Rock, country, bluegrass, folk, jazz and hip hop unfolded in a host of West Michigan venues, from Jon Pardi to the Appleseed Collective to Sharkanoid to The Beat Suite and more.
Happy holidays: It’s Jingle Bell Rock time.
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It certainly was a week of rock-fueled holiday homecomings for some popular West Michigan acts, as well as an opportunity for others to stretch their wings with fresh collaborations and innovative musical exploration.
It all launched Thursday in Grand Rapids with the revelry of country music’s Jon Pardi, Joey Hyde and Brian Lorente & the Usual Suspects at The Intersection, the return of Traverse City’s The Accidentals to a packed One Trick Pony and the rootsy fervor of Ann Arbor’s The Appleseed Collective at Founders Brewing Co.
On Friday, Cadillac native and New Orleans-based singer-songwriter Luke Winslow King stopped by Local Spins on WYCE to perform a couple of songs (between his Kalamazoo Bell’s Brewery gig and a performance at Traverse City’s InsideOut Gallery) Mexicains Sans Frontieres in Grand Rapids hosted another edition of Dante Cope’s The Beat Suite, with Choppy Blades, Newstalgia, Nortroniks and Sligh West spinning out some cutting-edge music in a cozy setting, while The Pyramid Scheme rocked the rafters with Sharkanoid, Hollywood Makeout, The Lippies and Monkey Robot War.
Saturday’s invigorating lineup ranged from Grand Rapids’ Pop Evil coming back home to fire up a hardcore group of hard rock fans at The Intersection, country star Frankie Ballard returning to host his annual Christmas show at Kalamazoo’s State Theatre for an uber-enthused sold-out crowd which cheered Ballard’s version of “A Boy Named Sue” performed with his father and the announcement that he’d be playing 2015’s B-93 Birthday Bash. He even got behind the drums and ended up with fans in the balcony at one point during the show which also featured Steve Rivers.
Meanwhile, Mark Lavengood’s Bluegrass Bonanza with Billy Strings & Don Julin uncorked a feel-good, celebratory night of picking and grinning Saturday for a monster throng at Founders (which had a lengthy queue of fans snaking around the taproom before the show). The night ended with a whale of a bluegrass jam featuring both bands and members of Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys.
And Rockford Brewing Co. in Rockford celebrated its second anniversary in style with a performance by Paradigm, a band of RBC staffers.
LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY: Dec. 17-20
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Appleseed Collective, The Accidentals photos by Anna Sink
Jon Pardi, Joey Hyde, Brian Lorente photos by Eric Stoike
The Beat Suite photos by Anthony Norkus
Luke Winslow King photo by John Sinkevics
Sharkanoid, The Lippies, Hollywood Makeout, Monkey Robot War photos by Mary Boot
Pop Evil photos by Jamie Geysbeek
Frankie Ballard, Steve Rivers photos by Eric Stoike
Paradigm photos by Kristine Carpenter
Mark Lavengood, Billy Strings & Don Julin photos by Anna Sink
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music LLC