Friday’s opening night of the three-day, indoor festival at The Pyramid Scheme boasted energetic sets by Michigan’s Greet Death, Pennsylvania’s Carly Cosgrove and more. Recap, photos.
Closing Out Night 1: Greet Death on stage during T-Rex Fest on Friday. (Photo/Adam Briggs)
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After a 13-year hiatus, T-Rex Fest returned to The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids in robust fashion on Friday evening, kicking off three days of eclectic, live rock romps.
The festival that debuted as an all-day outdoor fest has now turned into an opportunity for a plethora of heavy-hued bands from Michigan and beyond to showcase their brash, loud and entertaining music.
Grand Rapids alt-rock/math rock band McWeakerton kicked off the evening in front of a sparse but lively crowd. Their stage show featured a set of four televisions, two of which flashed the word “weak” across the screen. The others flashed “mcweakerton” with an anime-esque background along with many lo-fi music videos. The screens were eye-catching and kept the audience close to the stage.
Crowd-enthralling songs included “Lungfishopolis,” the title track from the band’s 2018 debut, and “Sleeper” from the same album. Both songs had the crowd rocking out, swaying and clapping.
Hair-Raising Rock: Standards (Photo/Adam Briggs)
More folks began to roll in as Grand Rapids-based indie-rock/emo band Vagabonds took the stage. Much of the crowd began grabbing drinks and allowing themselves to feel the vibes that the loud and energetic music brought. Vagabonds lit up the crowd with plenty of grunge-filled music from the band’s most recent project, “The Pasture & The Willow,” released in 2023.
The crowd’s infectious energy continued as Long Beach, Calif., rock band Standards took the stage. With many folks bouncing back and forth between playing pinball, chatting and listening to the absolutely electric rock music that Standards brought. The group’s most recent single, “Buster,” had the crowd jamming to the guitar riffs and drum accompaniment. They also featured tracks from their most recent album, “Fruit Galaxy,” released last year.
Philadelphia’s Carly Cosgrove, a band name inspired by actress Miranda Cosgrove from a Nickelodeon TV show, unleashed unique guitar work to accompany its quirky song titles and heartfelt lyrics making its Friday set a wondrous thing to experience live.
One of the Michigan bands the audience clamored to see was indie-rock’s Greet Death, Friday’s headlining act which has its roots in the Flint area.
Band members took to the stage to put an exclamation point on a night of heartfelt music, with Greet Death’s Friday night performance serving as the release show for the group’s new studio album, “Die in Love.” The infectious new music energized the crowd to close out T-Rex Fest’s opening night. (Read more about Greet Death and its new album at Local Spins here.)
Festival attendee and musician Elroy Meltzer of Grand Rapids called the festival’s opening salvo “really just unbelievable. It just showed what this festival is going to become and grow up to.”
T-Rex Fest continues Saturday (July 26) with headlining sets from Show Me the Body and MSPAINT, and on Sunday (July 27) with A Place to Bury Strangers (billed as the loudest band in the world) and The Fever Haze. In all, 13 bands will perform over the next two days; view the schedule below.
Daily tickets are available online here. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. both days.
PHOTO GALLERY: T-Rex Fest 2025 Opening Night at The Pyramid Scheme
Greet Death, Standards, Carly Cosgrove, Vagabonds, McWeakertons
Photos by Adam Briggs
T-REX FEST 2025: The Schedule
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