Hit-and-miss weather over the weekend impacted some shows, but live music — indoors and out — still revved up West Michigan, including Devil Wears Prada, Lucius Fox, Vince Gill, Fest of All & more. Photos.
‘Don’t You Give Up’: Enthusiastic fans enduring rain at Breakaway didn’t give up on Saturday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Storms that rolled through parts of Michigan on Saturday forced evacuation of Grand Rapids’ Belknap Park where thousands of revelers were cheering electronic music and pop acts at Breakaway Music Festival.
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But the inclement weather didn’t wipe out the closing set by headliner DJ Snake: After evacuating fans from the festival site at 7:30 p.m., Breakaway opened gates back up for festivalgoers about two hours later for the weekend’s final performance by the French DJ and record producer.
It wrapped up a week of tour stops and live music from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo, including country star Vince Gill at DeVos Performance Hall, two shows at Bell’s Brewery (with Desmond Jones performing through a mist in the Beer Garden on Saturday before Pigeons Playing Ping Pong played a headlining set amid a downpour before lightning cut its set a bit short, and Lucius Fox staging an indoor album-release show the night before), the annual Pedro’s Pig Roast with Jetts heating up the celebration on the Grand Haven City Beach, and Devil Wears Prada firing up Elevation inside The Intersection in Grand Rapids.
And the Fest of All Celebration hosted by Tom Wall and Cosmic Knot at Bent Arrow Deer Ranch in Holton boasted sets by a slew of local and regional acts, not to mention a sequoia-planting ceremony.
Scroll down for some Breakaway highlights and photo galleries from all of these events.
BREAKAWAY’S BREAK IN THE ACTION (SATURDAY)
Day 2 of Breakaway Music Festival on Saturday at Grand Rapids’ Belknap Park rolled through the day with sets by the likes of rapper Gashi and electronic music stars Ekali and Ship Wrek before an approaching storm and lightning forced organizers to cut things short about 7:30 p.m. and evacuate the festival site.
Local Spins writer Todd Ernst filed this report:
“After an amazing first night at Breakaway 2022, no question the crowd was ready for Saturday’s stacked lineup. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans which necessitated venue evacuations — standard procedure for outdoor events when there are lightning strikes nearby. As such, both Oliver Tree and Jai Wolf lost out on their performance opportunities. When the ‘all clear’ finally came around 9:30 p.m., guests raced back into the venue, amped up for DJ Snake’s closing set of the weekend which included the hit “Let Me Love You” with the apropos lines ‘Don’t you give up, I won’t give up.’ If I know one thing about Grand Rapids crowds, they know how to embrace what is before them and under no circumstances do they ever give up.”
Before the Evacuation: Canadian DJ Ekali revved up a late afternoon set. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Writer Robert Novak noted that those who stuck through the delay were treated to an impressive festival-ending set.
“Upon re-entry, hordes of enthusiastic festivalgoers clustered tightly in front of the main stage to see DJ Snake perform an unforgettable EDM set. The instrumentation-oriented electronic musician capped off the astonishing weekend with a colorful strobe light show and fiery pyrotechnics that synchronized perfectly with the rhythmic build-ups and intense beat drops.”
He added that the weather simply couldn’t stop “masses of dedicated attendees from seeing their favorite artists. Large crowds stuck out the rain and weather delays for the dance music and overall great time.”
“This is my third time at Breakaway and it’s always a fun experience, even with the rain delay today,” said festivalgoer Mads Brewster from Canton.
View highlights from Day 1 here: Breakaway busts out of gates with big crowds hailing Chainsmokers, Sidepiece and more
PHOTO GALLERY: Breakaway Music Festival – Day 2 (Saturday)
Photos by Anthony Norkus and Holly Holtzclaw
PHOTO GALLERY: Vince Gill at DeVos Performance Hall (Friday)
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek
(View the set list here.)
PHOTO GALLERY: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Desmond Jones at Bell’s Beer Garden (Saturday)
Photos by Derek Ketchum
