Musical energy galore: Backyard Bash, Pink Sky, Joe Hertler

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Perrin’s day-long Backyard Bash highlighted a weekend of crowd-pleasing shows from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo — captured in images at Local Spins.

Closing Out the Night: Desmond Jones at Perrin’s Backyard Bash. (Photo/John Sinkevics)

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Desmond Jones drummer John Nowak described it perfectly as the band launched the final set of the night at Saturday’s Perrin Brewing Backyard Bash in Comstock Park.

“It’s a cool backyard,” he quipped.

Indeed, and a backyard that drew hundreds upon hundreds of revelers for the return of an outdoor music festival and beer celebration forced to take 2020 off due to the COVID pandemic.

Backyard Joy: Melophobix on stage Saturday. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)

Six bands — The Polyphonic Element, Nathan Walton & The Remedy, Melophobix, Flexadecibel, The Hacky Turtles and Desmond Jones — performed over the course of the day and evening, with the hyper-lively display of The Hacky Turtles and Desmond Jones firing up fans to close things out.

As The Hacky Turtles put it while asddressing the ebullient crowd: “Thank you for giving us life and energy.”

Energy sparked by varied musical performances was on full display over the weekend, with a multitude of live music options (some sparked by ArtPrize) in Grand Rapids and the first indoor show in more than 18 months at Kalamazoo’s Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe (with Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers also playing the beer garden).

Exuberance among fans and bands was particularly evident at Brother Elsey’s album-release show at The Pyramid Scheme — with a powerful set by DL Rossi and band — and Troll for Trout’s free concert on the Studio Park piazza.

Browse all of the images below.

PHOTO GALLERY: Perrin Brewing Backyard Bash (Saturday)
Polyphonic Element, Nathan Walton, Melophobix,
Flexadecibel, The Hacky Turtles, Desmond Jones
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek, Anna Sink, John Sinkevics