Things got steamy this weekend as summer kicked into gear with bracing shows at Meijer Gardens, the giant Founders Fest street party and more. (Photos, videos)

Founders Fest Frolicking: Thousands jammed the streets around Founders Brewing on Saturday for the celebration of beer and music, nine bands’ worth. (More Local Spins Photos Below)
Not sure what else needs to be said: Summer is officially here.
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You know that’s true by the hard-drinking folks partying at Founders Fest on Saturday, with nine bands playing on two stages, including The FBC All-Stars, Cabildo, Alexis, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, Lowdown Brass Band, Roster McCabe, Man Man, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk and G. Love & Special Sauce.
The expanded site — which extended down Grandville Avenue SW and wrapped around the south end of Founders Brewing Co., with two beer tents and several food booths (with mammoth lines that stretched down the street) — clearly drew an expanded crowd, too, with several thousand folks enjoying the brew and the tunes on a warm-but-overcast Saturday. Check out a video tour of Founders Fest 2013 below (which includes a brief, accidental detour of my feet, touring Founders Fest).
This year’s Founders Fest performances were a bit different, too, ranging from the party-up funk assault of New Orleans’ Dumpstaphunk to the oddly innovative, experimental pop-rock of Philadelphia’s Man Man to the Michigan-bred eclectic mix of Alexis, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys and Cabildo.
It capped a weekend of musical marvels: Alejandro Escovedo, Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys unleashing another scintillating show at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpure Park the day after Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra perked up the amphitheater; Hank Mowery & the Hawktones and The B-Sides powering up a singular CD-release party at The Stache (with video snippets of The B-Sides below), while Gunnar & the Grizzly Boys entertained a giant, wild country crowd in The Intersection’s main showroom; Simien the Whale surfacing at The Pyramid Scheme; and Streetlight Manifesto rocking The Intersection while Founders Fest raged on.
SEND WEEKEND PHOTOS TO LOCAL SPINS
Checking out live music next weekend? Send photos by Sunday morning to jsinkevics@gmail.com for inclusion in the Weekend Photo Gallery and your name will be tossed into the hat for June to win a $25 gift certificate to The Intersection. Sweet, eh? Just include the band name, venue and photographer.
THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (JUNE 23, 2013)
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FOUNDERS FEST 2013 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
THE B-SIDES CD-RELEASE SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music










