ruKus fest wet, but still success
WARREN — ruKus - the sequel coordinator Moe Angelo says the rain may have scared some people off Sunday, but he described the event as “excellent.”
“It sounded great out front — everyone had great sets,” he says.
Bands that played included The Zou, Winslow, Jones For Revival, Jason and the Punknecks, The Kellys (of which Angelo is the bassist,) Ecylptic and Reznik. Columbus-based Jets to Red played their first live set and Trevor Quillan played an original song to open The Kellys’ set.
Quillan says the performance came about because The Kellys liked his song, “Soldier,” and wanted to make it “bigger.”
“It was nice to be onstage, finally, with a band,” he says, noting the song was written about a friend who died in the Iraq war.
He says he felt the festival “was a success,” even if “rain scared some people off.”
“This is Moe’s brainchild, ruKus. It’s a level playing field for the bands for one day,” he says.
Angelo says this year’s free music festival went “smoother than last year,” noting he had time to relax and enjoy the bands or one of this year’s additions. On Sunday, there was an open-mic second stage hosted by Brooke Slanina from the Oakland Center for the Arts and performances by Travis from the Pickled Brothers Sideshow. Between sets, Travis [Fessler] would take to the main stage and entertain the crowd with feats that included sword-swallowing and lying on a bed of nails.
Also on hand this year was Dr. Ray’s Rock Show — a collection of exhibits from Youngstown State University’s Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum, and Chris Casanato, from Hybrid Studios, who created paintings live at ruKus — sequel.
“I wanted to help out my friends, The Kellys, and live painting to represent a part of the arts community that’s sometimes overlooked at these kinds of festivals,” Casanato says.
Despite conditions — at times, too hot for paint to be applied normally, at other times, seeking refuge from rain, he says he “had a blast” and will participate in ruKus again.
Angelo says he’s not sure many people were in attendance or how much money the event raised for the non-profit Hattie Larlham Foundation, specifically, for the Creative ARTs program. According to the program’s Web site, “Hattie Larlham Creative ARTs provides hands to people who have never held a paintbrush before and gives artists, regardless of ability, complete control over their creativity and self-expression.”
rukus – the sequel was the fourth time The Kellys took to the Warren Community Amphitheater stage, including ruKus last year, a performance with the Generation Us festival and one performance in 2006, before the stage was complete.
Lead singer of The Kellys, Kelly McCracken, says she “loves” playing the Amphitheatre.
Their set included a last-minute change with a performance of Nena’s 80s-hit, “99 Red Balloons.” McCracken says they hadn’t planned on doing covers, but “called an audible” onstage to do the song.
Among those in the crowd for their performance was Phil Kidd of Defend Youngstown. He says it’s the first event he’s been to at the amphitheater, despite having been on a tour of the venue.
He says the thought the venue was “beautiful” and wished Youngstown could someday develop a similar venue on the Mahoning River waterfront.
“This is a good example of how to best use the assets you have,” he says.
Then, with a laugh, he added, “Defend Warren.”
Comments
the Time Warner Cable Summit Rock Showcase, who puts on the free summer concert series at the Warren Ampitheatre, just announced that they have lost $90,000 since 2007 on the summer free concert series. this is the weekend cover band concert series with food and beer vendors, not having anything to r2.
unlike r2, the free concerts have a huge turnout. however, since they are free, people usually don't bring much cash down there, preferring to eat and drink at nearby places beforehand using debit/credit, and those places report increased traffic on those nights.
the venue needs to sell 20 kegs of beer at each show to stay afloat. the most they have sold so far at one show is 7.
so phil, don't be getting any ideas just yet. let's give them another year or so to see if it works, and if they can make a profit without depending on beer and food sales or by charging admission for events. oh, and sponsors arent biting at the $6,000 sponsorship price tag either.
another factor in considering the same project for ytown is that people are way less afraid of downtown warren than youngstown, though i don't know why, since i've lived in both places and find them equally benign.
and is it Casanato or Sanato? and when did reporters start using last names on the SECOND reference and not the first (ie: Travis Fessler)? it is rukus-the sequel, or rukus EMDASH the sequel? and it's the Warren Community AmpitheatRE, you have it two different ways in the story. sheesh.
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why are the three most recent articles on valley 24 missing a writing credit?
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Katie, thanks again for the coverage! The day, most definitely was a success. Regardless of how many people Sarah THINKS showed up, there was an excellent turnout. With a flowing cycle of 100-150 people consistently throughout the day, and peaking at roughly 300-350 around 6:00, I would say that's just fine considering the circumstances and the oh so frightful radar. It really didn't rain much at all and was welcomed by those in attendance for a refreshing break from the heat.
And to both of you... it's Casantas.
Bob, I'm not exactly sure why. Ask Katie. She wrote the ruKus stories.
Thanks again to EVERYONE who made the day, in our eyes, a huge success! See you again next year.
-Moe
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i meant HUGE turnout as in the 3,000 to 4,000 people who average the Time Warner shows. 100-300 is fine for the r2-sized event but nowhere near the size of the crowd for the other free concerts, comparatively. i went by the photos and by shots from the nightly news, where i saw only 20-30 people lounging in the ampitheatre in any given frame. and how in the article, the only signifier of a successful show was how great the bands sounded, not how many people came. i assumed more people showed up later in the day for zou/kellys, but photographers and news crews like to get their work done early.
is there going to be any announcement of how much money was raised for Hattie Larlham ARTs? the PR would be good for future rukuses.
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Those issues were certainly discussed in the actual interview, but I have no say in what actually makes it to type. And I'm not really sure why everyone is so concerned with numbers, but let's just say it wasn't great. I don't know why. I'm sure it's a combination of the economic crunch on the majority of people in this area and the fact that people simply love free things. I mean, just one dollar from every person that actually attended the event as a spectator would have equaled more than our donation total. There's a clue, but I don't really think a number is necessary to generate positive PR for the event. It does that itself.
Oh, and sarah, nice work on coining r2! Mr. Lucas would be proud. Stay tuned for more info on Return of the ruKus! :)
-m
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oh goodie! sorry to be a negative nellie. i must have been on my period. plus ive had some wine. evens me out.
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