Ben Folds, Judy Collins, dizzybird records launch party, Max Lockwood, A.B!: Local Spins Weekend Photo Gallery

Photo marvels: Joan Osborne at Wealthy Theatre, album releases by Gringo Star, Heaters and A.B! at The Pyramid Scheme, Thousand Foot Krutch at The Intersection, a legend at Civic Theatre.

 

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The vibe couldn’t have been more different.

A capacity baby boomer crowd politely and lovingly applauded — and sang along to — folk icon Judy Collins during a Friday night benefit at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. Just down the road, a more raucous bunch of 20- and 30-somethings jammed The Pyramid Scheme for the launch of the dizzybird records label, with Atlanta’s Gringo Star and Grand Rapids’ Heaters celebrating new EPs with surfy, garage rock- and psychedelic-infused zest. The following night, Ben Folds joined the Grand Rapids Symphony for what may have been the most unusually entertaining orchestral show ever unleashed inside DeVos Performance Hall.

And there was far more to the weekend, as the Local Spins Weekend Photo Gallery and concert roundup once again proves …

BEN FOLDS

Cinematic.

If Ben Folds were a movie, this is what he’d look and sound like.

The alt-pop pianist and singer’s glorious pairing with the Grand Rapids Symphony at DeVos Performance Hall on Saturday night rolled out everything that makes this unusual musical virtuoso and songwriter such a rare breed in the rock world: Inventiveness, humor, eclectic genre-bending mastery, story-telling charm, and, of course, a little irreverence (though perhaps not as much as he often exhibits during his rock shows).

Throughout the evening, Folds covered the breadth of his impressive career — from solo material to old Ben Folds Five tunes — trotting out versions of “Effington,” “Brick,” “Picture Window” and, of course, “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” with the Grand Rapids Symphony directed by John Varineau. Many songs took on a soundtrack sort of milieu, with tunes such as “Jesusland,” “Landed” and “Zak and Sara” benefiting most from the full orchestra-plus-small-choir treatment aided by a wonderful sound system.

The concerto that Folds wrote for piano and orchestra came off brilliantly, too. “That’s the best I’ve heard the piece played, by the way,” said Folds, whose appearance with the Grand Rapids Symphony closed out his current tour leg of “The Ben Folds Orchestral Experience.” (He plays a Tampa show with The Florida Orchestra on Nov. 7, before heading to Australia and Japan.)

At one point, he even created a brand new orchestral piece right on the spot, part of his longstanding “Rock This Bitch” tradition. Plunking notes on the grand piano, Folds cleverly taught the orchestra’s various instrumentalists and singers their various parts, assembling it all into a delicious piece of symphonic pop, complete with the refrain, “Rock this bitch, in G-Rap, with an orchestra.” Later, he induced the audience into producing sweet, three-part backing harmonies.

It all made for a surprising, electrifying, smile-inducing evening, and by far, the best rock/pop-act-playing-with-an-orchestra I’ve ever seen.

JUDY COLLINS

One of the most endearing things about a folk legend is being a folk legend.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Judy Collins, 75, who played Grand Rapids Civic Theatre on Friday after performing a Holland Park Theatre benefit on Thursday, proved her merits as a masterful story-teller while introducing her familiar catalog for an adoring audience that obviously grew up with the artist and her crystalline soprano voice (which remains as strong as ever).

The singer clad in a sparkling evening gown told tales about listening outside the door as folk icon Bob Dylan wrote “Mr. Tambourine Man,” seeing Pete Seeger for the first time sleeping on the floor of his manager’s office with a banjo by his side, having 13-year-old Arlo Guthrie open at her first New York performance and joked about her affair with Stephen Stills, who wrote “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” about Collins.

“Everybody says that in the ’60s, we drank too much and used too many drugs, but look at all the words we had in our songs,” she quipped at one point.

In between, accompanied by pianist Russell Walden, the singer who scored her first Top 10 hit with Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides, Now,” dusted off the classics “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Helplessly Hoping,” “Born to the Breed” and “That Song About the Midway” as well as a host of Irish tunes, including “Danny Boy” and “How Are Things in Glocca Morra.”

DIZZYBIRD RECORDS LAUNCH WITH HEATERS, GRINGO STAR

The much-anticipated dizzybirds records launch at The Pyramid Scheme drew an upbeat capacity crowd on Friday, putting smiles on the faces of label founders Nicole LaRae and Brian Hoekstra. The garage rock- and psych rock-fueled sets by Atlanta’s Gringo Star and Grand Rapids’ Heaters, meanwhile, along with DJ Tom Shannon Jr., put grins on the faces of fans, with Local Spins’ Brian J. Bowe providing this entertaining description of the evening:

Friday night was a great night to fall in love (again) with rock ‘n’ roll, friendship and all of the glorious possibilities that come from giving yourself unflinchingly to the music you love best. Dizzybird records founders Nicole LaRae and Brian Hoekstra are well-known locally for their big hearts and iron-clad musical taste. So it’s no surprise the label’s first two releases were celebrated in such high style by the artists responsible.

Atlanta’s Gringo Starr kicked off the night with a set filled with melodies for miles and choruses for days. Playing beneath a garland of cherry red lights, they evoked all of the best Big Star teenage dreams. Grand Rapids’ own up-and-coming Heaters followed with a set that was immersed the grand psychedelic tradition — big guitars, pounding drums and vocals drenched in layers of yummy reverb. Backed by filmed images of marching (celebrating?) crowds, the band’s presentation was thrillingly ambiguous, occupying that razor’s edge between cosmic liberation and a feeling of inevitable lurking doom. It was a helluva ride.

Also…I entered a dance contest at the release party and ended up one of the finalists, despite being a doughy middle-aged weirdo in a cardigan. Future dance contestants, if you’re wondering what my secret is, it’s that I take this Yoko Ono song as a bit of a personal manifesto. Bad dancer = no regrets. – Brian J. Bowe

JOAN OSBORNE

With a distinctive voice that carried the evening, Joan Osborne’s crowd-pleasing appearance at the cozy Wealthy Theatre on Thursday as part of WYCE’s Live at Wealthy series was her first in West Michigan in more than a dozen years. Read the review and see the full photo gallery online here.

Local bands and artists had their day, or evening, too, with Max Lockwood hosting a CD-release show for his new album, “Outrider,” surrounded by friends/musicians such as guitarist-singer Seth Bernard, drummer Dan Rickabus and many more. The Carboys and The Seth Bernard Trio were also on the bill for Thursday’s show at The Pyramid Scheme which Lockwood described as “high energy and eclectic with a wonderfully supportive atmosphere.” Read more about Lockwood and hear his music in this Local Spins Artist Spotlight.

On Saturday, hip hop’s A.B! hosted a who’s who lineup at The Pyramid Scheme to launch his brand new full-length album with Lady Ace Boogie, Tha Leaderz, Dante Cope and more in the house.

The same night, Thousand Foot Krutch delivered its rousing Christian rock strains to a fired-up Intersection.

THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY: Oct. 16-19
Judy Collins, Dizzybird Records Launch Party photos by Anthony Norkus
Ben Folds, Max Lockwood photos by Anna Sink
A.B!, Thousand Foot Krutch photos by Jamie Geysbeek
Joan Osborne photos by Anthony Norkus

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Copyright 2014 Spins on Music LLC