Festival season didn’t slow down for fall as Local Spins’ photo galleries prove, plus some fun indoor shows: Blue October, Butch Walker, Margaret Glaspy, Mustard Plug. Recap another active week in music.
Closing Out September: Rock’s Blue October lit things up at The Intersection on Saturday. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
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In spite of an autumn-like chill, they showed up by the thousands for 104.5 WSNX’s Glow in the Park music fest at Fifth Third Ballpark on Friday for sets by Illenium, Cheat Codes, Cash Cash, Party Pupils, Choff and more.
Fan Fervor: The crowd for Glow in the Park at Fifth Third Ballpark on Friday. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
The same day, ArtPrize’s Blue Bridge Music Festival hosted Lazy Genius, Lindsay Lou and Pink Sky on the wind-swept pedestrian bridge over the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids as thousands of folks strolled the city’s center to ogle entries in the international art competition, with the Blue Bridge fest following up on a sun-splashed Saturday with Molly, the SEVENth, Jake Kershaw, Cameron Blake and Lipstick Jodi. And Molly, aka Molly Bouwsma Schultz, took home the $1,000 prize in the Blue Bridge song contest, collecting more votes than the other performers as part of the ArtPrize competition.
Friday also kicked off the Rockford Harvest Festival, with performances on two stages — the Rockford Brewing beer tent and the Lions Club beer tent. Performers over the weekend included Fauxgrass, Afro Zuma, B-Side Growlers, Nordy, Passenger 51, Rhythm Aces and more.
The Winner: Molly took home the $1,000 prize in the Blue Bridge song contest. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Meanwhile, happy folks dressed in cold-weather gear reveled in the second year of the Willowsong Music Festival on a farm outside Sidney, about an hour northeast of Grand Rapids, with acts such as Cosmic Knot, Josh Rose, Beaver Xing, Mark Lavengood, Mat Churchill, The Go Rounds and many others performing as part of the event organized by Jo and Eric Raby. Local Spins’ Katlin Merby had this to say about the festival’s sophomore year:
Willowsong Setting: The farm outside Sidney. (Photo/Katlin Merby)
Suffice to say, those in attendance at the Willowsong Music Festival in rural Sidney soaked up music that emitted warm vibes to help make the rapidly dropping temperatures a bit more bearable. Willowsong welcomed visitors of every age with a collection of soul-rejuvenating performances on Saturday from a collection of 13 Midwest-based musicians and artists. Patrons could also enter a raffle for a collection of items from the vendors, enjoy some fresh barbecue food and coffee, play disc golf, trade seeds at the seed swap tent or enter a photo contest. Youngsters could hang out at the kids tent where they could make crafts and play with a collection of backyard sports equipment. The Estar Cohen band’s luscious sounds and transfixing harmonies rolled over the landscape and crowd with a jazzy, New Age style. Lead vocalist and composer, Estar Cohen, sang in otherworldly tones and the rest of the instrumentation wove together to put listeners into a state of pure enchantment. Another band, The Mat Churchill Band, changed up the sound a bit with their concoction of poignant lyrics and indie-alternative rock flair. Another great way to describe their sound could be summed up in one word: Autumn. – Katlin Merby
OUTDOOR SHOWS
PHOTO GALLERY: Glow in the Park at Fifth Third Ballpark
Photos by Eric Stoike (On the Run Photography)
PHOTO GALLERY: Blue Bridge Music Festival (Day 1)
Photos by Anthony Norkus
PHOTO GALLERY: Blue Bridge Music Festival (Day 2)
Photos by Derek Ketchum and Taylor Mansen
