Trampled by Turtles, Mustard Plug prove 'Life is Good' on road

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West Michigan’s concert week also heated up with Fit for a King, Rip VanRipper, SubDocta, Jesse James Dupree, Pretoria, Lipstick Jodi and more, all captured in Local Spins photos.

‘Wait So Long’: GR fans waited more than two year for the return of Trampled by Turtles. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)

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Trampled by Turtles’ most recent album, “Life is Good on the Open Road,” was released in 2018, nearly two years before the COVID pandemic shut down that open road for the Minnesota progressive bluegrass band and every other touring artist across the globe.

So suffice to say, Trampled by Turtles and its fans — cheering their heroes Saturday at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in the group’s first Grand Rapids show since early 2020 — discovered that “life is good” after all, with the band kicking things off with “The Middle” and wrapping up 10 songs later with an encore rendition of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”

David Kirchgessner (Photo/Derek Ketchum)

Another band thrilled to hit the open road again is Grand Rapids’ own Mustard Plug, which played its “spring tour kickoff” show Friday at Kalamazoo’s Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe, along with Mushmen and Katy Needs a Life — an appearance originally scheduled to take place in early 2020 before the pandemic shutdown.

Midway through the show, which mostly celebrated the 30 years of Mustard Plug’s “Skapocalypse Now,” frontman David Kirchgessner acknowledged how awesome it was that the show from 2020 could finally take place in the backroom, while thanking the Mushmen’s support of the ska band over the past decade. Attendees applauded it all, with fans at the merch table overheard gushing about the great night of music.

Mustard Plug followed that with a show in Flint on Saturday, all ahead of an April tour that hits Cleveland, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh and more.

Elsewhere during West Michigan’s concert week:

Fit for a King (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)

• Ypsilanti’s Stormy Chromer and RADO fired up Unruly Brewing in Muskegon Saturday night;

• Lipstick Jodi, Pretoria, The Ryne Experience and Dirt Room pumped things up Saturday night at The Pyramid Scheme;

• Grand Rapids doom band Rip VanRipper, headlined a headbanging Friday show at The Pyramid Scheme, with sets by Drink Their Blood, Withhold the Blood and Fedaykin;

• EDM’s SubDocta headlined a night of dubstep, trap and more at Elevation inside The Intersection on Friday, the same night that Jackyl’s lead singer, Jesse James Dupree, brought Dixie Inc. and his Southern rock-fueled attack to The Stache;

• West Michigan’s Whorled, Epitones and Daisybox competed in The Stray Cafe’s Battle of the Band finals on Friday, with Whorled walking away with the grand prize;

• Fit for a King, Hollow Front, Silent Planet and Avoid pumped up The Intersection on Tuesday as part of FFAK’s “The Dark Path” tour.

PHOTO GALLERY: Trampled by Turtles at GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek