Virginia’s Bad Omens closed out this year’s Upheaval with effusive flash and the biggest crowd yet, wrapping up a sundry and resplendent live music week across West Michigan. Browse the photos and more.
Fomenting a ‘Wild Experience’: Bad Omens on Saturday night at Upheaval. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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They came in droves — and headbanged/crowd-surfed/fist-pumped in earnest.
Day Two of Upheaval Festival at Grand Rapids’ Belknap Park drew an even bigger crowd than Friday’s opening salvo, thanks in great part to the dedicated fan base of Virginia metalcore band Bad Omens.
Devotees clad proudly in Bad Omens merch covered the entire expanse of the lawn in front of the main stage and needed little to no convincing from band members to keep their energy up for the headlining set that closed out the two-day, 2024 festival.
Beartooth: Imploring fans to have a good time. (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
Frontman Noah Sebastian expressed his disbelief at the size of the crowd and profusely thanked fans for continuously showing up for them. Combining synth and electronic elements with their metal attack throughout the set, the band unleashed a sonic approach that’s uniquely theirs.
Local Spins photographer Chelsea Whitaker found herself smack dab in the middle of the fervent fan bedlam.
“It was a wild experience, clutching my camera to my chest as the crowd swayed me back and forth. My movement wasn’t my choice — all while thousands around me screamed the lyrics to ‘Artificial Suicide.’ The moment I found a window to get out, I leapt. The crowd shoved and swayed like this massive wave, a riptide.”
Just ahead of Bad Omens on the Main Stage, frontman Caleb Shomo of Ohio’s Beartooth gave dedicated and knowing fans a shoutout, noting it hasn’t always been sunshine and good times. He expressed his desire that fans attending a Beartooth show forget their worries and “have a good time. For just an hour.”
Shomo also brought singer Cullen Moore from Sleep Theory on stage to sing “In Between,” insisting Sleep Theory would become “your new favorite band.”
Upheaval Ardor (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Beartooth’s set ended with an exceedingly aggressive call and response with the crowd, each one a little more intense than the last.
The headlining sets wrapped up a sunny day of high-energy rock romps that rattled Grand Rapids’ north side with performances by From Ashes to New, Stabbing Westward, Badflower, Dead7, Drowning Pool, I See Stars and more, including two Michigan bands — Splinters and As We Divide.
Check out Local Spins’ complete Day 1 coverage of Upheaval Festival here.
Elsewhere, Here Come the Mummies and Hot Like Mars heated up Bell’s Brewery Beer Garden in Kalamazoo, followed by .moe and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, and Kalamazoo’s Kanola Band kicked off the Thursday night GRAM on the Green series outside the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
And check out full Local Spins reviews of two Meijer Gardens shows: The Wallflowers and Jason Mraz.
PHOTO GALLERY: Upheaval Festival – Day 2
(Bad Omens, Beartooth, Drowning Pool, I See Stars, Badflower, As We Divide)
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
(Bad Omens, Beartooth, Badflower, From Ashes to New, Stabbing Westward, Dead7, I See Stars, Splinters, As We Divide)
Photos by Anthony Norkus
PHOTO GALLERY: Here Come the Mummies, Hot Like Mars at Bell’s Beer Garden
Photos by Derek Ketchum
