Valentine’s week boasts big names in country and rock, but also Elephant Revival, Damon Fowler and fine local shows with MacRaven, PotatoeBabies, Four Lincolns, Taste of Soul Sunday and much more.
Heading North: Matchbox Twenty makes a West Michigan tour stop this week.
Time to take a deep breath after a raucous weekend of live music mayhem in West Michigan, and that doesn’t even count all the hubbub over the Grammy Awards, with a fair number of Michigan connections, e.g., Jack White and Dominic John Davis, fun., Marvin Sapp.
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(And if it wasn’t for Spins on Music’s Grammy coverage, we would have been at that Avett Brothers show with 4,000-plus other folks on Sunday at the DeltaPlex. Luckily, my pal John Serba reviewed it for MLive.com, so we feel like we were there.)
But don’t put your feet up and get too comfortable, because things get revved up again early this week what with Fat Tuesday, Valentine’s Day and One Billion Rising events popping up across the area on The Big List.
Mardi Gras-cordion: David Molinari & Creolization will help celebrate Fat Tuesday in downtown Grand Rapids. (Photo/Kristine Carpenter)
Grand Rapids Mardi Gras Celebration
David Molinari & Creolization, Jimmie Stagger
Zydacrunch, Fire Performers
4-11 p.m. Tuesday
Downtown Arena District bars and restaurants
Break out the beads, masks, paczki and a party attitude, because Grand Rapids is bringing a bit of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras to downtown bars and restaurants on Fat Tuesday. A host of them are participating, with David Molinari & Creolization and bluesman Jimmie Stagger playing at Bar Divani, Zydacrunch performing at The B.O.B. (which also hosts its gumbo challenge starting at 4 p.m.) and roving musicians like the Calder City Street Stompers and fire performers pretty much everywhere.
The Downtown Arena District also hosts a best-decorated bar contest, with free beads at participating venues. The fun can be had at J. Gardella’s, HopCat, The B.O.B., McFadden’s Restaurant & Saloon, Rockwell Republic, Peppino’s Sports Lounge, Bar Divani, Rumors Night Club, LB’s Lounge, CitySen Lounge, Buffalo Wild Wings, Stella’s Lounge and Grand Rapids Brewing Co. Get details online at the arena district website.
Indie-Rocker: Erin McKeown plays The Pyramid Scheme.
Erin McKeown, Jenn Grant
8 p.m. Tuesday
$12
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids
Edgy singer-songwriter and indie folk-rocker Erin McKeown just last month released her latest album, “MANIFESTRA,” her seventh studio effort and the first on her own TVP Records label.
It features plenty of guest stars (including David Wax Museum and Anais Mitchell).
The Grand Rapids show, sponsored by WYCE-FM (88.1), is part of a national tour that take McKeown to the West Coast in March. Get ticket details here.
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty, Phillip Phillips
7:30 p.m. Wednesday
$38, $58, $78
Miller Auditorium, Kalamazoo
Say what you will about Matchbox Twenty, but award-winning frontman Rob Thomas is one heckuva rock singer and the band has sold more than 30 million albums thanks to some infectious hooks and a devoted fan base. The band’s most recent album, “North,” was released in September.
And American Idol champ Phillip Phillips has stepped right into that folky rock movement that’s sweeping the globe. Find tickets at this site.
Billions Rising, Dancing and Playing: Hannah Graves is part of Grand Rapids’ One Billion Rising Event at Eastern Avenue Hall.
One Billion Rising, Grand Rapids Style with
American Heartbreakers, Trilogy, BandShe, Cash & Kerry, Hannah Graves, Lyndsey McFarlane, Hannaniah Whitley
5-10 p.m. Thursday
Donations accepted
Eastern Avenue Hall, Grand Rapids (506 Eastern Ave. NE)
The motto of this global event sponsored by One Billion Rising, an organization dedicated to ending violence against women and girls and raising awareness of this abuse, is: “One billion women violated is an atrocity, one billion women dancing is a revolution.”
Grand Rapids plans to get folks dancing at Eastern Avenue Hall with seven terrific West Michigan bands performing, including the Tom Petty tribute group The American Heartbreakers. The event on the second floor of Eastern Avenue Hall will also feature poets, dancers and speakers, with local artists on hand selling their works, with a portion of proceeds from that and T-shirt sales going to support the organizations Not This Girl and The Michigan Abolitionist Project. Folks are urged to “bring some cash” to donate and get ready to dance “in solidarity with people all over the world.”
As one of the performers, Hannah Graves, told me, it’s part of “a powerful movement.” Graves (who also plays SpeakEZ Lounge on Wednesday) even plans to debut a song on Thursday that she wrote specifically for the event. The American Heartbreakers’ Jack Leaver says it’s a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, so “let’s pack that hall.” Darn right. Get more information at the Facebook event page.
MacRaven
MacRaven
6 p.m. Thursday
Free
One Trick Pony, Grand Rapids
Talk about a sweet and romantic way to spend Valentine’s Day with your sweetie: Pianist Roger MacNaughton and cellist Steve VanRavenswaay will perform their tender yet inspiring instrumental music in this intimate setting. If you’ve never heard this MacRaven duo, there’s really nothing else like it in West Michigan. Call 235-7669 for reservations.
Noto’s TrioJazz Jam with Steve Hilger
7 p.m. Thursday
Free
Noto’s Old World Italian Dining, Grand Rapids (6600 28th St. SE)
When Grand Rapids guitarist Steve Hilger started this new evening of jazz at Noto’s, the idea was to encourage budding high school and college musicians to join seasoned professionals on stage, helping hone their chops and giving them an audience for their music. It’s a fabulous opportunity, makes for some terrific live music and it takes place twice a month. Read all about it in this Spins on Music story, then urge young musicians you know to come on down and check it out. (Noto’s also features jazz on Wednesdays with the Tommy Hagen Trio featuring Rick Reuther.)
Heating Up the Tip Top: Greg Nagy.
Greg Nagy, Deborah Kay & The Bluebloods
9 p.m. Friday
$5
Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill, Grand Rapids
Beloved Michigan blues guitarist Greg Nagy just released a poignant, brand new single, “I Won’t Give Up,” that’s certainly worth checking out (which you can do here). Not only that, but the musician turns 50 this week and he’s ready to celebrate with a riveting performance at the Tip Top.
Better yet, the ultra-cool, retro-soul outfit Deborah Kay & The Bluebloods will open the evening in style. By the way, the Tip Top follows this up with a bracing barn-burner of a Saturday show: The Paul Collins Beat and The Boss Mustangs, $8.
Get more details here.
Packing the House: Country crooner Luke Bryan plays Van Andel Arena this weekend.
Luke Bryan, Thompson Square, Florida Georgia Line
7:30 p.m. Saturday
$27.75, $52.50
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids
With the sorts of enthusiastic, packed-house crowds that country music seems to attract around here, country singer Luke Bryan is liable to have ’em lined up outside Van Andel Arena for hours on Saturday just champing at the bit to get inside.
The award-winning singer’s Dirt Road Diaries tour comes after Bryan racked up a host of country hits, including “Drunk on You” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” Not surprisingly, Saturday’s show is sold out, but be sure to check back with Ticketmaster and the arena later in the week to see if any seats open up. Get ticket information here.
Spinning Up Fun: Chynamite.
Rev. Charles’ PotatoeBabies 2013 Benefit for Crash’s Landing
8 p.m. Saturday
$8 donation (includes bowling)
The Clique Bowling Lanes, Grand Rapids (533 Stocking Ave. NW)
Oh, that crazy and quite irreverent Rev. Charles Preston Smith and his PotatoeBabies are back at it again with another Anti-Valentine’s show, this time raising money for Crash’s Landing Cat Rescue & Placement Center.
In addition to raffles, games and other revelry, the lineup of West Michigan bands performing is impressive: Deborah Kay & The Bluebloods, The JetBeats, Persistent Flashback Disorder and, of course, The PotatoeBabies, featuring Chynamite.
Get the full scoop at the Facebook event page. And get ready for “games of skill and love.”
Soulful Symphony: Grand Rapids’ Marvin Sapp joins the Grand Rapids Symphony on Saturday.
Symphony With Soul with Marvin Sapp
8 p.m. Saturday
$18-$90
DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids
The Grand Rapids Symphony pairs up with one of Grand Rapids’ most beloved and well-known singers, gospel star Marvin Sapp, for this year’s “Symphony With Soul” performance. Sapp, who’s been nominated for Grammy Awards 11 times and won numerous Dove Awards, swings back into Grand Rapids after his trip to Los Angeles for last weekend’s Grammys. He’ll perform songs from two of his Grammy-nominated albums, 2013’s “I Win” and 2008’s “Thirsty.”
The Grand Rapids Community Chorus and Grand Rapids African-American Youth Chorus also will perform. Get more details at the symphony website and call Evette at 454-9451 for information about dinner, concert and reception packages. And read a Spins on Music story about Sapp in the wake of the Grammys here.
Folk’s Psychedelic Charm: Elephant Revival will lumber gracefully into Founders.
Elephant Revival, Birds of Chicago
9:30 p.m. Saturday
$5
Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids
Colorado/Oklahoma folk outfit Elephant Revival produces a remarkable mélange of sounds and styles – folk, psychedelia, rock, reggae, hip-hop, Celtic music, bluegrass. The five-piece band boasts terrific harmonies and is touring behind its latest EP, “It’s Alive,” with Birds of Chicago opening Saturday’s show.
Oh, and Founders presents Brooklyn’s funky The Pimps of Joytime for its free Thursday night show, with Grand Rapids’ own Lucas Wilson opening the evening. Get more information at Founders’ website.
UNDER-THE-RADAR PICKS
Misery Signals playing The Stache inside The Intersection at 7 p.m. Tuesday, $12 advance, $14 day of show – If you didn’t get enough heavy metal pounded into your system over the weekend between Mushroomhead and the Heavyweight Championship of Rock finals, then this all-ages show is for you. It also features Ice Nine Kills, Corelia, Endeavors and I’m William Cutting.
Hawks & Owls
Old Time Country Dance/Valentine’s Show at Fountain Street Church at 7 p.m. Thursday, $6 – Hawks & Owls String Band and caller/banjoist Jim Foerch lead the charge for this hoedown and dance that will be the first of its kind in the Fellowship Hall inside Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain St. NE. Folks will be taught and “gently walked through” until they’re contra dancing like pros.
Matt Young playing Grill One Eleven in Rockford at 6 p.m. Friday, free – This could be a real treat. Matt Young is an ultra-talented guitarist who many have seen performing with the likes of the Sweet J Band, Sweet Japonic and others. Here’s a chance to see him solo.
Damon Fowler
2013 Cooper’s Glen: The Great Lakes Acoustic Music Festival at downtown Kalamazoo’s Radisson Plaza Hotel Friday and Saturday, $25-$40 advance, $30-$50 at the door – This two-day festival boasts a plethora of top-notch string, bluegrass and acoustic acts, including Detour, Joel Mabus, Foghorn Stringband, Mike Compton & David Grier, and plenty more, not to mention workshops and dances. Get the lowdown at the association’s website.
Post Valentine’s Day Massacre with The Four Lincolns, Slow Buffalo and Pete Bass Band at Rocky’s Bar & Grill, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, $5 (18-20), $3 (21 and older) – I’ve always appreciated the rock of the Four Lincolns, who’ve been around Grand Rapids for more than 15 years.
Cabin Fever Blues Series show with Damon Fowler at Billy’s Lounge, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, $10 – The West Michigan Blues Society knows how to book a winter series: Damon Fowler is a Florida-bred whiz bang of a guitarist and singer. And having interviewed this guy, he’s also one great fellow. Come down to show your support for the WMBS and the good work it does in promoting the blues in this region.
Taste of Soul Sunday at the Grand Rapids Public Library downtown Main Library, 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday, free — What better way to celebrate African-American History and Culture than by embracing the music of Grand Rapids’ Karisa Wilson, Serita’s Black Rose and Greg Peacock, and the storytelling of Miz Rosie as Coretta Scott King? Grand Rapids’ Main Library, 111 Library St. NE, has that, food and more as part of this event. Details online at grpl.org/tasteofsoul.
The Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra playing Founders Brewing, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, free – Part of this ensemble’s twice-monthly appearance at Founders, it’s nice to remember that these guys are spreading the jazz gospel in impressive fashion.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
