A splendid mid-week summer evening offered up two completely different musical vibes — with vastly different audiences — at separate outdoor shows in the Grand Rapids area.
Rock the Rapids Throngs: A big crowd greeted Daughtry on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Ballpark on the festival’s second night. (Photo/Anthony Norkus Photography)
Call it a tale of two concerts.
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And a very different tale it was on Wednesday night, with about 9,000 strong revving things up at Rock the Rapids on a sizzling summer evening at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, the mostly youthful crowd taking in the alt-rock of Daughtry, Lifehouse and Grand Rapids’ own Jessica Price Band.
About 10 miles away, former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald was doing his soulful best to crank out familiar hits from decades past — backed by a six-piece band — for a somewhat older and more reserved audience of a tad more than 1,700 at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s outdoor amphitheater. Chicago singer-songwriter Katie Todd opened that show.
Oh, there were detractors — a few folks took off midway through the both shows (one couple departing Meijer Gardens early complained to me bitterly about McDonald’s vocals) — but when you’ve got upwards of 11,000 West Michiganders out and about for a musical hump-day double-header in mid-August, that’s pretty impressive.
Local Spins was there for both shows, with photographer Anthony Norkus capturing the action at Rock the Rapids and yours truly racing between the two venues. (On Thursday night, Rock the Rapids does it again, closing out the three-day festival with ZZ Top, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Grand Rapids’ Junior Valentine. Details online here.)
DAUGHTRY, LIFEHOUSE, JESSICA PRICE BAND AT ROCK THE RAPIDS
MICHAEL MCDONALD AT MEIJER GARDENS:
THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY (8/21/13)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
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