A gorgeous Thursday for jazz, as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra regaled a big crowd at Meijer Gardens and Detroit’s Michael Malis Trio a tiny audience at The DAAC.[…]
Los Angeles’ Lord Huron and Nashville’s Escondido rocked a loving bunch of Michigan fans on Monday. Despite sound glitches, Local Spins reviewer Tricia Woolfenden found the sold-out Grand Rapids homecoming[…]
Frampton’s Guitar Circus brought a Big Top of high-profile musicians — Peter Frampton, Steve Cropper, Robert Cray — to the outdoor amphitheater Monday for a tasteful show cut short by[…]
Sheryl Crow’s first-ever appearance at the outdoor amphitheater featured a wide-ranging set of hits and new country material, plus a pre-show confab with guitarist Peter Frampton. (Review, photo gallery) […]
For the second year in a row, the Warren Haynes-led Mule fired up devotees with blues-infused favorites and singular covers. (Photo gallery, video) Pandora’s online version of “Gov’t Mule[…]
With West Michigan’s own Vincent Hayes Project getting the party started, the iconic bluesman launched the 2013 concert series amid sunny skies with a veteran band and plenty of audience[…]
Michigan music fans welcomed The Motor City Madman back to his home state Tuesday at Van Andel Arena, with REO Speedwagon and Styx in tow. The most unusual twist: Grand[…]
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Starting with funk from the grave at The Intersection, spring got sprung in fine fashion with riveting blues, gypsy music, rootsy acoustic strains, energetic hip-hop, pub-styled classical music and more[…]
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West Michigan’s live music assault had a distinct St. Patrick’s Day flair in weekend photos shared at Spins on Music. (Photos/video) With the temperature in a decidedly un-March-like mid-20s, Casey[…]
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Michigan rocker Bob Seger has made Grand Rapids a regular — and early — stop on his tours with the Silver Bullet Band since 2006. Here’s what some fans had[…]
With a few new songs in their arsenal, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band unleashed a rock ’n’ roll love-fest on Tuesday night at Van Andel Arena. Every[…]
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From the Jammies to the Winter Beer Festival and beyond, the beer was flowing and bands were rocking, including The Concussions, Michigan Mark DePree, Deborah Kay & The Bluebloods, Jimmie[…]
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WYCE-FM’s jam-packed Jammies on Friday jammed two stages with two dozen performances and doled out 19 awards to Michigan bands and artists. Rootsy artists The Soil and The Sun[…]
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As predicted, Thursday’s Local Spins Live Contemporary Folk Series show at St. Cecilia Music Center uncorked an unfettered, “unplugged” concert unlike any other by these beloved West Michigan bands. (Photos,[…]
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Mid-February’s concert lineup offered more than just big shows at Van Andel Arena and Miller Auditorium: West Michigan bands of every ilk were pounding it out at benefits, bars and[…]
January’s unconventional weather breeds some unconventional concerts, with new events at St. Cecilia Music Center and Fricano’s Pizza, and guitar-shredding competitors and roots-music crooners at The Intersection. (Photos, video) […]
Check out West Michigan’s hefty weekend of live music in Spins on Music’s Weekend Photo Galleries, with bands lighting up stages big and small. Another hyper-hectic Friday night. A[…]
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Kid Rock’s second Thanksgiving Day halftime show in three years paid tribute to Motown heroes and served as a glitzy commercial for his new album. But is the scruffy rapper-turned-rocker[…]
Bob Dylan croaked and banged away mercilessly on piano with his band through a 15-song set for a one-third-full house at Van Andel Arena, after a bracing opening set by[…]
Dr. John and the Blind Boys of Alabama played to a less-than-hefty crowd at DeVos Performance Hall on Tuesday, but still delivered “Spirituals to Funk” in often rousing, upbeat fashion.[…]
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Regina Spektor’s Monday night show at Calvin College kicked off a bracing week of live music. Check out everything from bluegrass and folk to punk and metal. Regina Spektor, Only[…]
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The Crane Wives energetically unleashed new folk-rock material from “The Fool in Her Wedding Gown” for a capacity crowd at The Intersection on Saturday. At one point on Saturday[…]
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ArtPrize Musicians’ Showcase at Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center saw small but mindful audiences; nearly 50 acts to play indoors and out over the weekend. The crowds weren’t imposing,[…]
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Check out video highlights of Spins on Music’s picks for best concerts of the summer, with links to mini-reviews and a preview of fall’s must-see shows. Ah yes, September means[…]
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Ralston Bowles, Sweet J Band, ‘mystery guest’ Brian Vander Ark, Lux Land, Peter Mulvey create perfect musical ending to Tuesday Evening Music Club (video) GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP — An[…]
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The first Rockford Barnstormer showcased bands Potato Moon, Hannah Rose, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon and many more, family fun and a good cause: aiding area refugees. It may[…]
Country star Miranda Lambert draws a huge and enthusiastic opening-night crowd for downtown Grand Rapids’ Rock the Rapids festival. On Monday, the “Fastest Girl in Town” helped make Rock[…]
Bonnie Raitt delivers a near-perfect bluesy performance on a near-perfect night at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. The instant Bonnie Raitt takes the stage pretty much anywhere, something magical[…]
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals deliver one of Meijer Gardens’ best concerts of the season on Thursday after rain passes through. (Photos, video) In the end, Grace Potter &[…]
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Expanded Cowpie fest on Shagbark Farm south of Grand Rapids survived rainy opening night; thrives Saturday with fine mix of Michigan bands. Video, photos From Mudpie to Cowpie … just[…]
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Seattle indie-folk/rock band The Head and The Heart revved up an exuberant, young crowd on Thursday. (Review, photos, video) For 19-year-old John Vouaux of Bay City, driving clear across the[…]
Lyle Lovett gives subdued performance in Grand Rapids with smaller Acoustic Group; remains the ever-gracious Texan despite unexpected 27-minute delay. Outdoor amphitheater as listening room. Make that, GIGANTIC listening room.[…]
If Fiona Apple is the queen of the avant garde stage shtick then Andrew Bird is certainly the prince of instrumental invention. Less than a week after Apple brought her[…]
For once, a familiar classic rock act stood out from the pack. On a week when Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is hosting daring and edgy younger acts Fiona[…]
It was a Fourth of July to remember. On the hottest day of the year thus far, with the temperature reaching a searing 99 degrees, thousands flooded the banks of[…]
For four days or so, Electric Forest was an escape from the real world. More than 25,000 jam-band and electronic music fans – the more outrageously colorful and silly the[…]
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The sun was searingly hot and the crowd was small when The Crane Wives kicked off their set Sunday afternoon on the Tripolee Stage at Electric Forest, but by the[…]
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Gary Clark Jr. made it all worthwhile. Cranking out the raw blues-rock of “Bright Lights” in the brilliant sunshine at Double JJ Resort in Rothbury with undulating, brightly bedecked Electric[…]
The temperature was in the 90s at showtime, but nothing was hotter than Warren Haynes’ guitar work as Gov’t Mule made its Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park debut on[…]
It was a celebration worthy of John’s Day. No, I didn’t see any guys strolling around with bushy oak-leaf crowns, but I saw plenty of unusual headgear at Saturday’s Founders[…]
It’s nowhere near his biggest hit, but when Al Green sings “Tired of Being Alone,” he fuses all of the elements that have made him a Grammy-winning superstar of soul:[…]
It makes perfect sense. That Pink Floyd visionary Roger Waters at one time studied to be an architect before pursuing his music career really paid off with the crowning achievement[…]
Quirky doesn’t begin to describe the opening night of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s 10th summer concert series. How about abnormally wet and extra-terrestrially weird? Not only was Friday[…]
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Robert Plant and Jimmy Page surely would have approved. And had they been alive to see it, I’m betting iconic bluesmen Junior Kimbrough and Son House would have left smiling,[…]
