September closed out with a bang: Rain washed out country star Luke Bryan’s ‘Farm Tour’ stop in Richland, but acts from BoomBox to Alter Bridge to The Crane Wives rocked the house. Recaps, photos.
Fiery Show: Skillet on stage Saturday at 20 Monroe Live. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERIES AND MORE CONCERT RECAPS
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It would be an understatement to say that Friday night’s “Farm Tour” stop by country star Luke Bryan at Richland’s Stafford Farms northeast of Kalamazoo didn’t go as planned.
With storms rolling through the region, organizers eventually called off the show in early evening — after thousands of folks had waited in line in the rain with many never even making it to the first-time “venue.”
Others managed to park and get into the venue, but then got stuck in the mud trying to get out.
Bryan later posted a video on Facebook apologizing to fans, noting that “lightning was everywhere and we couldn’t put you guys in danger.” He insisted the show would be rescheduled: “We’re picking a new date very, very soon.”
Lineup: the line of cars Friday waiting to enter the Stafford Farms site. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Reaction from fans on Facebook varied widely, with some frustrated attendees complaining the concert should have been called off much sooner in the day — and that overall arrangements and the traffic/parking situation weren’t handled well.
Others insisted they had fun with their friends and other fans despite the rain and expressed understanding for the organizers’ decision.
“The weather didn’t stop people from getting their tailgate on, and most were not unhappy about the situation, but reveled in the idea that 20,000 people are heading to a show, one night only, in a town of about 800 people,” said Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum.
“Out of 20,000 (concertgoers), it was estimated by one that maybe a little more than 3,000 made it all the way through the gates and up to where the show was going to be before they had to send everyone back to their car when the second storm of the day started moving into the area.”
Read fan comments and see more photos on Facebook here. Scroll down for a photo gallery below, with Luke Bryan’s video message here. As of Monday morning, a rescheduled date had not been announced.
VIDEO: Luke Bryan Message Apologizing and Saying They’ll Reschedule
Posted on Facebook
Meanwhile, other shows — both indoors and outdoors — rocked stages from Grand Rapids to Holland and beyond, including:
The first three concerts in the 2019-2020 Calvin University Concert Series (Frankie Cosmos, Sigrid and Bruce Cockburn);
Skillet and Alter Bridge drawing more than 2,000 fans to 20 Monroe Live for a spectacle of lights and pyro and rock (after Judah & The Lion fired up the same venue the night before);
BoomBox jamming Elevation inside The Intersection with its electronic wonders;
Austin’s Greyhounds making a stop at Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill;
Christian rock’s Jars of Clay playing Holland’s Oktoberfest;
The Crane Wives playing the Rockford Brewing beer tent at Rockford’s Harvest Festival;
Mark Lavengood and Twilight Gemini at Shakespeare’s in Kalamazoo.
Check out the photo galleries, videos and concert recaps below.
TUESDAY
PHOTO GALLERY: Frankie Cosmos, Vagabonds at Calvin University
Photos by Kendra Petersen-Kamp
WEDNESDAY
ICON BRUCE COCKBURN SHOWS ‘FULL SPECTRUM’ OF CAREER AT CALVIN
Bruce Cockburn has been doing this a long time, and it is evident that he is quite comfortable with how good he is. An attentive crowd of several hundred fans at Calvin College’s Covenant Fine Arts Center showed their admiration as the 74-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter and guitar hero performed two sets that broadly covered music spanning his nearly five-decade catalog.
The evening included several breathtaking instrumental compositions taken from the just-released album “Crowing Ignites,” Cockburn’s 34th official release, a collection of all-instrumental guitar work. There were also plenty of opportunities for Cockburn to showcase his smooth, round baritone voice and signature lyrical style — a combination of traditional folk storytelling and confessionals with vivid spoken word poetry and frequent barbed iconoclastic wit.
Imagine if Leonard Cohen could play guitar like Django Reinhardt and possessed the trickster satirical bent of Randy Newman and you have an idea of Cockburn’s eclectic range. From ’80s gems like “Wondering Where the Lions Are” (his biggest U.S. hit), “Peggy’s Kitchen Wall” and the Reagan-era protest anthem “Call It Democracy” to later work like the playfully romantic “Last Night of the World” and withering social commentary “Café Society,” he gave his audience a full spectrum of what has made him a unique and beloved artist. The adoring response showed why he has made the trip to perform at Calvin University “at least 6 or 7 times.”
Though he has never enjoyed the same broad popularity in the States as in his native land to the north, his emotional depth as a songwriter and virtuosity as a player will ensure that he always has a loyal and grateful base. They’re comfortable with how good he is too, and Wednesday night proved he still has plenty more to come. – By Calin Skidmore
PHOTO GALLERY: Bruce Cockburn at Calvin University
Photos by Kendra Petersen-Kamp
THURSDAY
PHOTO GALLERY: Greyhounds at Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill
Photos by Ricky Olmos
