Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

Fes2Val shows it only takes two

Published by NOISE! Staff on August 21st, 2011 - in Featured, News, Uncategorized



George Michael said sex is best when it involves two people (one-on-one, to be exact). Well, music isn’t too shabby for bands that are two strong, either. The fellas in Grand Rapids-based math rock duo Charles The Osprey is putting some of the area’s top acts on display.

The third annual Fes2Val: It Only Takes Two is a one-day festival celebrating bands in a variety of genres that share one common element: each band has two members. The show is slated for Saturday, Aug. 27 beginning at noon at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids.

Held each year in a non-traditional music venue, Fes2Val is an all-ages event. Sponsors this year include The Meanwhile Bar, Vertigo Records and REVUE West Michigan magazine.

Tickets are $5 (advance) and $6 (day of show). Beer will be available for 21+. There will be an official after party for Fes2Val at the Pyramid Scheme, which will be hosting the Still Remains reunion show the same evening.

Here are the bands on tap
- Charles The Osprey, Grand Rapids
- Jowls, Grand Rapids
- Beast In The Field, Mount Pleasant
- Brontosaurus, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
- Bangups, Grand Rapids
- Bram N Dexous , Grand Rapids
- Noblesville, Grand Rapids
- Between Brains, Grand Rapids
- Lost Coves, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Good News, Kalamazoo
- The Kincaids, Mount Pleasant
- Stagnant Pools, Bloomington, Ind.
- Whee, Detroit
- Back Alley Knife Show, Grand Rapids
- Boy with Mace, Grand Rapids

NOISE! in the Enquirer: BC’s cheering for the Hometeam

Published by NOISE! Staff on August 18th, 2011 - in Featured, Other media



Hometeam


NOISE! writer and resident sandwich expert (for realz) Joe Stando penned the latest column/artist spotlight for the Battle Creek Enquirer. This is a bi-weekly deal and by default makes the Enquirer the coolest newspaper in the Midwest.

Anyway, Joe touched base with Cereal City natives, Hometeam, who are now doing their thang out of Lansing. With a new EP out and opening for bands like The Swellers and The Wonder Years, the guys are doing all right for themselves and pop punk as a whole. What might even be more refreshing is their drive to support the music scene in addition to playing in it. You’ll have to read the article to catch it, so do it.

‘HOMETEAM’ HEROES GAINING STEAM
Sometimes, it takes a band a while to define its sound.

Many times, that is a conscious effort to try something new and different.

But for punk rockers Hometeam, who originated from Battle Creek, it’s doing what comes naturally.

“We’re just a bunch of punk rock kids,” said guitarist and frontman Tyler Damron, a Harper Creek graduate. “It’s what we grew up with, and it’s who we are.” [ READ STORY ]

Weekend Warriors: Luke Winslow King, Rootstand, oh, and someone is turning 1

Published by Jeremy Martin on August 12th, 2011 - in Concert Calendar, Featured



Luke Winslow King takes stage at the Strutt in Kalamazoo on Friday night

For years, one of West Michigan’s best kept secrets has been the abundance of live music options that can be found on our side of the mitten. I, for one, like to take out of town and especially out of state guests to places like Bell’s, Founder’s or The DAAC with the sole purpose of impressing upon them just how exciting the live music culture is on Michigan’s left coast.

That being said, it may be in your best interest to wait a week or so before inviting all your best friends over for a musical pajama party. It’s slim pickins over the next few days as far as high end live music and entertainment is concerned, but that’s not to say some delicious and nutritious wheat can’t be found amongst this week’s pile of festering and inedible chaff. So if you absolutely must go out within the next few days, may I recommend.

LUKE WINSLOW KING
Friday, Aug. 12 at the Strutt; 9:30 p.m.
$7, 18+

Good luck finding a better head of hair on the ragtime, folk, jazz, traditional music circuit. Luke Winslow-King the ex-pat former Cadillac resident now living in the Big Easy takes listeners on a sonic history tour of Delta blues, folk and Dixieland jazz as played from the perspective of a northern boy enamored with southern life and culture.

ROOTSTAND
Saturday, Aug. 13 at Founder’s; 9:30 p.m.
$5, 21+

12-Track Radio will offer its birthday wishes to MXTP in Grand Rapids at the 1-year anniversary show on Saturday

Just over a month before the 2011 Rootenanny in Ellsworth (near Traverse City), everyone’s favorite swashbuckling, Celtic-grass, folkstranaughts will be stopping by Founder’s to bring their groove happy jams to the people of Grand Rapids; as if you needed another reason to quaff a freshly tapped Breakfast Stout (or three).  But remember; safety first! Please don’t dance and drive.

MXTP 1 YEAR, $1 ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Saturday, Aug. 13 at MXTP; Noon
$1, all ages

Join the hardworking folks at Grand Rapids’ MXTP as they celebrate their first productive and totally awesome year on our blue spinning marble. Midwest Skies, 12 Track Radio, Lights Out and six other West Michigan bands will be in hitting the stage beginning at noon. You may want to bring along a sewing kit, because your face will no doubt be totally rocked off.

THE WE LOVE MICHIGAN MUSIC AND DOCUMENTARY WEEKEND
The Howmet playhouse in Whitehall

Aug. 11: Shout Sister Shout
Aug. 12: Locally Buzzed: The Great American Beer Movie
Aug. 13: Asparagus! Stalking the American Life

$9.50 for a weekends-worth of entertainment, all shows begin at 7:30 p.m.

If you’re planning on being in the Whitehall area this weekend (and really, why wouldn’t you be?), the Howmet Playhouse has your evening plans covered. Thursday night begins with a rare concert by the Earthwork Collective super-group Shout Sister Shout, whose old timey vocal arrangements have been dazzling audiences (read: me) for years. After getting fired up from a quiet evening of low-key vocal folk and jazz you will no doubt be ready for two nights of educational programming! Friday night will offer the plight of local beer makers fighting against the Anheuser-Busch’s of the world and Saturday evening will be a spellbinding trip inside the world of Asparagus. You heard me.

LADYMOON
Saturday, August 13th at Bell’s; 9:30 p.m.
$8, 21+

Indianapolis based proggy psych poppers once again invade Bell’s with their heady brew of jazz/rock and indie. Not your standard Bell’s fair, but variety is the spice life, followed closely by cumin and basil.

Middle Class Rut coming to Kalamazoo on Sept. 11

Published by NOISE! Staff on August 12th, 2011 - in Featured, News



Middle Class Rut

File this under a damn cool show in the heart of Kalamazoo.

One of radio’s biggest bands right now is Sacramento, California’s Middle Class Rut (this is secondhand knowledge as I don’t listen to it a ton). Receiving huge numbers of spins for catchy singles such as “New Low” and “Busy Bein Born”, Middle Class Rut backs it up with an explosive live show. Now, the two-piece act will be hitting The Strutt in Kalamazoo on Sunday, Sept. 11 with doors swinging open at 6:30 p.m. The act rolled through Michigan in May, playing the Loft in Lansing and it nearly sold out.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door the day of the show. All ages are welcome.

This show also boasts Ume and Lite Bright with local support yet to be announced.

Michigan Pop Punk Alliance: Defending the honor of pop punk in the Mitten

Published by Alexandra Harvey on August 10th, 2011 - in Featured, News



The Michigan pop punk scene is finding a new sense of community with the help of a Grand Rapids duo.

Ryan Ykimoff, 21, bassist and co-vocalist for Midwest Skies, and Justin Stermin, 22, a self-proclaimed avid music supporter, are the co-founders of the organization known as Michigan Pop Punk Alliance. The two gained inspiration from watching the hardcore music scene grow, and decided to try and form the same sort of music community with the pop punk genre they love so much.

The idea behind the organization became more concrete roughly three months ago, and the official MPPA Facebook page was launched one month ago.

“We wanted to take our time and do it right,” Ykimoff said. “But we’re still a fledgling organization with some kinks to work out.”

MPPA’s Facebook page is one of the key tools Ykimoff and Stermin are using to give the bands the sense of support and community.

“Bands get to share resources with other bands,” Stermin said. “Without the MPPA it’s an opportunity they might not have had.”

The MPPA thus far consists of eight bands: Cities and Years, Eyes on the Sky, Maybe Next Time, Midwest Skies, Steinhart, Three Cents Short, Too Soon to Say, and Way to Fall.

“But we’re always accepting applications,” Ykimoff said.

But the MPPA has some stringent requirements for that members have to meet. In addition to having a pop punk sound, the MPPA looks for bands who have a more established fan base and sound – bands who have already put forth a lot of time and effort.

“We don’t want to be jerks, but we want the bands to feel like they’ve earned their membership,” Ykimoff said. “We want to help bands who have helped themselves first.”

Down the road, they hope the organization can ultimately become a brand and label with merchandise and shows all under the MPPA name. Ykimoff and Stermin have also been tossing around the idea of an MPPA mini-tour. It would be a somewhat informal tour that would travel all across Michigan, with the hope of getting the organization’s name out there and giving the bands some exposure. In addition, they hope that the cross-state tour will help bands make connections on the opposite side of the state.

“One of our main goals is to bridge the gap between east and west side bands,” Ykimoff said. “It can be surprisingly difficult without any pull on the opposite side of the state.”

Both Ykimoff and Stermin are optimistic about what the future holds for the MPPA’s.

“There’s just been so much pure, raw support,” Stermin said. “We’re really excited for the future of the bands and the organization.”

© West Michigan NOISE! LLC
CyberChimps WordPress Themes