Check out the images from a rocking weekend in West Michigan: From twists on Christmas tunes to soulful retro strains that made folks forget about the blizzard-like bluster.
Birthday Girl: Nikki Hill, who celebrated at the Tip Top Deluxe. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. But c’mon, enough already.
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Winter officially doesn’t arrive for another week but West Michigan has felt like February in Alaska for much of December. Of course, that hasn’t stopped national and regional acts from heating things up indoors, melting audiences with a mix of rock, soul, blues, folk and electro-pop.
Nicole Barille of Mr. Gnome (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
The weekend really got cranking on Thursday night when “roots rock ‘n’ roller” Nikki Hill, fresh from a European tour, brought her red-hot band back to the confines of The Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill on Grand Rapids’ West Side for an evening of sizzling strains with hints of an early Tina Turner vibe. To add to the fun, it was Hill’s birthday and folks celebrated by packing the dance floor. The JetBeats opened with a set of ’60s beat rock/pop. (Watch highlights of Hill’s performance in this video here: http://youtu.be/72ec2QoLYxM)
Not far away on the same night, Grand Rapids’ own Valentiger and Detroit’s up-and-coming “trap pop” trio Jamaican Queens entertained a hefty crowd at Founders Brewing Co.
But that was just the cliched tip of the iceberg because the weekend also featured The Impact Band’s overflowing stage production of its “Unto Us” Christmas rock opera at The Stache inside The Intersection, Cleveland indie-rock duo Mr. Gnome and “swampy death rock” band We Are Hex livening up The Pyramid Scheme, The Hildegard Singers’ vocal mastery as part of Bethlehem Lutheran Church’s MAJIC Concert Series and Decembersongs magical holiday tour stop at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up.
That show not only featured Americana/roots/folk singer-songwriters Amy Speace, Rod Picott and Doug and Telisha Williams, but a worthy cause, too: The fund-raising concert had venue owners Gary and Michelle Hanks presenting a check for $4,000 to the local United Way. And that’s a sure way to warm things up before the holidays.
And Saturday brought the antics and spoof songs of the Dan Finnerty-led The Dan Band to The Intersection, not to mention a Grand Rapids homecoming show for space-folk ensemble The Soil & The Sun at The Pyramid Scheme, with Filmloom and Cobalt Mexican Wolves opening the show.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
