Moving this year from Eastown living rooms to Wealthy Theatre and other venues, Lamp Light 7 has charged up stages with an eclectic blend of regional and national acts. Check out the recap, photos.
Still Keeping it Cozy: Lamp Light wraps up today (Sunday) at the Wealthy Theatre Annex. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The Lamp Light Music Festival may have changed venues, but the festival hasn’t lost its sense of intimacy in its seventh year in Grand Rapids.
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Instead of Eastown house performances, Lamp Light this year has moved to the historic Wealthy Theatre along with a handful of public shops with an aim to be more accessible to everyone: the Sparrows Coffee Tea and Newstand, Squibb Coffee and Wine Bar, Wikiwiki Poke Shop, and Woosah Printshop & Outfitters.
Saturday Set: The festival boasted 17 performances on several stages. (Photo/Kendra Kamp)
The living-room look, however, hasn’t changed with Wealthy Theatre stages and the Wealthy Theatre Annex decorated with a variety of lamps and cozy furniture.
Friday’s opening day gave fans a mix ranging from the cutting-edge “spirit rock” of northern Michigan’s Breathe Owl Breathe and indie-pop/rock’s Major Murphy (playing the Annex) to the Latin rock of Grand Rapids’ Cabildo and soul/hip hop of Kalamazoo’s Last Gasp Collective (playing the main Wealthy Theatre stage).
People slowly trickled in from the cold Saturday night to fill almost half of the Wealthy Theatre. Bong Wish, a rock group from Boston, warmed up concertgoers quickly with a smoky and hazy-lit performance — and gratitude for the opportunity: “Thank you Lamp Light. This is awesome.”
Wealthy Stage: Cabildo performing on Friday night. (Photo/Kendra Kamp)
The four-piece group made its first festival visit even more memorable when one of the guitarists stripped down to his underwear, jumping down from the stage to end the band’s final song half-naked.
None of the members of Sugar Candy Mountain removed their clothing, but the psychedelic rock group from California charmed the audience and closed out the evening with heavy reverb and dreamy vocals. Over at Wikiwki Poke shop, eanwhile, artist DaveKevinAdam capped off things on Saturday night.
Sunday’s lineup began with Tom Hymn’s Early Magic Marathon at Squibb Coffee and Wine Bar, followed by the Wealthy Theatre Annex hosting the fest’s four final spots: Saltbreaker, Majetic, Turtledoves and Seth Beck.
PHOTO GALLERY: Lamp Light Music Festival 2018
Photos by Kendra Kamp and Anna Sink
Copyright 2018, Spins on Music LLC
