Saturday’s wet weather kept throngs away, but those that endured the raindrops enjoyed rousing sets. It capped a week of rollicking concerts including the Never Say Die tour and Greensky Bluegrass’ run at Bell’s in Kalamazoo and much more.
The Rain Wives: The Grand Rapids folk-rock band and its fans reveled in the rain Saturday for the Local First Street Part. (Photo/Anna Sink)
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What would Grand Rapids’ Festival be without a little rain?
And for the second time in three years, why shouldn’t The Rain Wives, aka The Crane Wives, regale soaking wet but happy fans at the Local First Street Party?
Umbrella Power: Fans and performers waited out showers during Festival Saturday evening. (Photo/Local Spins)
Nothing can completely stop West Michigan’s musical train, it seems, even if evening showers put a significant damper on the size of crowds that normally flood downtown Grand Rapids on the first Saturday of June.
After two resplendently sunny days to launch Festival of the Arts 2016, Mother Nature threw a wrench into the works late Saturday with sprinkles, rain and outright downpours, forcing cancellation of performances on several Festival stages (though acts continue to crank it out on covered stages such as the Outer Fringe and Circle).
Just to the south, at the Local First Street Party outside Bistro Bella Vita, bands played through the rain as well as the sunshine, with fans of Joshua Davis and The Crane Wives (featuring special guest Rick Chyme) enduring some of the wettest conditions – and being treated to some of most rousing performances – at the tail-end of the party, which drew just hundreds of people to Weston Street SW rather than thousands as in previous years due to the inclement weather.
Official Sponsor of The Local Spins Weekend Photo Galleries
Earlier in the day, Triumph Music Academy, Mark Lavengood Bluegrass Bonanza, Lady Ace Boogie, Chris Bathgate and Tunde Olaniran entertained party attendees.
And for much of the day, Festival basked in pleasant weather, and even the evening rain couldn’t stop bands such as rock’s The Faraday Cage on the City Stage and Hark Up Horns on the Circle Stage from strutting their stuff for the sparse audiences that braved the moist conditions.
Festival continued today (Sunday) with dozens of performances, including much-ballyhooed sets by the likes of Rev Charles’ PotatoeBabies and Union Guns closing out the three-day affair amid gray skies and cooler weather.
Check out the photo gallery and video snippets from Saturday’s downtown hoopla.
PHOTO GALLERY: Festival of the Arts, Local First Street Party
Photos by Anna Sink, Ricky Olmos, Lisa Oldham and John Sinkevics
PLUS: GREENSKY BLUEGRASS, KARI LYNCH, MUST DIE, MORE
• Greensky Bluegrass played a three-night run of sold-out shows at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo to open the brewery’s Beer Garden for the summer. Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum was there for Thursday night’s opener, calling it a perfect evening for the Kalamazoo progressive bluegrass band’s 12th straight year of opening the garden, which made it “like a homecoming. A big weekend for sure: People traveled from all over the country to see Greensky play at Bell’s and with a different guest band every night, this weekend feels almost like a Greensky Music Festival. When Greensky came on, the sun was setting. As the night progressed, the light show took on a life of its own. An impressive site outdoors at night, under a star-lit sky.” Ketchum’s photos here tell the story.
PHOTO GALLERY: Greensky Bluegrass at Bell’s photos by Derek Ketchum
And the same night that Twenty One Pilots revved up a sold-out crowd at Van Andel Arena (Local Spins review and photo gallery here), a near-capacity crowd on Saturday cheered an EDM show at The Intersection — part of the Never Say Die tour — featuring Skism, Eptic, Must Die! and Grand Rapids’ own Dissonance, with The Stache (front room) hosting Revelations: Iron Maiden Tribute with Blackgate.
WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (May 31-June 4)
The Verve Pipe photos by Eric Stoike
Barbarossa Brothers by Hunter Gamble
Kari Lynch Band photos by Eric Stoike
Olivia Mainville photos by Anna Sink
Must Die, Dissonance, Revelations, Blackgate photos by Anthony Norkus
