From Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo to Grand Haven, February’s first week delivered diverse performances: Joshua Davis, The Accidentals, Black Jake, The Bangups, a superstar tribute to David Bowie and more.
Keys N Lights: An enthusiastic crowd greeted Keys N Krates on its Grand Rapids tour stop Thursday. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
BOWIE NIGHT AT THE PYRAMID SCHEME
The sold-out, jam-packed show — which drew resplendently garbed fans strutting their Bowie best — said it all.
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The late David Bowie proved his generation-spanning influence at The Pyramid Scheme on Friday night, when five supergroups of musicians from a host of West Michigan bands paid tribute to the rock star with an upbeat “Bowie Night” that not only shared their love for the legend’s music but also raised more than $4,000 for Girls Rock Grand Rapids.
Most impressive perhaps was the turnout of 20- and 30-somethings who didn’t grow up during Bowie’s heyday, but felt his influence nonetheless, singing along to classics as well as deep tracks from his robust and eclectic catalog. Bands performing included Ground Control to Major Thomasma, Hazy Cosmic Jive, The End Times Orchestra, Electric Eyed Alligator and Brother Wolf & The Wolf Pack from Mars, with familiar players, voices and appropriately painted faces doing their Ziggy Stardust best (from Corey Eno Ruffin to Nicholas James Thomasmas to Hannah Rose Graves and many more).
Check out the photos here, with some video highlights below.
PHOTO GALLERY: Bowie Night photos by Katy Batdorff
COOPER’S GLEN MUSIC FESTIVAL IN KALAMAZOO
Stars of acoustic music turned downtown Kalamazoo into hoedown central over the weekend with the Great Lakes Acoustic Music Association’s Cooper’s Glen Music Festival unfurling its charms — not only on the main ballroom stage and in the Bell’s Room (new to the festival this year), but in hallways and lobbies of the Radisson Hotel where jam sessions were plentiful.
Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum filed this report:
Opening the show was a local crowd favorite, The Red Sea Pedestrians, followed by Ten Strings and a Goatskin, a traditional folk/fusion trio who made the trip from Prince Edward Island in Canada. They had everyone in the crowd clapping and whooping along with to their music. Closing out the main stage on Friday was the Joshua Davis Trio, which delivered a fine performance that included Davis playing a couple of tunes solo, sharing stories and praising organizations such as GLAMA for preserving the traditional roots of acoustic music.
Beyond providing a wonderful variety of artists — from Josh White Jr. to The Steel Wheels to The SteelDrivers and more — the festival helped foster the love of music in children, including those from the Parkwood UpJohn Elementary Drum Chorus who took part in the musical action, too.
And The SteelDrivers’ incredible performance on Saturday proved them well worthy of their Grammy nomination for best bluegrass album. GLAMA had worked to land them for the festival for a few years and it proved to be worth the effort: There didn’t seem to be an empty seat in the house, standing room only, except for when people were getting up to dance.
PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper’s Glen photos by Derek Ketchum
KEYS N KRATES AT THE INTERSECTION
To say that Keys N Krates made a triumphant return to The Intersection on Thursday might be an understatement.
The Canadian EDM and hip-hop outfit — featuring turntablist Jr Flo, keyboard player David Matisse and drummer Adam Tune –attracted a young and exuberant crowd to the Grand Rapids nightclub, with Stooki Sound and Jesse Slayter also performing.
PHOTO GALLERY: Keys N Krates photos by Eric Stoike
Here’s a video of Hazy Cosmic Jive (featuring members from Hazy Past and Devin & the Dead Frets) performing “Young American” from Bowie Night