Green-clad revelers, green beer and blue skies rocked downtown’s Irish on Ionia, 30-plus bands rocked West Ottawa’s two-day music fest and Hillbilly Casino drove 12 hours to rock the West Side.
An Irish Toast: As many as 19,000 revelers jammed Irish on Ionia on Saturday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
So, let’s do a weekend tally:
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• As many as 19,000 St. Patrick’s Day merrymakers taking advantage of sunny skies and above-freezing temperatures to soak in the biggest Irish on Ionia ever in downtown Grand Rapids, with bands such as The Billies, The Tosspints and The Waxies, plus the Arden Academy of Irish Dance, revving up the green-garbed revelers — so much so that one fellow decided to propose to his beloved on stage prior to The Tosspints’ set and photographer Anthony Norkus caught it on camera;
The Throngs at Irish on Ionia (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
• More than 1,000 local rock band fans flooding West Ottawa High School’s North Building north of Holland for the 12th annual WO-Stock festival and fundraiser featuring 32 West Michigan groups playing two stages over two nights, including SoundIsRed, Valkyrie’s Point, The Time for Martyrs, Night Hawk, The Outer Vibe, Midwest Skies, Triangulion and many more.
• An overflow, elbow-to-elbow crowd of distillery mavens flooding the grand opening of the Flat Lander’s Barstillery at 855 Michigan St. NE on Friday, with the Pat Zelenka Project playing “the world’s smallest stage” — the unusual Bird Cage Stage in the basement of the venue. (Indeed, a duo may be the biggest band one could squeeze into the cage.)
Cities and Saints at WO-Stock (Photo/Sonia Ngov)
• A standing-room-only audience of more than 100 jamming the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill on the city’s West Side to cheer and dance to The Hillbilly Casino, The Devil Elvis Show and Grand Rapids’ Murder Party. Hillbilly Casino delivered a wild show after driving 12 hours straight from Memphis to play the tavern, with Murder Party’s Rob Bruce joining the band on stage at one point.
And there was more: Punksuhate, Ozay Moore, James Gardin, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish and Cemetery Circus firing up Founders Brewing, An Dro playing the second night of Rockford Brewing Co.’s St. Patrick’s Day Party, another capacity crowd cheering the Mega ’80s at The Intersection, and the “New Blood” showcase of new jazz at Mexicains Sans Frontieres, with Brad Fritcher + trois, Modern Mayors and the debut of Grand Rapids’ Vox Vidorra (featuring Molly Bouwsma Schultz on vocals).
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
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