Behind The Scenes
Clubhouse Announced as Opening Ceremony 2024 Headliner Act
By The Pelotonia Team|July 19, 2024
Ohio-born, feel-good indie pop band, Clubhouse, will headline Pelotonia Opening Ceremony on August 2!
Clubhouse lead singer, Max, is a cancer Survivor receiving treatment at The James. After performing on stage Friday night, bandmates, Ari and Zak, will ride the 20-mile route on Saturday morning for Max, who is Living Proof.
Clubhouse songs make people want to dance and enjoy the moment, which makes them a perfect act to headline the Opening Ceremony program on August 2 and hype up Pelotonia Riders, Volunteers, and spectators for the best Ride Weekend yet on August 3-4!
Band members include Max Reichert on lead vocals, guitarist Ari Blumer, and Zak Blumer on drums. Ari and Zak are twin brothers, but the three friends have been playing music together since they were in middle school in central Ohio.
From playing sold-out shows all over Ohio and sharing the stage with groups like The Revivalists, 21 Pilots, Chance the Rapper, and Young the Giant to performing at notable venues including Lower.com Field for the Columbus Crew and music festivals like Firefly Festival, Bunbury, and Wonderbus, Clubhouse is making its mark in the indie-pop scene. Some of their top songs include “NO WAY!,” “Weekend,” and their most recent release, a cover of “Big Jet Plane.”
Clubhouse may be a familiar sound to long-time Pelotonia participants as the band performed at the Kenyon finish line celebration during Ride Weekend 2017. Clubhouse is excited to return to Pelotonia in 2024, this time on a bigger stage and with an incredibly personal connection to our mission of Ending Cancer.
Central Ohio Roots
“Ohio” was released on August 4, 2023 – which will celebrate one year since its release during Ride Weekend 2024. This song has been described by the band as a “love letter to home” which they created while living more than 2,600 miles away in LA. The lyrics talk about missing their hometown and the “Ohio” music video was filmed in rural Ohio (not unlike the scenes many of our Riders will experience on August 3-4 along their routes).
“And I don’t wanna give you up
But I just gotta find a ride home
All the way back to Ohio.”
Max met brothers Ari and Zak at a wrestling camp in third grade in Pataskala, Ohio. The friends grew up five minutes apart and started playing music together in the Blumers’ basement in middle school, and never looked back.
After graduating from Watkins Memorial High School, the three attended Ohio University in southeast Ohio, where they began playing live gigs as a band. Creating music together with a feel-good indie pop style, these performances in their college years were just the beginning for Clubhouse.
A Cancer Diagnosis and Living Proof
After graduating in 2018, the band was ready to make their dreams for bigger musical success a reality. With sights set on moving to Los Angeles, Max was given the news that no one wants to hear: at 23, he was told, “You have cancer.”
Three short months after graduating from Ohio University, Max was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, following the discovery of a 9-centimeter tumor in his left femur. He underwent a year of chemotherapy at The James Cancer Hospital and then surgery performed by Dr. Joel Mayerson and his team to remove the tumor, which led to a full knee replacement and replacement for half of his femur.
Following treatment, Max and his Clubhouse bandmates moved to Los Angeles in 2019. Since moving to the West coast, Clubhouse has made it a long way from central and southeast Ohio, and their personal journey has continued to be filled with ups and downs.
Max has battled multiple cancer recurrences in his lungs, leg, and now shoulder. He is currently undergoing treatment at both The James and Cleveland Clinic, and had surgery recently.
Throughout this time, Max still continued doing what he loves: creating music with his two best friends.
This six-year cancer Survivorship journey for Max and the band has been a hard-fought battle, one that he continues to fight, supported by loved ones, Clubhouse fans, and even more broadly by the Pelotonia community.
2024 Opening Ceremony
Each year, Opening Ceremony kicks off Pelotonia Ride Weekend on Friday with an evening of celebration, impactful programming, and entertainment.
Previous Opening Ceremony musical acts have included Andy Grammer, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows, Michelle Branch, and more.
Entry gates will open at 4:00pm for Opening Ceremony on Friday, August 2, and the inspirational program will begin at 6:30pm on the Pelotonia stage. Clubhouse is set to perform starting at 7:00pm.
This year’s event will be the perfect way to welcome Clubhouse back home to Ohio. Opening Ceremony will not only build up the community’s collective excitement for Ride Weekend and celebrate all of the hard work put in to date, but will also remind each one of us why we’re here – and who we ride for.
On Saturday morning, Ari, Zak, and their band managers will ride the 20-mile route from downtown Columbus to the brand-new finish line celebration at Abercrombie and Fitch Co. in New Albany. As First-Year Riders, they are riding for their bandmate and best friend, Max, and the countless more Survivors like him.
For more details about Opening Ceremony, including the full event schedule, important driving directions, and parking passes and garage info, visit pelotonia.org/opening-ceremony.
Listen to Clubhouse
Preview music from Clubhouse before Opening Ceremony by listening on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, and Soundcloud.
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