The Legal Immmigrants, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish and Brother Adams played a mini-tour, with bluesman Bobby Rush, EDM’s Black Tiger Sex Machine, Hollywood Makeout and more heating up the week.
Blistering Rock: Joe “Boots” Bockheim and The Legal Immigrants pounded it out in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Sometimes, it’s worth braving frigid temperatures and blustery conditions to revel in live music.
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Bell’s Backstage: Joe Bockheim, Jesse Ray and bandmates in the Green Room. (Photo/Anna Sink)
This was that kind of week, with West Michigan rock faves The Legal Immigrants, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish and Brother Adams hitting the road for a mini-tour that took them to Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo on Thursday and The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids on Friday.
Both shows delivered hyper-active, uber-rambunctious and crowd-pleasing sets that rocked both venues, jammed with enthusiastic fans and documented in photos by Local Spins photographers Tony Norkus and Anna Sink. Local Spins even accompanied The Legal Immigrants on the road, capturing behind-the-scenes images for the Kalamazoo show.
Just as important, both shows showcased relatively new lineups for all three bands, including the addition of guitarist Matt Noordhoff to the “aggressive folk” trio of Brother Adams and bassist Sergio Zaragoza to the high-volume, “punk-ass hillbilly blues” of Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish (which also features drummer Brando Hopp pounding it out with frontman Jesse Ray). The revamped version of The Legal Immigrants, meanwhile, sees leader Joe “Boots” Bockheim joined by stellar guitarist Ben Taber, bassist Kevin Kitsch and drummer Marcus.
PHOTO GALLERY: The Legal Immigrants, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish, Brother Adams
The Pyramid Scheme photos by Anthony Norkus
Bell’s Brewery photos by Anna Sink
• Fat Tuesday got things started with a gumbo of Mardi Gras parties, including Chicago’s Lowdown Brass Band pumping up partyers at H.O.M.E. inside The B.O.B. (That same night, Bigfoot Buffalo hoofed into Local Spins Live at River City Studios for a podcast/video session; more from that special event later this week at Local Spins.)
• On Wednesday, Brotha James, aka Jeremy Reisig, endured blizzard-like conditions up north to make his way down to Grand Rapids from Elk Rapids to bring his one-man, live-looping show to the Local Spins Wednesdays series at SpeakEZ Lounge (after hauling all his equipment earlier in the day to the fourth-floor Cumulus Broadcasting studios for a Local Spins Live radio show).
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• On Thursday, The Intersection in Grand Rapids hosted a double-header of sorts: Canada electronic dance music outfit Black Tiger Sex Machine (aka BTSM) brought its U.S. tour to the main showroom of the nightclub (with Apashe, Dabin and Attak also invigorating a hyped-up crowd) while alt-country singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter played the front lounge, aka The Stache.
• On Friday, State Theatre in Kalamazoo presented what it dubbed the “All-Star Blues Bash” featuring award-winning blues hall of famers Bobby Rush and Joe Louis Walker, plus Chicago’s Wayne Baker Brooks and Shawn Holt (son of the legendary Magic Slim) — a show that had “people up off their seats and dancing,” reports photographer Derek Ketchum, “especially up in the balcony.”
The same night, The Waldron Public House in downtown Grand Rapids, formerly McFadden’s Restaurant & Saloon, hosted the soft opening for its renovated quarters, with the Marshland Express jazz band performing. The band will play every Friday night at The Waldron, starting at 6 p.m.
• Saturday brought performances by Hollywood Makeout, Mail Order Monsters, Mat Churchill and Bermudas at The Pyramid Scheme, a night that also featured the first of two sold-out shows by Albert Lee at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up listening room. Check out the recap and photos of the Lee show in this separate Local Spins post.
• Sunday wrapped up the weekend with award-winning Canadian pop punk band Marianas Trench making a “Hey You Guys!!” tour stop at The Orbit Room, much to the delight of a throng of young fans. Local Spins writer Elizabeth Voltz was there and filed this recap:
Eyeliner, leather and big hair, along with some dancing music made for an entertaining night. Canadian pop-rock band Marianas Trench played at The Orbit Room on Valentine’s Day as part of the final leg of its American tour. The crowd and band dressed in ’80s attire, in honor of the tour’s theme and the band’s latest album, “Astoria.”
The stage lighting, sing-alongs and upbeat music captivated the dedicated concertgoers. Mainland, an alternative-pop band from New York City, opened the show, engaging the audience and preparing it for a night to remember.
WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY
Lowdown Brass Band, Bigfoot Buffalo photos by Anna Sink
Brotha James photos by John Sinkevics
Black Tiger Sex Machine, Rayland Baxter photos by Eric Stoike
All-Star Blues Bash photos by Derek Ketchum
Marshland Express photos by Anna Sink
Hollywood Makeout, Mail Order Monsters, Mat Churchill photos by Katy Batdorff
Marianas Trench photos by Anna Sink
