A busy September lineup of concerts after a mostly quarantined summer kicked off over Labor Day weekend with small but vibrant shows from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo. Photo galleries at Local Spins.
The Antidote: Carrie McFerrin and band performing Sunday in Kalamazoo. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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West Michigan's music scene
As Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum so aptly put it, West Michiganders are finding that live music is “the perfect medicine for these troubling times.”
In Kalamazoo on Sunday night, in the midst of the Labor Day holiday weekend, that medicine came in the form of singer-songwriter Carrie McFerrin & The McFerrinheits and Grand Rapids progressive bluegrass band Fauxgrass playing “The Lot” at the corner of Walnut and Burdick streets.
The smooth-running show at the pop-up location came off without a hitch, with rain holding off until precisely the final note of the night. The music reverberated throughout the downtown block, bringing residents out of the neighboring apartment building to enjoy the rare outdoor concert.
Earlier in the weekend, Grand Rapids’ Blandford Nature Center was the gathering spot for musical healing, with veteran West Michigan folk act the Blue Water Ramblers played the nature center’s “Bands at Blandford” series on Friday evening with a barn as a backdrop. The final show, featuring The Bootstrap Boys, takes place Friday (Sept. 11).
On Saturday afternoon in downtown Grand Rapids, it was hip hop and DJs firing up “Summer in the City” outside Studio Park for fans eager to dance and clap to live music churned out by regional faves JRob, Bedrock, Last Gasp Collective and more. Check out the full Local Spins review of that concert.
PHOTO GALLERY: Carrie McFerrin, Fauxgrass at ‘The Lot’ (Kalamazoo)
Photos by Derek Ketchum
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek
Photos by Anna Sink
