The long holiday weekend teemed with music, including Mid-Life Crisis at Forest Hills Fine Arts Center’s 10th anniversary, Breathe Owl Breathe, Granger Smith and more, captured in Local Spins images.
Easter weekend has arrived with all the warmth, sunshine and spring splendor it truly deserves after Michiganders were forced to hunker down for the longest, most unrelenting winter ever.
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So, who can blame folks for getting the weekend started early? A capacity crowd of 1,000-plus loaded up for rapper Machine Gun Kelly’s Wednesday show at The Intersection, with fans chanting “M-G-K” until he took the stage, broken foot and all. In spite of crutches and a cast, he powered through his set by hopping around stage on one foot or sitting on a stool or wheelchair.
It was just the starting line for a musical race of mega-proportions and multifarious approaches, with Jimmie Stagger, Kathleen & The Bridge Street Band, Thirsty Perch Blues Band, Root Doctor and Hank Mowery & The Hawktones quite literally jamming Billy’s Lounge for the WGVU Blues Matters benefit on Friday, a real dance-inspiring showcase of Michigan blues.
An enthusiastic capacity crowd also was on hand at The Orbit Room Saturday for California rapper Schoolboy Q, who ignited the sold-out crowd with fellow hip-hop artists Isaiah Rashad and Vince Staples, as Local Spins contributor Alec Juarez reports: “April 19th’s warm weather presented a perfect day for a bicycle ride, or at least, Isaiah Rashad thought so. The rapper, opening for Schoolboy Q on his Oxymoron World Tour, rode along the seemingly endless line running out the door of the Orbit Room and spanning the length the parking lot to take pictures and converse with fans before the sold-out show. Once the event got under way, Rashad and Vincent Staples stoked the flames for the crowd to blaze through Schoolboy Q’s set, absolutely igniting the venue with energy as the crowd chanted along to tracks off Q’s new ‘Oxymoron’ album. After all the pounding bass and machine-gun cadences, Q left the crowd begging for more while supremely satisfied.”
At about the same time, another California act, Beats Antique, was revving up a mammoth Intersection throng. The incredibly inventive, delectably colorful and supremely theatrical EDM-hued ensemble is nothing if not over-the-top entertaining.
Elsewhere, Michigan indie-folkers Breathe Owl Breathe returned to The Pyramid Scheme, country singer Granger Smith made a stop at The Intersection, singer-songwriter Sally Barris delivered a solo show at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up, singer Hannah Rose Graves lit up the SpeakEZ Lounge with her unique combo, Mid-Life Crisis with a cast of more than 70 Forest Hills students plus special guests celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center with an elaborate show (check out some video snippets below), and rockabilly and roots acts (including the Kent County String Band) descended upon the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill in a “benefit for a bass” to help bassist Eric Soules raise money for a new instrument to replace one that was stolen.
Oh, and of course, more than 20 bands played various Record Store Day celebrations at indie record shops across West Michigan, including The Heaters, Lake Timber and more captured in Local Spins images and video at Vertigo Music and Tommy Gun playing at Dodds Record Shop, both on S. Division Avenue in Grand Rapids. As usual, devotees of vinyl and those anxious to snag special RSD releases lined up at Vertigo, clutching their gems in hand, while enjoying pizza, libations and live music. Check out video highlights below. And, yes, it was a success, with vinyl sales leading the way. Vertigo’s Herm Baker reports that this year’s sales exceeded Record Store Day 2013, and well, that’s vinyl.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
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