Grand Rapids music makers — playing the Bona-Who? fest, Active Commute Week Celebration, tribute show and World Fiddle Day — ruled the roost, with a British metalcore assault from Asking Alexandria and a Spring Lake Courtyard Concert by Honor By August to boot.
British Brouhaha: Fans of England metalcore/post-hardcore band Asking Alexandria packed The Intersection and embraced the rock stars on Friday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus Photography)
It was a weekend full of firsts and new beginnings … not to mention looking to the past and paying tribute to rock history.
There was the impressive debut of the funk-and-blues-infused Jim Shaneberger Band as part of an Active Commute Week Celebration in downtown Grand Rapids, a free outdoor Friday night show that also featured performances by The Mines, Silent Bark and Ralston Bowles (plus tons of freebies and information about bicycling, The Rapid and more) Check out some video snippets below.
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There was the World Fiddle Day event on Saturday, held for the first time at Grand Rapids’ Riverside Park, with fledgling and veteran string players joining together for some down-home acoustic strains along the Grand River.
There were the first-ever performances by teen bands such as Phantom Ivory at the Bona-Who? Pig Roast and Music Feast outside of Cedar Springs, a unique festival that also boasted performances by veteran groups such as Lucky Dog, Conklin Ceili Band and Randy Marsh’s Big Organ, with Austin singer-songwriter Gurf Morlix playing the first show in the Human Powered Music Series at TerraTrike in Grand Rapids on Saturday.
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And of course, there were well-conceived, multi-band tributes to some of modern music’s most influential icons — the annual Bob Dylan Tribute at Founders Brewing on Saturday organized by Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Nicholas James Thomasma (featuring Cameron Blake, Jen Sygit and others) and the first-ever 1969 Tribute Show held Thursday at The Pyramid Scheme, which featured a half-dozen one-off bands — including one assembled by organizer Eric Kehoe — playing songs from a landmark year in rock and soul, covering everything from The Beatles and Rolling Stones to James Brown and The Supremes.
The weekend wrapped up on Sunday with pindrop-perfect weather for the first Seven Steps Up Courtyard Concert in Spring Lake, with Washington D.C.’s Honor by August, Grand Rapids’ Fauxgrass and the Spring Lake-area’s Randy McClain and Ryan Pierce (of The Rain in Yuma) performing in a benefit for The Little Red House. (Video snippets below.) Oh, and there was Three’s a Crowd playing The Score on Northland Drive in Grand Rapids.
Remember: If you’re checking out live music on the weekend, send photos by Sunday morning to jsinkevics@gmail.com for inclusion in the Weekend Photo Gallery and your name will be tossed into the hat for May to win a gift certificate from Founders Brewing. Not bad, eh? Just make sure you list the band name, venue and photographer.
THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (MAY 19)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
Where’s your Bob Dylan Tribute info?
Hmm. It’s all there. Photos and description. Look again.