Two concerts starring beloved acts rolled out in Grand Rapids on Friday night, and Local Spins was there to capture the musical action at both. Check out the reviews and photos.
Motown Style: The Temptations brightening up the stage at Meijer Gardens on Friday evening. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
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Soulful vocals can take many forms, as West Michigan concertgoers discovered on Friday night.
Within the space of about six miles, two separate tour stops by much-beloved artists and vocalists took center stage on a summer evening to kick off the weekend: Motown legends The Temptations and The Four Tops delivered their enduring hits at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park on the same night that The Wood Brothers kicked off Studio Park’s 2024 Listening Lawn Series in downtown Grand Rapids.
Check out recaps of both concerts here, along with photo galleries.
THE TEMPTATIONS & THE FOUR TOPS AT MEIJER GARDENS
Happiness is when two original members of iconic Motown groups lead their outfits in two hours of joyful soul and R&B.
How joyful?
Ask the sold-out crowd of 1,900 at Friday night’s doubleheader hosted by Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park; each crowd member was dazzled by The Temptations and The Four Tops. Both groups not only boasted brilliant bands but were also backed by the same superb 10-piece horn section.
Otis Williams, resplendent in his shiny yellow suit with a black shirt, proved that 82 is the new amazing, at least in his nimble hands. Strutting out with his bandmates in The Temptations, it should have been easy to figure out who was the one remaining original member, but it wasn’t. Belying his years, Williams sang and sashayed and charmed the crowd to pieces as the group performed a cavalcade of venerable hits.
Reaching Out: The Four Tops getting the night started. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
“Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do” were just a warm-up for “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me).”
The newest and youngest member, Jawan Jackson, stood out for his insanely low bass. This phenomenon caught the ear of Williams when Jackson played Melvin Franklin in the Broadway jukebox musical “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” Two years ago, he joined the group and added a delightful effervescence.
But there’s no doubt about the king: Williams gleams as the frontman, receiving a standing ovation for being 82. “You all are magnanimous,” he said of the fans. “You are the real stars,” giving credit for 61 years of longevity in the music business.
By the time they sang “My Girl,” the crowd was shouting “yes, yes!” to the Temptations’ question if they should come back next year. After that shimmering performance, nobody in that crowd was too proud to beg.
Early on, The Four Tops set the ebullient mood with their radiant one-hour set, led by 88-year-old original member Duke Fakir.
“How y’all feeling, Grand Rapids,” asked Fakir. The crowd ate it up, cheering and singing along to “Baby, I Need Your Loving,” “It’s the Same Old Song” and “I Can’t Help Myself.”
Lawrence Payton Jr., son of original member Lawrence Payton, beguiled the crowd with his dance moves and energy, although there was no shortage of energy on that stage, or in the crowd. By the time the foursome were popping moves to “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” music fans were whipped into a froth and ready for more Motown royalty. – By Lorilee Craker
Up Next at Meijer Gardens: Jason Mraz, with special guest Mollie Miller Trio, will play the amphitheater on Wednesday. The concert is sold out.
PHOTO GALLERY: The Temptations, The Four Tops at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek
THE WOOD BROTHERS AT STUDIO PARK
Rollicking Virtuosity: The Wood Brothers at Studio Park. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The tale of a well-traveled troubador on The Wood Brothers’ classic 2008 track, “Postcards from Hell,” could well describe their own music – something that’s certainly true when it came to the New York band’s tour stop Friday night in Grand Rapids.
The song celebrates “a man who sings the blues, yeah, he plays just what he feels” and “can sing sweet as a choir girl or he can sing a house on fire” while “callin’ up the angels” and using “a breeze for a telephone wire.”
Fans of the rootsy and eclectic Americana trio which launched the 2024 edition of the outdoor Listening Lawn series at downtown’s Studio Park heard the band singing plenty sweetly while also setting the piazza ablaze with an electrifying night of music filled with dashes of instrumental virtuosity.
Oliver Wood (Photo/Anna Sink)
After a folk- and country-hued opening set by South Carolina’s young Elias Hix, the near-capacity crowd of more than 600 ended up having to wait an extra 45 minutes or so to cheer the trio – bassist Chris Wood, guitarist Oliver Wood and multi-instrumentalist/drummer Jano Rix – when an unexpected downpour centered over downtown forced concertgoers under awnings and canopies until the showers passed and workers could dry off the stage.
But once they did, The Wood Brothers stoked the coals of an inviting and intoxicating musical party, with impressive renditions of “Cry Over Nothing,” “Keep Me Around,” “Pilgrim” and “River Takes The Town” (with the apropos lyrics, “The rain keeps coming”). It all had the festival-like crowd moving and grooving, including fans show traveled from across the state and from neighboring states to attend the Grand Rapids show.
The trio even got a tad funky and rock-fueled at times on songs such as “Little Bit Broken,” further enlivening an already-engaged audience.
So after a mysterious and isolated rain interruption, followed by an exhilarating performance, the evening’s theme may have best been expressed when The Wood Brothers unleashed the perfect gospel-drenched tune for a transformative evening of music, “Sing About It,” with the lines: “Sing about your trouble and it just might pass.”
They did — and it all passed in splendid fashion. – By John Sinkevics
The Listening Lawn series continues today (7 p.m. Saturday) with bass phenom Victor Wooten & The Wooten Brothers. Tickets, $60, available online here. The Spin Doctors then play Listening Lawn on July 19.
The Wood Brothers, meanwhile, head north to headline the main stage at Blissfest north of Harbor Springs at 10:30 p.m. tonight (Saturday). Check out a Local Spins interview with Chris Wood here.
PHOTO GALLERY: The Wood Brothers, Elias Hix at Studio Park
Photos by Anna Sink
