YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Summit radio station takes a different approach to its 330 Day concert each year.
It moves the show from city to city, varies the list of bands that will perform and even changes the format, just to keep it fresh.
This year’s event will have a decidedly Warren and Youngstown flavor.
The March 30 show – that date is 3/30, the region’s area code for phones – at the Robins Theatre in Warren, Ohio, has three veteran Mahoning Valley acts at the top of the bill: The Labra Brothers, Black Wolf & The Thief and Demos Papadimas and his band.
Also performing will be Barry Carroll of the Youngstown area, select members of the Austintown Fitch High School rock band, Adam Remnant of Athens and Ceci Taylor of Wadsworth.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. concert can be obtained in advance HERE.
It will be preceded by two preconcert events, which is another new idea for this year.
A preparty, featuring a DJ set by the station’s Chad Miller, will start at 4:30 p.m. at Modern Methods Brewing – a block away from the theater. Before that a Summit Wellness Music and Movement showcase, featuring Sarah Swirsky, Marc Lee Shannon and Trust Drum Circles, will take place at the Wean Foundation, 47 W. Market St., on Courthouse Square.
Each of the three bands at the top of the concert ticket has some new music to share. The Labra Brothers will play a 30-minute set, with all others getting 15 minutes.
Labra Brothers
As the headliners, the Labra Brothers are using their performance as the start of their next strategic phase.
Their set will be heavily weighted with new songs that were recorded in the past year.
“We’ve been living with those songs for a while, and the 330 Day opportunity came up and kind of aligned perfectly with our roadmap,” says Adrian Labra, guitar and vocals. The band will release its first single at the end of April, with more to follow. “We’re looking at 330 Day as a launchpad for the rollout of [our next] album and for our 2026 gig schedule.”
After all nine songs are released, they will be packaged together on a self-titled album.
The new material further refines the band’s Latin rock sound and adds plenty of horns into the mix.
“We wanted to put together the best possible representation of where the Labra Brothers are at in 2026 and we hope it captures all of that,” Labra says. “I think it’s the most cohesive project we’ve done. It doesn’t jump around in terms of genre. It doesn’t jump around a lot. We’re leaning into the high-energy Latin funk.”
For the new album, the band overhauled its entire approach, from recording to marketing. It switched from doing most things independently to working with outside professionals and was picky in selecting those people.
“In every aspect of the process we wanted to work with knowledgeable people who can guide us toward the best possible representation of where we’re at,” Labra says. “It’s been a little while since our last release, and we wanted to make a statement. We wanted to make sure it ended up being a cool project.”
The band’s first three albums were recorded in Labra’s home studio. Their keyboardist, Danny Svenson, engineered the tracks.
“I’m proud of the songs that we recorded through that process, but it’s pretty clear that we have a lot of growing to do,” Labra says.
They found what they were looking for within the region. Mark Lee Shannon got the nod as producer, and the recording was done at Court Street Recording in Canfield and with Jim Stewart in Cleveland.
Shannon, of Akron, was a longtime member of Michael Stanley and the Resonators.
“Bringing his ear to our arrangements was a total game changer,” Labra says. “He pushed us to be more intentional with every single song section, in every aspect of getting the project done.”
The band started its recording process with Michael Estok at his Court Street Recording, and then did additional recording with Stewart, who also mixed the album.
“Estok is no stranger to putting together high-quality projects and is awesome to work with,” Labra says. “And [Stewart] really understood how to balance our vocal harmonies with the groove. We wanted to prioritize those two things, and he understood how to accomplish that through the use of specific microphones and the technology he uses. Just a total genius when it comes to the tech side and mixing.”
The result, he says, is by far the highest quality project the Labra Brothers have ever done.
“I’m excited to get it out there because we’re really proud of it, and we spent a lot of time working with these people,” Labra says.
The band members have had to make another leap to adjust to changes in their lives.
Cristian Labra (bass) moved to New York a couple of years ago. David Labra (saxophone) started this year as the city of Youngstown’s downtown events coordinator. Adrian, who works as an accountant, and his wife have two small children.
Dealing with those changes means more strategic planning.
“We decided it wasn’t something that was going to stop us from creating music,” Labra says. “It’s a little trickier, requires more coordination and communication, but it can be done and we’ve been working hard to stay in touch and keep the business moving.”
The band also includes Svenson, who has his own recording studio and is also a member of Columbus band Spirit of the Bear; the fourth brother, Antonio Labra, on percussion; and drummer Matt Hayes.
The act has a few shows scheduled after 330 Day, including an April 25 show at the Rialto Theater in Akron. More will be added, including a date at Westside Bowl in Youngstown.
Demos Papadimas
Demos Papadimas is especially glad 330 Day is in Warren this year.
“People think I am from Youngstown, but I am a Warren guy,” he says. The Howland High School graduate works in Warren and is there just about every day.
“It brings a bit of attention to Warren, which always gets less than Youngstown,” Papadimas says. “It’s like the little brother of Youngstown. And I’m thrilled that they asked me to play, because I’ve always wanted to play at the Robins.”
As with the Labra Brothers, the concert will give him a chance to introduce some new material to a wide audience.
Papadimas and his band have been recording songs on and off for a few years, with about a half-dozen completed.
They released the first one, “Right to You,” just before Christmas. The video for the bluesy rocker, which can be viewed on YouTube, was shot at Modern Methods Brewing in downtown Warren.
Papadimas’ band includes Pete Drivere (The Infidels) on lead guitar, Andre Ptichkin on bass and Dylan Kollat (formerly of JD Eicher’s band) on drums.
“We’re keeping it as the four of us [on the new songs],” says Papadimas, who handles guitar, harmonica, vocals and the occasional bouzouki interlude. “It’s a little different than in the past. I’m not bringing anybody else in – no violin or pedal steel or anything like that. We’re keeping it more of a rock record, a little less folky, but still not radical.”
The act will lean into the new songs at the 330 Day concert with maybe one older song. Papadimas aims to get the most out of his short set.
“It will be five or six songs in a row, one into the other,” he says. “There won’t be any, ‘hold on, man, I’ve got to tune this guitar’ between songs.”
Black Wolf & The Thief
The bands in this year’s 330 Day concert are not just connected to Warren. They’re linked to each other as longtime members of the area’s rock community.
One link can best be seen in the song “Love Song for Evelyn,” which was co-written and recorded by Black Wolf & The Thief and the Labra Brothers.
The two released it as a single in 2023.
There’s no word on whether the song will be performed at 330 Day by either band, but it’s a favorite for Carolyn Colley, vocalist for BWT.
Another link between the two bands is that BWT records at Bear Cave Recording of Boardman, which is owned and operated by Danny Svenson – keyboardist for the Labras.
Despite the many connections, Black Wolf & The Thief stands alone in the depth of its songs.
The act is led by the husband-wife team of Carolyn and Clay Colley, with drummer Chocolate Milk. They have released three albums and several singles since launching eight years ago.
BWT songs have a storytelling quality, with Carolyn’s expressive voice soaring over a soundscape that can range from ominous to yearning. Their first two albums – “Pioneer” (2019) and “The Darkness Around Us Is Deep” (2022) – seem like the soundtrack to an unwritten rock’n’roll musical.
What songs will they perform to connect with audience members who are unfamiliar with them?
The only safe bet would be “Naive,” the band’s new single that is racking up sizable streaming numbers.
“We’ll probably do that one, just because it appears to be our most popular song,” Carolyn says. “But we also have a lot of new stuff that we haven’t released yet that we really like playing, and that people seem to really like to hear. It’s tough for a show like this, where you only have a little bit of time and you are trying to get people interested. I want to play stuff that they can listen to again, so playing unreleased stuff is tough.”
The act has several songs that are ready for release. Its next single, “Get By,” will debut soon, and a fourth album is also in the works.
“We have enough singles that we haven’t yet released that it makes sense to hold on to them and put them out as an album,” Clay says. “We have an entire concept and idea, and artwork already done, at this point. And it’s going to be a long one. It’s probably two albums in one, but it’s not going to be a double album. It’s just long for us because all our other albums have seven or eight songs and this one will have 14 or 15.”
BWT might be the only local band that doesn’t have a guitar.
“We’re proud of that,” Clay says.
Their identity instead lies in Carolyn’s vocals over keyboard-driven arrangements, and it’s so effective that you don’t even notice the lack of guitar riffs.
The couple has a 6-year-old son and a rock band that keeps them busy. But their remaining time also revolves around the arts.
Clay is a music educator, who operates a piano studio with about three dozen students. He also teaches piano and composition at Youngstown State University, works at Youngstown’s Montessori School, performs with church choirs, gives piano recitals and is part of the Piano Maniacs, an act that can be hired for receptions and parties.
Carolyn is part of the local theater community.
She was the music director of Kent Trumbull Theater’s production of “Spring Awakening” in November and is a costumer and music director at the Youngstown Playhouse.
She also has a role in Millennial Theater Company’s upcoming production of “Mean Girls.”
Carolyn has one more project that is nearing completion: She is self-recording a solo album of songs that she wrote and plays all instruments and sings on.
Three of the songs are already streaming on Spotify under the moniker Callieco.
Pictured at top: The Labra Brothers will headline the 330 Day concert at the Robins Theatre in Warren on March 30. The event is presented by the Summit radio. Pictured are David Labra, Matt Hayes, Adrian Labra, Danny Svenson, Cristian Labra and Antonio Labra.
