR’s catalog ran through roots rock and swamp rock, and those songs hold up in a live room precisely because they were designed to. The band performs a full 90-minute set: “Bad Moon Rising,” “Proud Mary,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Down on the Corner” are central, along with selections from John Fogerty’s Legacy Album, Fan-Picked Favorites, and extended jam versions of “Susie Q” and “Heard It Through The Grapevine” that expand the way Creedence stretched those songs in their own live performances.
“We stay authentic to the arrangements,” Horvath has said. “The musicianship in the band is phenomenal.” Guitarist Michael Louis is specifically cited in the band’s own description of what makes the show work. Horvath also hosts a weekly surf music radio program out of Scranton, Pennsylvania — work that keeps him embedded in catalog-driven music year-round. The audience tends to be multi-generational, ranging from college-age listeners to long-time CCR fans, a range that speaks as much to the durability of the source material as to Green River’s fidelity to it.
Venue & Logistics
Penn’s Peak is a 1,800-capacity mountaintop venue in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, with lofty ceilings, a spacious dance floor, a rustic interior, and a 50-mile panoramic view that the venue considers one of its defining features. There’s a full-service restaurant and bar, Roadies, on site. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. For more shows in the region, see the Hudson Valley concerts calendar.
Tickets
Advance tickets are $24.00. Day-of-show price rises to $29.00. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, September 25 at 10:00 a.m.; the Sneak Peak Club presale opens Monday, September 22 at 11:00 a.m. Buy tickets.