Multigenre rockers The Vindys to bring diversity to Levitt Stage before Pat Benatar tour

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — In less than a month, Youngstown, Ohio, band The Vindys will be on tour with rocker Pat Benatar and her husband/guitarist Neil Geraldo, traveling across the nation.

But barely a month ago, the group was collaborating with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, building charts of songs for the songs for full orchestration.

The two performances are a representation of how The Vindys' music blends genres and influences as broad as pop, soul, jazz, rock and more.

The nine-piece group, which includes a horn section, play at 7:30 p.m. today, June 8, on the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks as part of the venue's free summer concert series.

“The way that I describe the band is that we are diverse because of my songwriting," singer Jackie Popovec said in a recent phone call from the road on the way to Cleveland, “jamming out with the windows down in my car."

Popovec has been described as evoking Amy Winehouse on the more retro songs while going full-tilt rock ‘n’ roll on the harder, moodier numbers."

"The way that I approach songwriting is that I serve the song," Popovec said. "I’m sort of a chameleon in that way. And to have guys in my band who are really talented and can play literally anything is to my benefit.

“I come from a jazzier vocal side, and then I have two guitar players who are Van Halen lovers — they’re really hard rock. And then, to pull that together, I got a horn section to kind of balance out the heaviness with my vocal strength.

"So it’s just whatever the song is — it’s not just any one thing. That might be a problem, but I just serve the song. I do what I feel is right.”

Connecting with Pat Benatar

That approach apparently has worked for The Vindys, who have released two albums since forming in 2014 and are working on a third.

Work on that new disc — which would be the band's first sing 2022's "Bugs" — was interrupted by the band being invited to tour with Benatar, Popovec said.

“Our bread and butter is the summertime — to get out there and do festivals and do shows," she said.

But the band had left this summer open “because we need to finish this album! We have all these songs that we’re sitting on. So we [were] taking July and August off, we’re not doing any gigs. And we were like, ‘Cool, awesome, no biggie.’

"And then we get the call from Pat [Benatar]’s people, and they’re, like, ‘You wanna do a tour?’ And I immediately have to be, like, ‘Yeah! That’s what we’re doing now.’ And I’m just excited that I’m opening up for one of my vocal heroes."

The tour kicks off July 6 in Atlantic City, but The Vindys played two earlier shows with Benatar.

One was in “Cleveland, it was kind of, like expected, it was a good fit ‘cause we have a following in the Cleveland market," Popovec said. "So we’ve been tapped to play with some national acts previously.

Popovec said that after the show, Benatar “told me, ‘I’m so sick of you — you’re so good.’ I said, ‘Can I get that in a quote? Can I put it on a T-shirt?’"

The Cleveland connection

It's not the first time The Vindys have been tapped to play with a nationally known act. The band also has opened for ZZ Top, Ann Wilson of Heart and "American Idol" winner Phillip Phillips.

While on the call, Popovec said she was driving to Cleveland for a rehearsal with 1980s rockers Michael Stanley Band.

The band, which since Stanley's 2021 death calls itself The Resonators, is having Popovec sing background vocals with them for a show at MGM in Cleveland.

The Vindys' following in Cleveland has connected them with legendary promoters Belkin Productions, who also connected them with Benetar, Popovec said.

"Neil Geraldo's from Parma [Ohio], near Cleveland. Some of their guys are from Youngstown, where I’m from," Popovec said.

“They called us up to do Detroit, and now we’re going on a 21-date tour with Pat Benatar. It’s nuts, it’s absolutely nuts. And it’s all just us making friends in northeast Ohio.”

An orchestra, and a new single

The show with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra was The Vindys' third, Popovec said.

“So it’s becoming a thing with us," she said. "I feel, like, a little bit like Adele up there, playing with an entire 60-piece orchestra.

"It’s pretty wild to put a rock band together with an orchestra. I’ve seen the Foo Fighters do it on the Grammy stage and I was, like, ‘I wanna do that, OK?’"

Despite the busy schedule pausing the album recording sessions, The Vindys on June 29 will release a new single, "Elton Glasses Baby."

“So that we would have something to promote on the tour, we picked probably one of my five favorite singles right now and we recorded it two weeks ago.

“It’s a summery, pop kind of tune and it’s off of our forthcoming album, which I would say is a little bit more fun and dancier.

"We’ve been playing bigger and bigger shows and we’ve been noticing how many minor keys [songs] we have and how many darker tunes.

“We as a band don’t like to get bored on stage. I don’t like to play something too much, so I’m really excited to start playing these songs.”