Illuminating Wings Event Center: Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks on stage. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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Music scene in West Michigan
“Isn’t that something,” indeed.
The second song of the evening, played by the Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo on Saturday, said it all, thanks to the mesmerizing set by blues-rock headliner and country/Americana star Margo Price, who opened the show.
A crowd of more than 2,500 people loved the show, starting with a 65-minute, 12-song set by Price that received a standing ovation and included a tribute to Tom Petty, part of an upcoming country-focused tribute to the late, beloved rocker.
Margo Price (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
The Tedeschi Trucks Band, on the other hand, captivated the audience from the start with Susan Tedeschi’s enchanting voice, Derek Trucks’ magical guitar solos and the band’s ability to combine blues, jazz and more with outstanding saxophone and keyboard work.
The two-hour set ended with Price joining the band onstage to play Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and Leon Russell’s “Stranger in a Strange Land.” The full setlist can be found online here. – By Derek Ketchum
This tour stop was just a small sample of the live music that was unleashed on West Michigan audiences last week, which included:
• Legendary country singer and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame Tanya Tucker Performing at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in Grand Rapids;
• Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers lived up to their resonant name on Thursday at Riverwalk Plaza in Lowell as part of the Sizzlin’ Summer Concerts Series. The Michigan band took the audience on a psychedelic-blissful journey, with the second half of the set really bringing the band’s rich inner world to life — with grooves that moved and morphed, landscapes that shifted and changed in joyous ways. “This is What It Feels Like to Drown” put the band’s transitional movement front and center, shifting subtly throughout, while “Help” maximized the funky groove as their saxophonist shook up the lakeshore, breaking out into a skillful “Ghostbusters” at the end. – By Cassandra Kipp
Tanya Tucker (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
• Detroit Chris Canas Band He lit up the outdoor concert series at Liquid Note in Otsego with a high-energy set that got the crowd dancing;
• The West Michigan Songwriter’s Festival with a songwriter from Nashville and a festival participant Steve Leslie’s Composition “There’s a Song in That,” with a captivating songwriter-in-the-round session at the Blythefield Country Club north of Grand Rapids with Leslie, another Nashville writer Brian Sutherland and West Michigan Sammie Hershock, Ralston Bowles And Daniel Terrywho organizes and hosts the annual event;
• Emotional folk/indie pop Celeste Allison Entertaining hometown fans as part of the State Theatre’s “State on the Street” series;
• Michigan native and celebrated singer and guitarist Luke Winslow King He and his band will kick off the Grand Haven Free Fridays series at Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium before heading north to perform at the Hoxeyville Music Festival.
Browse photos from all the shows below. And check out a separate recap, photos and videos from Saturday’s Walk the Beat festival in Grand Haven at Local Spins here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Tedeschi Trucks Band, Margo Price at Wings Event Center
Photos by Derek Ketchum
