The last week in May offered up a two-night Billy Strings spectacle, the first Meijer Gardens summer show, the debut of a new venue and more, captured in words and photos at Local Spins.
Saturday Homecoming Soiree: Billy Strings at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, as captured by fans. (Photos/Ryan McCahill, Kurt Fiegel, Derek Ketchum)
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERIES, SATURDAY SET LIST
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It was another week of live music for the record books.
Appropriately, West Michigander Billy Strings wrapped up his second night of remarkable, sold-out homecoming shows at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena on Saturday night with a cover of The Dillards’ “The Old Home Place,” thus toasting and cementing his love for the people and the towns where he first got his feet wet and fired up his guitar.
“Billy Strings does it again. What an amazing artist and community of loving people,” wrote fan Kurt Fiegel on Facebook after Saturday’s 27-song spectacle. “Absolutely transcendent.”
“Wow. Incredible,” noted Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum. “An incredible night with Billy showing all his love for being home in West Michigan. The stories of shows past here and taking the long way home connected us all even closer with Billy.”
Local Spins decided to give fans a chance to document their experience on Saturday with the montage of photos above and below; scroll down to check out Ketchum photos from the Friday night show as well, with the Local Spins review here.
More about the concerts at BillyBase.net and subscribers to Nugs.net can view the weekend’s shows.
Billy and Band (Fan Photo/Sarah Fairbanks Keen)
On Friday, just seven miles from Van Andel Arena, The Head and The Heart kicked off the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park summer concert series with a sold-out show (review here, photos below), the same night that Headband Henny, Parallelz, Celeste Allison and Moravian lit up “a super-hyped crowd” at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo.
And earlier in the week, Billy made another splash by joining Primus on stage at Van Andel Arena as part of the three-headed musical monster that is Sessanta (A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, Primus), with Grammy-nominated Valerie June christening the new Grand Rapids venue, The Big Room, on Monday (Memorial Day). What a week.
SET LIST: Billy Strings at Van Andel Arena (Saturday, May 31)
Setlist.fm
PHOTO GALLERY: Billy Strings at Van Andel Arena (Friday)
Photos by Derek Ketchum
PHOTO GALLERY: Headband Henny, Parallelz, Celeste Allison, Moravian
Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe (Friday)
Photos by Cassandra Kipp
PHOTO GALLERY: The Head and the Heart, Futurebirds, Anna Graves
Meijer Gardens (Friday)
Photos by Steve Baran
