The Memorial Day weekend festival south of Grand Haven also will boast sets by Nicholas James & The Bandwagon, Mark Lavengood and more. See the full lineup and ticket details at Local Spins.
Festival Regular: Nicholas James & The Bandwagon will once again rev up Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit. (Photo/Anna Sink)
First-timers The Mainstays, Lipstick Jodi and Watching for Foxes will join regulars such as Roosevelt Diggs, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon and Fauxgrass to kick off the summer for Memorial Day weekend’s Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit along Lake Michigan.
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The 2018 Lineup
The May 25-28 Bus Benefit to raise funds for the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors will fire up once again at Camp Blodgett in West Olive – between Holland and Grand Haven – with regional and rootsy folk, Americana and bluegrass acts Mark Lavengood, Cold Mountain Child, Adrian+Meredith and The Rupple Brothers & Co. joining the aforementioned performers.
One of Michigan’s first music festivals of the summer season attracts hundreds of Volkswagen bus owners as well as devotees of regional music every year for a weekend of camping, camaraderie, and musical jam sessions, hosted by the Buses by the Beach organization which was formed in 2002.
This year’s lineup has some new twists: the funk and soul of Kalamazoo’s The Mainstays, the indie-rock/pop of Grand Rapids Lipstick Jodi, the atmospheric folk-rock of Grand Rapids’ Watching for Foxes to the festival’s offerings, among other acts.
Joey Frendo, lead singer for Watching for Foxes, said the band was approached by festival organizer and Roosevelt Diggs member Jon Shears about playing the 2018 event.
Joey Frendo of Watching for Foxes
“We almost immediately jumped on board. Even though we’ve never played or attended the event before, many of our friends throughout the West Michigan music scene have had the privilege and they’ve had nothing but wonderful things to say about the event,” Frendo said. “It seems like the perfect way to kick off what is shaping up to be a busy summer for us.”
Watching for Foxes expects to unfurl “a ton of new material” and “a high-energy, full-band sound” for its Bus Benefit debut. “We have some wonderful friends tabbed to flesh out a rhythm section for the evening and hopefully help us bring down the house on Saturday night,” he vowed.
Andrew Schrock, frontman for The Mainstays, said band members’ appearance at the Bus Benefit ensures that they “get to kick off the festival season a couple of weeks earlier than usual.” He also cited the “unofficial alliance” and “collaborative spirit” of Michigan-based musicians that makes festival appearances like these pecial and unique.
The family-friendly weekend also boasts activities such as rock painting, tie-dying, hula hoop-making, disc golf and more.
Early-bird weekend tickets are $60 through April 20; $75 from April 21 through May 15, after which the price goes up to $90. Saturday and Sunday day passes also are available. In addition, non VW-bus passes cost $20 for the weekend. Get tickets and more details online here.
Check out coverage of the 2017 Bus Benefit at Local Spins here.
Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit (Photos/Anna Sink)
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