This year’s annual Rock the Rich Center was hosted at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre last night in downtown Youngstown, Ohio where rock music fans gathered on an unseasonably chilly night to support the charity and rock out with the legendary Lita Ford and special guest The Vindys.
The event, which is the charity’s largest fundraising event of the year, supports the mission of The Rich Center for Autism to serve local students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families.
Having outgrown indoor venues, this was the first year that the concert was taken outside. While we were blessed with some sunshine after a very rainy Saturday morning, the temperature was in the low 50s, leaving many scrambling for coats and hats and scratching our heads as we said goodbye to May and welcomed June!
The evening kicked off around 7:30 pm with returning local favorites, The Vindys, taking the stage first. They are a band has built a rock-solid word of mouth reputation over the past decade with their unique blend of rock, soul, and pop.
The Vindys features musicians from the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University, who create eclectic song arrangements with front woman Jackie Popovec at the helm. We instantly loved the vibe of this indy band with Popovec sporting a retro satin logo jacket and cat-eyed glasses that reminded us of the ‘pink ladies’ from the movie Grease, and a neon sign reflecting their logo instead of your standard stage backdrop, her charisma shined through instantly.
As the set went on we learned what amazing pipes this front woman has, and what amazing local support the indy band had from their local crowd, with friends, family, and longtime fans raising their hands to show the band some love, and Popovec leaving the stage to scoop up her niece and nephew from the crowd before saying farewell.
The band’s lineup includes John Anthony on lead guitar, Rick Deak on rhythm guitar, Owen Davis on drums, Brendan Burke on bass, and Nathan Anthony on keyboards. And, with some brass support that included saxophone, trumpet and trumbone, the band finished strong with an unexpected jam that evolved into a unique cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”
Having received high praise from Pat Benatar, the band has been supporting her current tour with Neil Giraldo which wraps up Delaware tonight, June 1st. The band will continue on with headlining shows this summer including one local to us here in Pittsburgh at the South Park Amphitheater on Friday, June 20th as well as several Ohio dates this summer. You can learn more about The Vindys and get a full list of tour dates here. They are also gearing up for an electrifying year with the promise of new music.
As the little warmth we had from the sun was moving on and a sliver of the moon was shining in the sky, we took a walk around the pavilion to check out the local food truck offerings and concessions. We watched as those on the newly manicured lawn were bundling up with blankets and wondered if they had any hot drinks to warm us up before returning to our pavilion seats.
Around 9pm the evening continued with Lita Ford who appeared a bit more casual than her performance earlier this month at the the three-day M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, MD. The former Runaway was sporting magenta and black scarves to match the pink streaks in her hair, and wearing a CBGB t-shirt and jeans in an attempt to keep warm like the rest of us, but what instantly caught my attention were the badass boots she was rockin’ with her signature hourglass…because after all if you ‘give a girl the right shoes…’ she can certainly conquer all.
Lita Ford was joined by guitarist Patrick Kennison, bassist Marten Andersson, and drummer Bobby Rock who instantly helped heat things up. And, on the topic of attire…while Patrick and Marten could be found bundled up in jackets (Marten even sporting some gloves) due to the cold temp, we had to laugh when Bobby rock still ended up shirtless and spitting water on his kit by the time he shook us with his signature drum solo.
There really weren’t any surprises when it came to the set list last night as Lita included our favorites like “Playing with Fire,” which began as a duet between Lita and Patrick and the Runaways cover of “Cherry Bomb” and of course included the ballads like “Close My Eyes” and her emotional cover of Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed.” But, what really made the evening special was her interaction with the audience. While in the pit we noticed a gathering of young girls, some of which we’d gathered were students from the University or just big Lita Ford fans who traveled to see her, and Lita spent quite a bit of time away from her mic stand interacting with that VIP crowd, clearly feeding off their energy. And while she’d clearly broke a string early in the set and was struggling with keeping her instrument in tune, the front woman made the most of it with extended jams as she smiled from ear to ear telling us that it was close enough for ‘rock ‘n roll’.
Before saying farewell with her solo hit “Kiss Me Deadly,” Jake Ellis, the coordinator for Community Engagement & Event Organization at the Rich Center, presented Lita Ford with an honor from the city of Youngstown, who declared May 31st Lita Ford day as the artist brought national attention to the thirty-year history of The Paula and Anthony Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism, which is an externally funded unit of Youngstown State University that offers treatment and education services, including additional vocational education materials and a lab; social-emotional learning platforms, including robotic and touch-screen technology; community-based field experiences, supplementing classroom instruction; speech, occupational, and art therapy services.
To learn more about the charity or to jump in on their online silent auction which includes some autographed merch from the bands as well as big-ticket items like vacation packages and even a Gibson Les Paul guitar, click here.
Review and photos by Kara Uhrlen for The Pure Rock Shop. Posted on 6/1/2025
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