Downtown will be in a frenzy with street fest, bar birthday

Festival season begins early this year with Federal Frenzy, a live music and arts street party Saturday in downtown Youngstown.

The event, which starts at 2 p.m., departs from past downtown festivals in its location and layout. It will be centered on the intersection of West Federal and Phelps streets, with West Fed closed to traffic from the appellate court to just beyond Silver’s Vogue Shop. North Phelps Street will be closed from West Commerce to West Fed.

A stage will be set up in front of Silver’s, but situated on an angle facing V2 restaurant. An artist marketplace (from 2 to 6 p.m.), vendors and a bar will line West Fed, and another art market will be set up on North Phelps.

The festival is a merger of two others: Live on Lincoln and Festival on Phelps. It’s also the first one under Michael McGiffin, the city’s new downtown events director, and is being done in coordination with Youngstown State University’s Penguin Productions.

Admission is free, which is a great deal considering the strong musical lineup. Let’s hope the weather cooperates.

Red Wanting Blue, the Columbus-based rockers with a strong local footprint, will headline. Other outdoor acts will include Jordan DePaul, a Youngstown native and Nashville singer-songwriter; and Nashville-based rockers Bully. Bands playing the indoor venues — Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts, Martini Bros. Burger Bar and O’Donold’s Pub — include excellent Cleveland indie rockers The Lighthouse and the Whaler. Also on the bill are spoken-word artist and songwriter 7HYKOO and Pittsburgh-based soul-pop-funk singer Joy Ike.

Nine student bands also are scheduled to perform as part of a competition for studio recording time, sponsored by the Summit FM radio station.

Here is the band schedule:

Outdoor stage: Bully, 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.; Jordan DePaul, 8 to 9 p.m.; Red Wanting Blue, 9:15 to 10:45 p.m.

Suzie’s: Northern Whale, 2 to 2:30 p.m.; Future Hott Dads, 3 to 3:30 p.m.; Colorblind, 4 to 4:30 p.m.; The Lighthouse and the Whaler, 5:15 to 6:15 p.m.

Martini Bros.: Two Days Until Tomorrow, 2 to 2:30 p.m.; The Cardboard Cutouts, 2:45 to 3:15 p.m.; Karolina Ahonen, 3:15 to 3:45 p.m.; 7HYKOO, 4 to 5 p.m.; the 1093 Experience, 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.

O’Donold’s: Bridget Yurcisin, 2 to 2:30 p.m.; Joy Ike, 3 to 4 p.m.; Shultz and the I.C., 4:30 to 5 p.m.; Lou Rivera, 5:30 to 6 p.m.

RYES CRAFT BEER, WHISKEY BAR MARKS its FIRST ANNIVERSARY

Also Saturday, in the Federal Frenzy festival area, will be the first-anniversary party of Ryes, the high-quality craft beer and whiskey bar at 124 W. Federal St. (second floor).

The celebration will begin at 8:30 p.m. with the revealing of Ryes’ first-anniversary drink menu. Co-owners Brad Schwartz and Jeff Kurz will acquaint visitors with the new libations.

With more than 50 labels, Ryes’ upscale drink menu provides many options for experienced whiskey drinkers. But it’s presented in a way that whiskey novices can quickly learn.

The bar also has an impressive craft beer selection, with 100 bottled and canned beers as well as 14 draft handles that regularly change.

A unique feature of the Ryes menu — and a customer favorite — are the prohibition-era cocktails. The bar also has a variety of wines and meads, plus a full selection of vodka, gin, rum, tequila and cordials.

Schwartz and Kurz are also co-owners of Imbibe Martini Bar, which is located on the first floor of the same building. Imbibe will mark its 10th anniversary in June.

RECORD CONNECTION STILL ABUZZ AFTER FOO FIGHTERS CONCERT

The bump in business that the Record Connection got from Saturday’s Foo Fighters appearance has yet to subside.

Jeff Burke, owner of the record store in Pine Tree Plaza, McKinley Heights, said sales have been brisk all week. That was the goal of the Foos’ appearance: to increase awareness and sales at independent record stores.

Dave Grohl, the Warren-born rock superstar who leads the band, seems to love visiting the area, and he expressed his thanks to Burke for setting up the event. Burke said he was blown away when he heard that. He was only too ecstatic to host one of the world’s biggest bands at his humble little strip-mall shop.

Burke is already thinking about which band to bring in for National Record Store Day in 2016, but he knows he will never be able to top the Foo Fighters.

Only 150 fans got to see the band perform, but between 1,500 and 2,000 people entered Burke’s shop Saturday, and with the exception of the arrest of former boxing champ Kelly Pavlik, there were zero problems.

LOCAL ACTOR IN SPECIAL SHOW ON CLEVELAND KIDNAPPER CASTRO

Danny Rios of Youngstown will be seen in a one-hour TV special on Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man who kidnapped three neighborhood girls and imprisoned them in his home for a decade. The special, “Captive: A Journey of Hope and Survival,” was produced by ABC’s “20/20” and will air at 10 p.m. Tuesday on the network. Rios will play Castro in scenes that re-enact the crimes.

Rios owns a Youngstown lawn-care business but also has built a decent resume as an actor, landing small roles in major films shot in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. He was seen in “The Last Three Days,” “Jack Reacher, “Promised Land” and “Won’t Back Down,” among others.

He also plays Ariel Castro in a low-budget movie shot by sensationalist Cleveland filmmaker Vitaliy Versace, which will be released later this year.