Charly Bliss, Jesse Cook, Infected Mushroom, Samsara Showcase heat up January: Photos

This week’s photo and video roundup of West Michigan concerts features pop, flamenco/jazz, electronic music, indie-rock, folk, bluegrass and more.

 

Winter — with piles of snow and ridiculously frigid temperatures — returned to West Michigan this weekend.

Luckily, live music throughout the week heated things up for concertgoers, with Local Spins recapping some of that action in images and videos below.

The shows included:

• Award-winning guitarist Jesse Cook performing at Kalamazoo State Theatre on Wednesday, the same night that West Michigan’s Full Cord Bluegrass made its SpeakEZ Lounge debut in Grand Rapids for the Local Spins Wednesdays series;

• Electronic music’s Infected Mushroom making a Grand Rapids tour stop at The Intersection’s Elevation on Thursday, the same night that indie-folk’s Red Tail Ring played a special seated show at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo;

• Brooklyn power pop/indie-rock band Charly Bliss — along with Active Bird Community — pumping up the intimate confines of The Intersection’s The Mint with lively sets on Friday;

• Saturday’s robust lineup, which included Lansing singer-songwriter Jen Sygit celebrating her 40th birthday — with help from The Springtails — at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo and Samsara Family Collective sponsoring its third showcase of Grand Rapids electronic music in The Stache and The Mint inside The Intersection (including Super Future, Sandose, Choff, Dreezstring, G-Bread, Hizen ) and more. Scroll down for a recap of the Samsara show by Local Spins writer Olivia Menchaca.

---

WEDNESDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Jesse Cook at Kalamazoo State Theatre
Photos by Derek Ketchum

VIDEO: Full Cord Bluegrass at SpeakEZ Lounge

---

THURSDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Infected Mushroom at Elevation
Photos by Eric Stoike

---

FRIDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Charly Bliss, Active Bird Community at The Mint
Photos by Kendra Kamp

---

SATURDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Jen Sygit, The Springtails at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo
Photos by Derek Ketchum

VIDEO: Samsara Showcase 3 at The Stache
Video by Olivia Menchaca

Of all the places to be in Grand Rapids this weekend, Samsara Showcase 3 may have topped the list for fans of electronic music. Nine artists that make up the Grand Rapids-based Samsara Family Collective performed sets, along with its contest winner, JOPA, creating ceaseless moments of epic laser lights, major beat drops and a whole lot of getting down from every person in The Intersection’s Stache and Mint.

There was the smoky, pink haze that turned Kar Pow’s set into something that felt mystical, the full set of original songs by G-Bread and Super Future that ended the night as the icing on the cake. All in all, there was no shortness of great trap, bass and hip hop music to dance the night away: light-up hula hoop not required.

The sense of open community between the performers and the crowd always seems to stand out at EDM events like this, with shout-outs for other performers and song contributions.

“[Members of the Samsara Family] all pretty much equally planned it and decided what we’re doing with the lights and lineup wise,” said Sandose, aka, Justin Wolbrink, who had one of the highest energy sets of the night.

As a highlight reel of the artists’ best for this third annual Samsara Showcase, it made for a night of great, dynamic music that left fans ready for what the collective might do next. – By Olivia Menchaca

Copyright 2019, Spins on Music LLC