Announcements · Summer Festivals
The Local Spins Readers’ Poll is back for 2020. Pick your favorite Michigan music festivals and tell us why they rock your world, and we’ll enter your name in a drawing for a fabulous Local Spins gift package that includes two tickets to a Michigan festival.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
The Fretboard Festival Play-In Contest and shows by Tomas Esparza Blues Band, Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds, The Fast Hands Band album-release and more are also on tap. And check out this week’s ticket giveaways for shows at Listening Room.
Videos · Weekend Photo Gallery
Beyond the lavish parties ushering in the New Year, there were some intimate shows starring beloved regional artists to get the first weekend of 2020 started on the right foot. Browse the photos and videos at Local Spins.
West Michigan ushered in 2020 with the bluegrass brilliance of Billy Strings, an outdoor Pop Evil party, Manic Focus, 20 Monroe Live’s Resolution Ball, Kalamazoo’s New Year’s Fest and more captured in photos and videos at Local Spins, with a full review of Billy Strings’ homecoming show.
Features · Local Spins Rewind · Summer Festivals
With interest in Michigan music festivals at an all-time high, the Local Spins 2019 Readers’ Poll put Blissfest at No. 1 — and at the top of our list of most-read stories of the year. Revisit the poll, with a link to Local Spins’ exclusive listing of 2020 Michigan music festival dates.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
The final weekend of 2019 boasted radiant, jubilant concerts with regional stars playing venues from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo — captured in images and video at Local Spins. Revisit the musical action.
Local Spins’ No. 7 story of the year was a “reprint” of a deeply personal essay by the legendary Grand Rapids DJ and radio personality who disclosed the medical issue and surgery that kept him out of the public eye.
Features · Top 10 Lists · Videos
A mind-bending year of music gave Local Spins writers plenty of fodder for “best of” lists, including Lizzo, Bon Iver, The Raconteurs, Orville Peck, Black Pumas, Lana Del Rey, Sleep and more. Peruse the extensive and eclectic picks, listen to some of 2019’s most memorable tracks at Local Spins, and submit your own favorites for a chance to win a Local Spins gift package.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
The holiday week keeps the live music rolling with Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish, The Bootstrap Boys, Coldville, Steve Talaga, Rachael & Dominic Davis and more on tap. Browse all of this week’s live music picks.
The year-end holidays are upon us, so Local Spins helps you plan your New Year’s Eve celebrations with a Top 10 list of music-driven bashes to behold. View the list, as well as a comprehensive calendar of year-end concerts.
Local Spins presents another December roundup of new releases by Michigan artists — from rock to Americana to blues and more — with audio samples from all of them.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
West Michigan skated into mid-December with holiday fare, rock ‘n’ roll and more — from Turkuaz to Wayland to Sons of F.U.N.K. to The Bootstrap Boys — captured in images and videos (as usual) at Local Spins. Browse the photo galleries, videos and show recaps.
With December’s holidays fast approaching, here’s a Local Spins roundup of recent Michigan releases that make perfect stocking stuffers — and just plain satisfying listening. Browse the reviews and listen to tracks from each of the featured albums.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
Mid-December also heats up with May Erlewine, Dalmatian Stone, Wayland, Mary Gauthier, Brother Elsey, A Winter’s Tune, Tuba Christmas and more. Peruse this week’s featured concerts, check out the Under-the-Radar Picks, and win tickets to shows at The Pyramid Scheme.
West Michigan’s live music week included The Bad Plus, Louis the Child, Blanco Brown, SunSquabi, Laith Al-Saadi, Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys, Sadie Bass, Left Lane Cruiser and more reflected in dazzling photos (and a couple of videos) at Local Spins.
The legendary Grand Rapids DJ and radio personality finally revealed this week the medical issue and surgery that’s kept him out of the public eye in recent months. Today, Local Spins shares his story.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
Bill Kirchen’s ‘Honky-Tonk Holiday’ starts a week that also features Laith Al-Saadi, Livingston Taylor, Cousin Curtiss, Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys, The Concussions, The Fukushima Daisies, a West Michigan Blues Society benefit and more. And see how you can win tickets to see The Bad Plus.
As one of the busiest bar nights of the year, Wednesday’s pre-Thanksgiving celebration lit up stages with live music gems from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo. The photo roundup at Local Spins, including Tuesday’s wild Ski Mask the Slump God tour stop at 20 Monroe Live.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
The first Michigan Mondays show at Listening Room with members of The Accidentals kicks off a party-up holiday week in West Michigan that also features concerts by Henhouse Prowlers, Mike Mains, Luke Winslow-King, Merkules and much more. Browse this week’s featured live music selections and the always-intriguing Under-the-Radar Picks.
Sold-out, jam-packed shows — national and local — filled venues across West Michigan in mid-November, including the International Wine, Beer and Food Festival at DeVos Place. Ogle all of the the action-filled images at Local Spins.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
From jazz to rock to funk to country, it’s a busy week that also features Ganja White Night, Moxie Strings, Unknown Hinson, Freekbass, Mark Lavengood, Peat in the Creel, the Diatribe’s Grand Showcase, Terry Lower Quartet and more. This week’s “Under-the-Radar” picks are special, too.
Videos · Weekend Photo Gallery
From mid-week shows featuring Blues Traveler, Lettuce, Kittel & Co. and Free Hat to Saturday night reveling by Yelawolf, Donna the Buffalo and Cameron Blake, it was a jam-packed, November blast of music. Browse the images at Local Spins, including The Legal Immigrants’ ‘bon voyage’ show at The Pyramid Scheme and Subtronics’ sold-out dance party at The Intersection.
It was a big concert week with plenty of big shows — at venues big and small — across West Michigan. Browse the images in nine colorful, action-packed photo galleries at Local Spins.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
A busy week of West Michigan concerts includes Thank You Scientist, Willy Porter, Tunde Olaniran and more. And check the roster of bracing Under-the-Radar Picks for the week.
Moving from October to November meant more than just a change in the weather and a time change: It also gave West Michigan a diverse lineup of under-the-radar concerts, captured in images at Local Spins. Browse images from concerts in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
Rings of Saturn gets Halloween week started, with Nobuntu, Blue Water Ramblers, Michigan-I-O, The Crane Wives, Andreas Kapsalis and some horrifically good Under-the-Radar Picks on tap, too. Check out all of this week’s live music selections at Local Spins.
Halloween parties galore filled the weekend, including 20 Monroe Live’s wild Monsters Ball, but the week also featured Michigan tour stops by San Fermin, Trey Anastasio, Luke Bryan, Ben Folds, TAUK and more, including an album-release show by Borr McFerrin. The photo galleries at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
The music weekend began with Joshua Davis’ debut at Grand Rapids’ new Listening Room and continued with a host of crowd-pleasing regional and national concerts from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo to Rockford. Browse all of the colorful images at Local Spins, including images from a two-night stand by Joe Hertler and a brewery’s anniversary bash.
Album reviews · Audio · Videos
Fall brings with it some frightfully good new regional music, including the latest from Michigan-bred bluegrass hero Billy Strings, a popular hip hop collective, fetching fiddle music and scary-cool Halloween gems. Check out the reviews, sample the new music at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
A country star at a historic church, alt-rock heroes at a downtown nightclub, regional folk-rock faves and an emerging Michigan pop star wrapping up a tour behind a new EP. All of them are featured in our glorious weekend photo galleries.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
Michigander, a Horsefeather reunion, Messer Chups, May Erlewine, Jack & The Bear, Seth Glier, Chris Michels, Stovepipe, Kari Lynch, GTG Fest and more fill out the week of live music in West Michigan. Browse this week’s featured concerts and the fascinating Under-the-Radar Picks, and see how you could win tickets to one of three different Tip Top Deluxe shows.
Concert reviews · Photos · Weekend Photo Gallery
Country star Eric Church played two straight nights at Van Andel Arena, giving lots of shout-outs to GR, with Shinedown and other stars also unleashing fan-pleasing shows across West Michigan, which is celebrating fall in festive fashion — including Pulaski Days at Grand Rapids clubs. The Eric Church concert recap, plus a full photo roundup at Local Spins.
Photos · Upcoming shows · Venue Spotlight
The ArtPrize Project 1 installation is hosting DJs, bands, poets and more this fall in a unique multi-level venue in an old warehouse complex on Grand Rapids’ West Side. Kyd Kane, J. Oscar Bittinger, Lady Ace Boogie and more take the stage this weekend.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
The first week of October also brings us Devotchka, Melvins, Orville Peck, Dark Star Orchestra, The Zannies, Lifeline, beer fests, Pulaski Days, a GLAMAversary event and much more. Check out the riveting Under-the-Radar Picks and this week’s ticket giveaway.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
September closed out with a bang: Rain washed out country star Luke Bryan’s ‘Farm Tour’ stop in Richland, but other acts rocked the house, including Skillet, Alter Bridge, BoomBox, Judah & The Lion, Frankie Cosmos, Sigrid, Greyhounds, Mark Lavengood and more. Get the recaps and photos at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
From Grand Haven to Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids, and from electronic music to hip hop to blues-rock and funk, it was another entertaining week of live music in West Michigan. Browse the images at Local Spins.
This mid-September sampling of new local and regional releases offers everything from boundary-pushing folk-punk to socially conscious hip hop. Check out the reviews and listen to the music, exclusively at Local Spins.
Summer Concerts · Weekend Photo Gallery
The West Michigan music week that was welcomed indie-folk, blues, hip hop, electronic music, rock and more to indoor and outdoor stages, including the Blue Bridge over the Grand River and the final blast at Bell’s Brewery Beer Garden. Peruse the images at Local Spins.
This mid-September round-up of new regional releases spans several genres in fetching fashion with bands based in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Check out the reviews, see where you can see the artists live and listen to their music at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
A busy opening week of September boasted jam-packed tour stops by an emerging Australian star, a pair of ’90s rock stalwarts and a Michigan legend returning to Bell’s. Peruse all of the photo galleries at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals
The Way Down Wanderers and Arkansauce also performed Saturday at the Earth’s Edge/Courtyard Concerts event in Mill Point Park. Get the recap and browse a photo gallery at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · In Memoriam · Kalamazoo · Weekend Photo Gallery
The Labor Day weekend tribute brought a host of musicians to Kalamazoo’s Jericho Corners to pay homage to the singer and songwriter who passed away unexpectedly in early August. The photos at Local Spins, along with a gallery from another big Kalamazoo event: Kalamashoegazer 13.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
The week starts with the West Michigan Labor Fest and also features a special Courtyard Concerts show with Leftover Salmon, plus The Real Ingredients, AB, Skinny Limbs, Winnow, Trixy Tang and more. And see how you can win tickets to see Leftover Salmon at the Courtyard Concerts and Earth’s Edge 25th anniversary show.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals
The third year of the regional music fest unfurled last weekend in Sidney north of Grand Rapids. Local Spins asked some of the performers to pick their favorite experiences, with a photo gallery by Anna Sink.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
Why Don’t We kicks off the week leading to Labor Day weekend, with Wilson, The Quirk, Wuzee, Birdie Country, Unruly Brewing’s anniversary, an Amy Winehouse tribute and much more also on tap. See the full list and this week’s Under-the-Radar Picks.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
A busy late-summer festival week also features Reignwolf, Desmond Jones, That Beatles Thing, Seth Bernard, 28th Street Metro Cruise, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Polish Festival, Wax Motif and more. Alabama’s Friday concert, however, has been postponed.
Concert reviews · Videos · Weekend Photo Gallery
Funk, rock, Americana, jam-band fun, indie-folk, country, blues, you name it, it was on display on stages across West Michigan this past week, including Muskegon’s Moose Fest and a rousing Joe Cocker tribute. Browse the images and show recaps at Local Spins.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
Over the Rhine, Still Remains, Why?, Stephen Marley, Domestic Problems, Allah-Las, Boy From School and much more are also on the docket. And see how you can win tickets to the first-ever Arcfest in Watervliet.
Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
The Bootstrap Boys, Fauxgrass, Mark Lavengood, Desmond Jones, Trifocal, Melophobix and more were just some of the highlights from a Cowpie fest that may have been the best yet. Browse the photos, watch the videos, read the recap of the weekend on Shagbark Farm.
Concert reviews · Videos · Weekend Photo Gallery
From dream pop to piano-driven rock to prog-pop to metalcore mania to chart-topping classic rock, it was another rousing week of live music in the Grand Rapids area. Local Spins was there to recap the action in words, photos and video.
