Midwest Skies, Red Legs, Lipstick Jodi, Boy From School, All is Well, Jake Kalmink will join student bands for West Ottawa High School’s annual WO-Stock benefit Friday and Saturday. See the full schedule.
Returning to WO-Stock: Red Legs plays the West Ottawa High School festival at 9:55 p.m. Friday. (Photo/Anna Sink)
With 33 bands on two stages over two nights, WO-Stock’s 2018 festival lineup is impressive, especially considering the annual event is organized by newcomers to concert promotion: students at Holland’s West Ottawa High School.
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WO-Stock – unfurling at the school Friday and Saturday nights – stars a bevy of well-known West Michigan rock bands, including Red Legs, Midwest Skies, Boy From School, Lipstick Jodi, Jake Kalmink & Further Closer, Tiger and Frame, The Plastic Bears and All is Well, along with up-and-coming student groups.
“WO-Stock is such an amazing experience for any band because of the electric atmosphere,” said guitarist James Johnson, of Grand Rapids’ pop-punk group Midwest Skies, which has played WO-Stock several times over the years and promises a high-energy set that includes a new song for the band’s 7:35 p.m. show on Saturday.
“There are so many students there that have never been to a live show, and it’s amazing being one of the first bands that these people ever get to see live. It also adds a little more pressure than normal because you want to ensure that you create a lasting impression on these kids to encourage them to go to more shows and support the local music scene, and possibly even start a band themselves.”
Another band that’s been a regular at the event, Grand Rapids alt-pop-rock band Red Legs, calls it “a great way for local artists to play for an audience that wouldn’t necessarily get a chance to watch them otherwise.”
“It’s also a great place to network with other bands,” added band member Logan Bailey, noting Red Legs has several new songs planned for its 9:55 p.m. Friday set as it prepares to release a new recording later this year. “Holland is our bassist’s hometown, and West Ottawa High School is actually where he went to school. It’s sort of a quasi-homecoming for Red Legs.”
Even bands such as Boy From School, playing WO-Stock for the first time, insisted they’re “stoked” to be part of the 2018 lineup.
The two-day festival raises money for the school’s Cultural Technological Environmental Exchange program which sends computer stations and other technology overseas to aid the Republic of Cameroon. Over the years, CTEE shipped several hundred computer stations to Cameroon.
Tickets are $10 per night at the door.
Boy From School (Photo/Anna Sink)
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