Kalamazoo’s Sounds of the Zoo continued its musical march over the weekend, with Marc E. Bassy & Skizzy Mars and The Airborne Toxic Event revving up Grand Rapids. The photo round-up at Local Spins.
Collaborative Power: Nathan Walton & The Remedy closing out Saturday’s Sounds of the Zoo. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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A strolling musical melange.
Saturday’s Sounds of the Zoo festival in downtown Kalamazoo was just that, with intrigued passersby joining music fans for genre-spanning performances on the big stage at Bronson Park as well as at “busking stations” set up on the mall at State Theatre and Burnham & Flower, not to mention indoors at Crawlspace Comedy Theatre.
The next-to-last day of the week-long, third-year festival showcasing Michigan artists created what lead organizer Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert described as a true “festival feel,” with a robust array of art, merchandise and food vendors lined up in the park while the Kalamazoo Academy of Rock, Samuel Nalangira, Saxsquatch & Bridge Band, Fake Baseball, Laura Rain, Verzell and Nathan Walton & the Remedy performed.
GR Tour Stop: Marc E. Bassy & Skizzy Mars at The Intersection. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
“It’s really refreshing,” said saxophonist Jarad Selner, aka Saxsquatch, who performed with both the Bridge Band and Fake Baseball on Saturday, as well as Great Lakes Brass on Friday. “(Hudson-Prenkert has) done a really good of pacing things out and making sure everybody’s happy. … It’s really great for the community and for everyone involved.”
Hudson-Prenkert acknowledged that the festival has started to gain momentum in its third year, with more people starting to embrace diverse bands and solo artists playing on multiple stages over seven days, embracing the community vibe of the event.
With everything from jazz to funk fusion to folk/Americana, Friday’s Bronson Park lineup reveled in the festival’s eclectic nature, too, with Great Lakes Brass, Santino Jones, Act Casual and Kait Rose & The Thorns
Today’s final fling at Bronson Park kicks off with Traverse City’s Dede Alder Trio at noon, followed by Wilson Thicket (Southeast Michigan bluegrass), Lunar Octet (Detroit jazz), Alise King (Detroit R&B) and Zion Lion (Kalamazoo reggae). (View more Local Spins coverage of Sounds of the Zoo here.)
Laura Rain & George Friend (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Kalamazoo’s musical action wasn’t confined to Sounds of the Zoo: Ever-popular mid-Michigan pop/rock/folk/soul/funk band Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers closed out Bell’s Brewery Beer Garden’s summer concert series on Saturday night with an assist from Grand Rapids indie-rock outfit Low Phase.
Meanwhile, in Grand Rapids, Marc E. Bassy and Skizzy Mars brought their pop/R&B/hip hop “Folk Heroes Tour” to The Intersection on Friday, followed by California rock band Airborne Toxic Event on Saturday. Browse all the photos below and check out galleries from shows earlier in the week here, including Clutch, Lake Street Dive and The Alkaline Trio.
PHOTO GALLERY: Sounds of the Zoo (Saturday)
Photos by Derek Ketchum, John Sinkevics and Cassandra Kipp
PHOTO GALLERY: Sounds of the Zoo (Friday)
Photos by Derek Ketchum and Cassandra Kipp
PHOTO GALLERY: Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, Low Phase at Bell’s Beer Garden
Photos by Derek Ketchum
