They do good deeds.

They play good music.

They play it loud.

After the Fire is a versatile group of area musicians who came together after a fire wiped out the instruments of some of the original members. The band plays almost exclusively for fund-raisers for worthy projects and organizations in Northern Colorado. After the Fire, especially noted for its big, rich horn section, will perform two benefit concerts for the Riealto Theater this weekend. The 16-member band plays it big and brassy for Motown anthems and gets down with the blues. After the Fire concerts are 8 p.m. today and Saturday at the Rialto Theater, 228 E. Fourth St., in downtown Loveland. Tickets are $7 at the box office before the shows. Advance tickets are available at the Rialto Theater box office. Beer and wine will be sold in the Rialto Theater lobby at both concerts. Proceeds will benefit purchase of equipment needed at the restored Rialto Theater. All ages are allowed at the concert. Beer and wine purchas e is for those age 21 and over, of course. The Rialto Theater ticket office is open 12:30-6 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. Call the Rialto Theater at 962-2120 for more information. Original After the Fire members Dick Kyle (keyboards), Don Taranto (drums), Eddie Gavaldon (tenor sax and vocals), and vocalist Lonna Miller trace their music history back to a bar band called The Music Store. When the old Matterhorn club burned down in Fort Collins 1972, the band's instruments went with it. Kyle, Taranto and Gavaldon were trying to make it as professional musicians at the time, but times and competition were tough. After the Matterhorn fire, they gave up a life in rock'n'roll and concentrated on day jobs and raising families. At the end of the 1980s, they got together again to play for private parties in the area. From there, the musicians decided to start a band that would play for charities, giving the musicians an outlet for their talents and helping worthy causes at the same time. After the Fire was formed with Miller as the featured vocalist. The band has been entertaining listeners and dancers ever since, and raising much-needed community funds along the way. After the Fire played for the second anniversary of the restoration of the historic Rialto Theater in 1998. ;This week, the After the Fire concerts will serve as lead-in events for the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Rialto Theater as a movie palace in 1920. Loveland musician Sandy Hodges, who plays valve trombone and harmonica in After the Fire, has served as organizer for the Rialto Theater concerts. He requested that funds raised through the concerts purchase equipment for the Rialto Theater that will benefit all acts performing at the theater. Hodges says of After the Fire, "The band's reputation draws some of the area's hottest musicians to rehearse and perform for free." "It's so much fun; the camaraderie is so healthy and the music is so hot," he says of its appeal. After the Fire plays cover hits performed by such group and recording stars as Tower of Power, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bonnie Raitt, Otis Redding, Joe Cocker, the Blues Brothers and the Isley Brothers. You're also likely to hear songs made popular by the Temptations, Sly and the Family Stone, Ike and Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Delbert McClinton and a bunch of other Motown performers. Hodges cites seven new members of After the Fire who have added special qualities to the band. Guitarist Ed Roth is described by Hodges as "a very, very hot player." Dale Ness, who plays keyboards, is in demand and performs with five different groups. Mike Stabnow, trumpet and flugelhorn, is the new arranger for the band's horn charts. He has brought some new energy to the band, according to Hodges. Other new members that Hodges is enthusiastic about are Barb Solow, Elizabeth Hudetz and Bob Otterman, vocals, and Mark Manges, trumpet and flugelhorn. Among band members who have kept the performance quality of After the Fire riding high for many years are Miller, Kyle, Bavaldon, Taranto and Hodges. Ed Goodman, a familiar horn player in Northern Colorado, had a jazz/fusion band called Kinesis. Goodman backed many star performers as a musician in Las Vegas before coming to Colorado. He is horn section leader in After the Fire. Bill Sterck, bass, is the band's conductor on stage. Bob St. John is featured on drums and percussion and does vocals. Pat Street plays bass trombone. Together - very together - they are After the Fire. Feel the heat tonight or Saturday, or both, at the Rialto Theater in downtown Loveland.