The gig is an early homecoming for Herb, a 1996 graduate who hasn't returned to his old stomping grounds since turning his tassel.
But despite the age gap, Herb said he believes the band's jammy rock will give the student crowd something to feed off.
"We think our style of music is pretty popular among college kids," he said. "We're more of a structured jam-style band with more of a rock feel, I think."
The jam band tag is a fairly broad characterization, however, so Herb elaborated on what exactly it is that makes Herbie stand out.
"We kind of take the best parts of the jam style of music like guitar soloing and some of the spontaneous aspects of it," he said.
"We leave out a lot of the noodling and a lot of the heavy improv and try to concentrate more on the actual composition of the songs themselves; basically focus on the song more than a lot of other jam bands."
Herb added that the members of Herbie boast a wide range of influences, with only about 5 or 10 percent of an overlap, which he said works a lot in their favor.
The band just released its first full-length effort, High Impact, which it's hoping to promote throughout Pennsylvania and beyond.
"We're trying to get out of the Harrisburg-Lancaster-York area and do some more regional areas," Herb said. "And a lot of college towns too, like State College."
To that effect, the band appeared on Altoona's WBXQ 94.1 night to be interviewed by DJ Jim Price for his "Backyard Rocker" show.
Aside from the general interview questions about Herbie's history, recordings and such, the band performed a couple songs in the studio with acoustic instruments.
Price said he was impressed enough to warrant an encore viewing.
"They came across very professional and definitely seemed to know what they were doing," he said.
"I liked what I heard; in fact, I'm planning on coming down to see that show [tonight]."
Everyone else who likes what they see tonight might want to consider making a road trip of their own to see Herbie in full attire on Halloween.
The band is playing at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, and is sure to come ready to ring in the occasion.
Last year Herb and his band-mates wore vegetable costumes, and were the only performers to dress up.
"Everybody loved it, we got a lot of laughs," he said.
"We did the Munsters theme song, it was pretty fun."
Herb said the costume theme for this year is a carefully guarded secret, but promised that it wouldn't disappoint.
And when it comes to satisfied customers, local jammers Alchemy can already count on a loyal and enthusiastic fan base.
Jon Schreiner (graduate-sociology) spelled it out.
"They are dope," he said. "They are 'hott' with two Ts."
