From Kalamazoo to Lansing to Grand Rapids and the lakeshore, live music took center stage with the Tuesday Evening Music Club kickoff, Billy Strings & Don Julin, Nobody’s Darlin’ and more in the mix.
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Summertime in Michigan = live music mania.
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The second week in July was living proof of that with major festivals and concerts captured in images at Local Spins:
• Lansing’s Common Ground festival kicked off on Tuesday with a number of performances, including the Joshua Davis Quintet filling in for the ailing Meghan Trainor, but things really ramped up on Wednesday with thousands cheering renowned Los Angeles alt-rock band Jane’s Addiction, led by singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro, following sets by the always-entertaining Here Come the Mummies, not to mention Alient Ant Farm, In This Moment, Eyes Set to Killand more.
On Sunday, the festival wrapped up in an ultra-resplendent, wild and boundary-pushing way, with the psychedelic alt-rock of Flaming Lips (which had its ever-entertaining frontman Wayne Coyne rolling into the audience in his signature plastic bubble, hurling confetti and balloons, and otherwise romping about) and Philadelphia’s experimental Man Man, led by singer-keyboard player Honus Honus.
• Another long-running institution, the Kalamazoo Blues Fest took over Arcadia Creek Festival Place in downtown Kalamazoo. The festival marked its 22nd anniversary with headliner Shemekia Copeland on Friday night. The woman dubbed “First Lady of the Blues” announced an upcoming album to be released this fall and played songs from her 2012 record, “33-1/3,” with guitarist Willie Scandlyn energizing the crowd during a solo on “Lemon Pie.” Copeland wasn’t the only performer keeping the crowd fired up: Scott Holt, once an apprentice to blues legend Buddy Guy, put his own spin on a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Members of festival sponsor the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association said this year’s event saw more people sitting than standing. It might have just been the weather, because the music didn’t let up on Saturday, as the festival wrapped up. Lansing-based Stan Budzynski & 3rd Degree offered a stirring performance, which led directly into west Michigan’s own Big Boss Blues Band, winners of the 2014 Capital Area Blues Society “Blues Brawl.” They got the audience dancing from the very first note. – By Andrew Domino
• The week got started in West Michigan on a promising note early with Traverse City bluegrass faves Billy Strings & Don Julin (with bassist Kevin Gills) electrifying the biggest crowd yet to ever attend a Rogue River Blues Series show in Garden Club Park in downtown Rockford, regaling fans and plenty of dancers with world-class musicianship on a picture-perfect night. Farther to the south, the first Tuesday Evening Music Club concert of the season at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park featured a “Welcoming the World” family night that featured global roots music courtesy of An Dro, Igor Houwat and much more for a full amphitheater.
• Also on Tuesday, alt-rock’s platinum-selling Tonic rolled into The Intersection, with Grand Rapids’ own ’90s heroes Papa Vegas and British Racing Green opening a show that at least one fan called one the best rock shows he’s seen. Even The Verve Pipe frontman Brian Vander Ark made an on-stage guest appearance with Tonic during the concert.
• All-female string band Nobody’s Darlin’ got its busy week started with an appearance at SpeakEZ Lounge as part of the Local Spins Wednesdays series, harmoniously delivering the group’s old-time musical charms. (The band followed that with a performance on Friday at Rockford Brewing.)
• Florida rock/punk’s Against Me! – fronted by Laura Jane Grace (formerly Thomas Jane Gabel) – brought its “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” to Grand Rapids’ Intersection on Wednesday night.
• California pop-rock singer-songwriter Anna Nalick made a mid-week, West Michigan tour stop at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up with opener Ryanhood. It was Nalick’s third sellout at the listening room in less than two years.
• Vox Vidorra launched the first GRAM on the Green concert of the summer for a large and approving throng in front of the Grand Rapids Art Museum on Thursday night, with lead singer Molly Bouwsma-Schultz delivering her usual energetic and expressive display. (The Crane Wives play next week; see the full GRAM on the Green schedule on The Big List.)
• Country singer Tyler Farr really “rocked the block,” indeed, outside The Intersection on Friday night, with a hefty crowd of fans cheering on the Farr and his band on a stellar night.
• In what may have been the most unusual concert of the week, the iconic David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets played Grand Rapids on Friday. Throughout his career, David J’s songwriting has contained a strong undercurrent of Beat Generation poetic sensibility. That sensibility took center stage in a performance at a packed Tip Top Deluxe. Backed by three members of the Planet D Nonet, David took a jazzbo stance in his 14-song set. The band gave the songs a loose skeleton, simultaneously providing structure and allowing the music to breathe. That was most noticeable during an impromptu rendition of the haunting “Rain Bird” from Love and Rockets’ “Earth, Sun, Moon” album. David pulled out the song at audience request, even though the band hadn’t ever heard it. There’s little more exciting than a group of talented jazz musicians really listening and holding on for dear life. David was a relaxed and charming showman, regaling the audience with blue tales of debauchery. The set favored his solo work, with a run of Love and Rockets songs to close out the set. There was no Bauhaus, but he made up for that with a smoldering take on Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” (More in this Local Spins interview.) – By Brian J. Bowe
• Saturday night at Billy’s Lounge in Eastown saw the return of Grand Rapids hip-hop ensemble La Famiglia, led by Mike G, with a VERY happy crowd on hand.
LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (July 7-12)
Kalamazoo Blues Fest photos by Rosanna Remeika
Billy Strings & Don Julin photos by Anna Sink
Tuesday Evening Music Club photos by Taylor Mansen
Tonic photos by Eric Stoike
Papa Vegas photo by Aris Hampers
Nobody’s Darlin’ photos by Taylor Mansen
Against Me! photos by Eric Stoike
Anna Nalick photos by Bethany Lamb/Little Lamb Photography
Vox Vidorra photos by Anna Sink
Tyler Far photos by Eric Stoike
David J photos by Taylor Mansen
La Famiglia photos by Anthony Norkus
MORE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERIES/REVIEWS (Click on links):
Mat Kearney with Judah & The Lion at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids Township (Monday)
Mavis Staples and Patty Griffin at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids Township (Thursday)
Joshua Davis Quintet at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids (Friday)
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