It was another long weekend to take the chill off with hot shows by the likes of Mike Mains & The Branches, Brad Fritcher + trois, Kevin Devine, Flint Eastwood, hi-ker and more.
Sold-Out Insanity: Paper Diamond lit up The Intersection on Saturday night. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Thanks to February’s chill, Hell really has frozen over. Worse yet, the forecast for Hell, Michigan, doesn’t call for temperatures above freezing until March.
Goofy Get-Ups: Plenty of ’em at Paper Diamond’s show. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
No matter. Folks around here warmed up by packing in tight like sardines at some sold-out shows, including separate concerts by California-based EDM star Paper Diamond and electro-indie act Cherub at The Intersection on consecutive nights, drawing crazed throngs of fans (who also cheered opening acts such as Gladiator, Forte Bowie and Mystery Skulls).
“Capacity crowd” also describes the audience for Thurday night’s return of Traverse City’s The Accidentals to the cozy atmosphere of Grand Rapids’ One Trick Pony, with Grand Rapids’ Graffiti getting a chance to play a set and even share the stage with these young, fast-rising folk/rock/gypsy swing stars who have another hectic year of touring ahead.
One Trick followed that up on Saturday with a different sort of show: the debut at that venue for inventive jazz trumpet player Brad Fritcher + trois. (Fritcher also headlined the Local Spins Wednesdays at SpeakEZ Lounge show this past week.)
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Thursday also boasted an impressive Michigan lineup of diverse acts at The Pyramid Scheme, with Detroit’s Mike Mains & The Branches, Grand Rapids’ American Wifi, Lansing’s Lights & Caves and Grand Rapids’ Jake Down & The Midwest Mess firing up the stage (with American Wifi seeming to attract perhaps the biggest and most enthusiastic cadre of fans).
Michigan Night: Marley Ferguson of hi-ker at The Pyramid Scheme. (Photo/Katy Batdorff)
The Pyramid Scheme followed up on Friday with Flint Eastwood, hi-ker, Maraj and John Cyrus on the “Pure Michigan” bill.
Also this weekend, Kevin Devine and Into It. Over It. played solo acoustic sets in The Stache at The Intersection.
Meanwhile in Kalamazoo, the Cooper’s Glen Great Lakes Acoustic Music Festival unfurled for fans of acoustic guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, standup basses and more on Friday with performances by The Fabulous Heftones, Don Stiernberg Trio, Anne Hills and Joel Mabus, and Special Consensus, followed by a full slate of bands and workshops on Saturday, including Sparky & Rhonda Rucker, Who Hit John? and more.
THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY: Feb. 19-21
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Paper Diamond, Gladiator photos by Anthony Norkus
Cherub, Forte Bowie, Mystery Skulls photos by Tori Thomas
The Accidentals, Graffiti photos by Anthony Norkus
Brad Fritcher, Mike Mains, American Wifi,
Lights & Caves, Jake Down photos by Tori Thomas
Flint Eastwood, hi-ker photos by Katy Batdorff
Kevin Devine, Into It. Over It. photos by Anthony Norkus
Cooper’s Glen photos by Peg Alofs Becker
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
