Fruition rocks Grand Rapids’ Pyramid Scheme, showing off harmonies, versatility in process

Portland quintet goes heavy on recent releases, speaks up on long-pressing issues and captivates crowd during second trip to venue in as many years.

 

Often tagged as a rootsy jam band, Fruition spends most of its time out on the road touring with bluegrass and folk acts.

Make no mistake, however. While one can hear jam, bluegrass and folk influences in the band’s sound — especially in their studio recordings — Fruition is first and foremost a rock band.

Driven by the rhythm of drummer Tyler Thompson and bassist Jeff Leonard, the Portland quintet, which made a return trip to Grand Rapids’ Pyramid Scheme last night, is fronted by three of the most exciting musicians on the scene in guitarist Jay Cobb Anderson, the mandolin-shredding, guitar picking Mimi Naja and keyboardist/guitarist Kellen Asebroek.

Creating some of the best three-part harmonies out there, the trio switches off on lead vocals as fast as they move around the stage and switch instruments. From Naja’s softer “Northern Town” and soulful “Santa Fe” to Asebroek’s delicate “The Meaning” and up-tempo “There She Was” to Anderson’s “The Way That I Do,” “Let’s Take it Too Far” and “Mountain Annie” — all tunes which electrified a packed room at the Pyramid Scheme last night — Fruition refuses to be boxed in.

Around for a decade now, the Michigan door was cracked open for Fruition by Kalamazoo’s Greensky Bluegrass, with whom the band has toured extensively with over the years. But the difference between Fruition’s first trip to Grand Rapids and the venue in April 2017 and this year was night and day, Asebroek said after the show.

“This year you could definitely tell that there was some anticipation,” Asebroek said, referencing he and his bandmate’s trips to Electric Forest and Camp Greensky this past summer as the catalysts for some of that excitement. “There’s definitely people who were here last year and came here not knowing what to expect, and people who hadn’t heard us, but had heard of us. This year, they knew what to expect and it was rocking.”

HEAVY ON NEW MATERIAL AND SOCIAL AWARENESS

The band which released its fourth full-length, “Labor of Love” in 2016 and follow-up “Watching it All Apart” in 2018, has been spending a lot of time in the studio lately and just released an EP, “Fire” a couple weeks ago.

Last night’s set was heavy on those three releases, while also reaching back to 2013’s “Blue Light” and “Boil Over” off of “Just One of Them Nights.” Not content to just play music, however, representing the socially-conscious band, Anderson did take a moment to share his thoughts on some long-pressing issues that have been dominating the news of late.

“We’ve got an issue folks,” he said between songs later on in the set. “There’s a f***ing problem in this country. Everyone in this band right here, we’re all feminists, and women deserve to be treated right, and that’s all I have to say. … Men, it’s up to us to call each other out when bullshit is going on. If you are a real man you would do that. Speak up when you see shit going down.”

Opening the show for Anderson and Fruition was Daniel Rodriguez of Colorado band Elephant Revival. Since Elephant went on an indefinite hiatus following its Red Rocks show in May, Rodriguez has been quickly piecing together a solo album, due out in 2019, and spending much of his time out on the road with the Portland outfit.

Rodriguez, accompanied by Elephant bandmate Darren Garvey on percussion (and at times Fruition’s Leonard and Thompson) put together a folk-driven set comprised mostly of new material, including his recently released single, “Steal the Night Away,” along with a couple of Elephant classics, “Sing to the Mountain” and “Home in Your Heart.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Fruition, Daniel Rodriguez at The Pyramid Scheme
Photos by Katy Batdorff

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