Fans couldn’t have asked for a better weekend to soak in live music in the great outdoors at festivals in Morley and Allegan. Plus, Blackberry Smoke sizzled in Kalamazoo. Browse the photos at Local Spins.
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERIES
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Even an elderly couple smitten by the gorgeous weather and a particularly weird, trippy and psychedelic set from Grand Rapids jam band Desmond Jones on Saturday night couldn’t help but put the Tamarack Music Festival outside Morley into its proper, spacey context.
“All right, alien ship. Time for blast-off,” the woman quipped to her husband.
Blast off the intimate festival did, uncorking two days of performances by regional artists for a couple hundred fans amid a wooded setting. The weekend offered a lively mix of roots music for a relaxed cadre of patrons, with youngsters dashing barefoot across the site and making tambourines in the craft area.
Meanwhile, 82 miles to the south, another cozy Michigan festival was unwinding under blue skies.
Wild Thyme Music Festival on Fat Blossom Farm in Allegan showcased more than a dozen bands over two days, from the country-hued Nicholas James & Bandwagon to the world music charm of the Samuel Nalangira Trio to the bluegrass fervor of Full Cord.
And if that wasn’t enough, music fans who camped out indoors a bit farther south in Kalamazoo were treated to a Southern rock-fueled evening from Blackberry Smoke that kicked off with country singer Elizabeth Cook.
Scroll down for all the photo galleries.
BONUS COVERAGE: View galleries and concert recaps from earlier in the week, including Steppin’ In It, Mewithoutyou, America, Desmond Jones, Samuel Nalangira, Kosmic Mama & the Holding Co. and more here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Tamarack Music Festival in Morley
Photos by Anna Sink, Matt Nichols, Laura Nowe
PHOTO GALLERY: Wild Thyme Music Festival in Allegan
Photos by Krista Isaacs
PHOTO GALLERY: Blackberry Smoke, Elizabeth Cook at Kalamazoo State Theatre
Photos by Derek Ketchum