Soul singer Al Green returns to Grand Rapids on June 18 for a concert at Meijer Gardens.
This summer’s garden party just got a whole lot more interesting.
Soul singer and hometown hero Al Green, blues legend Bonnie Raitt (with Mavis Staples), reggae icon Jimmy Cliff, jam bands Gov’t Mule and O.A.R., country stars Emmylou Harris and Darius Rucker, and indie faves Andrew Bird, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright and The Head and The Heart will fill out – and likely fill up – a robust 25-concert summer series at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
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Add to that appearances by classic rockers Foreigner and Creedence Clearwater Revisited, a double bill by pop singer-songwriters Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat, and return visits by Huey Lewis, Lyle Lovett, Brandi Carlile, Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang and “house band” Lyle Lovett & His Large Band, and the outdoor amphitheater has what promoter/series booker Chris Mautz calls a “really connected,” “well-balanced” and diverse lineup.
Today’s release of the complete 2012 series follows an earlier announcement of Meijer Gardens concerts by party band the B-52s (who kick off the series on June 1), jazz virtuoso Wynton Marsalis, classic rock’s Steve Miller Band and rising rocker Grace Potter and her band, the Nocturnals.
With a record 25 concerts on the calendar, the series – which also includes appearances by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Del McCoury Band (part of the American Legacies tour) and Five for Fighting – keeps adding “layers” to Meijer Gardens offerings, Mautz said. (See the complete lineup and ticket prices below.)
Jimmy Cliff brings reggae to the amphitheater in June.
“It feels to me extremely well-balanced, similar to past years in its eclectic nature,” Mautz told me. “But by expanding to 25 shows, we’re expanding the fabric (of the music being presented).”
That includes Meijer Gardens’ first reggae show, with 64-year-old Jamaican singer-musician Jimmy Cliff playing the amphitheater on June 13.
“There’s only a handful of iconic figures in reggae that would match the aesthetic of the place,” reasoned Mautz, noting that Cliff has a new album coming out.
The shining jewel of the series may be the homecoming concert for soul legend Al Green, who grew up in Grand Rapids but hasn’t played the city in more than a decade. He once told me in an interview that he’s “proud to be from Grand Rapids. I’ll tell anybody in the world where I’m from. That’s my beginning. I just can’t forget about it.”
Bonnie Raitt is touring behind her brand new album, with an August stop at Meijer Gardens.
Mautz said he’s “been wanting to present Al Green at Meijer Gardens for a long, long, long time,” having talked to the soul singer about that when he performed in Salt Lake City, where the promoter is based. “He was into it; he was excited about it. It’s a hometown kid coming home. His music is so inspirational and dynamic.”
Indeed it is.
As is the music of Raitt and Staples, Grammy-winning artists who’ll present a double bill at Meijer Gardens on Aug. 17. Raitt just this week released a new album, “Slipstream.”
Rolling Stone magazine has described it as “mood music with a razor edge, pain fronting as bliss, delivered by a vet who understands that the blues are often about just that.”
Raitt quickly sold out her last show at Meijer Gardens, so it’s likely that this return appearance – along with other amphitheater concerts – could sell out to members before the tickets go on sale to the general public.
Andrew Bird brings his inventive folk/rock to Meijer Gardens in July.
The intimate amphitheater off East Beltine Avenue north of I-96 has a capacity of under 2,000.
Meijer Gardens members get first crack at discounted tickets during a special pre-sale period that runs from 9 a.m. April 28 through 5 p.m. May 11. (An annual membership is $40 for individuals, $75 for families. Details here.)
Tickets go on sale to the general public through StarTickets and at Meijer Gardens at 9 a.m. May 12.
To be sure, this year’s ticket prices have inched upward. They range from a reasonable-sounding $34 for The Head and The Heart ($29 for members during the presale) to a rather pricey $82 for the Steve Miller Band, $80 for Melissa Etheridge and $76 for Raitt/Staples.
THE MEIJER GARDENS 2012 SUMMER SERIES
Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule
June 1 – The B-52s, $48 ($43 member presale)
June 8 – Melissa Etheridge, $80 ($75)
June 13 – Jimmy Cliff, $45 ($40)
June 14 – Foreigner, $67 ($62)
June 17 – Steve Miller Band, $82 ($77)
June 18 – Al Green, $73 ($68)
June 28 – Gov’t Mule, $37 ($32)
June 29 – Emmylou Harris, $53 ($48)
July 1 – Rufus Wainwright, $45 ($40)
July 2 – Huey Lewis & the News, $75 ($70)
July 8 – Brandi Carlile, $45 ($40)
July 9 – Fiona Apple, $59 ($54)
July 11 – Creedence Clearwater Revisited, $51 ($46)
July 12 – Preservation Hall Jazz Band/Del McCoury Band, $42 ($37)
July 15 – Andrew Bird, $40 ($35)
July 22 – O.A.R., $45 ($40)
July 25 – Lyle Lovett & His Large Band, $66 ($61)
Aug. 2 – The Head and The Heart, $34 ($29)
Aug. 3 – Gavin DeGraw/Colbie Caillat, $57 ($52)
Aug. 8 – k.d. lang & the Siss Boom Bang, $60 ($55)
Aug. 16 – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, $40 ($35)
Aug. 17 – Bonnie Raitt/Mavis Staples, $76 ($71)
Aug. 22 – Darius Rucker, $65 ($60)
Aug. 23 – Five for Fighting with the Twilight Symphony Orchestra, $48 ($43)
Aug. 29 – Wynton Marsalis, $53 ($48)
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