It was only a matter of time before a legendary rock act and a band that pays tribute to it scheduled shows here on the same weekend.
That time has arrived.
On Saturday, Coop’s Nightmare – a tribute to Alice Cooper – will headline a show at Warren Community Amphitheatre.
On Sunday, Alice Cooper himself will perform at Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.
Sure, it’s bad timing. But it’s also a rare opportunity to judge just how closely a tribute show comes to the real thing.
Coop’s Nightmare will take the stage at 8:30 p.m., with co-headliner Dirty Deeds (a tribute to AC/DC) kicking things off at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the gate.
Alice Cooper, who has played the Mahoning Valley many times, is bringing his “Too Close for Comfort” tour to town. Was he referring to the fact that there is a tribute show playing the night before?
The show will start at 8:30 p.m. Click HERE for tickets.
About a thousand people showed up for a concert featuring Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, with Tantric and Youngstown rockers Turbo Lovers on Saturday at New Waterford Village Park.
That is as unlikely a place as you’ll ever find for a rock show, but it worked well.
Saturday’s concert anchored a weekend of shows at the beautiful little park in the center of this out-of-the-way town in Columbiana County.
Country artist Lewis Brice opened the Amped Up music festival, as it was dubbed, on Saturday, while country singer Morgan Myles was the headliner Sunday.
The park has a large pond and a new building with concessions and bathrooms. It also has a permanent stage structure at the top of a rise. It’s a natural amphitheater.
The atmosphere was very small-town friendly, kind of like a community picnic. Ronnie White, the frontman for Red Jumpsuit, remarked several times at how well he was treated by the promoter and how cool the event was.
As for the promoter, that would be the village itself, led by Mayor Shane Patrone. He has been staging rock shows in the park for three years now as part of an effort to raise awareness of his pleasant but off-the-beaten-track town.
The village will do it again Sept. 12-13, when it presents the New Waterford Music Festival, featuring Hinder, with opening act Parker Barrow, the first night and Saliva, with 12 Stones, Paralandra, Dauzat St. Marie and Earshot, the second night.
Gates will open at 5 p.m. the first day and 3 p.m. the second day.
Admission is a mere $10. There will be plenty of food trucks on the site and a bar. There’s also picnic tables and shade.
Parking lots are available all over the town, and they’re all within walking distance. To learn more, click HERE.
Notable events this weekend include the Brier Hill Italian Fest, which opens today and runs through Sunday on the street and in the ITAM pavilion at the intersection of Calvin and Victoria streets on Youngstown’s north side. That’s the Brier Hill neighborhood. Admission is free.
In New Castle, the Lawrence County Fair continues today through Saturday. For information, click HERE.
Youngstown native Arielle Green Hall will again perform at the weekly Jazz in the Park concert series this Sunday. The free event will take place from 3-7 p.m. at Wick Park on the city’s north side.
Hall is a singer who has opened for acclaimed artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Kim Waters, Paul Taylor and Marion Meadows.
She has also contributed backup vocals to Grammy Award-winning artists such as the Gaither Vocal Band, Chantae Cann and Chrisette Michele.
Hall is also involved in musical theater. Local audiences have seen her in Opera Western Reserve’s “Porgy and Bess” (2018), The Youngstown Playhouse production of “Dreamgirls” (2019); and DeYor Performing Arts Center’s production of “The Color Purple” (2021).
For a complete look at everything going on in the Mahoning Valley, check out The List.
Pictured at top: Alice Cooper will perform at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre on Sunday. (Photo by Jenny Risher)
