An unusual folk-punk collaboration with Grand Rapids Symphony, a rock-pop sensation and some metal mayhem found receptive audiences this week. The photo galleries and two videos at Local Spins.
Orchestral ‘Blister’: Violent Femmes with Grand Rapids Symphony. (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
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Suffice to say, a Grand Rapids Symphony audience has never before heard the lines “I’m so strung out, I’m high as a kite” sung from the stage at DeVos Performance Hall.
Not only did the Violent Femmes deliver those lines via “Blister in the Sun” and many more of an even edgier variety from the Wisconsin folk-punk band’s 1983 self-titled debut album over the weekend, but did so to the delight of many longtime fans who boogied happily to the unusual symphony-backed affair.
On ‘Mother Road’: Grace Potter in Kalamazoo on Wednesday. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Indeed, an eclectic blend of punk fans and symphony-goers cheered the Friday and Saturday performances celebrating the 40th anniversary of the “Violent Femmes” album performed “cover to cover” — and promoted with the warning that the show contained “unapologetically explicit lyrics, and may not be for everyone.”
While the same warning didn’t apply to Grace Potter’s mid-week tour stop at Kalamazoo State Theatre, the rock/pop artist’s performance drew equally enthused fans who leapt to their feet from the opening notes of the concert promoting her recent “Mother Road” album.
Of course, enthusiastic responses are mandatory when it comes to metal shows and the early-week tour stop by metal’s Vendedn (with a familial connection to Slipknot) — along with Michigan bands Heartsick, Drink Their Blood and Black Out — jammed The Stache inside Grand Rapids’ The Intersection with rabid fans.
The weekend also featured polka music for Pulaski Days at a host of Grand Rapids halls and the 2023 edition of Horizen Fest with several local acts performing at Horizen Hydroponics on Alpine Avenue NW. (Videos below.)
Scroll down to browse all of the photo galleries at Local Spins.
PHOTO GALLERY: Violent Femmes w/ Grand Rapids Symphony at DeVos Hall
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
PHOTO GALLERY: Grace Potter w/ The Cactus Blossoms at State Theatre
Photos by Derek Ketchum
PHOTO GALLERY: Vended, Heartsick, Drink Their Blood, Blackout
The Stache inside The Intersection
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
