Death Cab for Cutie, O.A.R, Los Straitjackets in GR: Photos

Share the story

Major tour stops — big and small — dominated the West Michigan concert landscape for the second weekend in July. The recaps and photo galleries exclusively at Local Spins.

Fan-Pleasing Rock: Death Cab for Cutie, Los Straitjackets and O.A.R. (Photos/Veronica Dearborn/Local Spins/Steve Baran)

SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERIES

Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene

When Death Cab for Cutie kicked off its Grand Rapids tour stop at GLC Live at 20 Monroe Friday with “I Dreamt We Spoke Again” — from 2018’s “Thank You for Today” — the line, “It had been so long” resonated with extra meaning, considering the lengthy, music-silencing pandemic that limited touring for so many.

So what followed proved to be a career-spanning celebration of sorts, from “Summer Years” to the band’s latest single, “Roman Candles” (from Death Cab’s forthcoming new album, “Asphalt Meadows”) to the mesmerizing “I Will Possess Your Heart” to the encore, which featured the band’s most popular tune, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” along with “You Are a Tourist” and “Bixby Canyon Bridge.”

Interestingly, Death Cab’s milestone Grand Rapids stop came the same night that fans flooded Van Andel Arena for a rescheduled Lumineers concert and packed Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park for the sold-out return of O.A.R., which plastered smiles on the faces of ebullient sign-waving devotees on a resplendent summer evening.

Los Straitjackets (Photo/Eric Stoike)

But the most raucous, rambunctious and relentless show of the evening certainly was reserved for the wall-to-wall, elbow-to-elbow crowd that jammed Grand Rapids’ Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill on Friday for sets by surf-rock icons Los Straitjackets and West Michigan’s own retro-rock purveyors The B-Sides.

Launching the evening with ear-crunching gusto, The B-Sides commemorated Friday’s release of their brand new studio album, “Herald’s Missing the Funny Pages,” with a commingling of searing guitar leads courtesy of Tommy Schichtel, pop-fueled harmonies from lead singer Chris Schichtel and bassist Dave Stanton, and driving drums by the legendary Pete Curry — who did double-duty as the longstanding drummer for Los Straitjackets. After cranking out a short-but-robust set of new and older originals, the band closed with a blistering rendition of The Sonics’ classic, “Have Love Will Travel.”

Of course, the wrestling mask-adorned Los Straitjackets did nothing but heat up Tip Top’s sweaty confines even more gloriously with an electrifying set of twangy, surf-rock originals and covers led by guitarist Eddie Angel that had fans mesmerized, bobbing, fist-pumping, hooting and otherwise reveling in this weekend-starting party. At one point, a pair of go-go dancers even added to the rock ‘n’ roll high jinks.

Scroll down for photo galleries from these and other weekend concerts, including Full Cord at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe and The Incantations outdoors at Old Dog Tavern, both in Kalamazoo, and Sarah Borges and Barrel Bones at Tip Top Deluxe (the night after Los Straitjackets).

PHOTO GALLERY: Death Cab for Cutie, Illuminati Hotties at GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Photos by Veronica Dearborn