Celtic music fans flooded Muskegon’s Heritage Landing for the 25th anniversary of the Michigan Irish Music Fest on Thursday and Friday, while The Verve Pipe rocked Otsego’s Liquid Note.
A Storm of Irish Magic: Gaelic Storm on stage at the Michigan Irish Music Festival. (Photo/Tim Reilly)
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Summer has a way of lingering in Michigan — especially when it comes to live music.
Festivals such as the 25th anniversary edition of the Michigan Irish Music Festival draw devoted audiences to Muskegon’s Heritage Landing in mid-September for lilting Celtic strains, international and regional stars, dancing, an Irish market and more, exactly six months removed from St. Patrick’s Day.
Things kicked off Thursday on the festival’s Pub Stage with On the Lash, Aoife Scott, Dave Curley & Colin Farrell and returning favorite Seamus Kennedy, and really heated up on Friday with the likes of Gaelic Storm and Kila on the main Cork Stage, with a bevy of performances on three other stages that continued deep into the night.
Otsego Rock Spectacle: The Verve Pipe (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Browse Tim Reilly’s photos from both nights below, and check out a full Local Spins festival preview, with the Saturday and Sunday performance schedules online here.
Meanwhile, about 80 miles to the south, Otsego’s Liquid Note was hosting one of its biggest outdoor shows of the season on Friday night, with platinum-selling, Michigan-based alt-rock band The Verve Pipe unleashing some of its favorite hits and more in the third-to-last concert in the venue’s “Friday Night Concert Series.”
Grand Rapids jazz fusion band Candid Antics opened the evening.
Michigan’s Austin Benzing and Hatchwing Rider hit the Liquid Note stage on Sept. 20, with bluesman Larry McCray and Kalamazoo’s Out of Favor Boys closing out the season on Sept. 27. Get more details and tickets online at liquidnote.com, with photographer Derek Ketchum’s Verve Pipe photo gallery below.’
PHOTO GALLERY: Michigan Irish Music Festival at Muskegon’s Heritage Landing
Thursday and Friday
Photos by Tim Reilly
PHOTO GALLERY: The Verve Pipe at Otsego’s Liquid Note
Photos by Derek Ketchum
