The Soil and The Sun, Gary Allan, Big & Rich, Jesse Ray & The Catfish, Five for Fighting, Brian Vander Ark, Sparta Celtic Fest: The Weekend Photo Gallery

The musical weekend started early with shows at Meijer Gardens and The Intersection, and featured a mix of national acts and stellar local bands hosting CD-release shows. (Aug. 7-10)

 

SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERY

Leave it to consummate stage performer Brian Vander Ark, frontman for The Verve Pipe, to launch another musically searing West Michigan weekend with an upbeat flair.

The East Grand Rapids singer-songwriter’s solo set at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, opening Thursday for Five for Fighting and the Twilight Symphony Orchestra was a crowd-engaging gem and he later spent time hanging around with fans on the concourse. Five for Fighting, meanwhile, showed love for Grand Rapids’ ArtPrize competition by having an artist paint a new artwork while the band and orchestra performed.

Throughout the weekend, national acts shared the spotlight with some truly jaw-dropping local band performances, including The Soil & The Sun’s album-release show at Founders Brewing Co. on Saturday night. A capacity crowd absolutely jammed the taproom to the hilt — as demonstrated by images in the photo gallery — to hear the seven-piece space-folk ensemble unfurl truly majestic, powerful, atmospheric and harmony-filled selections from their upcoming new album, “Meridian,” which officially gets released Aug. 19. The avid fan turnout and the band’s set definitively proved that this is an outfit with national-caliber charisma and musical chops. Carbon Tigers opened the show.

But that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg with a host of other local and national acts uncorking stellar performances over the weekend. (Many of them were at the Cowpie Music Festival in Alaska in southern Kent County. Get the lowdown and full photo gallery from Saturday’s lineup in this Local Spins story.)

• Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish took their high-energy stage act to a new level at The Pyramid Scheme on Friday night as the duo cavorted, crowd-surfed and blasted out their rockabilly-driven selections from their brand new album, “Gravedigger,” for an approving audience, with Sailor Kicks and Fathom 19 also performing.

• Country stars Gary Allan and Big & Rich (with West Michigan’s Kris Hitchcock & Small Town Son opening) delivered fan favorites for a good-sized crowd at Fifth Third Ballpark on Saturday night in the Meijer LPGA Community Concert (linked to the LPGA tournament being held at Blythfield Country Club).

• The Sparta Celtic Festival returned to pretty Rogers Park on Saturday, with a host of performances by Celtic-flavored acts, including the Conklin Ceili Band, Lexi Schaub and Peat in the Creel.

• On Thursday night, primo guitarist Eric Johnson returned to The Intersection to once again display his guitar prowess.

THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY: AUG. 10
The Soil & The Sun, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish,
Brian Vander Ark/Five For Fighting photos by Anthony Norkus
Big & Rich, Gary Allan photos by Eric Stoike
Sparta Celtic Festival photos by Kristine Carpenter
Eric Johnson photos by Tori Thomas
(Click on photo to enlarge gallery; disable pop-up blocker if photos won’t load)

Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
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