A wide array of Michigan bands covering a wide swath of music genres pumped up three Kalamazoo venues over the weekend. The recaps and photos at Local Spins.

Sunday Blues: Chris Canas Band at Shakespeare’s Lower Level. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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Sometimes, special shows occur in unlikely places — or at least, in special places that aren’t always at the top of mind.
Grand Rapids offers the likes of Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill, Turnstiles, Billy’s Lounge, The Stray and SpeakEZ Lounge, among many others — venues that revel in live music and intimate experiences, often provided by local and regional bands.
In Kalamazoo, the most recent weekend of live music boasted just such experiences, proving that enticing, memorable performances can occur outside arenas, concert halls and high-profile edifices.
Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum captured three of those shows — Friday, Saturday and Sunday affairs showcasing more than a half-dozen Michigan bands revisited in recaps and photo galleries below.
FRIDAY
Friday night’s impressive lineup of up-and-coming emo, hardcore and alt-rock bands had People I Know kicking off the night, Silven keeping the mosh pits going, Snow Birds from Grand Rapids performing many songs off the album they dropped earlier in the day, and Kalamazoo alt-rockers Means of Entry closing a night that had the floor packed in front of the stage with moshing and crowd surfing.
PHOTO GALLERY: People I Know, Silven, SnowBirds, Means Of Entry
Dormouse Theatre
Photo by Derek Ketchum
SATURDAY
SugerBowl Bar & Grille on Washington Avenue hosted Saturday’s night of indie-punk and alt-rock with Lansing’s A Rueful Noise, Kalamazoo’s Spatter Pattern, OUT and In Color. (SugarBowl hosts live music on most weekends along with a monthly vinyl DJ night and an open-mic night during the week.)
PHOTO GALLERY: A Rueful Noise, Spatter Pattern, OUT, In Color
SugarBowl Bar & Grille
Photos by Derek Ketchum
SUNDAY
The Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association Winter Series returned to its original home of Shakespeare’s Lower Level for 2025, with Southeast Michigan’s Chris Canas performing to a nearly full house on Sunday afternoon.
PHOTO GALLERY: Chris Canas Band at Shakespeare’s Lower Level
Photos by Derek Ketchum