The opening night of Kalamazoo’s seven-day Sounds of the Zoo festival featured tunesmiths trading songs and a performance by Matt Gross & Friends at The Clover Room. Photos, video.
Full House: Songwriters Erin Monroe, Benn and Jacob McLeod on stage at The Clover Room. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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“A good problem to have.”
Indeed, it was.
An overflow, standing-room-only crowd turned the opening night of the 2026 Sounds of the Zoo Festival at the intimate Clover Room in Kalamazoo into an impressive celebration of songwriting prowess and acoustic rock.
The cozy affair featuring singer-songwriters Erin Monroe (Grand Rapids), Benna (Kalamazoo) and Jacob McLeod (Big Rapids), along with Kalamazoo’s Matt Gross & Friends, packed the house and more to the delight of festival organizer Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert as well as many supportive fans who warmly embraced the first night of the seven-day festival that will roll out across several venues over the next week.
Having more people than seating could accommodate is a good omen for the free-admission, fifth-year festival which continues at 7 p.m. today at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe with a “Women in Music” show featuring Kalamazoo’s Grace Theisen and Ypsilanti’s Kylee Phillips.
Matt Gross & Friends (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
As The Clover Room’s new owner Yolonda Lavender put it, it’s critical to “curate these kinds of spaces and experiences. The main thing for me is that The Clover Room has to exist because live music venues cannot go extinct. We’ve got to have this kind of thing continuing.”
Each performer on Monday night echoed those sentiments while unfurling insightful and compelling songs, along with sharing stories about their musical influences and writing techniques. Right next door, meanwhile, the La Luna Recording & Sound studio hosted a “Preparing to Record” workshop led by Parker Freeman.
Sounds of the Zoo will present more than three dozen Michigan bands and solo artists the rest of the week, moving to Old Dog Tavern on Wednesday, Crawlspace Comedy Theatre and Cityscape on Thursday, and Bronson Park, Crawlspace and Wellspring Theatre over the weekend. Busking by several performers will also take place downtown on Saturday afternoon.
View the schedule below and get a Local Spins festival preview here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Sounds of the Zoo at The Clover Room (Monday)
Photos by Derek Ketchum
VIDEO: Sounds of the Zoo – Day 1
SOUNDS OF THE ZOO FESTIVAL 2026: THE SCHEDULE
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