Belle & Sebastian w/ Haley Heynderickx
2024 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 18 and over event. With a legacy spanning three decades, Belle and Sebastian have truly earned their place in music history. The unique, unpredictable, and fiercely loved band have a plethora of accolades and plaudits to their name including winning the “Best Newcomers” BRIT in 1999, selling out the Hollywood Bowl, and contributing to the soundtrack for an array of films (Juno, The Power of Nightmares). Their most recent output, a trio of EPs titled How To Solve Our Human Problems, Parts 1-3 was a return to an earlier format, allowing the music to emerge organically on EP sessions. 2019 holds new music in the form of a soundtrack to Simon Bird’s upcoming film, Days of The Bagnold Summer, due for release later this year. Still regarded as “One of the most thoughtful and compelling bands out there” (The Times) Belle and Sebastian are soon to head to The Mediterranean to launch their 4 day festival at sea, The Boaty Weekender. This event emerges twenty years on from their pioneering holiday-camp-held festival The Bowlie Weekender. Catch them bringing joy to a stage near you soon.
Willi Carlisle w/ Golden Shoals
18+ Event standing room only WILLI CARLISLE is a poet and a folk singer for the people, but his extraordinary gift for turning a phrase isn’t about high falutin’ pontificatin’; it’s about looking out for one another and connecting through our shared human condition. Born and raised on the Midwestern plains, Carlisle is a product of the punk to folk music pipeline that’s long fueled frustrated young men looking to resist. After falling for the rich ballads and tunes of the Ozarks, where he now lives, he began examining the full spectrum of American musical history. This insatiable stylistic diversity is obvious in his wildly raucous live performances, where songs range from sardonic trucker-ballads like “Vanlife” to the heartbreaking queer waltz “Life on the Fence,” to an existential talkin’ blues about a panic attack in Walmart’s aisle five. With guitar, fiddle, button-box, banjo, harmonicas, rhythm-bones, and Willi’s booming baritone, this is bonafide populist folk music in the tradition of cowboys, frontier fiddlers, and tall-tale tellers. Carlisle recognizes that the only thing holding us back from greatness is each other. With a quick wit and big sing-alongs, these folksongs bring us a step closer to breaking down our divides.
Mary Timony w/ youbet
This is a 18+ and over event with standing room only “As an artist, you have to keep dealing with your shit. Otherwise, you can’t keep making your art.”—Mary TimonyFor more than 30 years, singer-songwriter and guitar hero Mary Timony has cut a distinctive path through the world of independent music, most recently as vocalist and guitarist of acclaimed garage-pop power trio Ex Hex (Merge) but also as a member of seminal post-punk band Autoclave (Dischord), celebrated leader of the deeply influential Helium (Matador), multifaceted solo artist (Matador, Lookout!, Kill Rock Stars), and a co-founder of supergroup Wild Flag (Merge). Described by Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein as “Mary Shelley with a guitar” and dubbed “a trailblazer and an innovator” by [Mary’s former guitar student] Lindsey Jordan a.k.a. Snail Mail, Timony has distinguished herself as one of her generation’s most influential guitarists and songwriters. Although she has remained a cult hero and critical favorite since the early ’90s, appearing everywhere from 120 Minutes episodes to Coachella sets, Timony’s many triumphs have long been counterbalanced by crippling doubt and self-nullification.Her fifth solo album, Untame the Tiger, approaches these emotions head on. Her first solo release in 15 years is a startling document of an artist fully coming into her own power during the fourth decade of her career. It is the product of lessons learned during life-altering struggle. The mystical, acoustic-driven Untame the Tiger emerged after the dissolution of a long-term relationship and was bookended by the deaths of Timony’s father and mother. The album was recorded during a two-year period during which she was the primary caregiver for her ailing parents. “This was the hardest thing I’ve been through. Every week I had to manage a new crisis.”Untame the Tiger was produced by Mary Timony, Joe Wong (composer on Master of None, Russian Doll, The Midnight Gospel, Krapopolis, host of The Trap Set podcast), and Dennis Kane. The album was recorded over the course of two years at Studio 606, Magpie Cage, 38North, and in Mary’s basement. Additional engineering by J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines). Musicians include Chad Molter (Faraquet, Medications), David Christian (Karen O, Hospitality), and Brian Betancourt (Cass McCombs, Devendra Banhart, Hospitality). The album was mixed by Dave Fridmann (MGMT, The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), Dennis Kane, and John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile, Waxahatchee).
Sheer Mag w/ Mighty Big Rig
This is a 18 and over event.Standing Room Only Underlying every great record, every career-defining work of art, is a certain ineffable, increasingly rarified quality: unity of vision. Great songs need not announce their greatness: their marriage of idea with action, soul with sound, appears as something which is naturally effortless, unforced—they are what they are because they have no choice but to be. On Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag’s third full length and first with Third Man Records, this precise, matured clarity of vision is put on full display. Over the course of the past decade, Sheer Mag have labored to carve out a discernibly singular position within the canon of contemporary rock: toggling with ease between the refined flourishes of a “connoisseur’s band” and the ecstatic colloquialism of populist songwriting—yet displaying no strict loyalty to either camp—their sound, while oft-referenced, is unmistakably and immediately recognizable as theirs alone. With Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag have capitalized on a decade’s worth of devotion to their own collective spirit—a spirit refined in both the sweaty trenches of punk warehouses and the larger-than-life glamour of concert halls—emerging with a dense work of gripping emotions, massive hooks, and masterfully constructed power-pop anthems. This is the record the Philadelphian rock and roll four-piece has always been destined to make. Playing Favorites expands with a sense of undeniable vitality, buoyed by rock and roll’s singular capacity to channel a relentless compassion for human life. While at times marked by an intensified sense of melancholy, this newest offering takes stock of the confusing flow of daily life without moralizing, refusing to fall into antagonistic cynicism. Sheer Mag leans into the chaotic thrall of city living, of a life subdivided by Playing Favorites is undoubtedly a record by the same Sheer Mag that audiences of all stripes have spent the last decade falling in love with. In fact, for all of its sonic departures and evolutions, this record is perhaps the most “Sheer Mag” release yet. Not so much a return to form, but rather a realization of those greatest promises that the band has up until now only hinted at. With Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag cater to their tastes and their tastes alone: so long as they continue to do so, the future of rock and roll, that great human tradition, is in the best of hands.
The Surfrajettes w/ The McCharmlys
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only The Surfrajettes are a four-piece instrumental combo from Toronto, ON, Canada. Sinceforming in late 2015, the band has charmed audiences with their clever mix of psychedelic rockand reverb-drenched surf music, sky-high beehives, go-go boots, and eyeliner as thick as theirguitar strings.The band achieved viral online notoriety from their home-made performance videos and theirfeature by Norman’s Rare Guitars in LA. The debut 45 single “Party Line / Toxic” released late2018 on Hi-Tide Recordings to immediate success. The band has toured extensively in itssupport, including performances on The Beach Boys Cruise, The Melissa Etheridge Cruise,at Sea.Hear.Now, Nashville Boogie, Wild O Fest in Mexico City, The New England Shake-Up!, Surf Guitar 101 Convention, Tiki Oasis & Hi-Tide Summer Holiday: Asbury Park.The band released the follow up single “Hale’iwa Hustle / Banzai Pipeline” in 2020, supportedby a festival appearance at Hi-Tide Winter Holiday: Pittsburgh. The group spent the rest of2020 and most of 2021 writing and recording their debut LP “Roller Fink” – in stores worldwideApril 22, 2022 from Hi-Tide Recordings / Virgin Music. The album will be available forpurchase for the very first time following their performance at the Viva Las Vegas RockabillyWeekend 25 car show.The Surfrajettes are guitarists Shermy Freeman and Nicole Damof, bassist Sarah Butler,and drummer Samantha Maloney. When not on tour, the group is busy woodshedding in theirsecret beach hut, sewing new miniskirts, debating vintage gear, and daydreaming aboutperforming in a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Pillar to Post wsg Abe Savas & The New Standards of Beauty and Brian Koeingsknecht & The Dirty Work
This is a 21 event with standing room only Formed in 2005, Pillar to Post are heartland rockers who have been on the West Michigan scene for two decades. Led by singer/songwriter Brian Koenigsknecht and featuring drummer Brad Frank (Willamena, The Mertons and Catharsis), bassist Jason Huber, Detroit guitarist Geoff Stockton (Atlantis Theory, Jacob Root) and bassist-violinist Mike Fuerst (Knee Deep Shag, Corn Fed Girls) who was a member for the first couple years as well as contributing to the band’s debut and only album “Nowhere Left To Fall”. Their anthems speak to the underdogs, the loners, and the lovers. Koenigsknecht infuses even the harder rocking songs with a sense of melancholy, but there is always some optimism, a feeling that better things are right around the corner, and love can still grow even after the the heart lies in smoke and ashes.
Fleetwood Mac Tribute 2 Day Pass
Kat Rose & Company are back in to celebrate their 3rd annual Bells performances with2 full nights of Hypnotized, Gold Dust, Tusk and Dreams…just to name a few of the amazing songs you love!
A Taylor Swift Experience
This is a 18 and over event.Standing Room Only Kanin Wren fronts Michigan’s most dynamic Taylor Swift Experience for fans of all ages. Playing all of thegreatest hits from You Belong With Me to Midnights, Kanin’s Version: A Taylor Swift Experience is packingdance floors and creating timeless once in a lifetime memories. With fun choreography, multiple costumechanges, spot on musical delivery, Kanin’s tribute to the genius of Taylor Swift is a must-see act. VIPexperiences are available for super fans!What started off as a love and appreciation for Taylor Swift’s lyrics, music, and relatable persona, hasexpanded into a night of unbelievable entertainment that keeps anyone who has seen it talking long after thelast encore is played. Featuring the powerful voice of Kanin Wren, backed by a group of dynamite musicians,enjoy a 90 minute journey through Taylor Swift’s discography. Hear all your favorites from each record, fromher self titled debut to the latest era, Midnights.
May Erlewine & The Motivations – SOLD OUT!
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Hosted by everyone’s favorite songstress, May Erlewine on vocals, Phil Barry on guitar and vocals, Joe Hettinga on synth, keys and vocals, Max Lockwood on bass and vocals, Mike Lynch on organ and keys, Terrence Massey on trumpet and vocals, Brandon Proch on saxophone and trumpet and Michael Shimmin on drums, percussion and vocals. The Motivations are a 9-piece, big band, high energy sound, bringing the magic of yesteryear and all your favorite throwback covers to the party. With the intent to celebrate community and connection at every show, this band doesn’t disappoint. if you didn’t know each other at the beginning of the concert you are likely to be great friends by the end. Join us for this year’s holiday dance parties!
Spafford
This is a 18 event with standing room only Spafford is known for their astonishing improvisational ability and off-the-cuff extended jams, Spafford paints a picture in real-time each night with a musical palette known only to each other. It’s a private language comprised of both their talent as musicians as well as their formidable catalog of influences, spanning 90’s alt-rock radio hits to Steely Dan and The Crystal Method. Each Spafford show is a sonic pilgrimage, the journey of a team of musicians so in tune with each other that a single note communicates intent and purpose. Spafford is amongst the most creative and hard-traveling bands on the contemporary jam scene, performing countless sold-out headline dates along with high profile festival sets at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Firefly Music Festival, and many others.
