A guitar god, a groundbreaking alt-metal band, some Michigan roots heroes, a bracing modern percussion trio, a garage rock legend and monstrous metal: All part of Local Spins’ image-laden roundup of weekend concerts.
Guitar Wizard: An animated Steve Vai ripped it up at The Intersection. (Photo/Anthony Norkus Photography)
For those still in the dark, adjusting to the recent rollback of Daylight Savings Time, consider this: Things are only going to get darker … until 5:11 p.m. on Dec. 21, when the days will finally start getting longer again.
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Eddie Spaghetti rocked the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill on Saturday night. (Photo/Ted Smith)
But don’t fret, because that only means hunkering down and reveling in the indoor season of live music which will last for, oh, the next six months or so. Call it rock-umn, if you will, and plenty of concertgoers have already started embracing the season, as evidenced by the crowds at some West Michigan shows this weekend.
It all started Thursday with guitar wunder-adult Steve Vai packing The Intersection, about the same time that Americana singer-songwriter Rachael Davis and bassist Dominic John — and Grand Rapids’ own folk-rockers Troll for Trout — were kicking off the Fresh Folk series at St. Cecilia Music Center. And that was followed by May Erlewine and Seth Bernard, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, Strawberry Heritage and more folky and bluegrass folks representing the Earthwork Music collective at Founders Brewing Co.
The weekend continued with the much-talked-about return of rock band Living Colour, which played The Pyramid Scheme (with Vernon Reid “shredding hard on guitar” for an older-then-usual TPS crowd, according to photographer Tony Norkus), Knock on Wood percussion trio pounding it out at Bethlehem Lutheran Church’s MAJIC concert series, pianist Robin Connell and trombonist Paul Brewer getting jazzy at Mangiamo’s, and Eddie Spaghetti, of Supersuckers fame, heating things up at the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill on Grand Rapids’ West Side.
Finally, how about this for two shows on the opposite ends of the spectrum on Sunday night? GWAR and Band of Orcs’ monstrous metal at The Intersection and the story-telling songwriter Paul Ellis at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up.
THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (11/9/13)
Official Sponsor of the Local Spins Weekend Photo Gallery
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
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