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The sun was searingly hot and the crowd was small when The Crane Wives kicked off their set Sunday afternoon on the Tripolee Stage at Electric Forest, but by the[…]
Everything is different in the dark. Way different. In daylight, Electric Forest sweats with a sun-splashed milieu that sort of celebrates Michigan’s great outdoors – concertgoers gyrating and hula-hoopers hooping[…]
Breaking music news · Concert reviews · Videos
Gary Clark Jr. made it all worthwhile. Cranking out the raw blues-rock of “Bright Lights” in the brilliant sunshine at Double JJ Resort in Rothbury with undulating, brightly bedecked Electric[…]
The temperature was in the 90s at showtime, but nothing was hotter than Warren Haynes’ guitar work as Gov’t Mule made its Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park debut on[…]
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It doesn’t have the big-name headliners of Rothbury past – Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Snoop Dogg – but this weekend’s Electric Forest at Double JJ Resort some 24 miles[…]
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Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials WLAV Budweiser Blues on the Mall Series 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Free Rosa Parks Circle, downtown Grand Rapids June’s final week builds nicely to quite[…]
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Gov’t Mule 6:30 p.m. Thursday $40 Frederik Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Township Gov’t Mule may have started as an Allman Brothers’ side project in the mid-1990s by guitarist Warren Haynes[…]
It was a celebration worthy of John’s Day. No, I didn’t see any guys strolling around with bushy oak-leaf crowns, but I saw plenty of unusual headgear at Saturday’s Founders[…]
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As complicated as it may have been to renovate an old, long-dormant tavern and convert it into a keen new music venue, Ted Smith concedes that adjusting and reconstructing attitudes[…]
It’s nowhere near his biggest hit, but when Al Green sings “Tired of Being Alone,” he fuses all of the elements that have made him a Grammy-winning superstar of soul:[…]
Al Green 7 p.m. Monday The concert is sold out. Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids Township I fondly recall many things about soul singer Al Green’s much-ballyhooed[…]
Vincent Hayes Project Huntington Rogue River Blues Series 7 p.m. Tuesday Free Garden Club Park, Rockford I mentioned the Carnival of Madness tour in a recent post. Well, it’s festival[…]
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The “leaks” have begun. As is Rock the Rapids’ habit, the first two of six dates of the August downtown Grand Rapids music festival were announced today: Shinedown, Papa Roach,[…]
It was a day to celebrate summer … about two weeks early. With the mercury in the upper 80s and the sun broiling West Michigan, it was also a day[…]
It makes perfect sense. That Pink Floyd visionary Roger Waters at one time studied to be an architect before pursuing his music career really paid off with the crowning achievement[…]
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Roger Waters’ “The Wall” 8 p.m. Wednesday $66.50-$214.35 Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids Let’s hope the sun keeps smiling as it did on Festival Sunday, because outdoor summer music hoopla[…]
Quirky doesn’t begin to describe the opening night of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s 10th summer concert series. How about abnormally wet and extra-terrestrially weird? Not only was Friday[…]
2012 Festival of the Arts Noon Friday-7 p.m. Sunday Free Throughout downtown Grand Rapids I literally ran out of gas on my way back into town on Monday, but there’s[…]
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Billed as the “youngest blues band in America,” the Homemade Jamz Blues Band will launch the 2012 edition of the LAV Budweiser Blues on the Mall series on June 13.[…]
Shannon Stephens 7 p.m. Friday Free Schuler Books & Music, Grand Rapids (28th Street) Seattle singer-songwriter Shannon Stephens plays a bluesy folk-rock with her “Fabulous Friends” that’s earned attention from[…]
Singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards isn’t afraid to speak his mind on stage or in his songs. Starting with his Vietnam War-era hit, “Sunshine,” in the early 1970s, the singer has long[…]
Jonathan Edwards 7 p.m. May 15 and 16 $32-$180 Seven Steps Up, Spring Lake For tickets, click here or call 616-678-3618 Tune into News Talk 1340 AM at 10 a.m.[…]
Caroline Herring 7:30 p.m. Monday Free, donations to KidsFirst One Trick Pony, Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is always looking for an excuse to party. This week, it doesn’t need one.[…]
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How about a Rock ‘n’ Roll Draft? With the over-hyped, prime-time-powered NFL Draft under way tonight, I couldn’t help but wonder what the selection process might look like if rock[…]
If the turnout Saturday at just two of West Michigan’s most popular independent record shops is any indication, Record Store Day had things spinning toward its biggest success story yet.[…]
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Jim Avett 7:30 p.m. Monday Free admission, $10 donation suggested for In The Image SHOES program One Trick Pony, Grand Rapids If you thought last week was nuts, take a[…]
Singer and Grand Rapids native Anthony Kiedis won’t be inside his customized ’58 Airstream trailer when he rolls into Cleveland with his Red Hot Chili Peppers bandmates for Saturday’s Rock[…]
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Today’s anti-summer weather might not scream shorts and hula hoops, but live music’s favorite time of year is on the doorstep as evidenced by this week’s Grand Rapids festival announcements.[…]
Concert announcements · Upcoming shows · Videos
The Fuzzrites, The Boss Mustangs 9:30 p.m. Wednesday $5 Charlie’s Bar & Grille, Grand Rapids This week’s BIG radar-jamming shows will divide fans into two distinct rock camps and ne’er[…]
From pop phenoms to jazz veterans to bluegrass jammers, it’s time for Part II of my quarterly Local Spins roundup of new album releases by local and regional artists. (If[…]
Miniature Tigers 7 p.m. Thursday (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) $10 advance, $12 day of show The Intersection, Grand Rapids Inventive Brooklyn indie-pop band Miniature Tigers brings its Modern Art[…]
For several decades, Grand Haven’s Bill Chrysler has worked with the best of ‘em, quite literally: John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Bob Seger, Paul McCartney, Maroon 5, Tom Petty, Roxy Music[…]
Breaking music news · Concert reviews · Videos
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page surely would have approved. And had they been alive to see it, I’m betting iconic bluesmen Junior Kimbrough and Son House would have left smiling,[…]
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Upcoming shows · Videos
With this week’s unseasonably tropical weather, does anybody need an even bigger tease that summer is still three months away? How about this? Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park today[…]
Davina and the Vagabonds 8 p.m. Monday Free admission, donations to Special Olympics One Trick Pony, downtown Grand Rapids Because LaughFest yuks it up in Grand Rapids starting Thursday, it’s[…]
Jazz isn’t getting the short shrift anymore. Grand Rapids now seems to embrace this genre like never before, with The Gilmore Collection’s recent conversion of downtown’s Ottawa Tavern into a[…]
Concert announcements · Upcoming shows · Videos
Guitarist-singer John Mayer’s announcement of a new tour and album the week of the Michigan primary – with three April stops in the Great Lakes State, including an April 12[…]
Mutemath, Canon Blue 7 p.m. Thursday $20 advance, $23 day of show The Intersection Musically speaking, Grand Rapids has really got it going on this week. Take for instance, inventive[…]
Steve Aoki, Datsik 7 p.m. Sunday (doors open at 6 p.m.) The Orbit Room $35 When I first wrote late last year that fast-rising electro-house and electronica artist Steve Aoki[…]
It’s a Grammy Award certainty. When all is said and done, Adele will rule the day,er, night. The British pop singer who’s getting as much ink about her recent throat[…]
Folk from Bon Iver. Edgy indie-rock from Death Cab for Cutie. Dance-happy pop from Foster the People. Psychedelic rock from My Morning Jacket. Experimental melancholy from Radiohead. Alternative music doesn’t[…]
Last year, John Legend and The Roots appropriately won a Grammy Award for best R&B song for “Shine,” a masterful slice of soul with an uplifting, inspiring message. I’m not[…]
Granted, like a motorist rubber-necking a car wreck, I’m sure I’ll tune into tonight’s Super Bowl halftime spectacle starring Madonna and her super-hyped crew of guests. After all, it comes[…]
