Brendan Callahan was 12 years old when he sat down as his father and a friend were reminiscing and watching old 1980s rock music videos.
“He locked onto ‘Fantasy’ by Aldo Nova, where he uses his guitar at the beginning to shoot a laser and open the door to his gig in a totally cheesy ’80s way,” said Callahan’s father Tim. “As we were laughing about it, Brendan was discovering his guitar hero.”
On Thursday, Callahan will take the stage at Jergel’s in Warrendale with his band Xander Demos & XDB, to open for his guitar hero.
“He’s been one of my biggest inspirations,” said Callahan, 22, of Latrobe, a senior at Seton Hill University. “I’d love the chance to tell him how much his music has meant to me.”
In late 2020, Callahan met Pittsburgh-area guitarist Xander Demos, who was looking to start a cover band that would play Van Halen and Whitesnake songs, called Van Venom. Callahan joined on guitar.
“That idea kind of fizzled after a few month, but we’ve been doing a lot of original music since then,” Callahan said. “Xander knew the lead singer for the band Firehouse, and we opened for them in 2022 and 2023. Then we opened for Stryper and Enuff Z’Nuff, all at Jergel’s. We been in their regular opening rotation.”
When the Aldo Nova show was announced in early 2024, Callahan found himself preparing to warm up the stage for his idol.
“I’m really hyped about it,” he said. “We all really gelled as musicians — the XDB goes back about 12 years before I was involved. They’d taken a hiatus, and this new version of the band has really taken off.”
Members of the band live and work in different parts of the Pittsburgh area, and Callahan said their biggest current challenge is working on original songs for a record they’d like to cut in the fall.
“We all have different jobs, and we don’t have as much time to rehearse,” he said. “We’re writing a lot of songs individually and sending them to each other.”
But they’ll be ready to take the stage Thursday night.
“I love how ‘in-the-pocket’ we are as a group,” Callahan said. “It’s just so cool to play with guys who are really tight with the music.”
Xander Demos & XDB will open the show at 8 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.). Tickets are $34-$48, available at Jergels.com.
