It was a rainy Friday night, but there were dancers waiting on the floor before The Impact Band even took the stage. By the third song of the night’s first set, the server could no longer reach tables in certain parts of the bar – the dance floor was already heaving at capacity. By the time the night’s second set started, the horn section was literally blowing smoke and people were dancing on top of each other. And the band still had one more set to go.

What The Impact Band is becomes more obvious by looking at what they are not. They are not a jukebox pumping out songs that seldom leave an iPod. They are not a group of “get rich or die trying” musicians. They’re definitely not your average cover band. Truthfully, The Impact Band is only one thing – or, rather, 10 things: 10 people who want to have a really good time and ensure that everyone within earshot has one as well. Jeff Cox, drummer for the band, puts it this way: “We want to have a good time. We want everybody to have a good time.”

The method behind the mission is funk music, and the medium is three vocalists, two trumpets, one trombone, one sax (occasionally), drums, bass, guitar and keys. But The Impact Band prefers to be more than the sum of its parts.

“To play this type of music effectively, you have to have horns,” Cox says, referring to half of the band’s front line and the rounding effect it has on an already vast musical catalogue.

Years ago, singer Greg Wolfgang and his brother, Bob, formed The Impact Band’s predecessor. By the year 2000, the current Impact Band had assembled and started playing clubs in Harrisburg. Soon they were traveling all over the state as well as Maryland and Virginia, garnering the title of “ Central Pennsylvania’s Best Party Band,” thousands of names on their e-mail list, and an official sponsorship from Rolling Rock.

“We’re a dance/party band, and we really try to stick our knitting,” says Cox.

The Impact Band manages seamless transitions from disco-era classics by Earth, Wind & Fire and KC & The Sunshine Band up to today’s dance pop favorites by Rob Thomas and Santana, Alicia Keys and Usher. Vocals are handled by three varied souls that bring personal touches to songs that could quite easily be mere covers. Greg owns his past and brings a sense of history to the stage and dance floor, even when he’s covering the rap portion of the Moulin Rouge version of “Lady Marmalade.” Jeff Falcone will sing from any object he can climb on – including your table or the bar. And Janelle Verones possesses titanium pipes that belie her young age and small stature, giving strong competition to a range of talents from Beyoncé to Gloria Gaynor.

The Impact Band’s talent is not limited to merely its front line, however. Cox plays multiple drum styles. Antonio Fountain is considered one of the area’s best rhythm guitarists, though still capable of handling lead work. Chuck Seay can cut a mean bass solo. Jim Harris more than knows his way around the keys. And the band’s horn section – Bill Gingrich, Dave Buffington, Bill Perbetsky (not pitured) and Seth Mellon (occasional saxiphonist) – packs a powerful punch. To top it all off – no one in the band relies on music as his or her full-time job despite playing with enough talent to do so.

Perhaps the fire that The Impact Band brings to the stage burns because the members all part ways and function as working adults. Performances become shows, and the crowd becomes an eleventh member (often taking on vocal duties).

“We’re playing because we love the music, and the interaction with people,” says Bob. “It’s a happy kind of experience.” These are men and a woman who need to have a good time on the weekend, and do their best to facilitate others in having one as well.

By nature, The Impact Band lives onstage. But the audience isn’t allowed a passive experience.Dancing is not optional. Any attempt to stay seated will lead to a chair rocking back and forth and, at the very least, a strong sense of bobbing heads. This is, of course, the purpose of funk music, which acts on a chemical level. Taken with or without the recommended alcohol, funk erases the stresses and tensions of the work week, effectively isolating an individual from the real world and forcing him or her to wonder why this didn’t happen sooner. And The Impact Band knows funk, having earned itself the moniker of “Groove Merchants;” as Cox puts it, they have “the groove that makes you move.”

The members of The Impact Band have no intentions of making it in the music business. For them, performing is merely a means to an end. A cathartic experience. A way to meet people, perhaps have a few drinks and sing some songs that have stood the test of time. They manage to blend new and old, hitting all the notes on the page. And then some.

“There is nothing mechanical about this,” says Cox. “There is improvisation here and there. All the while, we’re still staying at home.”

The Impact Band takes this blend and feeling with it everywhere, playing venues from fraternity houses and weddings to private parties, clubs and bars. Eventually, people are going to catch on, and The Impact Band will explode onto the scene. Success in the music business just might be found without even looking for it, but this would certainly be no accident. The Impact Band is very good at what it does, performing with an unbridled honesty driven by talent, dedication and a desire to both entertain and be entertained.

More information on The Impact Band is available online at www.theimpactband.com, including mp3s and a complete list of show dates.