With a revamped site in downtown Grand Rapids and a second beer tent, record crowds are expected for Saturday’s festival headlined by G. Love & Special Sauce. Oh, and some Founders employees will rock out, too.
Founders Fest is expected to attract record crowds of beer-loving music lovers on Saturday.
By Mary Mattingly and John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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With groovy Philadelphia hip-hop/blues act G. Love & Special Sauce leading the way, Founders Brewing Co. is tapped and ready for downtown Grand Rapids’ biggest keg party, which could draw a record crowd of more than 6,500 on Saturday.
And amid Founders Fest’s jammed beer tents, food vendors, local artists’ row and impressive lineup of live music on two stages – which also includes Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Man Man and a half-dozen other regional and local acts – a Founders tradition will once again get that party started.
“I get to play with my co-workers, some of whom are my best friends,” says Jeremy Kosmicki, lead guitarist of the Founders “super-group,” The FBC All-Stars, which will perform at 5:35 p.m. Saturday. “They’re really talented guys, it’s a pleasure to get together with them.”
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G. Love & Special Sauce
Founders Fest Lineup (3-11 p.m. Saturday)
The FBC All-Stars
Cabildo
Alexis
Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys
Lowdown Brass Band
Roster McCabe
Man Man
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
G. Love & Special Sauce
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Since its inception in 1997, Founders has steadily attracted musicians to its staff and the FBC All-Stars band features nine of them, playing covers ranging from ‘80s pop to classic rock.
‘ALWAYS MUSIC IN THE TAPROOM’
“There’s always music in the taproom,” notes bartender and singer Nicholas Thomasma. “As musicians, [Founders] is a place you go for music.”
Home Team: The FBC All-Stars
Eventually, some of these musicians who played there wound up working at Founders. Thomasma, who fronts the group Nicholas James & The Bandwagon, is one of them.
“I thought, ‘This place is cool, I want to work here,'” Thomasma says. “There is always a spot at Founders for out-of-work musicians.”
The FBC All-Stars was co-founder Mike Stevens’ idea, forming the group about four years ago. Before the All-Stars, Founders Fest featured many employees’ bands. As the event grew, it made more sense to condense employees into a super-group that plays the festival every year. And this year, they might be playing in front of a record-setting audience.
THE BIGGEST FOUNDERS FEST EVER?
With Founders Brewing Co. in the middle of a $26 million expansion project that includes doubling the capacity of its taproom, the brewery has adjusted the layout of Saturday’s Founders Fest and added a second beer tent.
All of that comes with organizers expecting the largest crowd ever for Founders’ sixth street party: More than 6,500 people are expected, according to Mark Dorich, Founders’ director of retail operations, more than double the first year attendance of just under 3,000. Last year, about 5,500 people turned out.
New Orleans’ Dumpstapunk
“We like to think of Founders Fest as one big annual party, a celebratory event with the community that helped us get to where we are today,” says Dorich, who worked for five years to land the 2013 headliner, G. Love & Special Sauce. “There are a ton of great events in Grand Rapids and we are proud that Founders Fest has become one of them.”
This year, the event’s two stages will be pushed farther south on Grandville and Ellsworth avenues SW, with the event also extending down Bartlett Street, where a second beer tent will be located. Food vendors will be moved across the street, front gates expanded to help process attendees more quickly and free tap water filling stations set up. Some parking also will be made available at The Rapid bus station nearby.
Because the event could sell out for the first time ever, Dorich encourages folks to buy their tickets in advance through foundersfest2013.eventbrite.com. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the gate, provided tickets are still available.
PLAYING CROWD-PLEASERS AND PARTY SONGS
While most bands featured at Founders Fest play original music, the FBC All-Stars play the songs people know. In the past, the band has trotted out songs from Dire Straits, The Jackson Five and The Beatles.
Jerry Kosmicki
“It’s fun to be in a cover band,” Thomasma insists. “It’s magical when you get everything together. Most of the crowd doesn’t know [local] bands’ music. People know the words [of covers], they get excited. … I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Adds Kosmicki: “We play a lot of crowd pleasers, party songs. People like to hear what they know. They especially like seeing the people who make the beer up on stage.”
The head brewer at Founders, Kosmicki joined the staff in 2000. He works with the band’s other guitarist, Jason Heystek, in coordinating the set list.
“The vocalists throw out ideas, then [Heystek and I] decide yay or nay,” Kosmicki said. “It’s usually yay. It’s also usually just the question of ‘Can we actually play this song?’ We have to be creative to make the song include all instruments in the band.”
The FBC All-Stars practice for months before Founders Fest, with practice sessions taking place twice a week to prepare for a 30-minute set.
Although Thomasma concedes it’s sometimes “hard to get time off to practice, since we all work at the same place,” Kosmicki says the band members “eventually get together. We make it work,” Kosmicki added.
The FBC All-Stars have played events other than Founders Fest. Last year, the band performed at Founders 15th Anniversary Party and recently traveled to Philadelphia to play at Philly Beer Week.
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Founders has attracted/spawned a host of Grand Rapids-area musicians within its team of employees:
Nicholas James Thomasma
The FBC All-Stars
Jeremy Kosmicki – Head Brewer / Lead Guitar
Diamond Deschaine – Brew Captain / Bass Guitar
Jason Heystek – Head Cellarman / Guitar / Vocals
Rob Burt – Deli / Drums
Jarrod Napierkowski – Taproom Manager / Keytar / Keyboards / Vocals / Percussion
Justin Golinski – Deli Manager / Vocals / Guitar / Percussion
Kyle Dood – Warehouse Manager / Vocals / Guitar / Percussion
Molly Bouwsma-Schultz – Server / Vocals / Percussion
Nicholas James Thomasma – Bartender / Vocals / Harmonica / Percussion
Other Founders band connections:
Kosmicki and Deschaine (Oracle, Love Fossil)
Heystek (Total Blam Blams)
Burt (formerly with Lights at Sea)
Napierkowski (Chance Jones)
Golinski (Chance Jones, Faux Fur)
Dood (Total Blam Blams, Morale)
Bouwsma-Schults (Blue Molly)
Thomasma (Nicholas James & the Bandwagon)
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Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
