The first concert in Meijer Gardens’ largest ever Tuesday Evening Music Club series unfurled under cloudless skies for a big crowd on Tuesday. The recap and photo gallery at Local Spins.
Near-Perfect Weather: Fans flocked to the opening night show. (Photo/Holly Holtzclaw)
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Welcome back, indeed.
The first show in Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s 2022 Tuesday Evening Music Club series proved to be a welcoming and beautiful one, taking place under a cloudless pale blue sky with temperatures holding tight to a range in the mid-60s.
In addition to near-perfect weather, the audience present for the show was tame, filled with fans ranging anywhere from the ages of four to 84 — a clear demonstration that these Meijer Gardens Tuesdays are events fit for any member of the Grand Rapids community.
Starting the night off was Kalamazoo hip-hop cellist Jordan Hamilton, who spent his first few minutes treating the crowd to an entirely ambient piece. With help from Grayson Nye on keyboards, and producer Andy Catlin (The Lasso) on a computer loaded with beat-making software, the three crafted a piece that sounded very luscious and spacey.
Upon conclusion of the introductory piece, Hamilton told the audience that most of the material he would present would feature unreleased music that he’d been cooking up over the past year or two. The rest of the set contained songs equipped with instrumentals with a similarly vibrant atmosphere but with added rapping from Hamilton.
A Monolithic Music Machine: The Elijah Russ Collective. (Photo/Holly Holtzclaw)
After a short intermission, Elijah Russ and a crew of 13 other musicians took the stage, working together to create a well-oiled monolithic musical machine pumping out sounds from everything from rock, blues, funk and jazz.
The Elijah Russ Collective oozed fantastic chemistry, with band members grooving and jamming in unison. And the sound mix allowed listeners to easily identify each instrument amid the conglomeration of music the band pumped out.
Overall, Russ and friends managed to gift anyone present with a sonic approach featuring depth and substance, setting a high standard for future acts in the series to follow.
And clearly, many fans plan to make Tuesday evenings at Meijer Gardens a regular thing.
“We try to come every week, it’s just a great benefit,” said attendee Daryl Mattick of Hudsonville. “it’s fun to get out and see some bands, so we try to do it every year.”
Next up: Kaitlin Rose & The Band of Thorns and Seth Bernard play Tuesday Evening Music Club on June 14. (View the full schedule below.) The main Fifth Third Bank Summer Concert Series kicks off on Sunday (June 12) with Blind Boys of Alabama and Marc Cohn. Tickets, $52, are still available online here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Elijah Russ Collective, Jordan Hamilton at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Holly Holtzclaw
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