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Lit Youngstown presents poets at Westside Bowl

A trio of poets will present their work for Lit Youngstown’s next First Wednesday Reader Series event. Featured readers will be Dom Fonce of Youngstown, Mark Sebastian Jordan of Mansfield and Katherine Orr of Kent. Fonce is the author of chapbooks “Odd Nest,” “Here, We Bury the Hearts” and “Dancing in the Cobwebs.” His poetry has been published in trampset, Gordon Square Review, Rappahannock Review, Delmarva Review and Jenny Magazine Jordan is a poet, historian, music critic, playwright, director and speaker who is based in the central highlands of Ohio. Orr’s ...

Stambaugh hosts YSU holiday concert

Youngstown State University's annual Carols and Cocoa and Dana School of Music Holiday Concert will be Wednesday at Stambaugh Auditorium. This annual tradition showcases the talent of YSU's music students and faculty through a festive program featuring multiple ensembles performing classic holiday favorites and contemporary seasonal selections. The concert will feature performances by the YSU Dana Chorale, directed by Hae-Jong Lee; the Stambaugh Chorus, a community-based choral group; the YSU Wind Ensemble, led by Michael Butler; Jazz Ensemble directed by Kent Engelhardt;, and ...

Jay, Americans come a little bit closer to Warren

Jay and the Americans will perform Feb. 15, 2026, at the Robins Theatre. The vocal group’s hits include “She Cried,” “Come a Little Bit Closer,” “Let’s Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key),” “Cara Mia,” “This Magic Moment” and “Walkin’ in the Rain.” Tickets for the 5 p.m. show go on sale 10 a.m. Friday through Etix.

’90s rock frontmen team for holiday tour

They can be found on the same radio stations and playlists and in many of the same CD collections. Saturday they will be on the same stage. Ezra Ray Hart is Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath and Tonic’s Emerson Hart playing their hits together and, on this tour that includes a Packard Music Hall date, mixing in some seasonal favorites as well. All three continue to work with their own bands, but when the stars — and their schedules — align, they also play shows together, starting about a decade ago. “Over the years, you come across a lot of ...

Ezra’s been a better name than band imagined

Better Than Ezra never performed on “Saturday Night Live,” but the group is a tiny part of the show’s history. The band was part of a memorable Norm Macdonald joke during Weekend Update: “And in music news, No. 1 on the college charts this summer was Better Than Ezra. And at No. 2 — Ezra.” The line got a laugh that lasted longer than the joke itself when it originally aired in 1995, and it’s one of those lines that people still remember. After Macdonald died in 2021, it regularly was included in montages of his most memorable “SNL” bits. It also can be seen in ...

Gray Areas: The Building picks a unique one for local gig

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment: • Back in August, I wrote about Anthony LaMarca’s latest album, “Weapon,” and its unique distribution model, being available for download only through a QR code printed in the PETRA Int’l Herald, an 8-page newspaper he created. At that time, LaMarca — who is a member of the Grammy-winning band The War on Drugs and releases his solo material as The Building — said he wanted to perform the “Weapon” songs live locally but hadn’t picked a date or a venue. The date is Friday and the venue is a bit of a surprise — ...