Nov. 4, 2012: Welcome to West Michigan’s weekend in fan photos — bracing live music from Eastown living rooms as part of the Lamp Light Music Festival to venues near and far, shared in pics sent to Spins on Music. (Photos, video)
Will Hoge delivered a lively, rootsy show at Hudsonville’s Pinnacle Center on Saturday night, helping raise thousands for Music to Benefit Music. (Photo/John Sinkevics)
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Hundreds are testing out the inaugural — and innovative — Lamp Light Music Festival staged in four Eastown homes this weekend, with nearly three dozen singer-songwriters and bands playing mostly acoustic sets in this intimate celebration of house concerts. It continues today, so if you want to check it out, it’s $15 for a day pass. Details here.
West Michigan’s musical weekend actually started early with an impressive performance at St. Cecilia Music Center by New York’s John Pizzarelli Quartet, a group executive director Cathy Holbrook described as “one of the all-time greats we have had here.” (Read a review of the show by Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk at MLive.com here.)
It continued Friday with Grand Rapids hip-hop artist A.B! at The Pyramid Scheme and singer-songwriter Callaghan at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up. On Saturday, Grand Rapids’ Tokyo Morose hosted a CD-release show at Founders Brewing Co. with Ghost Heart also performing, and Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoge played a Music to Benefit Music benefit at Hudsonville’s Pinnacle Center, raising money for a worthy cause: Purchasing instruments, equipment and supplies for school music programs in the Grand Rapids area. Indeed, this benefit has raised more than $165,000 for the cause over the past seven years, and Hoge and his band’s impressive, rootsy, country-meets-rock performance put a real exclamation point on the evening. This year’s event raised $15,000. You can watch video highlights of that show below. (By the way, Hoge was fresh from an appearance at the American Country Awards show, where he was nominated for song of the year.)
Once again, I asked folks to send me photos from concerts and clubs across West Michigan to give Spins on Music readers a visual rundown of the eclectic music offerings (along with a brief video I shot of Hoge at the Pinnacle Center). Capture some musical moments? Email photos of bands and fans to jsinkevics@gmail.com. ID the group, location and photographer. The best get posted at Spins on Music on Sunday. Enjoy.
Birdfingers performed at The Bird House as part of the Lamp Light Music Festival, which kicked off in Eastown living rooms on Friday. (Photo/Rick Beerhorst)
Home sweet home: The Bird House is hosting intimate Lamp Light house concerts. (Photo/Rick Beerhorst)
Fiona Dickinson played the Winterfell house at Lamp Light.
A.B! performs during his CD-release show at The Pyramid Scheme on Friday.
Hoge and his band performed on Saturday, just two days after Hoge attended the American Country Awards.
Hoge’s shows was the highlight of an evening of food, auctions and raffles to benefit music programs.
Tokyo Morose and Ghost Heart teamed up at Founders Brewing Co. for Tokyo Morose’s CD-release show on Saturday. (Photo/Nick Manes)
Tokyo Morose celebrated release of its new album, “Sequence of Steps,” at Founders.
Ghost Heart did their cool, experimental rock thing.
UK-born and Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Callaghan performed at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up.
Grand Rapids’ own Karisa Wilson opened for Callaghan on Friday. Wilson also plays Eastown’s Lamp Light Music Festival on Sunday afternoon.
The John Pizzarelli Quartet played the Great Artist Gala at St. Cecilia Music Center on Thursday.
John Pizzarelli and his legendary father, Bucky, performing on Thursday at St. Cecilia Music Center.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
