Tash Sultana at Meijer Gardens, plus GR Pride & more

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This weekend roundup covers a lot of territory: Tash Sultana, GR Pride, Spafford, Hank Mowery, Rachel Brooke, Ajax Stacks — all captured in images at Local Spins.

Instrumental Virtuosity Galore: Tash Sultana at Meijer Gardens on Friday. (Photo/Adam Briggs)

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Indoors and out, West Michigan music fans got an earful across multiple genres and venues over an extended weekend that officially welcomed summer and Father’s Day.

There was the multi-instrumental charm of Tash Sultana at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, the celebratory EDM and hip hop of Wreckno at Grand Rapids Pride Festival on Calder Plaza, the vintage country strains of Rachel Brooke at Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill followed by the blues of Hank Mowery & The Hawktones, and the funk and rock of jam band Spafford, which hosted an album-release party at Warner Vineyards in Paw Paw.

And early in the week, Grand Rapids artists took center stage at LMCU Ballpark on Tuesday (June 16) as local musicians rappers, and creatives came together to celebrate 616 Day with an evening of performances highlighting the city’s vibrant hip-hop and music scene. The event featured performances from several West Michigan artists, including Ajax Stacks, Steven Malcolm, DJ Xcape, Michael Trae, Larry D and Scottie Voodoo. Together, the artists showcased the diversity of Grand Rapids’ music community while celebrating the culture and creativity that continues to shape the city. Ajax Stacks even got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Scroll down for photo galleries from each of these events, with a full review of Sultana by writer Sara Bagley here.

SULTANA CREATES MULTI-INSTRUMENTAL MAGIC AT MEIJER GARDENS

Wrapping up a North American Tour 2026 with opener Daisy the Great, multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana delivered a career-spanning set Friday at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park — from the ethereal opening into the rock ‘n’ roll sound of “Unleash The Rage,” supported by bandmates on keyboards, bass and drums.

With psychedelic visuals and touches within vocals, the band transitioned into “Kiss The Sky,” a masterpiece blending island rhythms with rock guitar melodies and a growling, wailing edge to vocals.

The show continued to build a dreamscape, playing through “Hazard to Myself” and flipping into a smooth, moody vibe for “Greed,” when Sultana pulled out a wooden flute, once again flexing the range that would also be shown through trumpet and saxophone interludes later on.

A sound engineer and producer, as well as multi-instrumentalist, it didn’t take long for Sultana to transition to a solo show for “Milk and Honey.” With self-training in 20 instruments, Sultana wasn’t shy about spotlighting a unique ability to unleash a one-person show through looping techniques on samplers on stage, playing “Mystik” and other house-style dance tracks.

Sultana paused the show, only momentarily, with the audience cheering in an intermission. With this being the second-to-last show on their current tour, they dropped a surprise announcement of an upcoming new album, titled “Sonic Alchemy.

“It’s my most honest work yet. I’ve been through some s*** in the last year and a half, and instead of it killing me, I took it to the studio,” the musician explained. The album will come out in late 2026.

Wreckno: Lighting up Grand Rapids Pride Festival on Saturday. (Photo/Eric Stoike)

From there, they threw it back a decade, playing “Notion” — released when Sultana was just 21 years old — before playing fan favorite, “Jungle,” also from the “Notion” EP, which resulted in scattered chairs and blankets left empty on the lawn as people danced their way toward the stage.

“I’ve noticed in the past few shows, people like to leave after I play ‘Jungle,’ ” Sultana remarked. “I’ve crafted the set list in a specific order, and we’re about to ascend. Those who leave … will never know.”

Diving deep into reflection on grief and emotional work, the band slowed the night down, bringing back “Pink Moon” to the set list for the first time in eight years, describing how their recent experiences had pushed them to face the difficulty it brought onstage.

“You don’t get over your grief, you grow around it, and you carry it with you as a reminder of this abundance of love that you had that doesn’t have anywhere to go, but you can still honor it and carry it around,” Sultana explained.

“I didn’t cry. I didn’t cry for 3 years, up until about last August, and now I just let it happen all the time, whenever it wants to come. This is the point of the human experience: to feel it all.”

After “Pink Moon,” the rest of the band returned to stage for a high-energy finish, including “Coma” and “Blackbird.”

Much like Sultana, openers Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker of indie-rock band Daisy the Great, are looking forward to a previously secret project being released on July 17: a complete reimagination of “The Rubber Teeth Talk,” their 2025 album, featuring a new artist and approach to each song.

Often recognized for their track “Record Player Song,” their set featured multiple songs from the 2025 album, including “Dog,” “Lemon Seeds,” and their concluding song, “Sue Me Alice.” From start to finish, the pair explored different techniques, from harmonies to hocketing, through original songs such as “Blood Dye #40” and a distinctive cover of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner.”

Blending dissonant harmonies with angelic high notes, the two set the stage for a night of unique and intense tracks, promising to bring people dancing to the front while telling stories of love, destruction, yearning and grief. – By Sara Bagley

PHOTO GALLERY: Tash Sultana, Daisy the Great at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Adam Briggs