Thanksgiving weekend gave West Michigan music fans plenty to be grateful for, including some jam-packed homecoming shows in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.
For West Michigan’s music scene, Thanksgiving was all about homecoming shows that gave hometown fans of regional artists plenty to cheer about:
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WAYLAND
Grand Rapids’ hard-rocking Wayland unleashed a monster night-before-Thanksgiving affair at The Intersection, with opening sets by The Autumnatic and Devin & The Dead Frets who helped rev up the capacity crowd.
PHOTO GALLERY: Wayland at The Intersection
Photos by Eric Stoike
HANNAH ROSE & THE GRAVESTONES, BELLO SPARK
Just down the street from Wayland’s rock show, Hannah Rose & The GravesTones unleashed an inspiring and emotional evening of soul, blues and rock for a wall-to-wall crowd that cheered the band’s final show with guitarist Justin Wierenga and bassist Justin Avdek. The special Local Spins Wednesdays concert opened with a harmony-filled set by Bello Spark.
PHOTO GALLERY: Hannah Rose & The Gravestones, Bello Spark at SpeakEZ
Photos by Anna Sink
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS, JOSHUA DAVIS
Kalamazoo’s Greensky Bluegrass, with opener Joshua Davis, sold out two straight nights of shows — Friday and Saturday — at Kalamazoo’s State Theatre following release of a new album, “Shouted, Written Down & Quoted,” and another busy year of touring (which continues through the holidays).
Local Spins contributor Chris Falk noted that Davis “opened the show with a call for peace and togetherness and gifted us with a beautiful rendition of Oseh Shalom. Backed up by Dominic John Davis on bass, Michael Shimmin on drums, and the Rev. Mike Lynch on the Hammond organ, Joshua Davis pumped up the sold-out show.
That this was a Kalamazoo (and Western Michigan) homecoming show, he wrote, “was made evident by Paul Hoffman ‘air guitaring’ an oar to start the night and screaming ‘Row the Boat!’ We love being here in Kalamazoo!’ The capacity crowd roared in excitement. Mandolinist Hoffman and the rest of the band — Anders Beck on Dobro, Michael Arlen Bont on banjo, Dave Bruzza on guitar and Mike Devol on acoustic bass — never let the excitement wane as they pumped out songs new and old.”
Saturday night’s show was filled with “face-melting” energy, according to Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum, who noted that the Joshua Davis Quartet with Rachael Davis helped generate an electric night that ended with Greensky Bluegrass inviting Davis and the entire band back on stage for “a fantastic blues jam.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Greensky Bluegrass, Joshua Davis at State Theatre
Photos by Derek Ketchum