A snowstorm wreaked some havoc, but live music prevailed — from a Rockford Brewing benefit for a Fauxgrass bassist to a heavy metal band competition at The Intersection. (Photos, video)
Know Lyfe rattled the rafters during Friday’s Heavyweights of Rock competition at The Intersection. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
With snow clogging roads and subzero temperatures that make Alaska look like the tropics, Calvin College not surprisingly postponed its scheduled Friday night appearance of Brooklyn indie folk-rock/alt-country band The Lone Bellow at the Covenant Fine Arts Center.
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Duane Davis, with Matt Brewer on bass. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
The college, which had sold more than 600 tickets for the concert, is working to reschedule the band for another date … hopefully when West Michigan is clear of six-foot snowdrifts.
But other bands braved the Polar Vortex and blizzard-like conditions — on the 36th anniversary of the Great Blizzard of ’78 — to press forward with some lively shows and Local Spins was there to capture some of the action:
• St. Cecilia Music Center launched this season’s jazz series on Thursday with a one-of-a-kind, first-ever meeting of distinguished musicians. “You’re going to see something that no one has ever seen before,” St. Cecilia executive director Cathy Holbrook told a near-capacity crowd, just before jazz pianist Xavier Davis, his brother and drummer Quincy Davis and double-bassist Matt Brewer took the stage, with their fathers — singer Duane Davis and trombonist Paul Brewer — later joining them. And it really was an unprecedented gathering of what Xavier Davis called “some of the best musicians in the world,” playing their own compositions and impressive takes on traditional jazz selections. As Quincy Davis aptly noted in introducing his father to the stage: “It’s all love.” And, of course, terrific jazz.
Andy Holtgreive led Domestic Problems. (Photo/Eric Stoike, On the Run Photography)
• Four bands — Hawks & Owls, Romano Paoletti & Co., Troll for Trout and The Crane Waves — packed the house at Rockford Brewing in the midst of that Friday night snowstorm for lively performances for a good cause: raising money to help Fauxgrass bassist Tim McKay with expenses after he severely injured his hand in a snowblower accident. And they succeeded in a huge way. Jason Wheeler of Fauxgrass (who organized the benefit along with bandmate Adam Balcer) reported the event raised $3,065 in donations and house concert pledges, with more checks potentially on the way from those who couldn’t attend. Just as important, the event was another example of the camaraderie and selfless attitude of the participating musicians who donated their time and energies to the cause (and ignored the weather to load in and load out).
• A slew of hard-rocking, metal-infused bands also spit in the face of Friday’s snowstorm to compete in MoshPit Nation’s annual Heavyweights of Rock competition at The Intersection. Templar’s Verdict, Equal Parts, Of All We Cherish, Flood the Desert and Know Lyfe slugged it out guitar-shredding-wise, and Flood the Desert coming out on top to move onto the finals on Feb. 14.
Revelers at the Tim McKay benefit.
• Domestic Problems, Knee Deep Shag and Brian Vander Ark playing a benefit for Hospice of Michigan Volunteer Services at The Intersection, an event which included an afternoon kids’ show at the venue. As local radio icon Aris Hampers noted on Facebook, this was “a pleasant reunion of great friends,” aka winners of Hampers’ past Hometown Rock Music Search competition (The Verve Pipe led by Vander Ark in 1994, DP in 1995 and Knee Deep Shag in 1997).
• Singer-songwriter David Berkeley playing “heartfelt music” to a small crowd at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up, with proprietor Michelle Hanks even taking the stage to sing a song with him.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
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