The Vindys Capture Live Show on New Album
By Guy D’Astolfo
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Vindys new live album represents a milestone for the Youngstown-based rockers.
“Live from West Side Bowl,” recorded in 2019 at the Youngstown rock club, is the first release by the band since 2017’s “Keep Going.” The dry spell was made longer by the pandemic-driven ban on live performances.
A rare live album by a regional act, “Live from West Side Bowl” aims to capture the energy and improvisation of a Vindys performance and save it for posterity. But if “Live” is the official document of the band’s first chapter, it also sets the stage for the next phase.
Jackie Popovec, the big-voiced singer for the act, said it had to be done.
“The reason we decided to do a live album now is to put to an end a certain era and start a new one,” Popovec says.
“We will be putting some of our older songs to rest. Not that we won’t revisit them, but we’re looking to what we have to offer in the future. We’ve been playing these songs since 2017. The album will put a time stamp on the show as it was for last three years.”
A new studio album by the band will be released later this year, she said. As live music venues slowly start to reopen, the new songs will dominate future shows. Popovec says the upcoming studio release will be more of a rock album.
But until then, we have the live album.
A Vindys show is it’s own animal, and those who have seen one are usually struck by the band’s polished, big sound.
“The Vindys have always been known to improvise live and we’ve evolved this album from a live show,” Popovec says. “People have always told us ‘you sound great on your recordings but even better live.’ So this is for our fans.”
“Live” is a typical Vindys set, with trademark songs such as “Red Wine” and “Don’t Ask/Whipping Post” – the meat-of-the-show mashup that brings the evening to a fever pitch.
Capacity limits have brought a halt to almost all concerts, but The Vindys did manage to stage a socially distanced show last month at the Palace Theatre in Canton. That show was also livestreamed, marking a new concert approach that might carry into the future.
“We haven’t done too many livestreams but we liked it,” Popovec says of the Canton show. “The future of The Vindys might be some sort of hybrid show that is live and streaming. That’s where live music going, at least this year.”
Attendance at the 1,500-seat Palace was capped at a few hundred for the Vindys show. “It was noticeably empty and we were worried about how it would feel, if it would be weird, but it was OK,” Popovec says. “We played our hearts out.” A few dozen more watched the show at home on their computer screens.
As the pandemic begins to ease, the band is lining up more shows – a practice that has become a murkier undertaking in the COVID era. Already on the books is an appearance at the Wonderstruck in Cleveland rock fest (formerly LaureLive) in July.
The Vindys’ musical tightness is displayed at every show, led by the twin-guitar attack of John Anthony and Rick Deak.
Improvisation and sizzling guitar solos keep the songs fresh, says Anthony. Not many regional bands bother to make live albums, but it seems mandatory in the Vindys’ case, he says.
“When you have this live energy, it translates,” Anthony says. “It’s a different beast than studio recording because [studio versions] are snapshots of what the song was three or four years ago, and those songs evolve. That’s what makes a Vindys show special.”
In the past three years, The Vindys have proven to be as at-home in a large venue – such as Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre – as on a cramped stage at a rock club.
Popovec says both types of venues have their charms.
“I love both,” she says. “I adapt to the venue in every way possible. If we’re playing a big stage, you know John and Rick will bring several guitars. If it’s smaller, we adjust. Even the way I dress changes. I’m in jeans at a small club, and maybe wearing a dress at a large place.”
As the band continues to grow its audience, will the smaller shows become a rarity?
“I never want to not play small dive bars,” Popovec says. “I miss that.”