We all know the Pittston Tomato Festival will take place this week starting on Thursday and for Greater Pittston, it’s a very big deal. It is single-handedly the biggest public gathering in the Pittston Area.
It is nationally known and it may be internationally known as well.
There is also another international phenomenon happening as well, and it’s not an event, but a person.
Pittston native Chris Cerulli, better known in the rock world as Chris Motionless of the international sensation, Motionless in White.
Chris has been playing in bands in the Pittston area while at Pittston Area since around 2002 when his first band, New Car Smell, were young teens as well as the following bands One Way Ticket and When Breathing Stops. Eventually, they changed the name to Motionless in White.
In fact, the first show the band did as Motionless was at the now defunct Northeast Fair in 2004 during a Battle of the Bands contest.
Even back then, Chris and the band had a bunch of originals they threw in the line up along with covers for that show. Unfortunately, it rained that day and the show got interrupted. That’s show business, I guess.
If you had to say anything about Motionless in White, Chris and the band were determined to succeed and in 2005 they played at the popular spot in Pittston for live music — The Staircase.
They kept working and plugging and started to develop and mature and hone their craft, creating their own niche in metalcore music.
Granted, metalcore is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Chris has developed into a great lead singer and front man for the band.
Over the years, all the original band members left or were replaced with Chris being the franchise player.
Motionless’ first studio album Creatures was released in 2010 followed up by Infamous (2012), Reincarnate (2014), Graveyard Shift (2017), Disguise (2019), Scoring the End of the World (2022), and this year, Decades (2026), released on July 17.
Until Decades, Reincarnated reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart, which is not too shabby for band that started in the Pittston Area.
The only other bands that come to mind with any kind of Billboard success was The Buoys with “Timothy,” a single that reaching No. 17 on the U.S. Billboard chart and No. 9 on the Canadian chart.
Local band Synch’s single “Where Are You Now” peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 and No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart the same year.
Chris has never forgotten his roots, crediting our environment and work ethic in Greater Pittston as instrumental is shaping Motionless in White.
In fact, in a 2026 interview with the website The Travel Addict, Chris talked about the band’s latest release from inspiration of the band’s 20-year history.
Another factor in the album Decades theme, is the band listened to what the fans loved about its earlier work, according to the website Blabbermouth.net.
Since the July 17th release, Motionless in White has been dominating Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart.
“Afraid of the Dark,” “Playing God,” “R.I.P.” featuring artist Skylar Gray, “Fight Like Hell,” all reached No. 1 status. “R.I.P.” spent three weeks at No. 1.
What is amazing about Decades, Motionless in White occupied 12 of the top 25 positions — almost half of the entire chart.
The other three top 25 hits are the title track “Decades,” “log_in//crash_out,” and the remake of Cory Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night” from 1984, which is a departure of Motionless’ regular lineup of songs.
Right now, Motionless in White is killing it on the charts, filling venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre with nearly 10,000-seat capacity in Colorado.
They will continue the tour after a short break now and resuming on Sunday, Sept. 20 in Canada. They will tour around Canada before returning to the states on Oct. 8.
The tour will continue until Nov. 20 in Pittsburgh. No doubt additional dates will be added, and according to their tour schedule on the band’s website, they already have two dates booked overseas next year.
I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see one of our own just killing it out in the world.
The great thing about Chris is — he is always representing us — Greater Pittstonians and people from NEPA. He wrote a song titled, “570,” which he said is his favorite song he’s ever written.
During the current tour, the background screen on stage is a photo of Scranton’s – The Electric City sign. I don’t know about you, but if I lived in another state and took in a Motionless in White concert and saw that, I’d freak out.
From what I understand, Chris does head back to Pittston frequently and with this current break, it’s possible he will be home.
I would like to do an article on Chris one-on-one when he is back in Pittston. If anyone who knows him or his family is reading this, please send him my way.
As a voting member of the Luzern Co. Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame, I’m glad I voted them in last year.
Thank you, Chris, for keeping Greater Pittston and NEPA in your heart as you travel the globe.
Quote of the Week
“My entire high school experience and shortly after high school was just going to so many concerts and shows.” – Chris Motionless, describing the effect music had at an early age.
Thought of the Week
“The (NEPA) scene there that used to be is responsible for giving us that foundation, that launch pad to go from.” – Chris Motionless
Bumper Sticker
“We’re a band that came out of the small-town, blue-collar spirit.” – Chris Motionless