Entertainment Editor Andy Gray

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• East 9th normally focuses on its original material.

On Friday it will return to its roots, playing an all-Foo Fighters set at Westside Bowl in memory of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died March 25 at age 50.

“Back when we all started playing together 10 years ago, before we started writing our own music with East 9th, we were primarily a cover band,” singer and guitar player Ryan Racketa said. “About three quarters of what we played were Foo Fighters’ songs. When everything happened with Taylor Hawkins, we started thinking we should bring back all those songs we used to do. That’s what we ended up doing the last month.”

The band — Racketa; Jarrett Walters, bass and vocals; and Stephen Spencer, lead guitar — has about a 90-minute set of Foo Fighters’ music planned. East 9th’s original drummer, Tyler Adams, is rejoining the band for Friday’s concert, and it also is adding Grant Shultz as an extra guitar player to handle Pat Smear’s parts.

“Tyler was hugely influenced by Taylor Hawkins,” Racketa said. “He was saying in practice that he didn’t realize just how much he was influenced by his playing until learning to play all these songs and how good it felt.”

Songs like “Times Like These” and “These Days,” written by Warren native Dave Grohl long before Hawkins’ death, feel particularly appropriate for the concert.

“It makes you feel like Dave Grohl was writing those songs about Kurt Cobain (of Nirvana, who died in 1994),” Racketa said. “Some of these lines are relevant to the current situation. I have a lot more appreciation for Dave Grohl as a songwriter now, not that I ever thought low of him before, but after figuring out the techniques and tendencies, I have even more respect for him and the rest of the band than I did.”

Prepping for the show also might influence his own songwriting.

“The way they blend guitar parts is definitely something I’ve been thinking about,” he said. “It makes me want to write more music taking that approach. It’s not far removed from what we do. Seeing the different way they make those sounds happen gets the gears turning in my head.”

Astronauts Exposed will open the 8 p.m. show at Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown. Tickets are $10.

• Last week featured a couple of great showcases of local performers and also the communal spirit that links so much Mahoning Valley talent together.

Unite for Ukraine had more than a dozen acts at Westside Bowl donating their time to raise money for several nonprofit organizations supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. They had a decent turnout early in the evening when I was there and the crowd grew as the night progressed.

Perfect weather helped bring a huge crowd to downtown Youngstown for Federal Frenzy on Saturday. Nearly all of the 17 acts that played three stages have local ties, and it was nice to see the acts support one another.

I spotted several performers in the crowd for The Super Babes’ energetic set in the Kress lot. Danny Svenson did double duty on the main stage as a member of both Spirit of the Bear and the Labra Brothers, and Ryan Humbert of the Shootouts and JD Eicher made guest appearances in each other’s sets on the Summit Stage.

The only downside is that there was some sound bleed over caused by overlapping sets and three outdoor stages in close proximity to each other. Acoustic-based acts on the stage in the Kress Lot occasionally were overwhelmed by the main stage’s sound system.

That’s a minor complaint. Not counting the COVID-19 years, Federal Frenzy usually coincides with Record Store Day, and that pairing makes the third Saturday in April just about my favorite day of the year.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.