The Mountain Goats
2026 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert Series This is a 18 and over event – 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian There are Mountain Goats albums that emerge from historical deep dives, vividly rendered autobiography, liturgical exploration, and modern anthropological study. Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan came from a dream. In May 2023, John Darnielle took to his phone in the middle of the night to document a title from somewhere in his subconscious. Because this is the Mountain Goats—a band known for avoiding the easy route, always challenging themselves to push a step beyond—Darnielle not only decided to complete this mysterious project but also to deliver it as a full-on musical that stands as the most conceptually detailed and musically elaborate project in the band’s ever-expanding catalog. “I loved musicals when I was a kid,” Darnielle explains, “but I hadn’t really indulged in them that much until the last 7 years or so. And then we did Jenny From Thebes, which I called a ‘fake musical’ a lot… But this one actually is going for it.” Produced by the Mountain Goats’ multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, who also co-wrote several songs, the record is embracing, inviting, and overflowing with melody and orchestration that extends far beyond the boundaries of their past work. “My approach is more arrangement-based,” Douglas says of his role. “I’m trying to sculpt the shape of the songs with the layering of instruments that are suiting the song best… I am sometimes a bit of a maximalist with that stuff. Sometimes more is more!” Working at Dreamland Recording Studios in Hudson, New York, the Mountain Goats have crafted a record that matches the emotional vulnerability of their previous career peaks while filling up a larger space than ever. This may be like a bleak story to tell, a common thread of Mountain Goats concept albums.
S.A.D.R. – SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER RELIEF with: Overly Polite Tornadoes, Vida Eterna, Discus, Blood At Ease
This is a 18+ event with standing room only| 17 under with a parent or guardian Advance tickets may also be purchased in person at the General Store by card only (no cash) S.A.D.R. (an acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder Relief) is coming to Bell’s Brewery in February. Come join us for a night of live music and community to lift your spirits from the darkness and fenderbergs of our Michigan Winter. There is often less live music happening this time of year, and this show is meant to fill that void for people in need. OVERLY POLITE TORNADOES are a veteran Kalamazoo-based duo formed by multi-instrumentalists who also play in the local and beloved dream-pop/shoegaze band Tambourina. They write tightly constructed songs that pull from shoegaze, post-punk, and early indie rock, using guitar loops, analog textures, live drums and tender harmonies to build intensity without clutter. Their music carries a quiet confidence, pairing clarity and distortion in a way that feels deliberate, ecstatic, and deeply human.BLOOD AT EASE is the project of songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Bailey Miller. With friends and family hailing from the Great Lakes region, Miller presents a unique style of folk-song that alternates “between gently plucked melodies and raucous explosions of sound.”DISCUS are a breezy Indie rock band from Chicago, IL. What started as two brothers writing songs in their childhood basement has bloomed into an artful and melodic five piece ensemble. Sure to please fans of The Radio Dept, Broadcast, Earlimart, or The American Analog Set.VIDA ETERNA is comprised of Kalamazoo’s own April & Adam Zimont (Tambourina), Matthew Willsea (Cardboard Highway, Create Clean Slate) and Lachlan Roderick Wallace MacQuarrie. Together they dazzle with their unique blend of ethereal dreampop, hypnotic textures, and shoegaze leanings.
Tune-Yards wsg RINGDOWN
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Formed by Merrill Garbus in 2006, Tune-Yards has become a name synonymous with creativity and forward motion. Known for explosive performances, surprising song structures, and danceable rhythms, their music also highlights connections between song and social consciousness. The New York Times praised their debut album, BiRd-BrAiNs, as “a confident do-it-yourselfer’s opening salvo,” and relentless touring established Garbus as a commanding live performer. Garbus stepped into the producer role with 2011’s w h o k i l l, a bold and sonically inventive album that earned critical acclaim, including the #1 spot on The Village Voice’s Pazz and Jop poll. By 2021’s sketchy., Garbus and bassist Nate Brenner had solidified their partnership, creating a fully collaborative work. The duo has announced their sixth studio record, Better Dreaming, to be released on May 16, 2025 on 4AD. Tune-Yards also excels in scoring, contributing to Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, I’m A Virgo, and the forthcoming I Love Boosters. Their artistry continues to expand across music, film, and television.
Craig Finn & The Band of Forgiveness wsg James Felice
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Craig Finn is a Minnesota-bred singer/songwriter based in New York City, best known as the singer of The Hold Steady. Finn spent the ’90’s leading Minneapolis indie band Lifter Puller, which released 3 albums and an EP. After relocating to New York, he joined with Lifter Puller member Tad Kubler to form The Hold Steady in 2003. The Hold Steady quickly achieved critical acclaim and a worldwide fanbase with their unique pairing of dense lyrical narratives with big rock guitars. The Hold Steady’s ninth album, The Price Of Progress, was released in March 2023, commemorating the band’s 20th Anniversary. Craig Finn releases his 6th solo album Always Been on April 4. Produced by Adam Granduciel (The War On Drugs), the album features musical performances by Granduciel and members of The War on Drugs, Kathleen Edwards, Sam Fender, and more. Always Been tells the story of a man who becomes a clergyman despite a lack of faith. The songs detail his rise, fall, and eventual redemption, while also shining a light to sharply reveal the other characters that populate the world he moves through. A limited edition, 92-page companion book Lousy With Ghosts accompanies the album and features 11 works of fiction by Craig Finn. These stories take place in the same universe as the record, giving deeper looks at the characters within. Finn released his first solo album in 2012 with three additional solo LPs put forth from 2015 – 2019: Faith in the Future, We All Want The Same Things, and 2019’s I Need a New War – which coalesced into a sign-of-the-times musical trilogy. Finn’s fifth album, A Legacy of Rentals was released in 2022 and received universal critical acclaim. That’s How I Remember It is Craig Finn’s podcast series, launched in 2022. Co-produced and distributed by Talkhouse, the podcast series examines the connection between memory and creativity. Each episode features a discussion between Finn and one creator – including musicians, authors, filmmakers, and more – about the role memory plays in their art. These exclusive conversations reveal the different ways each creator synthesizes their remembered life experience to tell stories about themselves and the world we live in. Podcast guests have included George Saunders, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Lucinda Williams, Johnny Marr, Jason Isbell, Duff McKagan, Adam Duritz, Ben Gibbard, and many more.
Soccer Mommy wsg dummy
2025 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 18 and over event. 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Sophie Allison has always written candidly about her life, making Soccer Mommy one of indie rock’s most interesting and beloved artists of the last decade. Allison has used Soccer Mommy’s songs as a vehicle to sort through the thoughts and encounters that inevitably come with the reality of growing up. After all, Soccer Mommy began as a bedroom-to-Bandcamp exercise with teenage Allison posting her plaintive songs as demos. Over the years, though, she has often enhanced that sound, using the endless production possibilities, newly at her fingertips, to outstrip singer-songwriter stereotypes. The records would start with songwriting’s kernels of truth, and she would then imagine all the unexpected shapes they could take. Every Soccer Mommy record has felt like a surprise. On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. (Speaking of funny, this is a Soccer Mommy album, so there’s an ode to Allison’s purple-haired wife in the game Stardew Valley, too.) These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Nothing overindulgent, everything real.
The Flying Leaps w/ The Plural Nouns & Yellowhouse
This is a standing room only show 18+ or 17 under with a parent or guardian Yellowhouse is an indie rock band full of Kalamazoo locals. With classic rock tones and a groovy feel, their tunes will be sure to have you dancing! Come pick up a handmade setlist and rock out with us! The Plural Nouns are a surf rock combo from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Formed in 2024, the band consists of Jay Gavan, Jeff Hale, Will Gavan and Bradyn Weatherwax. Jay was a founding member of Guitar UP! Surf Band, and The Plural Nouns continue their tradition of bringing original tunes and familiar standards into the surf, spy, spaghetti, twang-verb and instro idioms. The Flying Leaps are a quartet from Kalamazoo who specialize in eclectic sounds. Abe Savas brings an expressive songwriting tableau, Jesse Williams, the “multi-instrumentalist,” delivers prog-infused concoctions. Jay Gavan brings angular originals, and Jeff Hale keeps it all together, from 70s rock to latin jazz. Each member draws from rich experiences and catalogues of tunes and tones and creates a quartet that will surprise you even while it’s making you dance.
Saxsquatch & Bridge Band wsg Basic Comfort
This is a 18+ event with standing room only17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Saxsquatch: Multi-instrumentalist. Music Enthusiast. Doesn’t want to be in your pit orch. Basic Comfort: alternative pop band Basic Comfort from Kalamazoo, Michigan: Band members: Mitchell plays keys and sings, Schadig and Mike Anyonga play guitar and sing, and Ryan Edgar plays bass. Latest album: Dimensions is their self-produced second album, which explores connection to the self and others
Mighty Big Rig Album Release wsgs. Sean Anthony Sullivan & Ten Peso Version
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Just by listening to their newest album, “Solitude,” you wouldn’t believe that members of the Kalamazoo-based Mighty Big Rig only have a few years of jamming under their belts. The rich grooves, the complex layers behind its instrumentation and solos that range from ear-melting to soul softening all resonate as they point to veteran musicianship.
Knee Deep Shag wsg. The Grace Theisen Band
This is a 18+ event with standing room only17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Though their live shows have been further between for the past decade, KneeDeepShag still remains an influential force in the Michigan music scene. The boys have been busy working on an array of other independent and nationally recognized musical endeavors, but every so often the itch to return to the stage as a group, and reconnect with the fans and the music just can’t be ignored. Their evolving and original live set ranges from high-energy rock and soulful ballads, to deep dance grooves and a “super rock cover” or two – sure to satisfy your mind and your behind. Heavyweight players and songwriters at every position: Phil Barry on guitar, Matt Gross on vocals, Rob Cookman on keyboards, Jeff Moehle on drums and Mike Fuerst on bass. See you at the show!
SunSquabi & Late Night Radio w/ Floppy Drive
This is a 18+ event – 17 and Under w/ Guardian Standing room only Music brings us to our feet literally, figuratively, and spiritually. It inspires us to rise up to our day’s trials and tribulations, and on a larger scale, the world’s challenges. Through an unspoken sonic communion between three distinct musical identities, SunSquabi—Kevin Donohue [guitar, keys, production], Josh Fairman [bass, synth], and Chris Anderson [drums]—rouse us from inactivity and into action when we need the extra push through their signature live electronica sound. After racking up tens of millions of streams and delivering rapturous performances at legendary venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre, they incite personal revolution louder than ever on their third full-length album, Arise, releasing on October 26, 2022. “Since we’ve all been put down very hard for the past two years, the entire world has felt this pressure, sadness, and struggle,” observes Kevin. “So we tried to relay a message of arising from the ashes and becoming something new. This album shows how we’re able to do so during a really tough time.” SunSquabi has ignited the energy of listeners everywhere since 2015. They’ve unveiled a string of fan favorite releases such as Odyssey [2016], Deluxe EP [2017], and Instinct [2019]. In addition to praise from 303 Magazine, JamBase, Live For Live Music, and many more, WestWord proclaimed, “The record has electrifying moments,” and ThisSongIsSick raved, “SunSquabi never fails to bring the funk. Throughout the project they showcase their instrumentation highlighting shredding guitar riffs, funky basslines and crisp percussion with just the right touch of electronic production elements.” Along the way, they’ve sold out venues coast-to-coast, capturing one of three Red Rocks gigs so far on SunSquabi (Live at Red Rocks). The guys have collaborated with String Cheese Incident, Late Night Radio, Lettuce, and GRiZ, to name a few. During 2019, the musicians began kicking around initial ideas for Arise during marathon jam sessions. As the Pandemic shut down touring, SunSquabi continued to write and record. “A couple of songs came together as jams in the basement or on live streams,” recalls Kevin. “We’d rework these improv-based ideas in the studio. It was an extended process. We definitely took advantage of the time.” Josh adds, “We’re very proud of the band staying true to the music and to each other. We came together during the Pandemic and made sacrifices together. We’ve bonded as a band. We don’t try to jump on any trends. We’re true to ourselves and make music we feel in our hearts.”
