From Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids to Traverse City, Local Spins trekked the state to capture riveting performances by national and regional acts, from Béla Fleck to Drew Nelson and more.
Indoor Revelry: Alice Cooper, The Claudettes, Pouya (Photos/Derek Ketchum/John Sinkevics/Eric Stoike)
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Back in 1975, Alice Cooper brought his “Welcome to My Nightmare” tour to Kalamazoo, playing Wings Stadium (now Wings Event Center) for the first time.
Fast forward more than a half-century, and the shock rock icon at age 78 returned to that stage on Saturday to help celebrate the venue’s 52nd year, as it presents its final season of shows before hockey and concerts move to a new arena downtown in 2027.
It seemed like those intervening years had little impact on Cooper because his eighth appearance at the Kalamazoo stadium displayed the same impressive theater show as always, with creepy props, costumes, a multi-tiered stage with a video backdrop and an arsenal of career-spanning songs covering a 90-minute set.
Fans were on their feet throughout Cooper’s only Michigan tour stop, with the singer and his band unleashing favorites such as “School’s Out” and “Under My Wheels” while morphing into covers such as “Another Brick in the Wall” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
The day before, it was music of a completely different stripe, with Ann Arbor’s Djangophonique and West Michigan’s Third Coast Swing and Birdseed Salesmen paying tribute to jazz manouche guitar legend Django Reinhardt at the Kalamazoo Django Reinhardt Festival taking place at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe.
About 58 miles to the north, various Grand Rapids venues were hosting an eclectic blend of enticing music, including The String Cheese Incident’s signature jams at GLC Live at 20 Monroe, Drew Nelson and Hwy-2’s Michigan-bred Americana at SpeakEZ Lounge, and Pouya’s Southern hip hop for a sold-out crowd at The Intersection.
And another 140 miles farther north, The Alluvion in Traverse City boasted a sold-out Friday night show starring Chicago’s The Claudettes and Traverse City’s Lost Swimmer in an evening hosted by Local Spins that left the audience buzzing about the electrifying vocal and instrumental talent on stage — with an enthusiastic standing ovation as proof.
Scroll down to browse photos from all of these shows. And check out a full concert review — with photos — from Bela Fleck’s Thursday night concert at St. Cecilia Music Center here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Alice Cooper at Wings Event Center
Photos by Derek Ketchum
PHOTO GALLERY: Django Reinhardt Festival at Bell’s
Photos by Derek Ketchum
PHOTO GALLERY: The String Cheese Incident at GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek
