Our weekend concert photo recap not only commemorates Earth Day, but Record Store Day, 4/20 and West Michigan’s live music hubbub, from Frontier Ruckus to Alejandro Escovedo. Browse the images.
What Would Mother Earth Say? Hannah Laine of Earth Radio (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
Today’s commemoration of Earth Day gets a special musical embrace from Grand Rapids neo-soul band Earth Radio.
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The band celebrated physical release of its new album, “If the Earth Could Speak,” on Saturday at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, with Lipstick Jodi and Pocket Watch also on the bill.
“The album was written on a retreat in Vermont, and we centered our writing process around the prompt, ‘If the earth could speak, what would she say?,’ ” noted singer and keyboardist Hannah Laine.
“We immersed ourselves in nature, lived on a self-sustaining farm, and learned about sustainability from ecologist and farm-owner Roel Boumans. Roel is featured on the last track of the album, sharing insights into the state of the planet and human evolution.”
Vinyl Hoopla: Vertigo Music on Record Store Day (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Scroll down for a photo gallery from Saturday’s Earth Radio show and check out an Earth Day playlist courtesy of musician/songwriter Patty PerShayla here.
The weekend leading up to Earth Day boasted yet another annual, spring custom that’s been well-established: Vinyl lovers — and music devotees of every ilk — pack independent record shops across the country every April for Record Store Day, a celebration of local businesses and special releases by a wide spectrum of artists that flood these stores.
Another tradition? That goofy Dodds Record Shop parade down Bridge Street on Grand Rapids’ West Side, led by owner and Record Store Day enthusiast Rev Charles Preston Smith and his cadre of fun-loving patrons.
All of it unfolded across West Michigan on Saturday, from Grand Rapids’ Vertigo Music on S. Division Avenue to Kalamazoo’s Green Light Music and Satellite Records and beyond — captured in photos by Local Spins photographers below.
But that was just a fraction of the events captivating music fans:
‘Welcome to the Block Party’: Priscilla Block (Photo/Eric Stoike)
• The Intersection hosted a sold-out show by country star Priscilla Block on Friday;
• Southeast Michigan’s Frontier Ruckus brought the tour behind its first album in seven years to Midtown in Grand Rapids, a show that featured an impressive bit of musical saw playing that delighted concertgoers (video below);
• Of course, marijuana advocates also celebrate “4/20” annually, with Saturday parties at Bell’s featuring Highdeas, Kyle Brown & The Human Condition and Trifocal, and at Old Dog Tavern featuring The Brother Ron Band and Fishlips.
• Kalamazoo’s Grace Theisen and her band made their SpeakEZ Lounge debut on Friday in Grand Rapids, delivering a crowd-pleasing set of Americana- and rock-fueled gems, with Theisen calling it “an absolutely sweaty blast”;
• Renowned singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo brought his solo tour to Michigan, including a Friday night stop at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo (with James Mastro opening).
• To close out the weekend, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band got things fired up (literally) at Bell’s in Kalamazoo wit an enegetic set of swampy blues.
Browse all of the photos below, along with some video highlights from Frontier Ruckus’ Grand Rapids show.
PHOTO GALLERY: Earth Radio, Lipstick Jodi, Pocket Watch at The Pyramid Scheme
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
PHOTO GALLERY: Vertigo Music (Record Store Day)
Photos by Anthony Norkus
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
