How glorious would it be if Dashboard Confessional, No Use for a Name, Finch, New Found Glory and the Starting Line united for a HUB lawn concert?

While you're waiting for that to happen, catch local band Cool Ethan rocking out downtown at The Brewery, 223 E. Beaver Ave.. They swear their show is just as good -- and way cheaper.

Bassist Bart Hipp begins to describe the band's sound: "We play a bunch of bands you won't hear on the radio..."

"Other bands say that, too," cuts in lead guitarist Sean Spollen, "but they're still playing 'Livin' on a Prayer.' "

It's true, the dudes of Cool Ethan say.

"A lot of college-age people want to hear songs by Taking Back Sunday and bands like that," said Brian Rampulla, who provides Cool Ethan's rhythm guitar and sweet dance moves. "Not everyone identifies with Tom Petty." That said, bands like Dashboard, New Found Glory, Finch and Sublime -- "pop/punk, if you want to pigeonhole it," Spollen said -- make up the bulk of Cool Ethan's set list.

"It's like everything on your Winamp, but played live and done well," explained drummer Jim Logrando. "Or it's like being at the coolest Warped Tour, each and every week, a block from your house."

Some semi-old classics do surface in Cool Ethan's lineup, but with a new twist.

"We make sure [those songs] don't sound like the old version," Hipp said. "We play 'Like a Prayer' and 'Boys of Summer,' but they're all new and rocked-out versions."

Hipp, Logrando and Rampulla met back in the day while growing up in Hollidaysburg. Spollen entered the picture after meeting Rampulla in class at Penn State. Then came a little movie called Slackers -- the band took its name from Jason Schwartzman's creep-o character Cool Ethan -- and the rest is history.

"We all get along really well, which is pretty essential to any band," Hipp said. "It's like I'm married to three other guys, but without the benefits of them cooking and cleaning for me."

Hipp and Logrando formed another local cover band, the still-intact Boost, in 2002 before branching off into Cool Ethan. Boost, they emphasize, is a completely different band. Only in Cool Ethan, for example, is Logrando allowed to sing and given a microphone. Also, Cool Ethan plays songs that are not rock classics -- yet.

"When Dashboard Confessional becomes as universally popular as Cheap Trick, we'll be in business," Logrando said. "But there is really no comparison between Cool Ethan and Boost beyond Bart and myself being in both. Except that both bands are outstanding."

Since stumbling upon a Cool Ethan gig a couple months ago, Nick Yingling -- quite possibly the band's No. 1 fan -- has not been the same.

"Before seeing Cool Ethan," Yingling said, "I weighed 500 pounds, did my dishes in the bathtub, and never met girls. Now, I've lost the weight, bought a dishwasher and enjoy seeing all the hot chicks at Cool Ethan shows."

This doesn't surprise Logrando, who said the band has some pretty sweet fans.

"We're all about being friendly with everyone," Logrando said. "We cater to people's needs. We'll sit there and talk to you and say what's up, from the stage!"