It was a spectacle. For Friday’s Grand Rapids tour stop on his ‘Gather Again’ tour, country star Eric Church uncorked his mix of ‘Country Music Jesus,’ ‘That’s Damn Rock & Roll’ and ‘Smoke a Little Smoke’ for enthused fans. The review, photos and set list at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
January has been quieter than usual on the live music front due to continued COVID concerns, but some national and local shows fired up area stages on a chilly weekend. Browse the photo galleries at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
A chilly West Michigan Saturday warmed up with a unique talent contest and a Grand Rapids tour stop by Philadelphia indie-rock/post-hardcore band mewithoutYou. The photos at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Top 12 Stories Countdown
The final night of the legendary acts’ joint touring run on Aug. 8 delighted a sold-out crowd at Meijer Gardens. The review was No. 4 in Local Spins countdown of top 2021. Revisit the recap and photos from the memorable concert.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
Holiday shows, tours of different stripes and a bittersweet Go Rounds run unfurled on stages across West Michigan. Check out the concert recaps, more than a half-dozen photo galleries and a video at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
Get an eyeful with these photo galleries recapping a weekend of music from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo, from touring stars to local favorites such as Hannah Laine, Patty PerShayla, Lokella, Hollow Front, Nathan Walton and The Insiders. Browse the photos from more than a half-dozen area shows.
Friday’s tour stop at Van Andel Arena delivered a career-spanning trove of familiar hits by a pair of acclaimed singer-songwriters who still wield spellbinding appeal for longtime fans. The evening also included a tribute to Michigan native and longtime James Taylor backing singer David Lasley, who passed away earlier this week. Check out the review, photos and set lists.
Hometown heroes Greensky Bluegrass revved up two nights of fun at State Theatre for fans in Kalamazoo, with banjo phenom Bela Fleck lighting up a smaller crowd with an all-star crew at Grand Rapids’ DeVos Performance Hall. The recaps and photos.
Concert reviews · Photos · Videos
After a quiet 2020, the night before Thanksgiving in 2021 showed signs of reviving the musical flurry that’s traditionally kicked off the holiday weekend. Local Spins captured the vibe at three of the shows on Wednesday in words and images.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
A guitar icon (Leo Kottke), a regional pop fave (Matt Giraud) and heavy rock album-release (Tiny Tree) and more were part of West Michigan’s concert mix this past weekend. Browse eight photo galleries at Local Spins.
The venerable, iconic rock band’s much-ballyhooed Michigan tour stop proved remarkable due to Mick Jagger’s boundless energy and the band’s endearing love for Detroit fans. The review and photo gallery at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
The Americana icon regaled fans at St. Cecilia Music Center amid a week filled with varied musical spectacles at West Michigan venues. Browse all the photo galleries at Local Spins, from Jinjer to Zach Bryan to Dixon’s Violin to Major Murphy and more.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
Amid the flurry of national tour stops firing up crowds from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo was an understated finale for a much-beloved West Michigan Celtic band that decided to end its long run. Check out the An Dro story along with 10 photo galleries from a hectic week of concerts.
For diehard fans of two well-known touring bands, it proved to be a far different concert experience this weekend in Grand Rapids. The recaps and photo galleries at Local Spins.
The legendary band from East L.A. played a pair of sold-out shows in the intimate confines of Grand Rapids’ Listening Room on Friday. The Local Spins review and photo gallery.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
The Grammy-nominated, sister-fronted band embraced the unique surroundings for a rousing Halloween eve concert in Grand Rapids. Plus, check out photo recaps of weekend shows starring Chuck Prophet, The Way Down Wanderers, Stovepipe Stover, Emilee Petersmark, Mushmen, Wavves, Lisa Can’t Sing and more.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
All Time Low’s Saturday night tour stop at Grand Rapids’ GLC Live at 20 Monroe wrapped up a week of wildly disparate live music. Browse the photo galleries at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Weekend Photo Gallery
In many ways, the weekend reflected a pre-pandemic flurry of live music with some rousing national tours and a sold-out, triumphant Sunday night return of a Grand Rapids native and budding star. A review and recaps in 10 photo galleries at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Videos · Weekend Photo Gallery
West Michigan’s weekend of live music had a rootsy, country and folk-flavored charm, with a couple of national tour stops and a new open-mic night at a high-profile venue. Browse the images at Local Spins.
With guest musician Patty PerShayla giving the band an extra rock wallop, the Traverse City band lit up Calvin’s Covenant Fine Arts Center on Saturday. The recap and photo gallery from Saturday night’s concert.
Wednesday’s kickoff to the Grand Rapids venue’s Acoustic Café Folk Series boasted a celebratory, rootsy, communal vibe. The Local Spins review and photo gallery from a night of genre-melding bluegrass.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
The first weekend of October unfurled a bevy of musical milestones with live music from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids to Cedar Springs. Revisit the action in six Local Spins photo galleries.
The longstanding tradition returned to 14 Polish halls this weekend, with polka and rock bands firing up stages and lots of pierogi and beer doled out to revelers. Browse the photo gallery at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
Perrin’s day-long Backyard Bash highlighted a weekend of crowd-pleasing shows from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo — captured in images at Local Spins. Relive the action in seven photo galleries.
Concert reviews · Top 10 Lists
Fall has arrived, so Local Spins columnist John Sinkevics offers up his Top 10 favorites shows or live music events that he attended this summer. We also list some readers’ picks of best concerts. What are yours?
The New Orleans band made the most of its unexpected headlining status, closing out the 2021 concert series with an upbeat exclamation point. The Local Spins review and photo gallery from the final Meijer Gardens show of the season.
The final week of summer and arrival of Grand Rapids’ ArtPrize brought a blitz of concerts to West Michigan, including Pat Benatar, Andy Shauf, May Erlewine, Alex G, The Deep Stare, Lady Ace Boogie and more. Here are Local Spins recaps and photo galleries.
The legendary English heavy metal icons made a tour stop at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena on Thursday with Sweden’s Sabaton opening. The review by Local Spins’ John Serba with photos by Anthony Norkus.
The ’90s pop-rockers energized the Meijer Gardens crowd Wednesday, delivering hits and helping close out the final week of an abbreviated but busy concert series at the amphitheater. The review and photo gallery at Local Spins.
Monday proved to be an enchanting evening for devoted fans of two established, much-beloved artists whose tours made stops at different Grand Rapids venues. The recaps and photos at Local Spins.
A nearly 90-minute storm delay and venue evacuation didn’t entirely put a damper on the acts’ sunny outlooks, with Black Violin’s soaring strings and hip hop closing out an unpredictable evening, The Local Spins review and photo gallery.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
Grand Rapids-area music fans embraced a mix of audience-engaging concerts, including a triumphant tour stop by O.A.R. at Meijer Gardens and the final Blues on the Grand show of the summer. Browse the photo galleries at Local Spins.
The all-ages club on S. Division Avenue in Grand Rapids hosted its first show in 12 years on Friday. Local Spins was there to capture the energetic vibe in the packed house and the images from the inaugural celebration.
Concert reviews · Photos · Videos
Four Nashville songwriters and Rockford’s Daniel Terry kicked off the inaugural two-day event Friday at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont. The recap, photos and video highlights at Local Spins.
The engaging singer-songwriter deftly managed an unexpected fan on stage during his set and a balance of new and old songs during Wednesday’s Meijer Gardens concert. The review, photos and set list at Local Spins.
New Orleans-born-and-bred multi-instrumentalist Troy Andrews and the effervescent Orleans Avenue band enraptured a sold-out Meijer Gardens on Wednesday with virtuosic musicianship and Big Easy spirit. The Local Spins review and photo gallery.
The ever-engaging Americana/bluegrass/country Nashville-based, Virginia-bred band enthralled a sold-out Meijer Gardens audience in its welcomed return to Grand Rapids on Sunday. The review, photo gallery and set list at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
August’s final weekend featured a flurry of live music from Grand Rapids’ Breakaway festival and The Pyramid Scheme to the 28th Street Metro Cruise to Kalamazoo’s State Theatre. Revisit the action in images at Local Spins.
The band’s sold-out show Friday at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park was filled with soul and charisma on a muggy August night. The review and photo gallery at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals
The opening day of the first Breakaway celebration in two years brought sunshine, heat, electronic music stars and gyrating throngs to the Grand Rapids park on Friday. The Local Spins recap, photo gallery and some video highlights from Day 1, with Day 2 on tap Saturday.
The acclaimed songwriter unfurled the first major concert at DeVos Performance Hall since early 2020, a rescheduled show heavy on material from his band’s latest album. The review, photo gallery and set list at Local Spins.
The former Men at Work frontman dipped into ’80s pop hits, extensive solo catalog and classic covers for an energetic, well-received evening of entertainment. The review and photo gallery at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Videos
When rain didn’t materialize, Ralston Bowles & Friends and the Elijah Russ Collective uncorked a lengthy, thoroughly entertaining night of soulful rock and Americana at Meijer Gardens. The roundup, photo gallery and video highlights at Local Spins.
Local Spins asked The Crane Wives’ Kate Pillsbury to provide her take on the much-respected singer-songwriter’s Monday concert at Meijer Gardens. Here is her review, with a photo gallery by Kendra Petersen-Kamp.
The band that made a splash as part of the ‘second British invasion’ in the 1980s delivered its best-known hits and more during its Grand Rapids tour stop, with Jeffrey Gaines opening. The review, photos and set list at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Weekend Photo Gallery
West Michigan blues fans got an earful, with Ana Popovic revving up WLAV’s Blues on the Grand Thursday and a host of stars at Kalamazoo’s Old Dog Tavern Saturday. Plus, Keller Williams made a SW Michigan tour stop. Revisit the action in these exclusive photo galleries at Local Spins.
The ’80s rock band’s first-ever show at the amphitheater felt like a race to reviewer Lorilee Craker, but the capacity crowd did get to hear some fan favorites. The Local Spins review and photo gallery.
Wednesday’s sold-out show amid hot and muggy conditions brought a doubleheader of fan favorites to the outdoor amphitheater. The recap and photo gallery at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
Not surprisingly, multiple performances by Michigan-bred bluegrass hero Billy Strings topped the roster of memorable moments at a northern Michigan festival that returned after a one-year hiatus. Browse the weekend highlights, pore over the photos and view videos from an action-packed Hoxey.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals
Memories of Farmfest 2021 – the final edition of the northern Michigan festival – will linger for a long time after a utopian weekend of music. Relive some of the festival highlights in words and images at Local Spins.
