Buddy Guy, Pokey LaFarge, Slipknot, The Used, Bob Dylan Tribute, Bona-Who, Jamnesty: Weekend Photo Gallery

The week started with Pigpen Theatre Company folk and kept rolling with Brad Fritcher’s MOODS, Pokey LaFarge, Billy Strings & Don Julin and plenty more, captured in images at Local Spins.

 

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On the week that an international blues legend passed away, another one made a fan-pleasing visit to West Michigan.

Chicago blues icon Buddy Guy, who called the late B.B. King his best friend, paid tribute to his pal with a sold-out concert Saturday at St. Joseph’s BBQ, Blues & Bluegrass festival.

Earlier in the week, Guy had mourned King’s death on Instagram, praising his trailblazing, guitar style: “I love you and I promise I will keep these damn blues alive.” He certainly did that on Saturday for 7,000 people who jammed Whirlpool Centennial Park and lovingly surrounded the engaging Guy at one point during the show.

Coco Montoya, The Infamous Stringdusters, Slim Gypsy Baggage and The HillBenders also performed during the one-day “Taste of Michigan” event organized by St. Joe Today.

That eclectic lineup capped an eclectic week of live music:

• New York’s Pigpen Theatre Co. brought its stage-filling, ensemble-styled folk to The Stache inside The Intersection on Tuesday, with Goodnight, Texas opening the show;

• Brad Fritcher’s MOODS returned to SpeakEZ Lounge on Wednesday for the Local Spins Wednesdays series, bringing ear-pleasing improvisational jazz with Fritcher on trumpet, Dutcher Snedeker on keys, Mario Copeland on drums and Justin Avdek on bass;

• Pokey LaFarge uncorked a lively, jaw-dropping affair at The Pyramid Scheme on Thursday, part of an international tour. Local Spins’ Brian J. Bowe was on hand to provide this report on the concert:

Pokey LaFarge’s old-timey records are nice, but they sometimes seem a bit tame, like an all-too-familiar museum piece. They’re nothing that would offend Garrison Keillor’s audience.

Playing for a boisterous sold-out house at the Pyramid Scheme Thursday, though, LaFarge and his six-piece band were far less genteel. In that live setting, it was easier to see how this music represented the down-and-dirty party music of earlier eras. The crowd sang along as LaFarge wound them up into a frenzy with his rip-roaring stage presence. The whole thing seemed a bit more dangerous and thrilling.

LaFarge is proud of his Midwestern roots, and there were plenty of regional shout-outs. He chatted about Rachael Davis, joked about visiting the U.P., wished everybody a Happy Wheatland. At one point, he sang a bit of “Hail to the Victors” before the (thankfully) Spartan-heavy crowd booed him down. “At least I’m not from Ohio,” LaFarge joked.

The opener was Vermont’s fabulous Caroline Rose, whose deep and atmospheric country was filled heart-wrenching joy/pain in the tradition of Gram Parsons’ best work with Emmylou Harris.

• The Used and Chevelle brought their alt-metal/post-hardcore attack to The Orbit Room on Friday;

• Billy Strings & Don Julin returned to Rockford Brewing on Friday for another bluegrass bonanza;

• Blues guitarist Jimmie Stagger performed two acoustic sets for a small audience at Goon Lagoon studios on Friday, part of a recording session for his upcoming new studio album;

• Matchbox Twenty’s Kyle Cook played a sold-out solo show at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up, attracting fans from as far away as Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas and Los Angeles (including one who proposed to his girlfriend on stage after Cook played Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love”);

• The annual Bona-Who? fest showcasing local bands basked in terrific weather for performances by a host of acts Friday and Saturday on property outside Cedar Springs, including sets by Catfish Johnny & The Bottom Feeders, Fever Haze, hi-ker, Big Organ and more;

• Saturday’s Jamnesty benefit for Amnesty International in Dwight Lydell Park in Comstock Park featured a bevy of local bands, including Bryce Zirkel, Matte Black & Mr. Robinson, JOE, King Crabapple and Emma Loo & Sam;

• Slipknot unfurled its wildly garbed heavy metal display for thousands of fans Saturday night at Van Andel Arena, with Hatebreed opening;

• The same night, Jesse Ray, The Carboys, Bigfoot Buffalo, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon and Great Notion played all Bob Dylan all night for an age-diverse crowd at Founders Brewing Co., part of Nicholas James Thomasma’s eighth annual Dylan tribute show — an event that covered an impressive mix of Dylan songs spanning the folk icon’s career (including the 11-verse “Hurricane,” which Thomasma delivered without ever glancing at a cheat sheet).

(Check out a review and photo gallery from Marilyn Manson’s sold-out show Wednesday at The Orbit Room here.)

WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (May 17, 2015)
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Pigpen Theatre/Goodnight Texas, Brad Fritcher, Pokey LaFarge photos by Anna Sink
The Used, Chevelle photos by Anthony Norkus
Billy Strings & Don Julin photos by Kristine Carpenter
Jimmie Stagger photos by Anna Sink
Kyle Cook photo by Trish Schroeder
Bona-Who? photos by Tori Thomas and John Sinkevics
Jamnesty photos by Brad Miller
Slipknot photos by Anthony Norkus
Bob Dylan Tribute photos by Anna Sink
Buddy Guy photos by Joshua Nowicki Photography

Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC