A Taylor Swift Experience
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only VIP Tickets Include: Meet and Greet with Kanin and the band, exclusive acoustic songGift Bag with swag and signed show posterPhoto opportunitiesKanin 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.
Aaron James Wright w/ Kyle Rasche (of Chain of Lakes) and Dave Johnson
21 and over This is a seated performance Aaron James Wright is an independent singer-songwriter, special education teacher, environmental activist, husband, father and noted smart ass. During a 30 year career in music, Aaron has dabbled in alternative rock, classic rock, punk rock, butt rock, country, jazz, blues, and children’s music. Performing in bands such as “Slow Drag”, David Bowie tribute act “The Long Players”, and most recently “Aaron James Wright & The Ultralights”, as well as a solo act, Aaron has played venues from Detroit to Chicago, and from Alaska to Kentucky. His most recent solo album, “A Little Stronger”, was produced in Kalamazoo at Broadside Productions by studio wizard and guitar slinger Mike Roche. Aaron’s tunes have been heard on WYCE’s “Local Spins”out of Grand Rapids and on WMUK on “Grassroots” and “Let’s Hear It”. “Grassroots” host Darcy Wilkin calls him “the best songwriter you’ve never heard of”. Aaron is not sure if that is a compliment.
The Waco Brothers w/ The Bright Shiners
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Shaking off the plague days like a snake sheds its skin the WACO BROTHERS stumble out of the empty, burning desert with a fierce thirst and an epic new album: THE MEN THAT GOD FORGOT. It’s the first collection of original WACO tunes since 2016’s GOING DOWN IN HISTORY and comes to you viatheir own label Plenty Tuff Records. The Waco Brothers got together in Chicago in the mid-90s; battle weary punk musicians who wanted nothing more than to play classic country covers for free beer in their adopted home city. Their residencies at bars like the Wrigleyville Tap and Augenblick became legendary for the sheer volume, speed and energy they brought to this task. After an early & particularly deranged appearance at SXSW Rolling Stone dubbed the Wacos “Clash meets Cash” and they unleashed a fistful of ferocious albums and endlessly entertaining live gigs that defined the Insurgent Country movement. Every night is still Friday night for the WACO BROTHERS but these new songs lace that reckless exuberance with a more sober awareness of the tsunami of cynical corruption & materialism that infects our everyday existence. BEST THAT MONEY CAN BUY rips its verses from what’s left of honest journalismwhile IN THE DARK provides a requiem for functioning democracy AND boasts the best twin-lead guitar solo since Thin Lizzy. The album ends with NOWHERE TO RUN a deceptively gentle dance number (inspired by a night on the Outlaw Country Cruise where the Wacos backed up their hero Lee “Scratch” Perry) that presents the struggle for social and economic justice as neverending. GEORGE WALKS WITH JESUS is a song about George Jones walking with Jesus. The WACO BROTHERS lost their powerhouse drummer Joe Camarillo to a stroke in January 2021 and it took some time to regroup. They’d often been joined onstage by violinist Jean Cook and drummer Dan Massey (ex-Robbie Fulks) who had deputized for Joe for years, so now the time seemed right to add them both as permanent members. The current line-up is: Jean Cook – violin & vocals, Tracey Dear – mandolin & vocals, Alan Jesus George Jones Mr. Spanky Captain Giggles Sproketts Doughty Vega – bass & vocals, Jon Langford – guitar & vocals, Dan Massey – drums, Dean Schlabowske – guitar & vocals THE MEN THAT GOD FORGOT is the 10thWaco Brothers full length album & was recorded with Mike Hagler at Kingsize Soundlabs in Chicago in 2022. The cinematic brass parts were arranged and performed by longtime collaborator Max Crawford with Dave Smith. Other Waco Cousins appearing are Barkley Mckay on piano and organ, Patty Vega on jingling tambourine and Andre Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers on accordion.
Relix Presents Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, & Leftover Salmon
2023 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert Series21 + event Yonder Mountain: At 25 years old, Yonder Mountain String Band continues to exist at the forefront of the progressive bluegrass scene as undeniable innovators and pioneers of the modern jamgrass movement. Blending bluegrass with elements of rock, alternative, psychedelic and improvisational music, Yonder Mountain String Band brought their high-energy acoustic sound into rock n’ roll settings with tremendous success, proving it was possible for a bluegrass band to not only exist but excel in a rock world, without drums. The inroads they made created opportunities for like-minded acoustic bands to perform at festivals, rock clubs, theaters and stadiums previously considered off-limits for string bands. Yonder Mountain’s high-energy sound, compelling original music and anything goes attitude cultivated a spirit of collaborative improvisation that continues to fuel today’s progressive bluegrass and jamgrass scenes. It is a testament to the legacy of Yonder Mountain String Band that their original songs and unique interpretations/arrangements of covers are regularly performed by next generation bands in the scene. Yonder Mountain String Band celebrates their quarter century mark with a Grammy Nomination for their 2022 release, Get Yourself Outside, and an induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.Railroad Earth: For over two decades, Railroad Earth has captivated audiences with gleefully unpredictable live shows and eloquent and elevated studio output. The group introduced its signature sound on 2001’s The Black Bear Sessions. Between selling out hallowed venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO, they’ve launched the longstanding annual Hangtown Music Festival in Placerville, CA and Hillberry: The Harvest Moon Festival in Ozark, AR—both running for a decade-plus. Sought after by legends, the John Denver Estate tapped them to put lyrics penned by the late John Denver to music on the 2019 vinyl EP, Railroad Earth: The John Denver Letters. Beyond tallying tens of millions of streams, the collective have earned widespread critical acclaim from David Fricke of Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Glide Magazine, and NPR.Leftover Salmon: Few bands stick around for thirty years. Even fewer bands leave a legacy during that time that marks them as a truly special, once-in-lifetime type band. And no band has done all that and had as much fun as Leftover Salmon. Since their earliest days as a forward thinking, progressive bluegrass band who had the guts to add drums to the mix and who was unafraid to stir in any number of highly combustible styles into their ever evolving sound, to their role as a pioneer of the modern jam band scene, to their current status as elder-statesmen of the scene who cast a huge influential shadow over every festival they play, Leftover Salmon has been a crucial link in keeping alive the traditional music of the past while at the same time pushing that sound forward with their own weirdly, unique style
An Evening With Mike Gordon
2023 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 21 and over event. Mike Gordon is bassist and co-founder of the seminal improvisational American rock band Phish. He returns in 2023 with the first outing with his solo band in three years. His sixth solo LP, Flying Games, is out in May on Megaplum/ATO Records. It’s an album filled with constant and wildly hypnotic movement, each moment animated by unexpected sounds that morph and expand and spin off into their own strange orbits, revealing entirely new dimensions of the kaleidoscopic musicianship he’s displayed as a bassist for the last four decades.
Toad The Wet Sprocket w/ Marcy Playground – SOLD OUT!
2023 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 21 and over event.VIP TICKETS INCLUDE: One (1) Event Ticket Meet & Greet and Photo Opportunity with Toad the Wet Sprocket Invitation to Exclusive Pre-Show Acoustic Performance One (1) Limited Edition Event Poster One (1) Commemorative Laminate Celebrating 30 years as a band, Toad the Wet Sprocket is still making music and touring with the same spirit of unwavering independence that started it all over three decades ago. The band is thankful for the continued help and enthusiastic support of their fans, which helped spur the release of All You Want and also serves as inspiration for the band to tour and play live. They also continue to support their most recent releases, New Constellation (2013) and The Architect of Ruin EP (2015). Toad the Wet Sprocket share in the kind of musical chemistry that can only come from meeting in high school and writing, recording and touring on albums over the course time. After Bread & Circus, they followed with Pale in 1990, fear in ’91, Dulcinea in 1994, and Coil in 1997, as well as some compilations along the way. While most will still feel the comforting familiarity of the Billboard-charting hits, “Walk on the Ocean”, “All I Want”, “Something’s Always Wrong”, and “Fall Down”, fans will also be well familiar with tracks with lyrics that resonate for so many life milestones like “The Moment”, “I Will Not Take These Things for Granted” and so many more.
black midi w/ Circuit Des Yeux
2023 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 21 and over event. Five facts about black midiOne. black midi are: Geordie Greep (guitar, vocals), Cameron Picton (bass, vocals), and Morgan Simpson (drums). Two. Coincidentally, Morgan and Geordie both played in church bands growing up Three. The band met at the BRIT School. Geordie and Matt borrowed the name from a Japanese music genre where a MIDI file is stuffed with so many musical notes that its visual representation looks solid black. MIDI files do not contain sound. Four. After leaving school Cameron worked in the Wimbledon branch of stationery store Ryman. Geordie taught music. Morgan briefly toyed with the idea of becoming a professional footballer but eventually chose drumming and teaching music. Five. black midi got their first gig two weeks after leaving school, in June 2017, at south London’s renowned Windmill venue. It led to a Windmill residency, a publishing contract, a record deal, a Mercury nomination for Schlagenheim, and you reading this. Myths about black midiOne. black midi don’t expect, or want, you to take themselves or their music too seriously. black midi music can be exuberant, cathartic, theatrical, comic, absurdist, over-abundant, intense, cinematic, brutal, restlessly brilliant. Two. None of black midi’s released music is entirely improvised. They did spend a long time jamming at the start, but would record the jams and select the best bits to replay as part of structured recordings. Three. The BRIT School’s importance in the black midi story can also be overplayed. Yes, the school was where they met, and their generous facilities afforded the group time and space in their final year to experiment and rehearse until they had a better idea of what they could become.The album“Geordie had a dream that we called the album Hellfire, he kept saying it all the time” ‘Hellfire’ has long burned in black midi’s world. First, Geordie imagined it was the title of their debut album; Cavalcade was mostly recorded at Hellfire Studio, Dublin; then Cameron dreamed it should be the title of their third. The skeleton of the new album was assembled while Cavalcade was being made, with the meat put on the bones at London’s Hoxa HQ. The main difference between Cavalcade and Hellfire is a switch from third-person to first-person storytelling. Cavalcade depicted everyone from cabaret singers to cult leaders, while Hellfire largely sticks to more morally suspect characters, given power by their direct dramatic monologues, their flamboyant appeals to our degraded sense of right and wrong. You’re never quite sure whether to laugh at or be horrified by the tales these people tell. One connection between Cavalcade and Hellfire is that the mysterious military mining corporation behind the previous album’s Diamond Stuff reappears in Cameron’s new song Eat Men Eat. “I really enjoy the storytelling on Eat Men Eat, Welcome to Hell and 27 Questions,”says Morgan, who didn’t write any of Hellfire’s words.“I find myself laughing when we play them at gigs.”As on Cavalcade, most of the lyrics came from Geordie, but Cameron does some of his best-ever work on the forcefully sweet Still, the album’s least abstract, most lyrically personal song. The range, power and potent production of black midi’s music has never been greater than on Hellfire, partly thanks to genius producer Marta Salogni, who’d worked on Cavalcade opener John L. But, as always, the type of music black midi play isn’t as important as its quality. And whatever you think about black midi’s music isn’t as important as how you feel about it.
CANCELED – Sierra Ferrell – Long Time Going Tour
Hey all, the Sierra Ferrell show in the Beer Garden next week has been cancelled. Please see below for a message from the artist: “Sadly, I will miss the next six dates on my touring schedule: 7/8- Winnipeg Folk Festival – Winnipeg, MB 7/9- Bayfield, WI 7/10- Fish Creek, WI 7/12- Kalamazoo, MI 7/13- Detroit, MI 7/14- 4848 Festival – Snowshoe, WV We’ve been working really hard for you all, and have loved every minute of it, but I need to slow down for a bit. I know you’re disappointed, and so am I, but I also know that some rest will do me good. I’ll be back on stage soon and can’t wait to see you then.” Refunds will be processed, any further questions on your refund please reach out to https://fal.cn/3zIFK.
Barbaro
Standing Room Only This is a 21 and over event. The heralded Minneapolis-based group Barbaro forges an exciting new musical path on About the Winter, their inaugural outing for StorySound Records. Featuring guitarist Kyle Shelstad, bassist Jason Wells, and violinist Rachel Calvert, the gifted, young band developed a strong following for their modernist bluegrass sound on their 2020 debut, Dressed in Roses. Their new album, however, represents a “coming of age” for Barbaro, according to Shelstad, as it more authentically reflects the band’s adventurous musical evolution over the past few years. About The Winter showcases the dynamic interplay arising from Shelstad’s string band roots blending with Calvert’s and Wells’ backgrounds in classical music. The album’s ten tracks also reveal the group deftly integrating electric instrumentation into the group’s acoustic-grounded music. Barbaro, together with the pivotal assistance provided by producer Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens), has fashioned a captivating pastoral Americana sound on About the Winter that is both traditional and progressive.
Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish w/ The House Bandits
Standing Room Only This is a 21 and over event. The wild and energetic rock duo of Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish will be performing live at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo, MI on Saturday October 28th. Show Starts at 8:00 PM Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish is a multiple Jammie award winning Rock, Rockabilly, and Blues band from Grand Rapids, MI who are known for their amazing sound and killer live performances! Tickets: $12 ADV
