The melodious sounds of the Dueling Pianos filled every nook and cranny of the Landmark Americana Bar and Grill, where the audience clapped, sang, and danced along. On Friday, April 18, the Philadelphia Keys performed in front of a fully engaged crowd. 28-year-old Sam Krivda and 41-year-old Brian Aglira began playing their electric pianos at 8:00 p.m. and, except for a short break or two, did not stop taking requests until 11:00 p.m.

In the background, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) was running the Sy v. Rosta and Kasanganay v. Edwards fights on the TVs. Still, the Dueling Pianos were the main attraction at the bar that night. Brian Adams’s “Summer of ’69,” Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend,” “Roses” by Outkast, you name it, their repertoire was extremely extensive, and these two musicians were on top of it. That might come from their incredible training.

Aglira, who operates Dueling Pianos, has been playing instruments for decades. 

“I started playing guitar when I was 12, and then I started playing piano at 15, and I took what I knew on the guitar and started playing chords,” said Aglira. “Then I went to the Berklee College of Music, and I studied deeper music theory. I was there for guitar performance, but I was up there in the piano room. I was doing a lot of piano stuff.”

Krivda, a man on a mission planning his wedding, has been with Dueling Pianos since he graduated from college.

“My parents noticed that I was musical and put me in piano lessons when I was four,” said Krivda. “I took lessons for seven or eight years, but around middle school, I decided that it wasn’t cool to play piano and sing, so my alternative to that was learning how to play chord charts.”

Aglira and Krivda were energetic and hyped the entire night, ensuring the audience was filled with active participants from the start. The pair of pianists plays almost exclusively from the patrons’ requests.

 “If we run out of requests, we play Bette Midler for the rest of the night,” said Krivda, jokingly. 

Then the entire bar participated in a unique trivia game. The pianists played theme songs from TV shows, and the audience had to guess which shows they were from. Spoiler alert: the winners were a team of a bride-to-be and her bridesmaids.

Hosting the Dueling Pianos is both a crowd-pleaser and financially sensible. However, effective management was and is crucial.

“We do the extended happy hour on Friday…and then we had heard about the dueling pianos…in particular the Philly Keys, and we just thought it’d be kind of nice in between our more college-oriented stuff on Thursday and Saturday,” said 30-year-old manager Zach Wolfe. “When something first starts, people don’t know what to expect, especially if it’s a restaurant they don’t normally go to.”

The act was a massive hit with the bar patrons. As it turns out, the bar thrives on several weeknights. The restaurant and bar have theme nights throughout the week, drawing in a larger crowd.

“We have the gameshow stuff on Monday, the college nights [Thursday and Saturday,] and the Dueling Pianos [on Friday],” said Wolfe.

A full schedule, for sure, but it’s nothing Landmark can’t handle. 

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