Weekend Spotlight: Jake Kershaw, Noveliss, Bootstrap Boys, Rockford Start of Summer

It was the first big week of live music in the great outdoors across West Michigan with nightly offerings of regional stars from Kalamazoo to Allegan to Grand Rapids to Rockford. The images at Local Spins.

 

SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERIES, VIDEO AND CONCERT REVIEW

Unlike 2020, the summer of 2021 has seen an explosion of live music options on a nightly basis across West Michigan.

The first really big week of these outdoor shows offered up plenty of diverse options, starting with Wednesday’s DC Quintet show as part of Kalamazoo’s Beats on Bates and continuing with Thursday’s first “Michigan House Summer” show at Grand Rapids’ Studio Park with Noveliss, Ajax Stacks and other performers.

Then there was Asamu Johnson & The Associates of the Blues revving up Allegan’s Rollin’ on the River series on Friday, the same night that James Reeser & The Backseat Drivers played Kalamazoo’s State on the Street.

On Saturday, Rockford’s Start of Summer Celebration packed the town along the Rogue River with throngs reveling in performances by The Bronk Bros., Flashback and Benzing Graves Collective (not to mention evening-ending fireworks), with The Bootstrap Boys kicking off the “Bands at Blandford” series in Grand Rapids and the Kevin Collins African Jazz Band entertaining fans for Kalamazoo’s Music on the Mall.

Farther north on Saturday, Cedar Springs celebrated the grand opening of its Heart of Cedar Springs Park with performances by Jake Kershaw and The Steve Rivers Band.

Relive the moments in photo galleries and a highlights video here. (And scroll down for a review/roundup of Thursday’s Noveliss/Ajax Stacks show.)

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WEDNESDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Beats on Bates w/ DC & THE DC QUINTET
Photos by Derek Ketchum

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THURSDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Michigan House Summer w/ Noveliss, Ajax Stacks & More
Photos by Nick Moran

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FRIDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Allegan’s Rollin’ on the River
w/ Asamu Johnson & The Associates of the Blues
Photos by Derek Ketchum

PHOTO GALLERY: State on the Street w/ James Reeser & The Backseat Drivers
Photos by Derek Ketchum

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SATURDAY

PHOTO GALLERY: Bands at Blandford with The Bootstrap Boys
Photos by Anna Sink

PHOTO GALLERY: Cedar Springs Grand Opening of Heart of Cedar Springs Park w/
Jake Kershaw and Steve Rivers
Photos by Derek Ketchum

PHOTO GALLERY: Kalamazoo’s Music on the Mall w/ Kevin Collins African Jazz Band
Photos by Derek Ketchum
VIDEO: Rockford Start of Summer w/ The Bronk Bros., Flashback, Benzing Graves Collective

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‘MICHIGAN HOUSE SUMMER’ LIGHTS UP STUDIO PARK W/ RAPID-FIRE RAP

The lawn at Grand Rapids’ Studio Park on Thursday brimmed with entrepreneurship, resources and, of course, music as the summer’s first “Michigan House Summer” event blended conversations featuring businesspeople James Chapman and Andrea Wallace with musical performances from Noveliss, Ajax Stacks and DJ Adrian Butler.

Back in his hometown of Grand Rapids, rapper Ajax Stacks made his set a homecoming to remember. Raised “on the other side of the tracks,” Stacks was not afraid to embrace the energy of a growing crowd. He ventured onto the lawn and wandered through the crowd.

The homecoming performance struck a chord with the rapper, who spent time discussing his roots and ties to the local scene. There was a distinct connection to familiar faces in the audience and with new fans who quickly grew an affinity for his rapid-fire delivery and obvious love for engagement. While his latest release is a love letter to Grand Rapids, Ajax Stacks’ set was a love letter to the audience, who reciprocated in full.

Detroit’s Noveliss took the stage like he was prepared to win a lyrical Agni Kai, with a pocket full of fire verses and support from Battousai Beat Slicer Hiro.

The duo controlled the stage — Noveliss with Mugen-esque delivery as he bounced and slashed his way across the stage and Hiro with serene mastery. Formerly J-Roc from Clear Soul Forces, the rebranded nerdcore hokage brought a smattering of tracks both released and unreleased, including a reworked verse to “Tales of the Samurai” that omitted praising prominent anime heroes and opted for self-love.

That love was reciprocated, especially as Noveliss brought childlike glee to the stage after a two-year drought of performing. Waltzing through “5 a.m. in Shibuya” felt like an oasis in a piping-hot pan of rhyme, and highlighted that Noveliss truly is a rap sensei. – By Nick Moran

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