The week of eclectic shows started with Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and included Of Montreal, Mipso, Watching for Foxes, Brad Fritcher’s MOODS, BoneHawk, Potato Moon, Shawn Mullins, Youth Lagoon and more.
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West Michigan's music scene
You know, of course, that a will is a dead giveaway.
And when you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall.
But did you know that it was another boffo week of live music in West Michigan? Those of you who attended the following concerts know that, and we’ve got some sweet images to prove it:
• Tav Falco’s Panther Burns (with Mike Watts on drums) brought his psychedelic-hued rock show to the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill in Grand Rapids on Tuesday.
• Indie-pop’s Smallpools, Pheobe Ryan and Machineheart wildly impressed an enthusiastic bunch inside The Stache at The Intersection in Grand Rapids on Wednesday.
• Watching for Foxes rolled out a new single, “Two Lovers,” in a crowd-pleasing show at The Pyramid Scheme, with The Fever Haze, The Great Indoors and Devin & The Dead Frets also on the bill.
• At the other end of downtown, Brad Fritcher’s MOODS pulled off an extra-mindblowing night of modern, improvisational jazz with several different guest musicians – on trombone, saxophone and bass – joining in the fun starting with the second set.
• Zedd’s “True Colors Tour” made a stop at Walker’s DeltaPlex Arena on Thursday, with the Russian-German producer/DJ bringing “Clarity” to a throng of thousands of hyped-up EDM fans who also cheered special guests Dillon Francis and Alex Metric.
• Grand Rapids’ Downtown Market showed off what may be the city’s newest venue on its second floor, when North Carolina’s Mipso – touring in support of the chart-topping “Old Time Reverie” – delivered its laid-back, vocally tight and ultra-harmonic bluegrass for an audience of about 100, with Grand Rapids’ Mark Lavengood opening the show.
• We Are Harlot powered up its hard rock at The Intersection the same night that country rap’s Moonshine Bandits fired up The Stache.
• Friday’s uber-busy concert lineup featured New York electro-pop sensation Melanie Martinez at The Stache inside The Intersection performing an unusual show for a bevy of rabid fans, Christian rock’s Jars of Clay at Holland’s Park Theatre, Of Montreal making another West Michigan appearance, this one at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo (which followed it up the next night with Kalamazoo’s BoneHawk and Drink Their Blood), Potato Moon re-emerging with its distinctive, sibling harmonies and indie-folk at Rockford Brewing Co. in Rockford, with a Kent County String Band performance in between sets, and singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins played a sold-out show at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up (with Mouths of Babes playing the listening room on Saturday).
• Heaters made a triumphant return to Grand Rapids with their psych/garage rock at Founders Brewing Co. on Saturday, along with openers Moonwalks, Shane Tripp and Coffin Problem.
• Youth Lagoon pumped up a wall-to-wall crowd at The Pyramid Scheme, following a set by Moon King, with frontman Trevor Powers dashing all over the stage and dancing on any surface he could find as he unfurled a mix of slow tunes and dance rock.
• The weekend wrapped up Sunday night in Kalamazoo, with the ever-entertaining Grace Potter bringing her rock show (and tour behind her latest album, “Midnight”) to State Theatre, with opener Rayland Baxter.
PHOTO GALLERY: Zedd @ DeltaPlex Arena
Photos by Tori Thomas
Photos by Anthony Norkus
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek