MARCH 2013
NEWS SATIRE YOU CAN TRUST
Recoil
FR
EE
Residential architect’s son can’t understand why dad never includes secret passages, trapdoors, etc. in home designs “awesomely cool” features in the construction blueprints for some of the larger homes he designs. “If I were Dad, I’d put in all sorts of secret passageways and hidden chambers and stuff that you could only get to through revolving bookcases that spin when you pull out certain books,”
Distraught mathematician jumps from eraser ledge
Morgan fails to understand why his father never includes secret passages, trapdoors, underground tunnels or other “awesomely cool” features in the construction blueprints for some of the larger homes he designs. said Kevin Morgan, who currently attends seventh grade at a local middle school. “Even if the people buying the houses didn’t know about the secret rooms when they moved in, imagine how Madison, Wis. – Kevin Morgan, the wildly imaginative 12-year- cool it would be to later discover all these secret passages and old son of residential home designer Allen Morgan, told sources stuff. That would be so awesome.” Despite constant pressure from his son to infuse his home Friday that he fails to understand why his father never includes secret passages, trapdoors, underground tunnels or other see TRAPDOORS page 6 Kevin Morgan (above) loves trapdoors and secret passageways. Inset: Architect father Allen Morgan.
Terrible Christian rock band can’t explain why God hasn’t blessed them with record contract Hollywood, Calif. – Despite their sincere belief in an allpowerful God who blesses those who praise His name with limitless rewards on Earth as well as everlasting life after death,
Zombie reporter roaming
“It really doesn’t say anything in the Bible about how long it takes to get your rewards on Earth,” added Tallman, whose voice has yet to show promise of developing into a force strong enough to front a major label band. members of the Christian modern rock band In His Name told sources Friday that they can’t understand why God has not yet blessed the untalented fivesome with a prestigious, high-paying, Above: A promotional picture of the Christian band In His Name. multi-album recording contract. firmly believe that through God, all things are possible. And “We love the Lord, but we also love to rock,” said Marcus even though label reps haven’t exactly been banging down the Anthony Tallman, lead vocalist for the religious rock act that door of our rehearsal studio yet, we’re expecting them any time has been performing as a unit for more than eight years. “We see BAND page 5
Report: binge drinking reaches dangerous lows during college breaks
“While class is in session, as much as forty-four percent of the college population engages regularly in binge drinking, which pretty much everyone agrees is a big number,” said Thomas Walters, lead researcher on the two-year study. “But during Christmas or spring breaks, or during the summer, there are considerably less people on campus. So even if, say, seventy or eighty percent of the remaining youths are routinely consuming toxic amounts of alcohol in proportionately small timeframes,
Bubble-hockey winger sent down to minors
UCLA may have as few as 50 to 60 students actively binge drinking during semester breaks.
SHALLOW THOUGHT I’m not sure whether it would be better to have a photographic memory or a photogenic memory. On one hand you’d be able to remember how everything looked, but on the other you’d look really good in all of the memories you do have.
Popular college taverns such as University of Wisconsin hospot McGruder’s Pub (above) struggle to stay in business during college breaks, when binge drinking suffer a significant reduction.
Los Angeles, Calif. – According to a recent 20-college study conducted by researchers at UCLA, binge drinking, which is universally acknowledged as the most serious problem plaguing college campuses, can reach dangerous lows during college breaks.
that’s still a very, very small amount of binge drinking going on.” Results of the study show that a college such as UCLA, with an annual enrollment of approximately 36,000, may have as few as 50 to 60 students actively binge drinking during scheduled breaks in course schedules. “There are always a few diehards that have no jobs or better things to do than remain on campus during breaks and continue to binge drink,” said Walters. “The good news here is that often
see BINGE page 5
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volume 13 issue 3 march
WORLDWIDE HEADLINES drawings affect seven out of 10 computerPeanut gallery issues final aided lectures. “I hope this study opens statement some eyes,” said graduate researcher A few feet away – Finally yielding to incessant pressure from those who engage in open dialogue, the peanut gallery issued a final statement Monday, forever silencing the wise-cracking union of observers who had strived for decades to inject comic relief into every possible dissertation and conversation. The gallery’s final statement read: “Ooooohhhh, well excuuusssse uuusss. Fine, I guess “that’s enough” from the peanut gallery. What the fuck ever, man. Eat shit.” When asked to comment, the peanut gallery simply put up its right hand and made a zipping motion across its mouth, signaling that it had nothing to add.
Clip art still around
Amherst, Mass. – Clip art still exists in many forms on computer hard drives and websites, a study released Monday by the University of Massachusetts found. Despite the common myth that the oncerampant visual aid has mostly died out, the new 42-week study proves clip art still exists in a variety of strains, which could become full-blown epidemics at any time. UMass researchers found that not only does clip art still exist in a dormant state among tens of millions of computers, but it actually has a high rate of affliction among Power Point presentations, where, according to the study, the malignant
Terrell Simmons, who proposed the study initially expecting to find a low frequency of clip art occurrence in the United States. “This won’t get better without everyone taking steps at prevention and teaching children in schools how to use graphics carefully and safely.” The research team issued a list of recommended best practices to protect against clip art and advised everyone to use caution in selecting “From file…” while using Microsoft Word’s “Insert/Picture” option.
Homeless man’s problems apparently rectifiable with 25 cents
Denver, Colo. – While seemingly in need of much more to remedy his current situation, an area homeless man announced to passersby Monday that he “only needed twenty-five cents.” Several who encountered the vagrant recalled assessing his level of need to require a higher monetary figure. “I took one look at the guy and immediately thought he would need a lot of money, education, and maybe personal counseling to overcome his hardships,” said area resident Charles Houska. “I was as shocked as anyone when I found out the only thing between his homelessness and being a productive member of society was a quarter.” Houska, who gave the unidentified man
58 cents, hopes the street dweller’s life has turned around as of one day later.
Dictionary heaved after eight-second search for “patience”
Winston-Salem, N.C. – Exasperated by his failed effort to almost immediately locate the word “patience” in a copy of Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 16-year-old Robert Thompson chucked the 878-page book down the hallway of his parents’ home Friday evening, sources reported. “This stupid book is useless,” Thompson exclaimed following his cursory skim for the word, an endeavor pursued only at the insistence of his father, who had become incensed at his son’s inability to behave in accordance with the meaning of the word. New York Times language columnist William Safire explained the likely reason for Thompson’s abortive search: “People who don’t know better usually assume that patience is spelled starting with ‘P-A-C,’ which could easily frustrate someone who was trying to look up the word’s spelling while failing to exude the traits of its meaning.”
Short ice cream vendor develops Neapolitan complex
Burbank, Calif. – Five-foot-three-inch ice cream vendor Mario Fuentes, who as of late seems to routinely run low on or be completely out of Neapolitan-flavored ice cream, has begun displaying signs of having developed a Neapolitan complex, area residents said Tuesday. “Mario always seems to be trying to overcompensate for the fact that he’s so short on Neapolitan ice cream,” said Clyde Reynolds, a local bank teller who frequents Fuentes’ vending cart. “For instance, he’ll go out of his way to really brag up the other flavors in order to kind of draw attention away from his Neapolitan bin, which has usually been scraped almost bare by noon. Or he’ll put every other flavor on sale for half price. I think this behavior is all a way of making up for his being so short [on Neapolitan], which I believe is a condition psychologists refer to as a Neapolitan complex.” Asked to comment, Fuentes sternly insisted that being short on multi-flavored ice cream in no way violates any law or hurts his business in any manner, and suggested that he should be treated no differently than any other ice cream vendor because of his condition.
Like area woman needs more drama in her life
Flagstaff, Ariz. – Area trailer park resident Britney Gorske assured neighbors and onlookers that the unemployed 33-yearold could use more drama in her life than she already had Friday night following
recoilmag.com a loud, public altercation with live-in boyfriend Ray Stepaniak outside the couple’s doublewide trailer. “Go ahead and call the cops, then, if that’s what you want to do, you ignorant bastard – like I need more drama in my life,” Gorske shouted at Stepaniak in response to her boyfriend’s threat to phone the authorities following what he claimed was a prolonged physical assault on him. “Yeah, sure, get them over here and tell them I beat you up. That’ll be perfect ‘cause I don’t have nearly enough drama in my life as it is – I need the cops out here making even more.” Gorske later sarcastically told policemen that she hoped a local television news crew would soon arrive to film the scene, certain that the airing of such footage on the evening news could create for her additional drama which she “couldn’t live without.”
Every dinner mom burns passed off as Cajun-style
Canton, Ohio – The preteen children of Tom and Helen Smolinski, despite being strictly of Polish and German descent, occasionally believe they are eating an authentic Cajun dinner, as such is routinely claimed by Helen whenever she accidentally burns the family meal. “Your meat is all black, honey, because the chicken is cooked Cajun-style,” Smolinski told her sevenyear-old son Nathan Thursday evening after the mother of three left the main course in the oven for an hour longer than necessary while on the phone with her sister. “Charring the meat is an essential part of real Cajun cooking, but it does generate a lot of smoke. That’s why the smoke alarms kept going off and the nice fireman axed down the front door. Just eat it and consider yourself lucky to have a mommy who knows the secrets of Cajun cooking.” When sardonically questioned by her husband regarding details of the supposed Cajun dish, Smolinski denied that the meal’s preparation included the use of pig’s blood, a common ingredient in authentic Cajun dishes such as boudin or chaudin.
Police suspect missing person in last place they’d look
Dayton, Ohio – Ohio State Trooper Dennis Horn told reporters Friday that a majority of investigators are starting to believe that the two-week search for missing 24-yearold Lena Belmore will end only when frustrated detectives finally search the very last place they would ever think to look. “It’s always like that in life – you look and look and look everywhere for something like your car keys and they end up being in the last place you’d look,” said Horn. “Except in this case it’s [possibly] a dead body – probably behind somebody’s couch, I’m betting.”
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volume 13 issue 3 march
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FAMILY
Family ripped apart by divorce, bear
when a family is ripped apart by divorce and the children start getting used as bargaining tools for a settlement,” said Bernard Longer, a neighbor and close family friend. “In my opinion, nothing tears a family apart limb by limb quicker and more painfully than a spiteful divorce involving custody battles. Well, except in this case, for that huge bear they found in their kitchen. Those are some mean, angry bastards.” Added Longer: “Bears, I meant, are mean bastards. Not Robert and Rebecca – at least not in my experience with them. They always presented themselves as the perfect couple, but they must have been very unhappy if they were filing for divorce. Who knows what finally did it – abuse, infidelity, bickering, lying, wild bear in the kitchen – but [it] looks Above: The Stevens family, shortly before being ripped apart by a bitter divorce and a wild bear like they’re definitely split apart for good (left). Denver, Colo. – Sources close to the both parents, the couple’s three children now.” Robert Stevens family – a seemingly stable and the family dog to pieces Friday night. According to Denver Police Officer unit universally lauded throughout the neighborhood for nearly a decade as the absolute perfect model of a solid, modern suburban family – said Saturday morning that the family has been completely ripped apart by both Robert and Rebecca Stevens’ sudden and reportedly bitter divorce, as well as by the bear that had “It’s really just a god-awful tragedy James Knight, who was first on the entered the family’s residence and ripped
Who knows what finally did it – abuse, infidelity, bickering, lying, wild bear in the kitchen – but [it] looks like they’re definitely split apart for good now.”
scene after responding to a domestic violence complaint, situations such as what occurred to the Stevens family are becoming more and more common in Denver’s suburban areas. “The stress of two parents working fulltime while also trying to maintain their household often causes couples to build up resentments toward one another,” said Knight. “And it certainly doesn’t help that wild bears are capable of opening doors that have levers instead of doorknobs, or that mountain lions have learned to enter houses through the flaps of dog doors. The combination of divorce and coming home to find a bear looting your refrigerator often lead right to what we’re seeing here today. I mean, just look at this mess of blood and body parts. This all–” Knight then suddenly excused himself before vomiting into the kitchen sink. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, concerned about the increasing frequency of these situations, encouraged a two-prong approach to limiting similar future tragedies. “Couples experiencing problems in their relationship should try working with an experienced marriage counselor,” said Ritter. “And every citizen in the area should always be carrying a loaded shotgun.”–CF, Ira T. Briggs
BAND page 1 now, as long as we keep spreading the message of God with our music.” According to Tallman, the band has consistently gone out of its way to title and theme its songs in a way that advocates the worship of God, in hopes that God will reward their ministry by bestowing them with international fame and fortune in the rock world. “It really doesn’t say anything in the Bible about how long it takes to get your rewards on Earth,” added Tallman, whose voice has yet to show promise of developing into a force strong enough to front a major label band. “Still, we’re very anxious for our day to come. Jetting around the world to perform sold-out concerts and sing Hallelujah sure sounds a
fan base because we know that the Lord will soon be plucking us from the pack and putting us on the cover of Rolling Stone as reward for our belief and devotion,” said Tallman. “As to why that hasn’t happened yet, all I can say is that it is not our place to question God’s intentions or decisions. And no, I don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that in eight years we haven’t yet been able to get through an entire set without having a major train wreck during at least one song.” Other members of the band – guitarists Ken Alward and Joe Owens, bassist Manny Greoning and drummer “Wild” Stevie Barnes – share Tallman’s belief that regardless of the band members’ technical and artistic shortcomings, In His Name will soon achieve a “The Lord will soon be plucking us from recording contract because devotion to God. the pack and putting us on the cover of of their “There’s a reason why Rolling Stone as reward for our belief there are so many Christian rock bands out there: and devotion,” said Tallman. because they know that their secret weapon – their faith lot more glorified than working weekends – will bring them stardom,” said Barnes, and holidays at the Amoco station.” who later struggled to identify a Christian Tallman said that because of each band act other than P.O.D. that’s experienced members’ strong faith, the band has the success in the music industry. “It doesn’t luxury of not needing to fret about the even matter that I can’t play double-bass fundamental tasks on which most high- for more than thirty seconds at a time or reaching bands must focus so intensely to if Ken has yet to memorize the notes of achieve success in the music industry. the fretboard or even if Manny gets stage “Unlike non-Christian bands, we don’t fright so bad that he vomits on stage at have to worry about rehearsing much, nearly every show – the Bible assures us promoting our shows or building a local that God will reward His followers. It’s all
made very clear in Leviticus 25:18-19.” Although the band’s lackluster songwriting, sub-par instrumentation and infantile stage show has garnered them only harsh press and booing audiences, Tallman and his bandmates have sworn to continue their form of musical praise for as long as it takes for God to reward them with a plush, front-loaded record contract. “We’ll keep playing benefit shows and
church picnics for as long as it takes for God to make good on His word and provide us with our untold riches,” said Tallman. “Unless, of course, we decide to change over to a devil-worship act in order to speed up the arrival of such worldly fortune. I believe we might actually be having a band vote on that at our next rehearsal.”–CF
BINGE page 1 these stragglers will binge drink on an death on their own vomit.” even more regular basis because of their Pete Wagner, owner of McGruder’s general lack of other commitments such as Pub near the University of Wisconsin in attending class or studying.” Madison, agreed with the study’s findings, Walters said that the dangerously low saying that summer breaks routinely cause level of binge drinking during college such drastic shortages in binge drinking as breaks can have a significantly negative to threaten his establishment’s ability to effect on the local economy. stay afloat. “Taverns, liquor stores and hospital “No doubt about it: without the college emergency rooms located near campuses kids in here drinking themselves stupid suffer significantly decreased business it’s hard to make ends meet,” said Wagner, during college breaks,” Walters explained. who said he prides himself on having “ O b v i o u s l y, In many college towns, large numbers of served many a less binge U of W student drinking means paramedics and ambulance drivers find their first drink less beer and themselves laid off during summer recess too many liquor sales, because so few students are recreationally during the last and less cases drinking until they pass out and choke to 15 years. “Sure, of alcohol while college is death on their own vomit.” poisoning. In out of session, many college towns, large numbers of there’s a lot less scrubbing puke off the paramedics and ambulance drivers find floor, and there aren’t nearly as many inthemselves laid off during summer recess booth rape incidents to speak of, but at because so few students are recreationally what price, you know?”–CF drinking until they pass out and choke to
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volume 13 issue 3 march
recoil Publishers
Cliff & Kimberly Frantz
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Entertainment/Music Editor Eric Mitts
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EDITORIAL
Those crazy fucking neighbors of ours are at it again Oh my God, you are not going to believe this one. Quick, come and get a look at this – those crazy fucking next-door neighbors of ours are at it again. Remember about a year ago how those senseless dingbats spent about two months trying to get permission from the entire neighborhood to let them move in on
benjamin.hunter@recoilmag.com
Writers
Mike Church Sherrie Coke Ryan Cunningham Wes Eaton Naomi Goedert Dr. Steve Mikulak Eric Mitts Mark Ritzema Jeff Smith Sheila Streeter Andrew Watson David Zann
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955 Paw Paw Drive Holland, MI 49423 Ph: 616.776.0211 info@recoilmag.com MISSION STATEMENT Recoil offers a humorous and provocative reflection of the state of modern society through the use of satire, in an effort to maintain awareness of our culture’s imperfections. PUBLICATION INFORMATION Recoil uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental. The content of this publication is © Copyright 2013 by Blue V Productions, LLC, and may not be reprinted or retransmitted in whole or in part without the expressed written consent of the publishers and a pretty goddamned good reason. Recoil is free to the West Michigan community, but please, one per person. Anyone removing issues in bulk will be promptly executed. MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available for $25 for one year (12 issues). Mail check or money order payable to: Recoil 955 Paw Paw Drive Holland, MI 49423
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By Canada that one property on the grounds that the current tenant – the guy with the mustache – was an uncooperative nutbag that needed to be removed from the community? And then when they couldn’t get any of us to agree with them, they just went ahead and ran the guy out of town anyway? Now that property is a complete goddamned disaster. The yard’s a mess, the power’s constantly going in and out, and I don’t even think they have running water over there anymore. Well, you’d think that whole incident
would’ve taught our next-door neighbors thing it’s another with these clowns. to mind their own business – but no! Now Believe me, if it were up to me, we they’re trying to tell those Asians down wouldn’t live anywhere near these the street what they can and can’t do in assholes. It’s like everybody else looks their own backyard. Can you believe the at us like we’re all buddies with them or nerve of these people? something just because I mean, really, who put If it were up to me, we we live next-door, when them in charge of the truth is that we can’t wouldn’t live anywhere the Neighborhood Watch? stand them any more I sure as hell don’t near those assholes. than anybody else can. remember asking them I’m sure you remember to police the whole community, do you? that time during that barbeque last summer I guess the cocky bastards think they can when those rude-ass neighbors refused just boss everyone else around because to use the beef we brought because they nobody dares say anything to the contrary. thought it might be diseased. Jesus, What right do they have to act like nothing like making us look bad in front such jackoffs to everybody that doesn’t of everybody. I was half-expecting them instantly agree with them on everything, to boycott our beer, too, but I guess all you know? It’s hard to believe they could those people living next-door like to stay really think they’re better than everybody good and loaded so they won’t notice what else on the block when their household dickheads they’re being to the rest of the seems to have the most problems of world. anybody. Heck, it seems like every night Oh boy, I think that’s them knocking on the news I see another story about some on our door again. I wonder what insane madman with a gun next-door terrorizing idea they want our help with this time. the rest of the people that live over there. Alright, I better get this, I guess. Time to Is every single person over there armed, be neighborly. We do have to live next to for Christ’s sake? I tell ya, if it’s not one these people.
from TRAPDOORS page 1 designs with secret corridors and remote- their house is lying,” said Kevin Morgan. controlled trapdoors, Allen Morgan “We don’t have any in our house, of admitted that his professional judgment course, but we do have a laundry chute, precludes him from being tempted to which I think is pretty neat. I’ve played incorporate such construction anomalies with it a lot, sent my G.I. Joe figures down into his blueprints. it and stuff, but it’s just too darn small for “It’s not like I don’t remember what me to fit down. That would be awesome if it’s like to be young, and how fun it I could, though. If I were building a house, must seem to Kevin, the idea of having I’d want there to be four or five humansecret passageways in your home, but the sized chutes under trapdoors that I could reality is that today’s homebuyers don’t go down. Or I could surprise my enemies generally share this enthusiasm,” said by triggering trapdoors from my desk with Allen Morgan. “Homeowners who want secret buttons. Who wouldn’t want to be exotic estate styles want Tuscan Spanish able to do that?” Mediterranean Revival or French Country Real estate specialist Barry Gilmore Chateau, not disagreed Gothic Castle – Kevin Morgan: “We do have a laundry chute, with Morgan, tallow candles, which I think is pretty neat. I’ve played with noting that h a n g i n g recent home it a lot, sent my G.I. Joe figures down it and oil lanterns sales figures and sliding stuff, but it’s just too darn small for me to indicate that segments of fit down. That would be awesome if I could, today’s typical i n t r i c a t e l y though. If I were building a house, I’d want homebuyer has p a n e l e d there to be four or five human-sized chutes little need for wainscoting secret passages under trapdoors that I could go down.” that trigger or trapdoors the opening to protect of hidden entrances to underground themselves from enemies who might laboratories or medieval weapons rooms.” infiltrate their homestead. Kevin Morgan – whose passion for secret “About as experimental as most passages, false walls, trapdoors with homebuyers get is maybe wanting a chutes and other eccentric home additions walk-in closet or a spiral staircase,” said springs from his obsession with medieval- Gilmore. “I think losing one’s childhood themed role-playing videogames as well as affinity for secret passages is just part of modern spy movies – disagrees, believing growing up and having to interact with the that most homebuyers actually do want real world. Although, I have to admit that their homes to have secret passages but if I had a secret passage in my house, it are too embarrassed to request such from would be hard not to use it to freak the shit the architect. out of the kids or maybe to avoid the wife “Anybody who says they don’t think it in the evenings.” would be cool to have secret passages in
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volume 13 issue 3 march
7
COMMUNITY
Small-town stalker sets off to try to stalk the big-time in Hollywood
Above: Piles stalks a Shell station cashier in his rural hometown of Colfax, Ind.
Colfax, Ind. – Twenty-three-year-old than thrilled with his decision, having for pizza delivery driver and reputed stalker years pressed their son to abandon his Derek Piles will come one step closer stalking ambitions and settle into a more to realizing his dream of becoming a conventional lifestyle. “Mom and Dad have always wanted high-profile stalker when the small-town youth sets off to try to stalk the big-time me to go to community college and get celebrities in Hollywood later this month. a square job and stuff, but ever since I “Colfax was a great place to grow up and was ten years old all I’ve ever wanted to do is follow all, and I’ve “I’ve managed to do some decent people around, managed to do their some decent small-time stalking here and in nearby invade privacy and small-time stalking here Indianapolis, but it’s time for me to just generally them and in nearby take the next step – hopefully into a creep out,” said Piles. Indianapolis, celebrity’s home,” Piles stated. “I’ve tried to but it’s time for me to take the next step – hopefully into explain to them that different people want a celebrity’s home,” Piles stated flatly. different things out of life. For guys like “Moving out to la-la land is absolutely my dad, that means working a solid job essential if I want to have any hope of and raising a family; making the big-time Hollywood stars for me it means renting have to hire extra security guards to keep a one-room shithouse in North Hollywood, me out of their yards.” Jennifer Piles said that although he has been getting stalking local men and women seriously Garner’s home address for more than eight years, it was not until and going through her December of last year – after his most garbage every night. strokes, recent work garnered the attention of Different local news media – that he was struck by right?” Despite having the urge to move out west and pursue his amassed a good amount stalking full-time. “When the Colfax Weekly Review printed of stalking experience my picture in the paper after my last in his rural hometown, arrest, it gave me the boost of confidence Piles has no illusions I needed to try to take my act to the next about the difficult road level,” Piles said Monday from Clinton he will have to travel County Jail, where he is currently serving if he hopes to one the last week of a 60-day jail sentence day see his name on for misdemeanor trespassing. “The way restraining orders filed I look at it, if I don’t take my shot now by Hollywood’s biggest while I’m young I could spend the rest of stars. “I’ll bet there are my life watching the news and wondering if it could have been me getting picked stalkers that have been in Hollywood up by police for breaking into Renee out for ten years and still Zellweger’s private yacht.” Piles, a 2000 graduate of Colfax High haven’t even been School, admitted that his parents are less able to find out where
George Clooney gets his hair cut,” said take to outfox Tara Reid’s security system Piles, acknowledging the increased or whatnot. I wish him the best, though.” focus celebrities put on maintaining their Planning to pack his belongings into privacy. “All I know is that I’ve got a lot his 1990 Chevy pickup and set out for of ambition and I’m ready to work hard. California upon his release from jail, Piles If it turns out that “Derek’s got more restraining remains cautiously I end up having to optimistic about his stalk some B-list orders on him than anyone else future in stalking. in Colfax,” said May. celebrities for my “I’m excited and first few years in order to pay my dues, nervous, but feeling very alive,” said then by God that’s what I’ll do. Oddly Piles. “I think I’ll do alright once I get out enough, I’ve always had this weird there. I actually think the hardest part will obsession with [comedian] Kathy Griffin anyway. Hell, she’s probably begging for a tail or two.” Friend Ed May said he is uncertain if Piles has what it takes to make it as a successful stalker in a city rife with competition. “Derek’s got more restraining orders on him than anyone else in Colfax,” said May, questioning whether or not Piles will be able to not get noticed as a stalker in Hollywood. “I remember he used to spend a lot of time shadowing our mail carrier Gina a couple of months ago until her boyfriend threatened to kick his ass if he didn’t stop. He also used to drive up to Indianapolis to follow that Above: A police mug shot of Derek Piles. [television news anchor] Mia Robbins around last summer but he be the drive out there. It’s almost three quit because he couldn’t afford all of the thousand miles and I’ll be all by myself. gas money it was costing him. So no, I It sure would be nice if I could follow don’t know if Derek has the skills it’ll somebody.”–CF
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volume 13 issue 3 march
recoilmag.com
POLITICS
Special Senate vote scheduled to determine who gets last fudge bar Washington, D.C. – Following hours of heated debate, members of the U.S. Senate agreed Wednesday to schedule a special session in order to vote on legislation that will determine which Senator has rights to the one remaining fudge bar still in the freezer. Moments after each member of the Senate was presented with a gourmet fudge bar, a realization that one leftover bar remained sent Senators into a frenzy of name calling and accusations, as each member made a case for consumption of the finely prepared dessert. Finally, the Senators agreed to call a special session to vote on how to allocate the last delightful treat, which apparently was errantly delivered because caterers foolishly believed Washington, D.C., had a seat in the upper house of the legislature. The extra session, which will be held Thursday, will convene at 9 p.m. Arguments from the floor will be made regarding which Senator deserves the
fudge bar. Most pundits in Washington expect the vote to remain perfectly individually partisan with an outcome of 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 – 1. As Americans grow weary of the government’s partisan ways, some Senators are sending the message that the country’s best interests are in mind. “I always do what I think is best for this nation, but I just don’t think the American people have all the information necessary
Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky: “I don’t want to see something like that misappropriated.” to understand this issue,” said Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. “Those little bars were just so delicious. I don’t want to see
Above: The U.S. Senate scheduled to hear later arguements regarding the distribution of the leftover ice cream treat.
something like that misappropriated.” “This isn’t about Democrats and Republicans,” added Senator John Cornyn. “This is about fairness in fudge bar distribution and me savoring every last bite of it.” What may draw the fudge bar’s fate out
even longer is whether or not the Senate’s bill is able to pass the President’s desk. “No matter what the outcome, I’m positive the President will veto this just so he can have the fudge bar himself,” said Senator John Kerry. “I’m pretty sure I saw him eying it.”
A page from the Recoil handbook...
Caring For Your Pet There’s a great deal more to taking care of a domesticated animal than putting out some food and water every other day or so. Your pet needs plenty of care if it is to live a long, healthy life as an adored family companion. Here are some tips for making sure your pet’s many needs are met: • When selecting a pet, pick an animal whose adult size will be reasonable in relation to your living space. For example, if you live on a country ranch, you probably have enough room to raise horses, whereas if you live in a cardboard box, you’ll probably have to be satisfied with the fleas you’ve already acquired. • If you keep rabbits, remember that their favorite thing to do is chew – so make sure they have access to their own spittoon, as well as a pitcher’s mound and country music. • Before taking your pet out on a boat, it’s important to know for sure that it knows how to swim. Fortunately, there’s one easy way to find out for sure: dog swimming lessons. Just kidding; go ahead and toss the little ankle-biter overboard. • Never leave a dog unattended in a car – you’d be surprised how many of them know how to hotwire modern ignitions. • It’s important to clip you pet’s nails at least once every year, just like you do for yourself. You should also brush your pet’s hair or fur monthly, just like you do for yourself you filthy hippie. • You can keep your new puppy from digging up everything in sight simply taking away its shovel. Duh. • While it is important that your pet get enough exercise, it’s also important that they learn to wipe their sweat from the workout machines after using them. • Animals don’t have great memories, so the greater the time span between when your pet misbehaved and when you punish the animal, the harder you have to hit it. But that’s just common sense, now isn’t it?
• No matter how “accidental” it looks, there will be suspicion if you’re discovered to have taken out a $1,000,000 life insurance policy on your girlfriend’s cat two days before it’s discovered dead in the front yard. Trust me on this one.
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C O N T E N T S
recoil 3.01-3.31 VOLUME 13 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2013
Columns
Page 26 Page 27 Page 27 Page 29 Page 30
Jeff Smith – Media Awareness Wes Eaton – Food & Drink Dr. Steve Mikulak – Health Ryan Cunningham – Recording Mike Church – Food
Interviews Jean Grae Flyleaf Kate Nash
Page 15 Page 17 Page 24
Local acts The Severed Process Deadwood Stone King Crabapple
Features Tealow LadyFestGR Irish On Ionia
Reviews CDs DVDs
Page 18 Page 22 Page 30
Page 29 Page 33 Page 33
Pp. 31,32 Page 32
THE SEVERED PROCESS By winning the 2013 Heavyweight Battle of the Metal Bands hosted at The Intersection last month, The Severed Process showed the connected strength of the Muskegon metal scene.The second consecutive Muskegon band to win the Heavyweights title – following their friends in Kill Tomorrow who brought the title to the lakeshore last year – The Severed Process proved how powerful their scene has become in the last few years. The band won a prize package including $2,500 in cash, and plans to use their winnings to help release their six-song debut EP (recorded at Darkwave Audio in Grand Rapids last fall), with a release show set for April 20 at Club Envy in Muskegon. Vocalist J.T. Nichols and lead guitarist Nick “The Griffin” Jackson started The Severed Process in 2010, when they were both in-between bands, and their mutual friends, bassist Jesse King and drummer Caleb Villegas, joined soon after. Guitarist Jason Dykstra filled out the lineup in 2011 after first approaching the band as a fan. They decided on their name after joking about how they take the traditional songwriting process and then chop it up to make their own arrangements.The Severed Process call their sound “thrashy-core,” taking influence from thrash, metal, and hardcore, specifically bands like Unearth, August Burns Red and Parkway Drive. Following their Heavyweights win last month, Recoil fired a few questions by J.T. Nichols, who discussed their experience in this year’s competition, why they owe their victory to their fans, and why more people around West Michigan should notice the Muskegon metal scene. Page 18
JEAN GRAE Like the days of future past, Jean Grae has become unstuck in time. The veteran New York MC returned this year with the January release of Dust Ruffle – her first official release since her 2008 collaboration with producer 9th Wonder, Jeanius. A collection of unreleased songs from 2004-2010, Dust Ruffle documents Grae’s lost past, stretching across the time when she almost retired from rap entirely in late 2008, and opens things up for the long-awaited release of her highly-ambitious two-album project, Cake or Death and Gotham Down, both due out sometime later this year. Unlike anything she’s ever done in her nearly 20-year career (going back to her start in the mid-90s with underground hip-hop group Natural Resource, and her more recent work with close friends and collaborators Pharoahe Monch and Talib Kweli) Cake or Death and Gotham Down will push Grae’s music in new directions, and into the future. In the present, she still struggles with separate status female rappers continue to face in such a male-dominated genre, and will headline this year’s two-day LadyFestGR (playing the first night’s late show at The Pyramid Scheme March 22). Just hours before last month’s winter super-storm hit New York City, Recoil talked with Grae via phone about being a woman in hip-hop, how her love of gaming inspired her intense, self-directed new video “Kill Screen,” and why she blames her jazz musician parents for her almost freestyle approach to crafting rhymes. Page 15
The views and opinions expressed by Recoil columnists do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this publication.
Entertainment Guide Venue guide Event guide
Page 34 Pages 34-44
ADVERTISING INDEX Billy’s Lounge........................................................25 Bobarino’s.............................................................20 Drop 35.................................................................22 Erica’s...................................................................43 Founders...............................................................12 Fratelli’s..............................................................4,21 Grand Rapids Brewing Company..........................11 Growco..................................................................21 HopCat...................................................................11 Intersection...........................................................19 Lady Godiva’s........................................................43 Lemonjello’s..........................................................18 Hominian...............................................................36 Meanwhile Tavern.................................................28 Monarchs’...............................................................38 Moshpitnation........................................................26 Mulligans...............................................................31
New Holland Brewing Company..................................3 The Orbit Room.........................................................16 ParkwayTropics..........................................................42 PotatoeBabies..............................................................9 Pyramid Scheme........................................................35 Quaker Steak & Lube...................................................3 Reservoir, The...........................................................21 Rocky’s Bar & Grill.....................................................39 Screaming Gnat Studios...............................................7 Sensations.................................................................44 Studs..........................................................................43 TipTop Deluxe Bar & Grill.............................................2 Waveform Audio....................................................14,23
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COVER STORY
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JEAN GRAE
Like the days of future past, Jean Grae has become unstuck in time. The veteran New York MC returned this year with the January release of Dust Ruffle – her first official release since her 2008 collaboration with producer 9th Wonder, Jeanius. A collection of unreleased songs from 2004-2010, Dust Ruffle documents Grae’s lost past, stretching across the time when she almost retired from rap entirely in late 2008, and opens things up for the long-awaited release of her highly-ambitious two-album project, Cake or Death and Gotham Down, both due out sometime later this year. Unlike anything she’s ever done in her nearly 20-year career (going back to her start in the mid-90s with underground hip-hop group Natural Resource, and her more recent work with close friends and collaborators Pharoahe Monch and Talib Kweli) Cake or Death and Gotham Down will push Grae’s music in new directions, and into the future. In the present, she still struggles with separate status female rappers continue to face in such a male-dominated genre, and will headline this year’s two-day LadyFestGR (playing the first night’s late show at The Pyramid Scheme March 22). Just hours before last month’s winter super-storm hit New York City, Recoil talked with Grae via phone about being a woman in hip-hop, how her love of gaming inspired her intense, self-directed new video “Kill Screen,” and why she blames her jazz musician parents for her almost freestyle approach to crafting rhymes. Recoil: You will be headlining LadyFestGR here in Grand Rapids, which is a two-day event showcasing all female artists [March 22 and23 at The Pyramid Scheme]. How do you feel about events that specifically showcase women in music? Jean Grae: It’s always been interesting for me, and I was always one to kind of not really want to be involved in events that would just be all female artists, and it’s kind of made me feel like, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t be separating ourselves all the time.’ But I think there are great moments where it’s wonderful just to celebrate that, and I definitely kind of pick and choose to not do it all the time. But I’m happy and very honored to be headlining and celebrating, and performing with friends as well.
place where I can even clean my house, I’ve got to get some of this stuff out. And I think for a lot of new fans, which happens every day for people who aren’t necessarily familiar with fifteen-year catalog I have… I’m like, ‘Okay, the things I might be moving on to might be a little bit different, so let’s get out the rackety-rack, as I classify it, just to kind of satisfy those heads and move on to some new things.’ And, just in general, I think it’s healthy just to get everything out and start with a clean slate. R: That leads me to talking about your next project, Cake or Death, which, from what I’ve read about it, is going to be completely different from anything you’ve done before, with a greater emphasis on vocal arrangements and string and horn arrangements than a lot of other rap records out there. Why did you decide to move more in that direction? JG: Yeah, Cake or Death sounds like a really lush record. It’s full and warm, and it’s not necessarily just boom-bap and me rapping. And [my other new album] Gotham Down – maybe this is going to be confusing to people, but Gotham Down is going to be, in linear time, the record that I made after Cake or Death, because it follows the story. So it’s kind of super-futuristic and it’s supposed to exist from 2013 to 2020. So it’s been an interesting trip, and sometimes kind of difficult to step outside of my own comfort zones and record so far ahead in the future, and think, ‘What would I be doing then?’
R: I’ve read that you rarely just sit down and write rhymes, and that you prefer to just live life and allow that to inspire you and then just write almost i m m e d i a te ly before you go to record, rather than obsessing over each bar and editing yourself that way. Did you take that approach going into these projects? JG: Absolutely. Sadly, it’s really difficult for me R: Having worked in hip-hop for as long as to write ahead of time. This is a whole other you have, do you feel like in hip-hop culture kind of pressure, and at this point, it’s not like you still get separated more often than not, it’s anything I can make myself do. Then also, or how much has that perception about unfortunately, even if I’m writing directly before female MCs changed over the years? I’m recording, I’m still obsessing over every line, JG: I think that I set out trying to get people and it is a headache for me. Yeah, [sighs] I wish not to say female MC and just say MC. So I I had a real process. I was talking to someone think it’s still there; it definitely still exists, and the other day, and they’re like, ‘Do you ever just as long as it’s not the dreaded, horrible, FemC go back to stuff that you wrote separately?’ And [laughs], it’s kind of a difficult thing to get away I’m not a good rapper like that. I don’t have a from just because I think there’s so many other surplus of anything in notebooks so I can go pull things. I tend to write very much kind Gotham Down is going to be, in linear of backwards from the song. Even starting time, the record that I made after Cake a song I’m already in the video, and the already been out, so when I start or Death, because it follows the story. song’s to write it, I’m like, ‘Shit, I have to write this So it’s kind of super-futuristic and it’s whole that already exists.’ So, sadly I don’t supposed to exist from 2013 to 2020. really have a process and writing like that is really stressful, but it is really just the amazing things to discuss about the music in only way that it comes out. general that sometimes that does a disservice and immediately puts it in a category, and the R: I’ve read that your parents were both jazz category should just be lyrics. musicians. Do you think growing up in that environment and being surrounded by jazz R: I wanted to jump right in and talk about music maybe steered you, in some way, to your latest project, Dust Ruffle, that you put taking that sort of approach with your own out [in January], which is a collection of music? unreleased songs from 2004 to 2010, if I’m JG: It probably is. I think it’s the closest to not mistaken. Why did you finally want to get almost free-styling, although it’s super-superthose songs out there? arranged in my head at the time. So it’s probably JG: I think it’s because I’m really interested in the most frustrating thing, because I can see moving on to these two new projects (Cake or like the entire orchestra, I can see everything, Death and Gotham Down) that are coming out and then having to build it backwards from [later this year]. So really calling it Dust Ruffle them. But, yeah, I think that probably had a lot is kind of like when you’re doing your Sunday to do with it, being of an improvisational nature cleaning, and I’ve found this stuff under my bed, in just everything [I do], just like life in general. and before I get all new stuff, or even get to the So, damn them! [Laughs.]
interview by eric mitts R: You mentioned how you’re always looking at your songs so far ahead, jumping ahead of yourself to the music video and everything, and I wanted to ask about the video you shot and directed for your song ‘Kill Screen.’ For you, what was it like taking on that full, hands-on approach to that part of the process? JG: It’s easier for me to be like, ‘I’m doing this. I’m doing all the production for Gotham Down, and I’m going to be directing all the videos now.’ It’s so much easier when I don’t have to sit down and explain or work with other people [laughs]. And I think was great for me. ‘Kill Screen’ was kind of the nut that I had to get off, in that I just did everything, and after that people were like, ‘We love it. It’s amazing. And now, please ask us to do things! Please just tell us how we can help you.’ So it’s been an exercise in my own patience, and really learning and finding people that operate in the way that I need them to operate, and to get work done, and relinquish some of that control. So I think ‘Kill Screen’ was important for me to get out, and go halfway blind while doing it, and then be like, ‘Okay, can someone else please hold the camera, ‘cause I can’t do this all the time!’ [Laughs.]
“I tend to write very much kind of backwards from the song. Even starting a song I’m already in the video, and the song’s already been out, so when I start to write it, I’m like, ‘Shit, I have to write this whole that already exists.’”
R: Talking about ‘Kill Screen’ the song, I know that gaming culture has long inspired you, and been something that you’ve enjoyed in your own life. For you, how have you balanced using gaming as a source of inspiration while also just enjoying the distraction of it? JG: I said yesterday, I was like, ‘All right…’ I’ve recently moved to my house and I haven’t gotten to anything. Like I have a game room, and I cannot build it until these projects are out, because I’m not going to get anything done. But I think this weekend, in a snowstorm, I’m like, ‘Man, I would Grand Theft Auto all weekend, and it would be amazing, and I would just rampage the fuck out and it would be great.’ So I think in my adult life, kind of learning that anything can happen, so I’m a work hard, play hard kind of person. So in April, I’m taking two weeks out, and no one should call me [laughs], or come in my house and see me, because it’s going to look terrible in here, and shameful, and there will be pizza boxes, and there will be a lot of gaming.
X-Men, that you identified with, or that you found particularly inspiring or fascinating? JG: Well, one, which this sounds like a weird choice, I wanted to keep the balance of the amount of letters in my name. I don’t know, that just sounded like a thing to me where I needed it to be even on both sides, and What? What? felt like that, and I wanted it to be the grownup version of me, so I kind of went through that transition, and finding out who I was writingwise. And doing stuff like [my previous hip-hop group] Natural Resource [in the mid-90s] was me really just starting to discover my writing style and my writing ability, and I think once I realized that it was going into a place that was a little bit darker, and a lot more introspective, I needed to find something that would fit the evolution of that. And then also to kind of force myself to give myself a story, give myself a background to live up to. I’m not necessarily saying that I’m making any lightning storms happen, so that’s not going to be a good fit… And Jean Grae was absolutely perfect, and it came with so much. It’s such a heavy name, that if you don’t live up to it… It kind of makes yourself be greater and live ahead in the future and working from it. R: Since this will be your first time here to Grand Rapids, how would you describe your live show to anyone who hasn’t had the chance to catch you out live yet? JG: [Whispers timidly] My live show is really interesting, it’s direct… [laughs] I really love performing. I enjoy having a relationship with the audience, and it took a long time for me to understand why people feel really close, and connected, and sometimes familiar… But when you’re listening to an artist for a really long time, it feels like you know them, but it’s a one-sided conversation because it’s them always talking to you, and you never talking back. So, doing shows is my way to say, ‘Okay, we’re finally having a conversation now.’ And I really try to… Especially in the last five years, it’s like, put your cameras down, don’t watch me through your phone, because I need you to be in the moment. It’s like talking to someone and having a really deep conversation, like, ‘I really need to talk, let’s go out.’ And then you go out and they’re on their phone texting the whole time. I need you to be here because I’m present, so you be present. I’m also audience-interactive, and try to make it feel like we’re in a tiny living room, no matter what the space is. So I enjoy it, and it’s not a normal rap performance.
“It’s so much easier when I don’t have to sit down and explain or work with other people. [Laughs.]”
R: When you did change your alias from What? What? [when you were in Natural Resource] to Jean Grae [in 1998], what was it about the character of Jean Grey, from the
Jean Grae will headline the second annual LadyFestGR, performing the late show at The Pyramid Scheme March 22. To read Recoil’s full interview with Grae, check out recoilmag. com. For more on this year’s LadyFestGR, including full schedule and ticket info, click over to pyramidschemebar.com. For more on Jean Grae, go to jeangrae.com.
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INTERVIEW A new page, a new chapter, a new beginning. Flyleaf has embarked on a new adventure with their new lead singer, Kristen May, and headed out in a new direction with their current coheadlining tour with Drowning Pool (coming to the Intersection March 8). The tour is their first with May and their first in support of their latest album, last fall’s appropriately-titled New Horizons, which was the alternative-metal band’s last release with original frontwoman Lacey Sturm. Sturm decided to quit the band she had started 10 years ago (with drummer James Culpepper, guitarists Sameer Bhattacharya and Jared Hartmann, and bassist Pat Seals) mostly to spend time with her son, who was born in the spring of 2011. Following her departure, the band decided to audition vocalists, before finding May, who had recently parted ways with her previous band, Vedera, in 2011. Since announcing May was joining the band, Flyleaf has already started writing new material together with her, as well as rehearsing songs from New Horizons, and their two previous albums, 2009’s Memento Mori, and 2005’s platinum-selling self-titled debut. Recoil spoke with lead guitarist Sameer Bhattacharya about Lacey Sturm’s departure, May’s refreshing presence as a songwriter and performer, and why they’re amped to tour with their fellow Texans in Drowning Pool. Recoil: How excited are you to be getting back out on the road with this upcoming coheadlining tour with your fellow Texans in Drowning Pool? Sameer Bhattacharya: We are very excited. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s something we’ve been looking forward to very much. R: Do you feel like there are some parallels between your two bands since they’ve moved on without their original lead singer and you’re about to make a similar move yourselves, touring for the first time with [new Flyleaf lead singer] Kristen [May]? SB: Yeah, yeah. With this tour they’re on their third lead singer [Jason Morero] now, and this is our first with our second lead singer, and this is the first tour with both of them, so it’s a new experience for both bands. R: Obviously this is your first full tour with Kristen as your new lead vocalist. What has it been like working with her so far? SB: Man, it’s been amazing. She’s so laid back, and she immediately clicked with our Flyleaf family; with our wives, our crew, with everyone. She just melded instantly. Her hooks and her melodies are so sweet, and her vocals are so powerful, and her songwriting is so good; it really is a perfect new addition to Flyleaf. R: How did you decide on moving forward with Kristen after Lacey decided to leave the band last fall? SB: The main thing when we were auditioning singers was that they had to have the same convictions we did. They had to have that passion for the emotion behind the music. That was first and foremost, is that we were on the same page about that. And when she sang that first note in rehearsal, it really was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ it really was just perfect. It was something that was truly magical. R: How had you first become aware of Kristen? Had you listened to a lot of her previous band Verdera? SB: We had heard of them, and she actually came up on the list fairly early on when we were looking at singers, but none of us knew that Verdera had broken up, so we didn’t pursue her too far, because we thought that she was still involved in Verdera. So we had actually auditioned a lot of singers prior to her because we didn’t realize she was available. We were actually looking at this singer from New Zealand, and her booking agent was like, ‘This girl is really good, but you really need to check
interview by eric mitts out Kristen May, because Verdera isn’t a band anymore and she’s available.’ So we were like, ‘Whoa. We’ll definitely check it out.’ We hadn’t noticed that she was looking for a band or that Verdera had broken up. So it was actually just by providence that we ended up with Kristen May. [Laughs.] R: When you guys were working on New Horizons, was there a time while you working on the album that you knew that Lacey would be leaving the band once you were done? SB: Actually we knew before. She told us before we went into the studio that Flyleaf wasn’t a priority for her anymore, so we knew prior to recording the record that she was going to quit. But we felt like these songs were too special, and too important, not to be recorded. So that was the main reason why we tracked New Horizons, is we felt like these songs had to be recorded. They had to be tracked. R: How did those recording sessions feel then? Since you knew it was the last time you’d be recording with Lacey did that whole experience feel completely different from when you recorded your previous two albums? SB: Umm, yeah. Every process is different. Every record from our debut to Memento Mori, to all the EPs, every process was different, and every feeling was different recording all that. In some ways New Horizons was the easiest to record. We knew exactly what we were looking for in the music and we tracked it and she came in and did the vocals, and it was really, really fast. We’ve been a band for a so long now, it’s like a well-oiled machine – a well-oiled machine that has a deep soul. We work so efficiently, but our biggest priority is the songs and the message in the songs, and I think we do a great job of extracting that and pushing it to the front.
SB: Not yet. We want to see… We just recorded them and they’re going into post[-production] now, so… We do want to play music that’s going to be different, because we’re still adjusting things before we finish recording, before we print it, so we want to make sure that what we do live is going to be close to those recordings. R: What songs from your previous albums are you bringing back to the set that you’re particularly looking forward to playing on this tour? SB: ‘Red Sam’ we’re bringing back. ‘Perfect’ we’re bringing back into the set. I’m excited
R: Now that you guys are about to head back out on the road, are you going to keep in touch with Lacey and give her updates from the road? SB: Uhh, you know, here and there.
“The main thing when we were auditioning singers was that they had to have the same convictions we did. They had to have that passion for the emotion behind the music. That was first and foremost, is that we were on the same page about that. And when she R: Like you mentioned earlier, you guys have sang that first note in rehearsal, it really was already worked on like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ it really was just perfect.” some new material together with Kristen. How would you describe the new songs you’ve worked on with her? SB: Umm. Fresh. Refreshing is the word that keeps coming to mind when we keep thinking about this process. I feel like there’s this lightness – like the songs are still full and still heavy – but the attitudes are so light and so free. It’s hard to explain. It’s like a weight lifted off your chest. It’s hard to explain. It’s like a freedom and a rejuvenation. R: Do you plan to play any of those brand new songs on this upcoming tour?
because we’re playing ‘Broken Wings,’ which is from New Horizons, but it was written before Flyleaf was even a band, so we’ve had that song for a long time, so I’m really excited to be playing that live, and that’s something that our hardcore have been requesting since the inception of the band, for us to be playing that live, and have that on an official recording for them to take that home. R: Flyleaf has always been completely honest about your faith and how much it means to you, while also being clear that you’re not a ‘Christian band’ in terms of a
genre or anything along those lines. How much does it mean to you to connect with your fans in a spiritual way, while still not letting your music get lumped in with something that might exclude other people? SB: I feel like you’ve got to be conscious of it. You’ve got to be conscious of the way you talk to people. You don’t want to turn people off; that’s the last thing you want to do; you’re defeating the purpose of being a Christian, if what you’re sharing is turning people off. People don’t want to be preached at; they want to be loved, and if you can do that you’re speaking volumes over berating them over the head about Christianity. Obviously actions speak louder than words, so just love people with your actions, and the rest will follow, I think. R: One last question for you, I know you said how you’d like to record and get a new record out by the end of this year, what all do you have lined up as far as recording our anything, after this tour or later this year? SB: After this tour we have some overseas dates, and we’ve got some offers for the summer for some more U.S. tours in the summer, and also some more U.S. tours in the fall. I think with doing all those dates, we’re going to be writing, whether it’s for our next record, or EPs, or singles, or whatever. Another thing that’s really awesome about our band is that we’re never not writing. We write constantly. So that’s something that I really, really love. So if we put out a record this year, that would be great, if we don’t we’re definitely going to be releasing something. Flyleaf will co-headline with Drowning Pool at the Intersection March 8. New Horizons is in stores and online now. To read Recoil’s full interview with Sameer Bhattacharya check out recoilmag.com. For more, click over to flyleafmusic.com.
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LOCAL ACT By winning the 2013 Heavyweight Battle of the Metal Bands hosted at The Intersection last month, The Severed Process showed the connected strength of the Muskegon metal scene. The second consecutive Muskegon band to win the Heavyweights title – following their friends in Kill Tomorrow who brought the title to the lakeshore last year – The Severed Process proved how powerful their scene has become in the last few years. The band won a prize package including $2,500 in cash, and plans to use their winnings to help release their six-song debut EP (recorded at Darkwave Audio in Grand Rapids last fall), with a release show set for April 20 at Club Envy in Muskegon. Vocalist J.T. Nichols and lead guitarist Nick “The Griffin” Jackson started The Severed Process in 2010, when they were both in-between bands, and their mutual friends, bassist Jesse King and drummer Caleb Villegas, joined soon after. Guitarist Jason Dykstra filled out the lineup in 2011 after first approaching the band as a fan. They decided on their name after joking about how they take the traditional songwriting process and then chop it up to make their own arrangements. The Severed Process call their sound “thrashy-core,” taking influence from thrash, metal, and hardcore, specifically bands like Unearth, August Burns Red and Parkway Drive. Following their Heavyweights win last month, Recoil fired a few questions by J.T. Nichols, who discussed their experience in this year’s competition, why they owe their victory to their fans, and why more people around West Michigan should notice the Muskegon metal scene.
Muskegon metal in GR at Heavyweights? JTN: Like we said, we have an incredible support system in Muskegon, so it meant a lot for us to bring home the title and make them proud. Last year our good friends in Kill Tomorrow – also from Muskegon – won so we had some big shoes to fill to keep the title in our town. We attribute our win to our fans that bought tickets and made multiple trips to Grand Rapids to support us, without them we wouldn’t stand a chance. This is for them as much as it’s for us. R: What did you learn from your friends in Kill Tomorrow after they won Heavyweights last year? JTN: Kill Tomorrow gave us lots of little tips that were helpful in the competition like making sure to grab our fans when they got to the show and have them vote right away, and the importance of selling tickets. We pushed our ticket sales hard and drove in many snowstorms to hand deliver to our fans. We will never stop giving our all to the fans that come out and support, and I think they are the same in their attitudes. Kill Tomorrow has been around for a long time, they’ve got to be doing something right!
“Anytime we can share our passion with the world makes it all worth the hard work we put in.”
Recoil: What did it mean to you as a band to take home this year’s Heavyweights title? J.T. Nichols: The world. The band decided to not enter the competition last year because at the time of the initial entry, we didn’t feel our music was all that it could be. We took the year and wrote some new music and made it our mission to help bring the scene back to life. Lots of long practices and hard work was put into making us what we are today and this win made everything worth it. Although this was the epitome of this year, it will not be the epitome of The Severed Process. Winning just gives us more motivation to expand ourselves and stay at the top of our game. [We want to give a] huge thanks to our fans, families and girlfriends, wives for all of the constant and overwhelming support – we feed off their energy. We also have to send a huge thanks to our manager, Ali
“Lots of long practices and hard work was put into making us what we are today and this win made everything worth it.” [Nichols], for constantly pushing and supporting us, and giving honest feedback at every show. This solid team allows us to focus on our music and continuously improve and grow as a band. R: What do you think about the current state of the West Michigan metal scene? JTN: The Muskegon metal scene is incredible. We have the best fans, venues and supporters that we could ask for. Now that we have conquered our hometown, it’s our mission to bring that excitement and support to everywhere we travel. The scene has grown a lot over the past three years, and seems to have the momentum to keep growing. The growth of the scene keeps us at the top of our game and evolving as a band. R: What did it mean to you to represent
R: Being the second Muskegon metal band in a row to win Heavyweights, do you think more people in GR and around West Michigan will pay more attention to what’s coming out of the Muskegon scene? JTN: We hope so. There has been a lot of hype about the Muskegon scene for a while now. When we bring bands from out of town to Muskegon, they are always surprised and excited about the response of our fans, so I think that it gains a lot of attention on its own, but this win just adds to that excitement. Muskegon music is a force to be reckoned with and we’d love to spread that to other parts of Michigan. R: In your opinion, why are competitions like Heavyweights important or helpful to the scene? JTN: Competitions like the Heavyweights are vital to our scene. Not only does it allow us some friendly competition between local bands, but also allows us to play in front of a huge crowd and share our music with new fans. The obvious answer is due to the exposure, but it’s so much more than that. We love what we do, and we do it for the people banging their heads in the crowd, anytime we can share our passion with the world makes it all worth the hard work we put in. R: What do you already have planned to do with your winnings from Heavyweights? JTN: We recorded a six-song EP with Darkwave Audio [in Grand Rapids, darkwaveaudio.com] this past fall that we are planning to release at a big local show on April 20 [at Club Envy in Muskegon]. Some of the winnings [from Heavyweights] are going to duplication, artwork, packaging of that, and new merch. We are planning to record a full-length album later this year and maybe looking at a trailer so we can quit driving four vehicles to every show… We have a lot of gear. R: What is the title of your upcoming EP going to be? What was it like working on that at Darkwave Audio? JTN: As far as we’ve decided, our EP will be self-titled. Working with Darkwave Audio is amazing. [Owner/engineer] Ryan Mey is a longtime friend of our manager and recorded our demo when the band first got together. He moved to Chicago for a while and worked at BOTA Studios with some big name bands (Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya) and came back with a crazy added knowledge and skill-set. He understands our vision and makes us the best that we can be without overproducing anything. We are stoked to record our full-length with him and would totally recommend him to anyone
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THE SEVERED PROCESS looking for a quality recording. The Severed Process will open for [Hed] P.E. at the Intersection March 1. They’ll release their debut EP April 20 at Club Envy in Muskegon.
To read Recoil’s full interview with J.T. Nichols, check out recoilmag.com. For a full list of shows and more info, click over to reverbnation. com/theseveredprocess1, or facebook.com/ theseveredprocess.
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LOCAL ACT Deadwood Stone hopes to prove that hard rock is alive and well in 2013. The veteran Grand Rapids four-piece will release their first full-length album Ashes on March 30 with a headlining CD release concert at the Intersection. The all-local lineup will also include their friends in rock bands Bled Life, Uncommon Road, Society Kills and Gunship Radio. “This is a dream come true for us, to be headlining a show at the Intersection,” bassist Fred Droski told Recoil. “After college, I never thought I’d be in a band, let alone headlining the Intersection. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though… The Intersection has treated us so well over the years. It’s time to throw a party.” Ashes follows in the wake of Deadwood Stone’s debut release, 2009’s “Exit Strategy” EP, and was recorded/mixed with David James at Double D Productions in Grand Rapids. The ten-song disc was mastered by Rob Schlette at Anthem Mastering. “We’ve been working really hard on it for the past two years,” lead guitarist Dave Droski said about the making of Ashes. “Recording an album is hard with balancing full-time jobs and playing so many shows. We wanted this album to be exactly how we wanted it.” The album’s title comes from the second song on the disc, “Ashes,” that Fred Droski described as having a “pick yourself up and keep going” message. “We definitely tried to stick to our roots: rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, drums and vocals,” Fred Droski said. “But the area we really explored was our guitars by layering different guitar tones on each song, using different amps, effects, and even acoustic guitar in some spots. This gave each song its own feel.” Last year Deadwood Stone shot a video for the album’s leadoff track, “The Man,” with Grand Valley State University film student Robby Devroy (rAnimation.net) as a preview for the disc and to capture the feel of the band’s live performance. Earlier this year the band had the opportunity to
open for Papa Roach for the second time, playing as direct support before them at The Orbit Room. “It was loud, rowdy, and we made a lot of new friends and fans,” Dave Droski said about the show. Deadwood Stone has also opened for other national acts including: Queensryche, Puddle of Mudd, Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Tantric, Fuel, Chevelle, Saliva, Grand Rapids’ own Pop Evil, and Volbeat. “We all agree, and still talk about, the night we opened for Volbeat at the Intersection a couple years back,” Fred Droski said. “We only had a twenty-fiveminute set or so, we were the first of four bands, but we played with everything we had. After our set we went to the merch area and signed a ton of autographs. People couldn’t believe we were a local opener and thought we were on tour with them. And we happen to be huge Volbeat fans.” From all their experiences opening for touring bands, they’ve learned the importance of keeping their cool, even when technical difficulties arise, and have become very organized and efficient in making their shows go smoothly. “If you show up on time, play your asses off, and get off stage within a few minutes while maintaining a positive attitude with the staff, venues will have you back for more shows,” Dave Droski said. The decade-long history of Deadwood Stone goes deep into the Grand Rapids rock scene. The Droski brothers have jammed together since junior high – even using some of the riffs they came up with back then in their current songs – and the band members have known each other since their days at Grandville High School, where Dave Droski, vocalist/rhythm guitarist Chris Phillips, and drummer Nate Bishop had previously played in a band together from 2001 to 2002. They got their start in the live scene playing several local shows at the now-defunct all-ages venue Skelletones. “That was before they had a stage and the bands just set up in front of the window on the Division [Street] side of the upstairs,” Dave Droski said. “We were about as green as a blade of grass, but we had a lot of fun there!” Dave Droski then continued with his other band,
“If you show up on time, play your asses off, and get off stage within a few minutes while maintaining a positive attitude with the staff, venues will have you back for more shows.”
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DEADWOOD STONE Albatross, with Jake Gerard and Kevin Duemler, currently in The Black Chucks. In 2009 he ran into Bishop at a party and they decided to get the old band back together, with their friend Thad Underhill on bass. They started playing shows at The Break Room and other bars around Grand Rapids, and through hard work kept getting bigger and better gigs. Fred Droski, who had contributed some songwriting for the “Exit Strategy” EP, joined the band in 2011 after Underhill couldn’t continue on with them. The band has since grown close with other local bands, including Stone the Manic, The Legal Immigrants, Flood the Desert, Burden Of Ages, and Bled Life, who have helped support them from their beginning. “I feel like [the Grand Rapids music scene] has its
ups and downs,” Fred Droski said. “Some venues we used to play at have closed or don’t do live music anymore. But things are good with the venues that are still here! The Intersection has embraced local music and has always treated us really well with asking us to play national tour stops as well as hosting our CD release concert with all local acts. We feel like live music was bigger in the past, but with hard work, we can still do what we love.” Deadwood Stone will release Ashes at the Intersection March 30. To read Recoil’s full interview with the Droski brothers, check out recoilmag.com. For more info, click over to deadwoodstone.com.– Eric Mitts
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INTERVIEW Kate Nash has a lot to say on her new album, Girl Talk (out March 4, on her own Have 10p Records). Fed up with some of the seedier sides of the music industry that prey on young artists – especially young women – Nash decided to channel her anger and frustration into something positive, founding her own Rock ‘n’ Roll For Girls After School Music Club in her native England. The program inspired Nash (who had started out in the music business as a teen herself), and together with her own all-girl backing band, she’s since ventured into a new sound. Distinctly different from her smash indiepop debut, 2007’s U.K. chart-topping Made of Bricks – or her follow-up, 2010’s Motown/girlgroup-inspired My Best Friend Is You – Girl Talk recalls the riot-grrrl punk era of the early ‘90s. As candid and autobiographical as ever, Nash released something of a segue to her new musical direction with last year’s five-song “Death Proof” EP, a set inspired by Quentin Tartantino’s 2007 movie of the same name. Nash took the time to answer some of Recoil’s questions via e-mail while travelling to Africa as a global ambassador for Plan International late last month, detailing the development of Girl Talk, her ongoing charity work, and her recent work with Willow Smith. Recoil: Just to start things right off, how excited are you for the release of your new album, Girl Talk [on March 4]? Kate Nash: I feel so excited to get this out there. I just feel like I have put my heart and soul into this record and all the work that I possibly can. I think it is my best work so far and I am really proud of it. Just can’t wait for people to hear! R: Considering how surprised people were when you released [the song] ‘Underestimate the Girl’ last year, how surprised do you think people will be when they hear all of Girl Talk? KN: I think that ‘ U n d e r- e s t i m a te the Girl’ was a good shocker and got people talking about the change; I needed people to stop seeing me as a seventeen-yearold girl, you know? It’s weird, because I’ve been gradually changing over the past few years but I think people sort of put you in a time capsule and forget you’re a normal human that grows and changes. I feel like Girl Talk is really me, you could still be a fan of [my first album, 2007’s] Made of Bricks and enjoy it, but if you are expecting another Made of Bricks then you will be surprised for sure.
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KATE NASH some support during bad times.
R: Why did you first decide to start playing with an all-girl band? How much did playing with them lead directly into the ‘Death Proof’ EP and now Girl Talk? KN: I needed a change and I loved the girls straight away. I interviewed a bunch of musicians, male and female, but was drawn to these girls instantly. When we played together it just made sense and now we are tighter than ever, musically and emotionally. I love having all girls behind me, it feels amazing. And it is awesome to be able to preach to young girls about songwriting and getting up there and doing it themselves and then having my girls be more evidence of that. I feel like all my experience of touring and live shows the past six years has led to where I am musically, but my girls really get what I’m trying to communicate, they understand what I’m after when I’m recording and they also all have incredible talent and styles of playing.
you were for what you were heading into? KN: I wish I had known about the sharky characters – they really are out there. It sounds so cliché, but it’s true and you can’t be prepared for that. I am so naïve too and I trust the wrong people too often. I can’t help it, I treat everyone like they’re my best friend instantly and I forget there are people in this world that are only out for themselves. I wish I could have got more warning about that. But I also think everything
R: You’re travelling to Africa as a global ambassador for Plan International’s program Because I Am A Girl. How did you get involved with the group and what does it mean to you be their global ambassador? KN: I couldn’t be more proud of this. I feel like it’s something I have been leading up to doing my whole life. I care so much about girls and I really believe in this charity. They don’t come in and ‘save’ people and then walk away and leave them struggling again. They educate and empower. Plan is all about going into communities and talking to the people and seeing what they need help with and coming up with ways of letting the people in that community have the tools, education, means and power to do that. It is really awesome. And going to Ghana was one of the best experiences of my life. Go to protectagirl.org and sign up to find out more info. We have lots of cool stuff planned.
I can’t help it, I treat everyone like they’re my best friend instantly and I forget there are people in this world that are only out for themselves.
R: I have to ask about ‘Death Proof’ specifically. What was it about that movie [Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 film] that you particularly identified with or that inspired you? KN: I love the women; they are so badass and so hot and yet natural. I see so many women portrayed as weird kind of aliens, they’re so skinny and don’t feel female, they are unrelatable and not what I would consider attractive, but Tarantino just gets women right, he celebrates the woman, the natural things about women that I am attracted to, the way the girls in that movie talk is so awesome. I also love the music and the action. The mix of the slow, talking scenes that felt so real, and then the graphic violence and then the revenge. It was the perfect movie to watch during a difficult time.
happens for a reason and you learn and get stronger. R: Along those lines, you had a chance to work and write with Willow Smith, who’s someone that’s started out even younger than you were. What was it like working with her, and what have you taken away from that experience? KN: Willow is incredible! I have no idea how she is such a guru at such a young age, she has an old soul and a brain beyond her years. She is so looked after and nurtured and is extremely creative, she is writing her own ideas and writing with her felt just like the schools project in that it was all about encouraging her to be herself. I love what she is experimenting right now. It was so cool to work with her. I guess I took some inspiration. She is so at peace with herself, I’m striving for that too.
R: What are some of your plans for the rest of 2013, after this upcoming U.S. tour and release of Girl Talk? KN: Festivals! Touring! More movies, travelling more with plan, I like to take things as they come and I am always itching to do something creative. I’ll find a way. Kate Nash’s show at The Pyramid Scheme March 17 is sold-out. Girl Talk is in stores and online March 4. To read Recoil’s full interview with Kate, check out recoilmag.com. For more, click over to myignorantyouth.com.
“I’ve been gradually changing over the past few years but I think people sort of put you in a time capsule and forget you’re a normal human that grows and changes.
R: How much do you want Girl Talk to be a mission statement, not just about where you’re heading with your own music, but what it means to be a woman in music? KN: I think it has that vibe; I just want it to be there for anyone who needs to be powerful and supported, for anyone that is being bullied or treated like shit and is finding it difficult to have a voice in the situation. The album can be your voice whilst you don’t have the power to have one. And hopefully it can encourage people to stand up for themselves and set themselves. I kind of want it to be a light at the end of the tunnel. And you know, when girls go through hard times they talk a lot! So that’s why it’s called Girl Talk. Hopefully the album will be of
R: I’ve also got to ask about your own Rock ‘n’ Roll for Girls After School Music Club. Why did you feel it was important for you to take the time yourself, to start something like that? KN: Because I was becoming so angry and negative about the industry, I felt like I was moaning about things and not actually changing them. I came up with this idea after being inspired by the rock girl camps in New York and Portland and thought if I start doing this, I can hopefully inspire the next generation of girls to have more freedoms. That way the whole thing becomes positive and empowering rather than a drag. There’s nothing I can do about the way things are right now, but we can all be working towards the future. R: Starting out in music as young as you did, how much more prepared do you wish
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The Non-Profit Industrial Complex project in Grand Rapids Over the years I have used the term “non-profit industrial complex” to describe the economic and power dynamics that are at work with non-profits and their relationship to private and governmental power. This term was the focus of a major conference organized by the radical women by Jeff Smith of color group INCITE! and is the subject of a book they published several years ago, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded. The book, and the work of many others in
RECONNAISANCE
LaughFest to benefit Gilda’s Club March 7-17
With yet another winter coming to an end, Gilda’s LaughFest hopes to help turn those lingering blahs into big, healthy laughs. The 10-day festival will run March 7-17 at numerous locations around West Michigan, and all proceeds will benefit Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids, a free community organization focused on supporting emotional health needs. In each of its first two years LaughFest brought in over 50,000 attendees with a variety of comedians, performers, workshops, and other activities
this area, asks important questions about the relationship between non-profit organizations and funders, particularly foundations. According to INCITE, “The non-profit industrial complex is a system of relationships between; the State (or local and federal governments); the owning classes; foundations; and non-profit/NGO social service and social justice organizations that results in the surveillance, control, derailment,
foundations; manage and control dissent in order to make the world safe for capitalism; redirect activist energies into career-based modes of organizing instead of mass-based organizing capable of actually transforming society; allow corporations to mask their exploitative and colonial work practices through “philanthropic” work; encourage social movements to model themselves after capitalist structures rather
GRIID is just beginning a project that will investigate the Non-Profit Industrial Complex in Grand Rapids. and everyday management of political movements. The state uses non-profits to monitor and control social justice movements; divert public monies into private hands through
than to challenge them. GRIID is just beginning a project that will investigate the Non-Profit Industrial Complex in Grand Rapids that will be in two parts.
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MEDIA AWARENESS The first part will be a series of investigations into Grand Rapids-based foundations, where we will post profiles of numerous foundations and how they are using their money. The second part will be an investigation into local non-profit organizations, which include a look at where their funding sources are coming from, who sits on their boards and the results of an interview we plan to do with these nonprofits about their history and how they navigate between mission and following the money. We don’t have a rigid time frame for this project, but are looking to have the non-profit interviews/surveys and analysis completed by late May. Profiles of individual Grand Rapids will begin immediately. For an archive of the information go to griid.org/category/grandrapids-non-profit-industrial-complex. Jeff Smith does independent media work and analysis at griid.org.
designed to delight all ages with laughter, for the health of it. This year’s LaughFest will welcome such marquee stand-up comedians as Lewis Black, Brian Regan, Joel McHale, Wayne Brady, Jim Breuer and Bill Burr, as well as hosting showcases for rising comics, community workshops, and comedy events for children. For a full schedule of events, including over 200 free shows, as well as ticket information for all of this year’s performances, visit laughfestgr.org.
Foundry Hall benefit to bring together folk music, fundraising
South Haven folk duo Thirty Steps to Forward hopes to help music venue The Foundry Hall (422 Eagle St., South Haven) take the first steps toward a new foundation with an all-acoustic benefit show March 22. The show will help The Foundry Hall raise $75,000 to cover the down-payment – and a portion of the first year’s finances – they’ll need to purchase the building where they’re currently housed. Within 2013, the venue aims to raise approximately $600,000, from private, foundation, corporate, and additional funding to purchase, operate, and maintain the present building – and adjacent 10,000-square-foot parking lot – to include rooms for educational programming, retail business space, and the existing performance venues. “We feel that indie music is something that many people will never come into contact with because you most likely won’t find it playing on a radio station, and there are so many talented Lewis Black will be part of Gilda’s LaughFest March artists that you won’t get to experience unless you come out 14 at DeVos Hall.
Thirty Step To Foward will perform at Foundry Hall’s benefit show March 22. to a venue that’s indie-friendly,” Gretchen and Seth Powers of Thirty Steps To Forward told Recoil about why they wanted to organize the benefit. The Foundry Hall is one of the only venues on the lakeshore hosting live music several times a week, any week of the year, within an all-ages family-friendly environment. Since starting in October 2007, the venue has hosted a variety of national/regional touring artists, as well as numerous local musicians. The Alabama Spanking Machines from Allegan and Rebecca Rego from Chicago will
“We hope to see Foundry Hall continue to give independent artists the opportunity to play their original music.” join brother-sister duo Thirty Steps to Forwards for the benefit show. Foundry Hall manager Andru Bemis, who is also an indie musician, has helped in promoting the event as well. “We really like the whole experience at Foundry Hall,” Gretchen and Seth Powers said.
“The audience is very down-to-earth and the performance feels very intimate. The Hall has wonderful acoustics with their sound stage that Andru has worked hard putting together over the years and as musicians it has a nice feel to it. It’s a very pleasant experience to perform, as well as attend shows there. We hope to see Foundry Hall continue to give independent artists the opportunity to play their original music.” Thirty Steps to Forward has hosted other successful benefits in the past, helping raise money to restock food pantries, help those who can’t afford to heat their homes, and help make Christmas brighter for those down on their luck. The duo will also release their second full-length album, Hinterland, on March 7, their follow-up to 2009’s The Bird and the Fool. They’re currently organizing a CD release tour to take place in early summer. The Foundry Hall plans to have other fundraisers throughout 2013, and has begun raising funds online. For more info on the benefit show, or to find out how to contribute or help, go to foundryhall.org. For more on Thirty Steps to Forward, click over to thirtystepstoforward.com.
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FOOD & DRINK Today, brewing processes are guided by the tenets of a modern, positivist science. Like scientists in research laboratories, brewers, cellar-persons and other producers enroll instruments and equipment and utilize human technique and skill to understand and replicate ‘nature.’ While brewing is at its essence a promotion of natural fermentation processes, at the same time, producers want to bracket out the randomness and uncertainties of nature. Of the upmost importance is the control of nature. The brewery is to become a laboratory in that natural processes are to be disciplined by scientist/ producers. This is the enduring struggle of producing modern beer: warding off naturally occurring organic and inorganic ‘contaminants’ that threaten a specific by Wes Eaton target product and production schedule by disciplining natural processes through the tools of technoscience. The struggle is ceaseless as neither opponent, science nor nature, will ultimately be victorious. Producers will always need to scrub, sanitize and otherwise separate their laboratory/brewery from the environment – bacteria, oxygen, and excess heat. Indeed this comprises the work of nearly every stage of the modern brewing process. The point of presenting modern brewing practices in this way is to demonstrate their embedded cultural values of disciplining and controlling nature. In her 1980 book The Death of Nature, the feminist ecologist Carolyn Merchant argues our contemporary worldview was born during the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. During this time, Francis Bacon, René Descartes, and other “fathers of science” formulated a new view of nature. Instead of a benevolent, providing mother that we are to fear and revere, nature was a mistress that would only reluctantly bear her secrets under the trials of controlled experimentation. Adaptation to uncertainties and unknowns was no longer adequate; instead, we could master and tame the “wicked” randomness of nature. I thought about this last month in Brussels, Belgium, while my wife Christina and I toured and tasted Cantillon, the renowned brewery and “living museum of the traditional Gueuze” and Lambic beer styles. These styles epitomize what American beer enthusiasts now lovingly term “sour” beers. Historically, they largely lost popularity sometime between the World Wars, only to be steadily rediscovered, as the myth goes, by later generations of beer hunters and other actors in the craft beer movement. Cantillon is in tune with this, mandating visitors take an extensive
HEALTH Right now, things are changing. There is a new era approaching us here in West Michigan and around the United States, and even overseas. What we currently call “health care” is starting to point in a different direction. Insurance premiums are rising and benefits are seemingly decreasing a c r o s s the board. Deductibles are hitting insane amounts from $1,500 to $25,000 per family. The typical wait in an emergency room is nearing by Dr. Steve Mikulak four hours. Side-effect laden drugs are being overprescribed to everyone, especially kids. Despite our “best efforts” and advances in technology, we are the sickest and fattest country in the world! So what are we doing wrong? Traditionally, we get sick, we go to the doctor, the doctor gives us some drugs, maybe a muscle relaxer or a pain killer to knock us out and sends us on our way. How does that help? What good did those pills do? The last time I cut my finger, I cleaned it up and put a Band-Aid on it and left it alone. Magically, my finger healed. My body didn’t start healing my toe, it knew what to do. It sent the proper cascade of chemicals from my brain
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Cantillon of Brussels: Broker of an alternative world for brewing beer? self-guided tour before sampling their sours, the hope being that through this experience, others will spread their story and continue to come back to Gueuze. We began in the back of the stone and wooden barn-like brewery with the century old but operational Mash Tun, then up wooden stairs to the riveted “cool ship.” Lacking modern temperature control, wort is chilled in this shallow copper ship in the upper rafters, where we noted used malt bags operated as flaps that could be opened and closed, allowing more or less of a cool breeze to enter. Here the beer is left uncovered, inviting wild bacterias and yeasts to inoculate the wort naturally. As cooling is necessary, beer brewing is a seasonal project, only taking place during the colder months of the year. After a night’s rest, the bacteria laden wort is sent to oak barrels which rest in the adjacent attic wherein the wort is fermented, messily, into ale. Like the breezy attic, the oak barrels allow the beer to “breathe” and evaporate, ultimately reducing the final volume by as much as one fifth. As air increasingly enters the barrels, the active bacterias form oxygen protective skins across the surface of the beer. Workers hand labeling bottles down below later told us the ubiquitous cobwebs found throughout the rafters and in between aging barrels were evidence of the spiders that balance out harmful insects. This is especially important during the warm summer months when brewing is avoided but whole, sticky, sour black cherries are added to selected barrels to make Kriek. This is evidence of one way in which the brewery, as a living organism itself, seeks to adapt rather than dominate nature. When finished, the raw, still, unblended golden colored ale is deemed Lambic, which tastes acidic, tepid, and much thinner than, for instance, an American style ale. Gueuze is born when minimum three-year-old Lambic is blended with younger, still fermenting ales, corked and capped in champagne bottles, and left to finish fermenting and therefore ‘naturally’ carbonate
Christina peering in on the cool ship on its side along the dank stone walls and amongst hundreds of others. Rather than instruments, cultivated human taste determines when the bottles are
It’s time...
ready for labeling and enjoying. After the tour we were offered pours of unblended lambic, Gueuze, and other styles. While sipping I thought about dark corners of the brewery we were not only allowed but encouraged to crawl through, and the times we had to squeeze around producers as they tended to their labor intensive tasks. This simply does not happen in modern breweries. At first blush the lessons from this experience are rather simple. Here we have a brewery, a production process, and really a culture that has learned how best not only to adapt to its natural environment, but to flourish in a way The revered rafters of that enhances it. Like homemade maple syrup, each drop is not only the intended ingredients but the larger local material world captured in liquid form. We could smell the rafters, cellars, barrels, and atmosphere in our glasses precisely because they were intentionally incorporated into the beer, not bracketed out by disciplining nature. But this is only a first step in a broader evaluation. The next is to note the existence of at least two of what Merchant calls “worldviews” for approaching beer production. On the one hand there is what we might term the “science” model premised on disciplining nature, as observed above. On the other, we have a view that lets nature in by learning to adapt to its incongruence. Spiders, porous oak, seasonal variances, bacterias, and other naturally, locally occurring elements are enlisted to bring about a final product that itself embodies the tensions between the will and imaginaries of the brewers and the agendas within the local environment. So yes, we can tease out possibly two contending worldviews. But please don’t mistake my mission here. My argument is not that one or the other is better or worse and should be pursued or abandoned. There are multiple points that could be argued on behalf of either worldview. For instance, to take just one example, in regards to distributive justice, how could inefficient production systems such as Cantillon meet the demands of the burgeoning craft beer culture masses? Instead I want to make two points that will hopefully spur new ways of thinking about craft beer production.
moving our health in the right direction. If you do not want to be sick, the dumbest and most ineffective way to get healthy is by focusing on not getting sick versus truly taking steps to get through my body, down my arm, into my hand and healed my finger. The Band-Aid kept the healthy. There is a difference. You cannot get to cut from getting dirt inside it but it did not do where you want to go by focusing on where you do not want to be. squat to actually heal my finger. In other words, The public’s views and beliefs have been skewed by the government, insurance companies, drug companies and the media that is paid by all of them to report on whatever the drug companies tell them to. It is a completely false, misleading system that we’re stuck in. We are constantly barraged by these messages over and over every day. Have a sniffle? Take our bodies heal from the inside out and not the a runny nose pill. Have a headache? Here’s a outside in. We have some of the best doctors and surgeons headache pill. Trouble focusing? Enjoy some Ridalin. There is a pill, potion, or lotion for every in the U.S. right here in Grand Rapids. Some of them save lives, others help to bring new life ailment you can think of and even some for into the world and I’m thankful for that. However, things that you did not even know you had or “needed” in order to successfully live your life in a health care system as broken as ours, even and that’s the whole point. their hands are tied due to hospital budget cutOur system is stuck in a reactive, drugbacks, falling insurance reimbursements and a dependent state. How can we possibly move bad economy. forward if the majority of people are waiting to The bottom line is, we cannot afford to get sick! We do not have the time to miss work – to get sick? It will never happen, and we will never get there. Imagine you are standing at the edge of a It is time to focus on getting cliff. One step or push forward and over the healthy! No more focus on losing weight, by starving edge you go. Your insurance will pay to get yourselves with the latest lowyou “un-broken” and get you back onto the calorie, gimmick, fad shake of the day that puts your body edge of that cliff where you started but that into starvation mode. You will is not a very safe or healthy place to be. lose weight but that does not make you healthy in any way. be stuck in bed feeling like crap, unable to take The weight will come back because weight is a lifestyle issue and the only answer is change care of ourselves or our families. We cannot do it. Being sick is time-consuming and expensive. your lifestyle. Do not let these companies take advantage of you. The only way to not get sick is to actually start
Our bodies heal from the inside out and not the outside in.
Cantillon The first is the notion that, even in the most technologically and scientifically sophisticated production facilities, beer is co-produced by both scientific technique and nature. Like a river that is both actively guided by and shaping its respective banks, particular beer products are always the culmination of the enduring struggle between controlling and letting nature in. Secondly, in regards to the two worldviews I promote in this article, no single brewery is entirely on one or another of these paths. Instead, to varying degrees, particular brewery production cultures, standards, and norms, simultaneously draw from the wells of each. This process itself leads to tensions that
Adaptation to uncertainties and unknowns was no longer adequate; instead, we could master and tame the “wicked” randomness of nature. are constantly negotiated through interactions not only within individual breweries, but between the cadres of investors, distributors, retailers, other brewers and of course beer fans that make up participants in the craft beer field. My point then is that teasing out these discordant “worlds” can provide a greater appreciation for the many aspects of brewery and beer culture we can choose to emphasize, challenge, and ultimately identify with.
You are the one who needs to define your own “why.” Why do you want to be more healthy? Is it because you want to set a better example for your children? Maybe, you want to do something that you have always wanted to do but your weight or health has not allowed you to do. Whatever your “why” is has to be big enough to facilitate the change you are trying to make. Otherwise, if your “why” is not big enough, then you will simply and quickly fall back into your old habits of being lazy, eating crap, and drugging yourself back to that wonderfully-numb state that you call your life.
You cannot get to where you want to go by focusing on where you do not want to be. I am here to tell you that you are not alone. There are tons of people out there in a similar situation and there are people who will help you on your journey to a healthier you. You have to want to change and you have take responsibility for your own health. Contrary to popular belief, having good “health insurance” does not mean you are covered – it will not make or keep you healthy. Imagine you are standing at the edge of a cliff. One step or push forward and over the edge you go. Your insurance will pay to get you “unbroken” and get you back onto the edge of that cliff where you started but that is not a very safe or healthy place to be. That is what your insurance pays for. It is your responsibility to take action to get the hell away from the edge of that cliff. Happy St. Patty’s to my Irish brethren and remember that everybody is Irish on St. Patty’s Day!
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volume 13 issue 3 march
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volume 13 issue 3 march
FEATURE If yet another mug of coffee is leaving a bitter taste in your mouth, it may be time to push that cup of joe aside and say cheers to a new tea business in town. Awesome blends of teas made locally from start to finish are taking their place in the spotlight with the hot beverage industry, putting coffee in the cold…and it’s good for you! While e n t re p re n e u r Jaron Siegel b e g a n researching and creating his own blends of tasty teas years ago, he had no idea something exciting was by Sherrie Coke brewing for the future. Now, 10 years later, Jaron runs his new company Tealow on Wealthy Street near Diamond Avenue in Grand Rapids, where you can just follow your nose as the pleasant aroma lures you into its headquarters. It’s not pungent, it’s not simple – the smell of a good tea can be quite complex, like a good wine. “Tea is my passion. It goes hand and hand with natural and healthy living,” states Siegel.
“Shop local, eat local, know your community and work directly with the people…and give a helping hand,” says Siegel. Originally from the Grand Rapids area, Siegel moved to Colorado where he studied to be a naturopathic doctor and thus began his journey with the world of tea. It was after a snowboarding accident that he found himself back in Grand Rapids. “I began thinking about what kind of
RECORDING One of the hallmarks of a good engineer – or good anything for that matter – is the ability to focus and produce good results even if the cards are stacked against you. If you’re sick, if your bills are piling up, if your spouse has left you for religious reasons, you still must go on. You multitask, you think critically, you work diligently. A problem can arise when your by Ryan Cunningham “go get ‘em” attitude forces you into illness or self-destructive behavior. If you wake up with caffeine and go to bed with alcohol for more than a couple days in a row, you could very well be in a selfperpetuating cycle where you’re never truly relaxed. The big issue with this, other than your impending death – which is beyond the scope of this article – is that the quality of your work will most definitely suffer, and your output will go down, even though you feel like you are continually working. Step Back After working for a few hours on a mix and all of your basic work is done: high pass filters in the appropriate places, everything bussed where it should be, tracks all color coded and labeled in a rational way – it may be time to go get a sandwich and a Diet Pepsi from your local Jimmy John’s. Or maybe even lay down on your couch for 20 minutes not playing on your phone.
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Local tea business is heating up and warming hearts business I could start here,” says Jaron. “I am a vegetarian and into healthy, natural living so I wanted to do a natural food-type business and it just made sense that tea was the way to go.” But there is a twist to Tealow which makes the business stand out: they include the community and give back to charity. “There’s a major peace that comes with having a company and making it charitable,” states Siegel. Tealow’s teas are lovingly made from imported and local organic ingredients and the Tealow
“There’s a major peace that comes with having a company and making it charitable,” states Siegel. team works together positively to create a truly delicious and healthy product. Siegel designs the environmentally friendly and appealing packaging for Tealow’s bagged or loose-leaf teas, where his art background from attending Kendall College of Art and Design is apparent. The teas can be ordered from the company’s website and Tealow offers free Grand Rapids delivery. Tealow’s unique teas can also be found at local small business markets, such as Kingma’s and Health Hutt. Early this month the Tealow team will launch their kickstart campaign with a video on youtube and a commercial to be aired locally, and they plan to expand their product line. Tealow exemplifies how an organization can contribute to fortifying the community and building a business on the principals of building relationships. “We are doing things here at Tealow as grassroots as we can. Our focus is on local. Shop local, eat local, know your community and work directly with the people… and give a helping hand,” says Siegel. Recently, the company invited the community to join them under the Calder for a spot of tea and friendship. As long as you brought your own unique container – they filled them up for free and warmed the hearts of many. Says Siegel:
Entrepreneur Jaron Siegel (above) began researching and creating his own blends of tasty teas years ago, “Having great friends and a great cup of tea – Redleaf and Calm (a blend of chamomile and ginger) well, it doesn’t get much better than that.” TEALOW’S PRODUCTS Traditional Tealow Teas: Assam, Grey (Both black teas) and Green tea Herbal Tealow Teas: Mint, Roasted, Tulsi,
Uplifting Tealow Teas: Energy, Chai, Pure (Maté) and Coco (all with natural caffeine) For more information visit www.tealow.com, or Tealow on facebook.
Stress and the point of diminishing returns You may feel guilty about putting down your work – like it means you aren’t working very hard. But really, your mind processes all kinds of things when you’re not focused. For example, when you’re practicing your instrument for a few hours and you just can’t get the damn part right, then you get frustrated and put it down for a few days. Magically, when you pick it up later, you are suddenly able to play the part without thinking. The same will go for your mixes; as you give yourself some psychological distance from your mix, you will hear new things, and maybe even decide not to do any more detail work, because it sounds just fine the way it is.
out of the house for a day or so. Don’t go get wasted – save that for the weekend. Maybe go see a movie by yourself. Maybe drive out of town for the afternoon. Anything to take you
book, your brain will be silently working in the background trying to come up with neat stuff to do with those synthesizers, or figuring out how to record a shotgun blast in your apartment without getting arrested.
You may feel guilty about putting down must take care of yourself as if you your work – like it means you aren’t You were a piece of equipment. If you run working very hard. But really, your your pre-amps in the red constantly, they will get damaged. If you constantly mind processes all kinds of things refuse to take a goddamn nap because you’re “totally almost done!” then you will when you’re not focused. end up damaged. Nothing sounds so
Learn to Split Your Attention Sometimes, especially as you get tired, it becomes difficult to shift gears and deal with surprises. If you’re really working the hell out of a kick drum, and suddenly you realize that you’re working from a take that isn’t the one you’re supposed to be using, you may be tempted to set your computer on fire. The obvious (or maybe not so obvious) answer is to take a nap. But a more subtle idea is to practice not getting into that state of hyperfocus in the first place. Set a timer for yourself, and only touch that kick drum for 10-minute increments. Or maybe play a few scales on your guitar as you leisurely pick away at the EQ settings. In any case, do not just keep running outside to your car stereo to check and see if the changes you made are sounding any better – because they won’t be. Fully De-compress Periodically On occasion, you really ought to get the hell
out of the context of your work – especially if you’re working at home. If you’re around your workstation, even if you’re just trying to read a
good that it needs you to finish right away. Take a break. Listen to it later. Make a few tweaks. Deliver it tomorrow.
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LOCAL ACT Muskegon’s King Crabapple couldn’t be more honored to wear the crown of “Best Local Live Performance 2012.” The title, bestowed upon them by the listeners of 97.9 WGRD, comes at just the right moment as the six-member group will release their new EP, “Castle Keep,” March 23 at Billy’s Lounge, and are ready to rule the airwaves and the live stage. “We were absolutely blown away by the outpouring of support for the voting portion of the contest,” King Crabapple drummer Mike Schertenlieb said about the band’s win. “We’ve been grinding for a long time, and it’s humbling and inspiring to receive this kind of recognition.” Made up of Schertenlieb, bassist Matt Cuti, vocalist Julee Hackney, guitarist William Jeannot, MC/vocalist Steven Johnson, and keyboardist Mikey Olsen, King Crabapple officially started in 2010, although the band – without Olsen – had been together with a different name for a few years before then. “Our live show is where we truly shine – we are high-energy and no holds barred, and [we] make it our mission to throw down hard on every stage we walk onto,” Schertenlieb said. “It’s plain to see that we’re having a great time. Playing live is definitely how we’ve made a name for ourselves, and definitely our favorite way to share the music we make.” King Crabapple takes influence from a wide range of music – including funk, rock, hip-hop, and blues – with their “blended” genre – and friendly nature – forging a new trend of working together and thinking across boundaries throughout the Muskegon music scene. “We’ve always been unapologetic about our sound, and perhaps that inspires people to make music that feels natural to them,” Schertenlieb said. “We also work very hard at what we do, and do our best to do it on our own terms. The spirit of being on the grind is alive and well in this scene.”
The flagship band for Muskegon-based indie label Mux Rec, King Crabapple served in some ways as the inspiration for the label’s beginnings. When the band was making their 2010 debut album, Temple House, they began working with fellow Muskegon group SkeeTown Stylee, and through their incorporation of other musicians, artists, and side-projects, they began developing their scene through graphic and web design work, booking and other areas. Needing something that could encompass their whole vision, Mux Rec was born. “The Muskegon scene is blossoming in a big way right now, and we’re seeing a lot more collaboration and camaraderie than we have in years past,” Schertenlieb said. “Even across different scenes, it isn’t uncommon for people to work together. More and more, we see people emerging from various niches to check out new music. People are less restrictive about the local music they listen to, and artists are less restrictive about who they play with live. Unfortunately, we also still struggle with a lack of good venues to play in Muskegon, and sometimes a lack of people to fill those would-be venues. This, however, does seem to be changing for the better.” Now tight with their Mux Rec brethren – Skee-Town Stylee, Short Hair Domestics, Project Grizzly, Biffy the Beat Slayer, Malechai, Lakeland, Mr. Segrin, and M.A.D. – King Crabapple has shared members and shared stages with many of them over the years. They’ve also reached out across the state to Eastside artists like Keef Courage and Maria Rose and the Swiss Kicks, and Grand Rapids performers like Lady Ace Boogie (who will also release her EP “Feel Good Music” March 23 at Billy’s), PUNKSUHATE, Suport, Nixon and others from the Eastown hip-hop scene. “Playing with new acts – and subsequently forming new friendships – is one of the best parts about making music,” Schertenlieb said. The band’s connections with Keef Courage and Convotronics help land them a spot on last
“[We] make it our mission to throw down hard on every stage we walk onto.”
FOOD What makes you think of Saint Patrick’s Day? Is it the leprechaun-style garb, beads that hang from the necks of bar-stars, rockers and lawyers alike? Or is it the guy next to you, in stall number three, puking horrible green-tinted beer? There is more to Saint Patrick’s Day than drinking all day right? Wait – is there? It’s March o’clock and I just want to get you all in the spirit. Let’s talk l e p re c h a u n s, b e e r , shamrocks and Ireland. “As you slide down the banister of life, may the by Mike Church splinters never point in the wrong direction.” – Author Unknown
Sharmock-On Pat. Saint Patrick was a Scottish/Wales/British-(or whatever you want to fight about) born man, who preached the Christian faith to pagan Irish folk way back in the day. He was regarded as an Irish patron saint. Using a shamrock a.k.a. clover to explain the holy trinity (earth, fire, water) to everyone within earshot. Wait, isn’t that how you make beer? A connection perhaps? Patrick probably didn’t realize at the time that he would more likely become the Irish Patron Saint of one of the biggest worldwide parties. Everyone can become their own version of a leprechaun and act like an idiot for an entire day. The only thing that stops them is either the closing of the bar or a 2 a.m. gut-chuck session. That session got me thinking: how about instead of a next-day recipe I can throw out a pre-party recipe to prepare your guts for a green beer and Jameson Whiskey onslaught? Let’s proceed. Dehydration, headaches etc. – we have all been there. Let’s do some preventative maintenance on our bodies shall we? Three things instantly entered my mind: salt, starch and (of course) flavor! I’m going to hit you with a recipe for a sandwich to soak-up, prepare-for, and even keep you headfast and nose forward
See on this day everyone is looking out for you. People celebrate all over the world with drinks, food and of course, offensive to some, leprechaun from head Patrick probably didn’t realize at the time that to toe. What are these green he would more likely become the Irish Patron little guys you ask? Saint of one of the biggest worldwide parties. Leprechauns are legendary for their pots of gold, sneaky Everyone can become their own version of a giggly voices and their leprechaun and act like an idiot for an entire day. shoemaking. Weird, I know, but somehow fascinating. These small bearded towards your all-consuming goal. old guys blessed with great wits and an affinity for shoemaking horde gold, drink their own Coffee Potato and Chive Sandwich on Grilled homebrew all day and disappear constantly. My Rye with Sautéed Cabbage and Jameson question is: how are these guys born without Whiskey Maple Bacon any female leprechauns? Now on to Ole Saint I know I know it’s a mouthful, and it’s worth
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KING CRABAPPLE summer’s Vans Warped Tour, playing with the Bring It Back crew on the Detroit stop of the tour. “Playing Warped Tour was an absolute whirlwind,” Schertenlieb said. “The day was a hundred and five degrees! We had a fantastic time playing and connecting with awesome hiphop artists from around the country, and seeing some of our Michigan friends in an exciting environment.” Another show Schertenlieb said they’ll never forget is when they released Temple House back in 2010. “[It] was the final night that Muskegon’s Blue Note was open, and it was at capacity most of the night,” Schertenlieb explained. “It was one of our most epic and memorable shows to date.” King Crabapple’s new EP, “Castle Keep,” will be radically different from Temple House. While their debut found the band in its unrefined
earlier stages, and “on its rise to the throne,” as Schertenlieb described it, “Castle Keep” will show how much they’ve grown as writers and musicians. The band felt more comfortable recording the EP in-house – working over the course of 2012 at Mux Rec studios in Muskegon with Dr. Krunkstable, a.k.a. guitarist William Jeannot’s home studio – and they feel that this is a better reflection of the King Crabapple sound. “This [EP] is our real debut as King Crabapple in true form,” Schertenlieb said. King Crabapple plans to spend 2013 gigging hard in support of “Castle Keep” and say fans should expect videos, new merch, and more from Mux Rec throughout the rest of the year. To read Recoil’s full interview with Mike Schertenlieb, check out recoilmag.com. For more, click over to kingcrabapple.com.–EM
it! I want to make this as easy as possible. And feed all your friends to boot. For the Mashed Potatoes - 5 or 6 medium sized potatoes - 1/3 cup leftover brewed coffee from the morning - 1/2 cup sour cream - 2 tablespoons of butter - handful of fresh-chopped Chives - salt and pepper to taste Boil the potatoes until fork tender, drain water then mash in remaining ingredients. Set aside. For the Sautéed Cabbage - 3 tablespoons of olive oil - 3 cloves of fresh-chopped Garlic - 1 red cabbage cored and thinly shredded - salt and pepper to taste - 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat, add cabbage and sauté about 4 minutes until almost soft, add garlic and cook another 1 to two minutes . Add Vinegar salt and pepper and cook one more minute. Turn off heat and set aside. For the Jameson Whiskey Maple Bacon - 1 package of thick-sliced bacon - 1 cup good Maple Syrup - 1/4 cup Jameson - 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract - 1 tablespoon brown sugar Heat syrup, Jameson, vanilla and brown sugar
in a small sauce pan until smooth and bubbly; set aside. Cook the bacon in a big skillet until crispy. Spoon the syrup over the cacon on both sides and cook for one more minute, put on a plate. Butter both sides of the rye bread and spread the mashed potato mixture on one side, add bacon and sautéed cabbage and cook it like a grilled cheese in a skillet until browned. There you have it! Eat this sandwich and paint the town– er, green?
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recoilmag.com
REQUIRED LISTENING FRIGHTENED RABBIT PEDESTRIAN VERSE
8.5/10
CANVASBACK/ATLANTIC Frightened Rabbit has a remarkable track record – three albums and several EPs, all furiously wellreceived, with no real discernible lag in quality (save the occasional you’re-repeating-yourself knock) and now they’ve added a successful major label jump to their resume. Pedestrian Verse will not make anyone forget about Midnight Organ Fight, the group’s award winning 2008 effort, and newcomers are still advised to start with that one, though anyone starting here on a recommendation is sure to be rewarded by what lies within. This band is known for making sadness sound like triumph. Scott Hutchinson’s lyrics are so ridiculously personal they often seem tawdry; it’s as if we are eavesdropping on a therapy session. By combining such profound sadness with big bright melodies and barroom sing-alongs, the band achieves a distinctive flair. Acknowledging this dynamic on “Nitrous Gas,” he seems almost self-mocking: “Suck in the bright red major key/ Spit out the blue minor misery/I’m dying to bring you down with me.” From its humble, Hutchinsonbrother beginnings as a folk duo to its current incarnation as a five-piece major festival mainstay, Frightened Rabbit has effortlessly retained its sense of authenticity. How much of that is owed to Hutchinson’s thick Scottish brogue probably depends on the listener, but it certainly helps. There’s some incredible stuff on this record. “The Woodpile” shuffles through its downer verse before literally galloping its whoooooshing synth-riffing chorus into happyville, exploring all corners of melancholia on the way up. “State Hospital” is heartbreaking, sure, but at its core is a story of perseverance against incredible odds, plus it features the record’s most interesting arrangement. There are no real moments of weakness on Pedestrian Verse, they’ve even boiled down their infamous interludes to two related motifs – “Housing (one)” and “Housing (two)” – and even those have an engaging charm. The record ends on what is perhaps Frightened Rabbit’s loosest moment. “Oil Slick” is all back-and-forth guitar licks, buoyed by rubbery bass lines and honest-togoodness funky drum fills. Scottish funk, I shit you not! It closes the record on a slightly optimistic note (“There’s still hope so I think we’ll be fine/In these disastrous times”) though past proof has shown that it doesn’t really matter. Being sad is not so bad.–Andrew Watson
recoilmag.com THE BRONX
THE BRONX (IV) WHITE DRUGS/ATO RECORDS
7/10
Long-running Los Angeles punks The Bronx have brought back their original sound for the first time in nearly five years. Having most recently released two mariachi-punk albums as Mariachi El Bronx, the band throws themselves back into their patented pummeling propulsion, forgetting any real hooks in favor of meaty basslines, ribcage-rattling riffs, and frontman Matt Caughtran’s roughneck rasp. On the best track, the mid-album “Pilot Light,” The Bronx split the difference between Fucked Up and At The Drive-In, forgetting what makes either of those groups (or their pioneering predecessors) truly great. Instead they just amp up the attitude, and like the all-too-appropriately titled “Style Over Everything” suggests, they don’t care if they’ll ever write anything anyone will actually remember the morning after as long as they can still whip people into a frenzy every night.-Eric Mitts
COHEED AND CAMBRIA
THE AFTERMAN: DESCENSION HUNDRED HANDED/EVERYTHING EVIL
8.5/10
Like all return trips, the second-part in Coheed & Cambria’s two-disc concept album feels shorter, easier, and entirely bittersweet. Unlike last year’s Ascension, Descension doesn’t clutter up the mix with too much narrative, allowing the deluxe-edition coffee-table book to tell its tale instead. That greater focus on the music makes this easily Co&Ca’s best album in years and also their poppiest ever. Drummer Josh Eppard (who also contributed keyboards and backing vocals) has fully fused himself back into the band’s sound, countering the proggy riffing of frontman Claudio Sanchez with hooks and harmonies that make lighter songs like the delightful closer “2’s My Favorite 1” just as crushing in their beguiling beauty as heavy-hitting tracks like “Gravity’s Union” and “The Hard Sell” are in their pure power.–EM
BEACH FOSSILS CLASH THE TRUTH CAPTURED TRACKS
8.5/10
Dustin Payseur is blessed with either exceptional talent, or extraordinary karma – probably both. Just hours before Hurricane Sandy breached the Eastern seaboard and destroyed Python Patrol studios, Beach Fossils wrapped their final session. The damage was so extensive, however, that the final mixing had to be completely redone, with Payseur handling the bulk of it himself. The end product, Clash the Truth, is his finest statement yet, carefully revealing his punk roots while expanding the hazy, reverberated Beach Fossils template to include the more widescreen elements of pop and shoegaze. The title track lovingly rips off the Sex Pistols, while others like “Generation Synthetic” and “Shallow” unveil an urgency we have not yet heard on a Beach Fossils record. Great stuff.–AW
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REQUIRED LISTENING MY BLOODY VALENTINE MBV
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NEW DVD RELEASES LOOPER
9/10
RCA Kevin Shields is the ultimate enigma. Revered, respected, misunderstood – he’s the weird, insular curio piece that defies explanation yet demands your complete attention. My Bloody Valentine released their masterpiece, Loveless, in the winter of 1991. An album of towering achievement and baffling composition, it is the aural equivalent to jamming cookies in your ears; the tension Shields explores between simple beauty and sudden violence is at once soothing and discomforting, gory and celestial, rippling with gut-level power yet not tangibly of this Earth. It is a record that took me years of determination to appreciate, but once I did, I appreciated the fuck out of it. Still do. So, while I may not have been one of those sad-eyed lonely ‘gazers perched over their keyboards at 12:01 on Feb. 4 refreshing the mbv.com website until the BUY NOW link appeared (I waited two whole days) and it would be disingenuous to suggest I’ve been pining for this record for 22 years like every other rock crit seems to be claiming, I was really and truly very excited to be finally hearing some new music from this guy. Rumors labeled him a mega-stoner and an insufferable perfectionist with motivation issues to boot – I considered the very existence of this record to be, in itself, a major victory for rock music. It wasn’t going to be better than Loveless (good fucking luck with that anyway) but it would certainly be better, or more interesting at least, than 99 percent of the pap that’s floating around the interweb, right? Well, yes. I have to admit, pressing play on track one for the first time was an exciting moment, the kind of thrilling anticipatory feeling that I used to get back before everything was available right away, all the time; back when you had to wait for shit. The first three songs are familiar, woozy, and stunning, as if the 22 years never happened. Loveless II. The next three are very different, quieter keyboard-based numbers that almost sound like early Stereolab. Of these, the brilliant “New You” is an immediate pleasure; it shimmers with undeniable groove and gives vocalist Belinda Butcher more space than she’s ever had before. She makes great use of it. “New You” would be the single if My Bloody Valentine put out singles. The record’s final third, however, is where things get massive. Diehards point to a late ‘90s interview Shields gave where he revealed a recent drum ‘n’ bass fascination, and from the sound of the three songs that close this album – “In Another Way,” “Nothing Is,” and “Wonder 2” – dude was not bullshitting. With these final tracks, Shields pushes MBV into even stranger worlds, illustrating where the band’s future may lie, if indeed it has one – barreling rhythms pound into a post-hardcore drone before being gathered up and hurled mercilessly into a boiling hot noise that cuts out into sudden silence just as you find yourself drooling and staring a hole into your carpet. It’s nice to have you back, Kevin.–Andrew Watson
FRONTIER RUCKUS ETERNITY OF DIMMING QUITE SCIENTIFIC
6.5/10
It’s too ironic that Frontier Ruckus released this doubledisc album in the dead of winter. Like long February nights filled with lake effect snow, what once seemed bitter but beautiful, has grown wearisome in sheer accumulation. The specificity of Matthew Milia’s songwriting makes most of his catalog densely detailed and daunting listens, but, sadly, these twenty tracks play out for what feels like an eternity of attic cleaning. Divided between songs that resemble the indie-folk band’s previous, banjo-buoyed bummer-balladry (“JunkDrawer Sorrow”), and a more electric-piano-centered style (“Nightmares of Space”), there’s a gorgeous twelvesong set in here, (late album cut “Dealerships” is one of many great finds), but burdening listeners with digging through all the downers detracts from what should be an immersive, yet still enjoyable experience.-Eric Mitts
LOCAL NATIVES HUMMINGBIRD FRENCHKISS
8/10
In 2009, L.A. newcomers Local Natives released their debut album, Gorilla Manor, and all the kids fell in love. To this day, those songs are an easy return, loaded with hooks and “wide-eyed” harmonies that somehow lift you right up off the ground. Four years and an avalanche of critical acclaim later, the band re-emerges with Hummingbird, a follow-up that in no way resembles it’s hopped-up, eager-to-please big brother. Hummingbird is a reflection of turmoil, dressed in soft tones and beauty, only rarely rising up to the percussive, tribal flair of its predecessor. Tracks like “Mt. Washington” and “Columbia” achieve a transcendent glory through their sadness. This record reveals itself over time, and defines Local Natives as the real deal.–AW
PILLOWFIGHT
PILLOWFIGHT BULK RECORDINGS
8/10
This dreamy, trip-hop collaboration between producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (of Gorillaz fame) and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Emily Wells is stuffed with down-tempo cool. Perfectly chill, their debut sounds well-suited for nuevo-retro cocktail parties, and anyone familiar with Nakamura’s numerous other projects (Handsome Boy Modeling School, Loveage, Deltron 3030, etc.) should notice his signature style of strings and scratches (compliments of longtime collaborator Kid Koala) all over every track. While lesser known, Wells works her philosophical lyrical magic on enchanting songs like “Used To Think” and “Get Your Shit Together; her ability to breathe life into both the softest coos and harshest rapped verses (holding her own alongside back-up MC Lateef The Truth Speaker) easily make this unique disc a must-listen for free-thinking fans of everything from Portishead to Gnarls Barkley.-EM
ALEX CROSS
James Patterson’s Alex Cross is once again brought to life on the big screen in the movie, based loosely on the 12th book of the ongoing 20-book series. Tyler Perry stars as Alex Cross near the beginning of his career, (the original movie Kiss The Girls and the first book are set more than a decade after this story). Alex Cross is a homicide detective in Detroit (versus D.C. in the novels), as well as a psychologist, so he does the profiler work for his cases as well. When a young Asian woman and her three bodyguards are tortured and killed, Detective Alex Cross is called in to work the case. While delving into the woman’s background they discover that she is the CFO of a large multi-national company and there are clues that the killer is going to go after the CEO next. Cross and his team of two other homicide detectives manage to stop him, but draw the killer’s attention onto all three of them. The character of Alex Cross has been played previously by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001), both released to negative reaction. While the Tyler Perry Cross is a much more physical version (as it is often played in the novels), the Freeman Cross played the cerebral side with a much greater intensity. OK film; nothing spectacular but worth sitting through.–Mark Ritzema
What would you do to make things right? Although this is a movie about time travel and mob hitmen, it’s also about the struggle to do the right thing and be true to oneself – which is especially difficult when those goals don’t match. Joe is played by Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who pulls off a decent imitation of a young Willis. He’s a “looper”: an assassin for an organized crime syndicate that sends its enemies to the past, where the body can’t be traced. When the looper’s contract is up, their future self is sent back to be killed, a protocol known as “closing the loop.” When their loop gets closed, looper’s are given a cash bonus and the next 30 years to live their lives however they want, at which point they are hunted down to be sent back in time and killed. This arrangement works well until an unusually large number of loops start getting closed. Soon after, Joe encounters his older self, setting in motion several potential timelines, which we see played out. If you don’t let yourself get bogged down thinking about the time jumps, it will all make sense in the end. Because this is a movie about organized crime, the violence reaches levels of ridiculousness that would make Quentin Tarantino proud. However, between bouts of gunplay and general mayhem, it also gives us glimpses of a dystopian near-future that doesn’t seem too far from reality.–Sheila Streeter
recoilmag.com ATLAS GENIUS WHEN IT WAS NOW WARNER BROS.
7/10
Almost too smart for their own good, Atlas Genius have crafted a debut that fits the mainstream dance-rock world of 2013 all too well. Opening track “Symptoms” sounds eerily similar to fellow Australians The Temper Trap, and with other tracks blending in nicely with the biggest hits by buzz bands like Imagine Dragons and Foster The People, When It Was Now couldn’t sound more of-the-moment. The three-song thrill of new single “If So,” (with its propulsive synth-rock-bounce), “Back Seat” (with its creeping funk groove), and previouslyreleased hit “Trojans” (with its multi-tracked guitars and undeniably uplifting chorus) give the set a solid heart filled with pop hooks. The rest, particularly the album’s last two tracks, never quite match up, as the band gets lost following too many conventional alt-pop paths rather than their own compass.–EM
BUCKCHERRY
CONFESSIONS CENTURY MEDIA/ELEVEN SEVEN MUSIC
5.5/10
Concept and cock-rock don’t go together. Keeping it simple and flat-out rocking has long-been the M.O. of bands from Motley Crue to Hinder, and Buckcherry – still sounding like the Sunset Strip themselves – shouldn’t forget it’s the songs that matter. Caught up in the seven deadly sins concept of their new album (and a rumored film about the life of frontman Josh Todd), this sounds simultaneously phoned in – with songs like “The Truth” retreading the well-beaten classic rock road Buckcherry has called home for years – and over-thought, a criticism they’ve never been guilty of before. Bloated at 13 tracks, Confessions could gain by omission (particularly the elemental tracks), but more than likely it’ll just fade away like the band’s last album, 2010’s All Night Long, another awkward, Sunday-morning-after memory.–EM
recoilmag.com
WEST MICHIGAN VENUES
GRAND RAPIDS
Last Chance Saloon
608 Bridge
Logan’s Alley
Bangers
616.451.9755
Bobarino’s 20 Monroe
(inside The B.O.B.)
616.356.2000
Bistro Bella Vita 44 Grandville SW 616.222.4600
Billy’s Lounge 1437 Wealthy SE 616.459.5757
The B.O.B. 20 Monroe 616.356.2000 thebob.com
Bull’s Head 188 Monroe 616.454.3580
Calvin College 3201 Burton St. 616.957.6282
Century Post Pub 203 E. Main St. (Lowell) 616.987.9188
Crush 20 Monroe
(inside The B.O.B.)
616.356.2000
Deltaplex 2500 Turner Ave.
1132 Burton SE
616.742.0600
The Annex 3645 Bannick Dr.
Monkey Bar
Bayview Gardens
1033 Lake Drive SE 20 Monroe
12504 East D Ave.
616.356.2000 thebob.com
Boomerang’s
Monte’s 438 Bridge NW 616.774.5969
Mulligan’s 1518 Wealthy St.
The Muze 438 Bridge NW 616.774.5969
Nick Fink’s 3965 West River NE 616.784.9886
One Trick Pony 136 Fulton St. 616.235.7669
269.731.4911
Brickyard Pub & Grille 1290 M-89 W
616.942.2335
The Pyramid Scheme Quinn & Tuite’s 616.363.8380
1030 E. Vine 269.385.2028
Craftsman Chop Co.
Daisy Mae’s 2688 Patterson Rd (Wayland) 269.792.9426
District Square 269.389.9349
440 E. North St.
616.676.9785
Founders 235 Grandville Ave. 616.776.1195
Gilly’s 20 Monroe
(inside The B.O.B.)
616.356.2000
Holiday Bar 801 5th St. 616.456.9058
616.451.0044
Rockwell’s 45 S. Division SE 616.551.3563
Rocky’s 633 Ottawa 616.356.2346
Root Gallery
The Stache
616.451.HOPS
Intersection 133 Grandville 616.451.8232
J. Gardella’s Tavern 11 Ionia SW 616.459.8824
The Landing 270 Ann St. NW
(inside the Radisson Hotel)
616.363.7748
5301 Comstock Ave.
M-89 Sports Bar 129 E. Allegan (Otsego) 269.694.6970
Main Street Grill 3013 Oakland Dr. 269.342.5208
Monaco Bay
300 E. Michigan 269.384.6044
616.363.7748
402 E. Kalamazoo
HopCat Brewery Tavern on the 25 Ionia Ave. Square
Captain Jack’s 1601 Beach St.
136 N. Whittaker St. (New Buffalo) 269.469.5800
Coral Gables/ Corner Bar 220 Water St.
Stage Coach Bar (Saugatuck) 269.857.2162 M-43 & M-89 (Richland) 269.629.9460
404 S. Burdick 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall 269.384.6756
University Theatre
Gilmore Theatre Complex
Czars 506 Pleasant St. (St. Joseph) 269.983.4111
Foundry Hall 422 Eagle St. (South Haven) 269.767.5453
Itty Bitty Bar & Grill 1136 Ottawa Beach Rd. (Holland)
1903 W. Washington 616.399.5731
The Venue
Kirby House
3750 E. Kilgore Rd. 2 Washington St. 269.345.1608
Waterfront 269.962.7622
Wayside West 3406 Stadium Dr. 269.375.1930
(Grand Haven) 616.846.3299
Lakeshore Tavern 1963 Lakeshore Dr. (Muskegon)
Lemonjello’s Coffee 61 E. 9th St.
Wild Bull Saloon (Holland) Kalamazoo Valley 139 S. Edward St. 616.928.0699 269.978.8451 Museum Little River 230 N. Rose St. Y Bar Casino 269.373.7990
133 Grandville
(inside the Intersection)
126 E. Michigan
269.385.9359
2843 Eastern Ave. SE Main Street Pub 5462 Gull Rd. The Reservoir 269.344.7247 1418 Plainfield NE 616.451.0010
Sportsman’s
315 Columbia Ave. 310 E. Michigan Ave. (Battle Creek)
616.454.0770
8124 Fulton St. E (Ada)
(Fennville) 269.561.5889
The Union
106 Pearl NW 45 S. Division
1590 56th St.
Corner Bar & Grille
Louie’s Trophy House
Raggs to Riches
269.342.7100
State Theatre
River City Saloon Karovas/ Lamplighter Fenian’s Irish Pub 1152 Leonard NW
616.454.7852
(Saugatuck) 269.857.2888
(Plainwell) 269.685.0333
616.356.2000
Flanagan’s Pub 139 Pearl NW
449 Water St.
(Paw Paw) 711 W. Michigan Ave. 269.657.5615 269.373.1412
6905 Sears Dr. The Orbit Room (Portage) 2525 Lake Eastbrook 269.327.2000
Riverbend Bar
(Conklin) 616.899.2640
Shakespeare’s Lower Level
KALAMAZOO
Mangiamo!
616.356.2000
19683 Main St.
Boathouse
Side Track Bar & (Muskegon) 231.755.1555 Grille Casey’s
2401 S. Division
Republic
(inside The B.O.B.)
(Battle Creek) 269.962.2121
241 E. Kalamazoo
20 Monroe
20 Monroe
(St. Joseph) 269.983.3455
1130 Wealthy SE
1535 Plainfield NE
Eve
616.774.VICE
191 Angell St.
Log Cabin
Division Avenue Arts Collective (DAAC)
(inside The B.O.B.)
53 Commerce Ave.
Planet Live
616.458.1612
68 Commerce
Dr. Grin’s Comedy Club
Viceroy Wealthy Street Theatre
916 Michigan NE
616.559.8000
115 S. Division
616.742.6600
Old Dog Tavern
2804 W. Michigan
LANSING
US-31 & M-22 (Manistee) 888.568.2244
Blackened Moon The Livery 190 5th St. Concert Hall 3208 S. MLK Blvd.
Colonial Bar & Grille 3425 S. MLK Blvd. 517.882.6132
Green Door 2005 E. Michigan 517.482.6376
Harper’s
(Benton Harbor) 269.925.8760
New Holland Brewing Co. 66 E. 8th St. (Holland) 616.355.6422
Parrot’s Lounge 234 River
131 Albert Ave.
(Holland) 616.396.4577
517.333.4040
Pint N’ Quart
Impulse II 600 N. Homer
950 W. Norton (Muskegon)
269.370.1283
517.333.9104
Old Hat 114 N. Main
219 Union St. 414 E. Michigan Ave. (Saugatuck)
(Lawton) 269.624.6445
517.267.7898
269.857.2185
Rosebud
Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill
Ouzo’s
Mac’s Bar 2700 E. Michigan
760 Butterworth
Paisano’s
100 Ionia SW
The Venue 4072 Lake Michigan
616.272.3910
Twisted Bull 3230 Eastern SE 616.245.0531
Van Andel Arena 130 W. Fulton
The Loft
266 E. Michigan Ave. 517.484.6795 269.373.6878
16 N. Main St. (Three Rivers) 269.278.8525
Papa Pete’s 502 S. Burdick 269.388.2196
Moriarty’s
Red Dock
100 Washington (Grand Haven) 616.846.7788
802 E. Michigan Ave. Rush Street 760 W. Broadway Ave. 517.485.5287 (Muskegon)
LAKESHORE
Val-Du-Lakes Bar & Grill
600 Fishermen St.
1511 N. Wilson Rd.
Boathouse
(Silver Lake)
volume 13 issue 3 march
EVENT GUIDE FRIDAY MARCH 1
34
a.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Soulstice Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Mega 80’s Intersection (GR) Roster McCabe Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) Music Evolution Night with DJames JD Reardon’s Asamu Johnson Billy’s Lounge (GR) (GR) Jake Stevens Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) Glass House Jack’s Lounge (Spring Lake) (GR) Mark Kahny & Bobby T Ju Sushi & Lounge Jamaica Me Crazy: Roots Vibration, 10 p.m., 18+ (Cascade) Czars (St. Joseph) Karaoke Kuzzins Lounge (GR) Open Reception: Imaginary Friends, 4-30-7:30 Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) p.m.; Great Black Night, Cains Abels, 8-11 p.m. Back Up Plan Little River Casino (Manistee) D.A.A.C. (GR) Double Phelix Showcase, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) (Battle Creek) Flood the Desert, Sleepeater, Silent Lapse, 10 Delilah DeWylde & the Lost Boys, 7:30-9 p.m. p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Duffield Caron Project, 5-8 p.m.; Ziggy and the Bitches, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Throwing Gravity, Star City Meltdown Planet Rock (Battle Creek) Stepdad, Alexis, Flint Eastwood Pyramid Scheme (GR) La Boutique with Sonnrize, Dawns on the Decks, 10 p.m. Republic (GR) The Project, Uto, Steve Zigler & The Ziglets Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Neil Jacobs, 8 p.m., $18 and up Seven Steps Up (Spring Lake) R&B Show: Stylz n Play, DJ Playhouse, 10 p.m., $7 before 11 p.m., $10 11 p.m. - close Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) @ THE ORBIT ROOM MARCH 31 Stylz n Play, DJ Playhouse Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Foundry Hall (South Haven) Static Saturday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Soulstice Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Guy Voss H20 (Battle Creek) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) (HED) PE; OCD, Huey Mack Intersection (GR) Night Turnips The Union (Kzoo) Glass House Jack’s Lounge (Spring Lake) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Classes, Ladies Night In The Dark Room The Kirby House 9:30 a.m.; Back Studio: AniJAM, 12:45 p.m. (Grand Haven) Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) DJ Creole, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo) Back Up Plan Little River Casino (Manistee) Half-ton Blues-Gun, The Creepaholics, 9 p.m., $5 suggested donation The Livery (Benton Harbor) Sunday Night Hype 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Duke & The Loose Canons, 9:30 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Industry Night: Open Mich w/Big Nick,7 p.m.-close Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Husband and Wife, Pistolbrides, Congress, 10 Revival: 80s Dance Night w/ DJ Hustlah Billy’s p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Lounge (GR) The Turnips New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) Summer Sundays: American city themed events ART HOP with Jonathan Wijnberg, 5-8 p.m. Blue Water Grill (GR) Drawings and Paintings; “Dead at 27” Fest wsg Trivia Sunday with Drew B. Bobarino’s (found inside Megan Dooley featuring Night Bullet, Linsay the B.O.B.) (GR) Kelly, The Due Rites, Top Heavy, Ghost Bunnies Industry Night Crush (found insde the B.O.B.) (GR) in celebration of Dooley’s 27th birthday! Old Dog Color Cafe featuring Karisa Wilson & Garner, 7-10 Tavern (Kzoo) p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Alma College presents Resonance Devos Hall Twiz Presents: The Palindrome Infection Comedy (GR) Hip-Hop Pyramid Scheme (GR) Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free Full Kontakt Karaoke Quaker Steak & Lube Founders (GR) (Kentwood) Kristen Ford, Elisabeth Pixley-Fink CD Release Open Mic Night Quinn & Tuite’s (GR) Party, The Mittenauts, 6-8 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Substance with DJ Brandon Hill, 10-2 a.m. Haven) Republic (GR) Sookie Jones Band Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Dennie Middleton River Bend Bar (Ada) HopCat Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.; Industry Night, 9 p.m. Dance with Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) close HopCat Brewery (GR) Control with DJ Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill Eric Johnson Intersection (GR) Uppercut (GR) Sunday Night Funnies The Landing (GR) Reggae, 10 p.m. The Root Gallery & Studio (GR) Yoga on Tap, 4-6 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) DJames and Friends The Score (GR) Bike Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Double Strung, Noon - 2 p.m.; 7th Son 6-9 p.m. Salsa Friday featuring DJ Tropicz Sheakespeare’s Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Pub (Kzoo) Blues Jam, 6-9 p.m. Old Hat Brewery & Grill Black Friday featuring DJ Jason Ash with special (Lawton) guests Sixx Nightclub (GR) Request Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Ladies Night (18+) Stagecoach Barn (Richland) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m.; DJ Kermit’s Shit Show, 10 Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) The Moonrays, The Cheeztones Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Marci Linn Band The Union (Kzoo) DJ LA, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
A DAY TO REMEMBER
SUNDAY MARCH 3
SATURDAY MARCH 2
Combat Corduroy, Pleasant Drive Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) Cabin Fever Blues Series ft. Peaches Staten Billy’s Lounge (GR) John Barbush Trio, 8:30-11:30 p.m. Bistro Bella Vita (GR) Oregon Dreamchild Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Vince Miller Craftsman Chop Co. (Portage) Country Night: Justine Blazer, 10 p.m., 18+ Czars (St. Joseph) Ladies First Rock The Mic Presents: Life In General - Soso LeFem Conert & Listening Party, 5:30-10 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Typo; Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) The Cheap Dates Flanagan’s (GR) Serita’s Black Rose CD Release Party, Me3Minds’s Joe Rydecki and friends, 9:30 p.m., $5 Founders (GR) Christopher Mark Jones, Greg Winters, 7:30-9 p.m.; Winter Indoor Market, 11
AWOLNATION
@ INTERSECTION MARCH 26
35
volume 13 issue 3 march
recoilmag.com
recoilmag.com
volume 13 issue 3 march
36
EVENT GUIDE MONDAY MARCH 4
BassBin: Electronic Dance Night Billy’s Lounge (GR) 25th Annual Hope College Musical Showcase Devos Hall (GR) TipTopTails, 6:15-8:30 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven)
(Kzoo) 80’s & 90’s Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Acoustic Open Mic, 9:30 p.m. (18+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booze 6 p.m.-midnight with $6 or more of food purchase) Stella’s Lounge (GR) Comedy Tuesdays, 9 p.m., free Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Top Heavy The Union (Kzoo) Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band Van Andel Arena (GR) Meanwhile Film Series: Escape From New York Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 6
JOEL MCHALE
@ GRCC FORD FIELDHOUSE MARCH 9 Open Mic with John Sanger, 7-11 p.m. Gipper’s (GR) Yellow Brick Road Dueling Pianos Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Michigan Monday, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Unplugged Open Mic, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) NTAA Open Stage: Open Mic Night Sponsored by New Territory Arts Association, 7 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Open Mic Hosted by Gabriel James Monarchs’ Club (GR) Margarita Mondays Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Patricia Pettinga, 5-8 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Electronic Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Royal Thunder, Ancient Vvisdom, Mean Mother Pyramid Scheme (GR) Monday Night Jazz, 8-11 p.m. Republic (GR) Free Bingo with prizes, 10 p.m. (21+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Motown Monday with DJ Brandon Lawrence, free, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Project, 5:30 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
TUESDAY MARCH 5
Reggae with Ray Townsend 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Pastiche Open Mic, sign-up 7 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Open Mic with Rebekah Rhys, full band or acoustic, plus free set recording Billy’s Lounge (GR) Poetry Begins with Azizi Hasani, 9-11 p.m. Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Scott Herriman Eastland Bowl (Kzoo) Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Open Mic Night featuring Jason Heystek & Nicholas James, 9 p.m. Founders (GR) Music Lessons, 2:30-6 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Tuesday Evening Music Club Frederik Meijer Gardens (GR) Typo Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Black Squirrel University, 9 p.m. Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booxe with food purchase), 6 p.m.-midnight HopCat Brewery (GR) Karaoke, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) ARTbreak, 12 p.m. Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) American Opera, Red Legs, Alex & The Brave, Jake Down, 7 p.m., $5. Lemonjello’s Coffee (Holland) Mug Club, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Comedy Open Mic Night, 9 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Meanwhile Film Series, 8 p.m., Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile (GR) Toxic Trivia: Team Based Trivia, 10 p.m. - Midnight Mulligan’s (GR) Open Mic Night with Brendan Mann, 9 p.m., sign up at 7 p.m.; Tom Duffield, 5-8 p.m. Old Dog Tavern
Karaoke 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Nathan Holley Live, free, 21+ Billy’s Lounge (GR) Comedy Night featuring Mike Stanley & Joe Kilgallon Czars (St. Joseph) Jailbreak! Letter Writing Event, 5 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Brit Floyd Devos Hall (GR) Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Song Swap, 7-9 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Musical Open Mic with Adam Danis, 9 p.m. The Globe Theatre (Kzoo) One Night Band Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Pitchers and Wings, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Open Mic Night: Hosted by Jake Kalmink of The Fever Haze, 7:30-10 p.m., free Lemonjello’s Coffee (Holland) Team Trivia, 7:30 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) STFU Dance with DJ Tyler & Mr. Lee (18+) The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Acoustic Reserve McFadden’s (GR) Karaoke Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Ladies Night with Steven Lee Pesch Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Audition Night Parkway Tropics (GR) Trivia Night Hosted By Sporcle, 8:30 p.m. Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Wednesdays with Jim Prange, 9:30 p.m. The Rocket Lounge at Louie’s Bar (GR) New Holland Cabin Fever Promotion; Baconpalooza: free bacon night, 9-11 p.m. (or until out of bacon) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Open Mic w/ Adam Danis, sign up 8 p.m. Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) College Night Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Open Mic Night hosted by Nathan Kalish, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Point Eastown Meeting, 7 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) Temple House Jam with King Crabapple West Side
Inn (Musk)
THURSDAY MARCH 7
Open Mic w; Dirty Dave & Friends 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Thursday Night at The Acorn, 9 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Wilson Brothers Band Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) 90’s Holla Back Billy’s Lounge (GR) Sweet J Band Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Afro Zuma, 9:30 p.m., free Founders (GR) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Stone Thrown Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Vinyl Thursday Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) $3 Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Three Buck Thursdays, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor)
KOOL KEITH
@ THE PYRAMID SCHEME MARCH 24 Lifted Thursdays The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Wine School, on the lawn, 6-9 p.m. Mangiamo! (GR) Devin and the Dead Frets, Stone Throw, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Joe Seeley & featured guests Nick Fink’s
(Comstock Park) Latin Salsa Night Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Industry SIN Night Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Brandon Wallace & friends, Kevin (Oso) Fein Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Comedy Open Mic Night, 9 p.m. Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Comedy Open Mic, 9 p.m. Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Country Thursday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; $5 Burgers, 6-11 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Cliff Erickson, 8 p.m. The Union (Kzoo) College Night with DJ Creole, 9-2 a.m. (18+) Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
FRIDAY MARCH 8
Twin Cats Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) Funktion Billy’s Lounge (GR) Terry Lower, Edye Evans Hyde Trio, 7 p.m. The Blackhawk (Richland) Rock Shop Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Nero Jr. Czars (St. Joseph) Ladies Rock The Mic Networking & Empowerment Event & Concert, 6-10 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Kathy Ford; Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Whistle Pigs, 7:30-9 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) 80s Enough Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Guy Voss H20 (Battle Creek) Flyleaf, Drowning Pool Intersection (GR) Drop 35 Jack’s Lounge (Spring Lake) Mark Kahny & Bobby T Ju Sushi & Lounge (Cascade) Ladies Night In The Dark Room The Kirby House (Grand Haven) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Tim Stop Band, 9 p.m., $8 The Livery (Benton Harbor) Inflatable Best Friend, Bert, Sista Mista, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) The Campanellis, Jake Stilson, Part Time Warriorz, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Romance For Ransom New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) Elisabeth Pixley Fink, CD release party of BLOODROOT Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Laughfest: Garfunkel & Oates (SOLD OUT) Pyramid Scheme (GR) Full Kontakt Karaoke Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Night Quinn & Tuite’s (GR) Substance with DJ Brandon Hill, 10-2 a.m. Republic (GR) Dennie Middleton River Bend Bar (Ada) The Moonrays, 7-10 p.m. Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR)
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EVENT GUIDE Control with DJ Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill Uppercut (GR) Reggae, 10 p.m. The Root Gallery & Studio (GR) DJames and Friends The Score (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Back From Dead Tour: Lord Infamous, 9 p.m., $10 adv, $15 dos Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Lord Infamous, Frayser Boy Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Black Friday featuring DJ Jason Ash with special guests Sixx Nightclub (GR) Ladies Night (18+) Stagecoach Barn (Richland) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) Kochan’s 40th Extravaganza Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Cliff Erickson, 8 p.m. The Union (Kzoo) DJ LA, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SATURDAY MARCH 9
Corn Fed Girls, Cold Tone Harvest Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) The Outer Vibe Billy’s Lounge (GR) John Barbush Trio, 8:30-11:30 p.m. Bistro Bella Vita (GR) Rock Shop Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Tom Northrup Craftsman Chop Co. (Portage) The Rain Dogs Czars (St. Joseph) Real Friends, Act As One, Midwest, Adversary, Way To Fall (all day) D.A.A.C. (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Funkie Jesse; Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) The Appleseed Collective, Strawberry Heritage, The Whistle Pigs, 9:30 p.m., $5 Founders (GR) 80s Enough Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Lucky Boys Confusion; UV Hippo Intersection (GR) Music Evolution Night with DJames JD Reardon’s (GR) Azz Izz Jack’s Lounge (Spring Lake) Karaoke Kuzzins Lounge (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Fillmore’s Ladder, 9 p.m., $5 The Livery (Benton Harbor) Axis, Jimmy Fraz and the Bad Boys, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Drop 35 M 89 Sports Bar (Otsego) Apostles, Fake Limbs, Jack Buck, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) DRAG SHOW with Batty Davis, 9 p.m. - 1a.m., Happy Birthday Ladybug Alive! Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Unhinged, Prospect Hill, Iansdown Planet Rock (Battle Creek) Laughfest: Garfunkel & Oates (SOLD OUT) Pyramid Scheme (GR) La Boutique with Sonnrize, Dawns on the Decks, 10 p.m. Republic (GR) Mike Hard, Head, Knives Are Quiet Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Crazy 80’s Party: Starfarm, 9 p.m., $5 Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Starfarm Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Static Saturday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) Root Doctor Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Cliff Erickson, 8 p.m. The Union (Kzoo) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Classes, 9:30 a.m.; Back Studio: AniJAM, 12:45 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) DJ Creole, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SUNDAY MARCH 10
Sunday Night Hype 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Industry Night: Open Mich w/Big Nick,7 p.m.close 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Revival: 80s Dance Night w/ DJ Hustlah Billy’s Lounge (GR) Summer Sundays: American city themed events Blue Water Grill (GR) Trivia Sunday with Drew B. Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Industry Night Crush (found insde the B.O.B.) (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Trapped On Mars Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) HopCat Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.; Industry Night, 9 p.m. close HopCat Brewery (GR) Secondhand Serenade Intersection (GR) Sunday Night Funnies The Landing (GR) Harbor Authors: Reading and book sale, 6 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Bike Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Double Strung, Noon - 2 p.m.; Ol time Jam, 2-5 p.m.; Gratiot Lake Road, 6-9 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Blues Jam, 6-9 p.m. Old Hat Brewery & Grill (Lawton) Request Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Open Min/Jam Night hosted by Joe Botwinski, 8 p.m. The Rezervoir (GR) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m.; DJ Kermit’s Shit Show, 10 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR)
MONDAY MARCH 11
BassBin: Electronic Dance Night Billy’s Lounge (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) TipTopTails, 6:15-8:30 p.m. Foundry Hall (South
Haven) Open Mic with John Sanger, 7-11 p.m. Gipper’s (GR) Tony Reynolds Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Michigan Monday, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Unplugged Open Mic, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) SIN: Service Industry Night, 7 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Open Mic Hosted by Gabriel James Monarchs’ Club (GR) Margarita Mondays Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Alec Robbins and Old Dog Comedy Night, 9 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Electronic Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Monday Night Jazz, 8-11 p.m. Republic (GR) Free Bingo with prizes, 10 p.m. (21+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Motown Monday with DJ Brandon Lawrence, free, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Project, 5:30 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
TUESDAY MARCH 12
Reggae with Ray Townsend 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Pastiche Open Mic, sign-up 7 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Open Mic with Rebekah Rhys, full band or acoustic, plus free set recording Billy’s Lounge (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Scott Herriman Eastland Bowl (Kzoo) Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Open Mic Night featuring Jason Heystek & Nicholas James, 9 p.m. Founders (GR) Music Lessons, 2:30-6 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Tuesday Evening Music Club Frederik Meijer Gardens (GR) Michael Hawkes Show Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Black Squirrel University, 9 p.m. Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booxe with food purchase), 6 p.m.-midnight HopCat Brewery (GR) Karaoke, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) ARTbreak, 12 p.m. Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Mug Club, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Meanwhile Film Series, 8 p.m., Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile (GR) Toxic Trivia: Team Based Trivia, 10 p.m. - Midnight Mulligan’s (GR) Open Mic Night with Brendan Mann, 9 p.m., sign up at 7 p.m.; Tom Duffield, 5-8 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) 80’s & 90’s Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Acoustic Open Mic, 9:30 p.m. (18+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booze 6 p.m.-midnight with $6 or more of food purchase) Stella’s Lounge (GR) Comedy Tuesdays, 9 p.m., free Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Meanwhile Film Series: The Thing Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 13
Karaoke 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming)
Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Casey Abrams, 8 p.m., $30 Acorn Theater (Three Three Buck Thursdays, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Oaks) Harbor) Brooks Urban Herd Run Happy Pub Run, 6:30 Lifted Thursdays The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge p.m. Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) (Lansing) Nathan Holley Live, free, 21+ Billy’s Lounge (GR) Wine School, on the lawn, 6-9 p.m. Mangiamo! Gigatron Czars (St. Joseph) (GR) Gilda’s LaughFest: Dr. Bernie Siegel & Scott Selfish Tears, Nighthawk, The Soft Act, 10 p.m., Burton Devos Hall (GR) free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Joe Seeley & featured guests Nick Fink’s Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Comstock Park) (Battle Creek) Rick Chambers & Associates Anniversary Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Underwear Bash!: Bring in a package of newly Musical Open Mic with Adam Danis, 9 p.m. The purchased underwear (any size, mens/womens/ Globe Theatre (Kzoo) children) and receive complimentary coupons, 5-7 The Cones Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Pitchers and Wings, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Team Trivia, 7:30 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) STFU Dance with DJ Tyler & Mr. Lee (18+) The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Music Open Mic Night, 8 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Acoustic Reserve McFadden’s (GR) Karaoke Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Alison in Wonderland with David Lloyd, 5-8 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Audition Night Parkway Tropics (GR) Trivia Night Hosted By Sporcle, 8:30 p.m. Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Wednesdays with Jim Prange, 9:30 p.m. The @ THE PYRAMID SCHEME MARCH 16 Rocket Lounge at Louie’s Bar (GR) p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) New Holland Cabin Fever Promotion; Latin Salsa Night Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Baconpalooza: free bacon night, 9-11 p.m. (or Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) until out of bacon) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) The Wonder Years, Fireworks, Hostage Calm, Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Misser Pyramid Scheme (GR) Open Mic w/ Adam Danis, sign up 8 p.m. Industry SIN Night Quaker Steak & Lube Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) (Kentwood) College Night Sixx Nightclub (GR) Get Large Productions Presents: Thundercats Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Thursday Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Open Mic Night hosted by Nathan Kalish, 9 p.m. Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Kari Lynch Band Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Front Studio: Point Eastown Meeting, 7 p.m. Country Thursday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; $5 Burgers, 6-11 p.m. Temple House Jam with King Crabapple West Side Stella’s Lounge (GR) Inn (Musk) Tosspints, S.S. Web and Blind Staggers Pre St. Patrick’s Day Shindig! Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Open Mic w; Dirty Dave & Friends 36th Street College Night with DJ Creole, 9-2 a.m. (18+) Wild Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Bull Saloon (Kzoo) Thursday Night at The Acorn, 9 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Team Trivia Night, 6-8 p.m. Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Rootstand, Kyckstand Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) (Kzoo) Blue Molly Billy’s Lounge (GR) 90’s Holla Back Billy’s Lounge (GR) Sprague Brothers Bobarino’s (found inside the Take Two Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) B.O.B.) (GR) Karaoke with D-Mic Czars (St. Joseph) Finneus Czars (St. Joseph) Gilda’s LaughFest: Lewis Black Devos Hall (GR) Midwest Skies, Brites, Last In Line D.A.A.C. (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino Plain Jayne; Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers (Battle Creek) Casino (Battle Creek) Rootstand, 9:30 p.m., free Founders (GR) The Rock Show Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Drop 35 H20 (Battle Creek) Azz Izz Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Mark Kahny & Bobby T Ju Sushi & Lounge Vinyl Thursday Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) (Cascade) $3 Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Ladies Night In The Dark Room The Kirby House (Grand Haven) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Decades The Landing (GR) 80’s Costume Party: Lisa Can’t Sing, 9 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) The Sailor Kicks, Short Hair Domestics, Hunky Newcomers, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Sawyer Brothers Band New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) Happy Hour with Dave Johnson, 5-8 p.m., The Turnips wsg The Hand in the Ocean, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Through The Ashes, As Summer Dies, Super Bob, Shallow Side Planet Rock (Battle Creek) Grand Rapids Soul Club Pyramid Scheme (GR) Full Kontakt Karaoke Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Night Quinn & Tuite’s (GR) Substance with DJ Brandon Hill, 10-2 a.m. Republic (GR) Dennie Middleton River Bend Bar (Ada) Dance with Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Control with DJ Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill Uppercut (GR) Reggae, 10 p.m. The Root Gallery & Studio (GR) DJames and Friends The Score (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Willy Porter, 8 p.m., $24 and up Seven Steps Up (Spring Lake) Covert, Electric Jug Band Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Black Friday featuring DJ Jason Ash with special
COMMON SHINER
THURSDAY MARCH 14
SLIGHTLY STOOPID
@ THE ORBIT ROOM MARCH 17
FRIDAY MARCH 15
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EVENT GUIDE guests Sixx Nightclub (GR) Ladies Night (18+) Stagecoach Barn (Richland) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) Danger Dames Burlesque Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) All American Funk Parade The Union (Kzoo) Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Thunder Nationals Van Andel Arena (GR) DJ LA, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SATURDAY MARCH 16
Slim Gypsy Baggage Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) Hip Pocket Billy’s Lounge (GR) John Barbush Trio, 8:30-11:30 p.m. Bistro Bella Vita (GR) Cold Cash Machine Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Red Hot Voodoo Czars (St. Joseph) Ladies First Rock The Mic Presents:Jeri Wade “Soul Flower Songs: Listening Party, 7-10 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Gilda’s LaughFest: Brian Regan Devos Hall (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Therron Kokales Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Black Jake and the Carnies, Chuck Whiting and His Rowdy Friends, 9:30 p.m., $5 Founders (GR) The Rock Show Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Drop 35 H20 (Battle Creek) Mega 80’s Intersection (GR) Irish On Ionia,( all day from 7 a.m.) Ionia Avenue Downtown Grand Rapids (GR) Music Evolution Night with DJames JD Reardon’s (GR) Karaoke Kuzzins Lounge (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Decades The Landing (GR) Sarah & The Tall Boys The Livery (Benton Harbor) Kalamazoo River Monsters, Jeremy Porter and the Tucos, The Free Life, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Irish On Ionia: Kegs and Eggs, 7-10 a.m.; Peat in the Creel, 10-10:45 a.m.; An Dro, 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.; Gasta, 1-2:15 p.m.; Arden Academy of Irish Dance, 2:30-3 p.m.; Millish, 3:30-4:45 p.m.; The Billies, 5:15-6:15 p.m.; The Crane Wives, 6:45-8 p.m.; The Waxies, 8:30-10 p.m. McFadden’s (GR) Kitten Flower Boutique hosted Fetish/Suspension Show, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) St. Patrick’s Day Party New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) St. Patty’s Day Celebration: Embarr, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Duffield Caron Project, 2-5 p.m., Whiskey Before Breakfast, 5-9 p.m., Skogen, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Bello Spark, Common Shiner, Nate & Cole Find A Radio Pyramid Scheme (GR) St. Patrick’s Day Party Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) La Boutique with Sonnrize, Dawns on the Decks, 10 p.m. Republic (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Sponge, Record Release Show, 9 p.m., $8 adv, $12 dos Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Sponge CD Release Party, Kurt Loder Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Static Saturday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) Behind The Times and The Webbs Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) All American Funk Parade The Union (Kzoo) Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Thunder Nationals Van Andel Arena (GR) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Classes, 9:30 a.m.; Back Studio: AniJAM, 12:45 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) DJ Creole, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SUNDAY MARCH 17
Sunday Night Hype 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Industry Night: Open Mich w/Big Nick,7 p.m.close 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Revival: 80s Dance Night w/ DJ Hustlah Billy’s Lounge (GR) Summer Sundays: American city themed events Blue Water Grill (GR) Trivia Sunday with Drew B. Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Industry Night Crush (found insde the B.O.B.) (GR) LaughFest Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Copper Run Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) HopCat Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.; Industry Night, 9 p.m. close HopCat Brewery (GR) Sunday Night Funnies The Landing (GR) Mug Club, 2 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) St. Patty’s Day: Kris Hitchcock & Small Town Son, 1-5 p.m., all ages; St. Patty’s Night: M. Sord, Your Skull, The Fencemen, Nice Hooves, 9:30 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) St. Patrick’s Day Party New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) Bike Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) St. Patrick’s Day Party featuring Double Strung, Noon-2 p.m., Tom Duffield 2-5 p.m., Whiskey Before Breakfast, 5-9 p.m., Skogen, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Blues Jam, 6-9 p.m. Old Hat Brewery & Grill (Lawton) St. Patrick’s Day Show featuring Stightly Stoopid, The Expendables, Tribal Seeds The Orbit Room (GR)
Request Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Otherwise In Battle Creek Planet Rock (Battle Creek) Kate Nash, SuperCute (SOLD OUT) Pyramid Scheme (GR) St. Patrick’s Day Party Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School & Shimmy Shack Burlesque, 8-8 p.m. The Rezervoir (GR) Rocky’s St Patrick’s Day Show: The Northern Skies, The Turnips, $5 for 21+, $7 for a very limited 18-20 Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) St. Patrick’s Day Music at The Lower Level: Red Sea Pedestrians, Cold Mountain, 7 p.m., free Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) St. Patrick’s Day Party featuring Red Sea Pedestrians, Cold Mountain Child Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m.; DJ Kermit’s Shit Show, 10 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Thunder Nationals Van Andel Arena (GR)
MONDAY MARCH 18
BassBin: Electronic Dance Night Billy’s Lounge (GR) TipTopTails, 6:15-8:30 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Open Mic with John Sanger, 7-11 p.m. Gipper’s (GR) Frog & the Beeftones Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Michigan Monday, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Unplugged Open Mic, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) SIN: Service Industry Night, 7 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Open Mic Hosted by Gabriel James Monarchs’ Club (GR) Margarita Mondays Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) K.L.O.B.: Kalamazoo Libation Organization of Brewers, 6 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Electronic Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Monday Night Jazz, 8-11 p.m. Republic (GR) Free Bingo with prizes, 10 p.m. (21+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Motown Monday with DJ Brandon Lawrence, free, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Project, 5:30 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
Gigatron Czars (St. Joseph) Comedy Night presented by Gary Fields, 7 & 9 p.m. Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Song Swap, 7-9 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Musical Open Mic with Adam Danis, 9 p.m. The Globe Theatre (Kzoo) Drop 35 Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Pitchers and Wings, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Trapt Intersection (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Team Trivia, 7:30 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) STFU Dance with DJ Tyler & Mr. Lee (18+) The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Music Open Mic Night, 8 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Acoustic Reserve McFadden’s (GR) Karaoke Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Ladies Night with Steven Lee Pesch Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Audition Night Parkway Tropics (GR) Trivia Night Hosted By Sporcle, 8:30 p.m. Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Wednesdays with Jim Prange, 9:30 p.m. The Rocket Lounge at Louie’s Bar (GR) New Holland Cabin Fever Promotion; Baconpalooza: free bacon night, 9-11 p.m. (or until out of bacon) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR)
Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Comedy Open Mic Night, 9 p.m. Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Comedy Open Mic, 9 p.m. Sheakespeare’s Pub (Kzoo) Country Thursday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; $5 Burgers, 6-11 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) WMU Jams with Keith Hall, 8 p.m. The Union (Kzoo) College Night with DJ Creole, 9-2 a.m. (18+) Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
FRIDAY MARCH 22
The Coop Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) Classic Fix Billy’s Lounge (GR) Koke McKesson, Doug Decker, 7 p.m. The Blackhawk (Richland) Sweet J Band Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) The Blue Effect Czars (St. Joseph) Vince Morris Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Montage; Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Foundry Benefit featuring Thirty Steps To Forward Foundry Hall (South Haven) Drop 35 Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Guy Voss H20 (Battle Creek)
TUESDAY MARCH 19
Reggae with Ray Townsend 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Pastiche Open Mic, sign-up 7 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Open Mic with Rebekah Rhys, full band or acoustic, plus free set recording Billy’s Lounge (GR) Blood Red, 7:30 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Poetry Begins with Azizi Hasani, 9-11 p.m. Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Scott Herriman Eastland Bowl (Kzoo) Open Mic Night featuring Jason Heystek & Nicholas James, 9 p.m. Founders (GR) Music Lessons, 2:30-6 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Tuesday Evening Music Club Frederik Meijer Gardens (GR) Suckerpush Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Black Squirrel University, 9 p.m. Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booxe with food purchase), 6 p.m.-midnight HopCat Brewery (GR) Karaoke, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) ARTbreak, 12 p.m. Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Mug Club, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Comedy Open Mic Night, 9 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Meanwhile Film Series, 8 p.m., Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile (GR) Toxic Trivia: Team Based Trivia, 10 p.m. - Midnight Mulligan’s (GR) Open Mic Night with Brendan Mann, 9 p.m., sign up at 7 p.m.; Tom Duffield, 5-8 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) 80’s & 90’s Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) LaLaPeruza: Elliot Street Lunatics, The Muteflies, The Carboys, Doug Mains & The City Folk, Small Town Victory Pyramid Scheme (GR) Acoustic Open Mic, 9:30 p.m. (18+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booze 6 p.m.-midnight with $6 or more of food purchase) Stella’s Lounge (GR) Comedy Tuesdays, 9 p.m., free Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Wine & Dinosaur The Union (Kzoo) Meanwhile Film Series: Big Trouble In Little China Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 20
Karaoke 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Homebrewing and Bottling Demonstration, 6 p.m. Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) Nathan Holley Live, free, 21+ Billy’s Lounge (GR)
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA @ HOPE COLLEGE MARCH 6
Open Mic w/ Adam Danis, sign up 8 p.m. Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) College Night Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Open Mic Night hosted by Nathan Kalish, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Point Eastown Meeting, 7 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) Temple House Jam with King Crabapple West Side Inn (Musk)
THURSDAY MARCH 21
Open Mic w; Dirty Dave & Friends 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Thursday Night at The Acorn, 9 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Joshua Davis Band Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) 90’s Holla Back Billy’s Lounge (GR) Sweet J Band Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Karaoke with D-Mic Czars (St. Joseph) Vince Morris Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Karaoke, 7-11 p.m. Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Steve Hilger Band, 9:30 p.m., free Founders (GR) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Vinyl Thursday Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) $3 Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Here Come The Mummies; Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors Intersection (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Three Buck Thursdays, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Lifted Thursdays The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Wine School, on the lawn, 6-9 p.m. Mangiamo! (GR) Life Size Ghost, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Joe Seeley & featured guests Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Latin Salsa Night Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Local H, State & Madison, Nobody’s Favorite Pyramid Scheme (GR) Industry SIN Night Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Jesse Ray Carolina, Connor Fritz, Joey Hartman Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR)
Love and Theft Intersection (GR) Tony Reynolds Ju Sushi & Lounge (Cascade) Ladies Night In The Dark Room The Kirby House (Grand Haven) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Glass House The Landing (GR) Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, Adversary, The Koh Kohs, Bennett, 7 p.m., $5 Lemonjello’s Coffee (Holland) Bonita Mitchell The Livery (Benton Harbor) DJ Dance Party: DJ Earl and Tyler, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) The Real Lazy Genius, Ultrasphinx, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Brett Mitchell & the Giant Ghost New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) Mushmen; Boss Mustangs; The Real Fantastics, 9 p.m - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Ladyfest GR: Jean Grae, Invincible, Lady Ace Boogie, Sarge Tha Dame, Brazen, Nite Jewel, Jes Kramer Pyramid Scheme (GR) Full Kontakt Karaoke Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Night Quinn & Tuite’s (GR) Substance with DJ Brandon Hill, 10-2 a.m. Republic (GR) Dennie Middleton River Bend Bar (Ada) The Moonrays, 7-10 p.m. Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Control with DJ Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill Uppercut (GR) Reggae, 10 p.m. The Root Gallery & Studio (GR) DJames and Friends The Score (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Black Friday featuring DJ Jason Ash with special guests Sixx Nightclub (GR) Ladies Night (18+) Stagecoach Barn (Richland) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) Reverend Raven and the Chain Smokin’ Altars Boys Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) What Naht The Union (Kzoo) DJ LA, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SATURDAY MARCH 23
The Crane Wives Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) King Crabapple CD Release Party Billy’s Lounge (GR)
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EVENT GUIDE John Barbush Trio, 8:30-11:30 p.m. Bistro Bella Vita (GR) Three’s A Crowd Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Dot Dot Dot Czars (St. Joseph) LadyFestGR Workshops, 3-5 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Vince Morris Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Fauxgrass Quartet, Moxie Strings, 9:30 p.m., $5 Founders (GR) One Night Band Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Keb’ Mo’; Electric Six Intersection (GR) Music Evolution Night with DJames JD Reardon’s (GR) Karaoke Kuzzins Lounge (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Glass House The Landing (GR) Union Guns Little River Casino (Manistee) The Astro Bats, Haunted Leather, Boron Nuzzle, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Stikyfut, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Duffield Caron Project, 5-8 p.m., The Wall Clocks, 9 p.m - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Ladyfest GR: The Doctor’s Wives, Bermudas, Claire Fisher Pyramid Scheme (GR) La Boutique with Sonnrize, Dawns on the Decks, 10 p.m. Republic (GR) Rocky’s 3.0: DJ John Scherer, Cube, TheDeWitt Rocks Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Dan Navarro, 8 p.m., $30 and up Seven Steps Up (Spring Lake) Hardcore Show: Neqriem, Infinite Design, Proconpro, Tall Tales, To Be Fed, 7 p.m., $5 Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Static Saturday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Drop 35 Stagecoach Barn (Richland) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) White Rabbit Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Schrock Brothers The Union (Kzoo) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Classes, 9:30 a.m.; Back Studio: AniJAM, 12:45 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) The Skeletones Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SUNDAY MARCH 24
Sunday Night Hype 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Industry Night: Open Mich w/Big Nick,7 p.m.close 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Revival: 80s Dance Night w/ DJ Hustlah Billy’s Lounge (GR) Summer Sundays: American city themed events Blue Water Grill (GR) Trivia Sunday with Drew B. Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Industry Night Crush (found insde the B.O.B.) (GR) Discfunktional Sundays with The Boogiman DJ Spydre, 9:30 p.m., free Founders (GR) One Night Band Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) HopCat Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.; Industry Night, 9 p.m. close HopCat Brewery (GR) Sunday Night Funnies The Landing (GR) Irish Session, An Dro The Livery (Benton Harbor) Bike Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Double Strung, Noon - 2 p.m.; WIDR and Corner Record Shop SWAP! Benefiting WIDR and the Western Herald Crossroads Blues Band, 6-9 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Blues Jam, 6-9 p.m. Old Hat Brewery & Grill (Lawton) Request Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Kool Keith, Assorted Anonymous, DJ Snax, Dante Cope Pyramid Scheme (GR) Annual Oberon Eve Party: Dopapd, Indigo Sun, DJ Gami, 9 p.m., $5 Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m.; DJ Kermit’s Shit Show, 10 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Winter Jam 2013 Van Andel Arena (GR)
MONDAY MARCH 25
BassBin: Electronic Dance Night Billy’s Lounge (GR) TipTopTails, 6:15-8:30 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Open Mic with John Sanger, 7-11 p.m. Gipper’s (GR) Litt Up Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Michigan Monday, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Unplugged Open Mic, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) SIN: Service Industry Night, 7 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Open Mic Hosted by Gabriel James Monarchs’ Club (GR) Margarita Mondays Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) G.L.A.M.A.: Jam Great Lakes Acoustic Music Association Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Electronic Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Monday Night Jazz, 8-11 p.m. Republic (GR) Free Bingo with prizes, 10 p.m. (21+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR)
Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Motown Monday with DJ Brandon Lawrence, free, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Project, 5:30 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
TUESDAY MARCH 26
Reggae with Ray Townsend 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Pastiche Open Mic, sign-up 7 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Open Mic with Rebekah Rhys, full band or acoustic, plus free set recording Billy’s Lounge (GR) Poetry Begins with Azizi Hasani, 9-11 p.m. Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Scott Herriman Eastland Bowl (Kzoo) Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Open Mic Night featuring Jason Heystek & Nicholas James, 9 p.m. Founders (GR) Music Lessons, 2:30-6 p.m. Foundry Hall (South Haven) Tuesday Evening Music Club Frederik Meijer Gardens (GR) Brena Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Black Squirrel University, 9 p.m. Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booxe with food purchase), 6 p.m.-midnight HopCat Brewery (GR) Awolnation, Blondfire, Mother Mother Intersection (GR) Karaoke, 9 p.m. JD Reardon’s (GR) ARTbreak, 12 p.m. Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Mug Club, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Meanwhile Film Series, 8 p.m., Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile (GR) Toxic Trivia: Team Based Trivia, 10 p.m. - Midnight Mulligan’s (GR) Green Drinks: Environmental and Sustainable discussions Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) 80’s & 90’s Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Acoustic Open Mic, 9:30 p.m. (18+) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; Downtown Throwdown (half-off all booze 6 p.m.-midnight with $6 or more of food purchase) Stella’s Lounge (GR) Comedy Tuesdays, 9 p.m., free Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Nate Holley The Union (Kzoo) Meanwhile Film Series: They Live Wealthy Street Theatre (GR)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 27
Karaoke 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Nathan Holley Live, free, 21+ Billy’s Lounge (GR) Gigatron Czars (St. Joseph) Ladies First Rock The Mic Present: Sarge tha Dame Listening Party, 7 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Musical Open Mic with Adam Danis, 9 p.m. The Globe Theatre (Kzoo) Risque Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Pitchers and Wings, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) Team Trivia, 7:30 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) STFU Dance with DJ Tyler & Mr. Lee (18+) The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Music Open Mic Night, 8 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Acoustic Reserve McFadden’s (GR) Karaoke Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Alison in Wonderland with David Lloyd, 5-8 p.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Audition Night Parkway Tropics (GR) Danny Brown Pyramid Scheme (GR) Trivia Night Hosted By Sporcle, 8:30 p.m. Quaker
SUM 41 @ INTERSECTION APRIL 1 Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Wednesdays with Jim Prange, 9:30 p.m. The Rocket Lounge at Louie’s Bar (GR)
New Holland Cabin Fever Promotion; Baconpalooza: free bacon night, 9-11 p.m. (or until out of bacon) Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Open Mic w/ Adam Danis, sign up 8 p.m. Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) College Night Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Open Mic Night hosted by Nathan Kalish, 9 p.m. Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Front Studio: Point Eastown Meeting, 7 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) Temple House Jam with King Crabapple West Side Inn (Musk)
THURSDAY MARCH 28
Open Mic w; Dirty Dave & Friends 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Thursday Night at The Acorn, 9 p.m., free Acorn Theater (Three Oaks) Team Trivia Night, 6-8 p.m. Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) 90’s Holla Back Billy’s Lounge (GR) The Electric Red Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Derek Richards Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Gabrial James Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Dirty Bourbon River Show, Circus Pig, 9:30 p.m., free Founders (GR) Jazz Night Gilly’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Vinyl Thursday Harmony Brewing Co. (GR) $3 Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. HopCat Brewery (GR) The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying, For Today, The Chariot; Dan Tedesco Intersection (GR) Three Buck Thursdays, 4 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Lifted Thursdays The Loft @ Harem Urban Lounge (Lansing) Night School Dance Party: Legendary Wings, 10 p.m., 18+ Louie’s Trophy House and Grill (Kzoo) Wine School, on the lawn, 6-9 p.m. Mangiamo! (GR) Joe Seeley & featured guests Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Guitar Up! Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Latin Salsa Night Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Ventana, Through The Ashes Planet Rock (Battle Creek) Retro D’Luxe Pyramid Scheme (GR) Industry SIN Night Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Punksuhate, Lady Ace Boogie, Infamous Inc Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Country Thursday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m.; $5 Burgers, 6-11 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Gold Company II The Union (Kzoo) College Night with DJ Creole, 9-2 a.m. (18+) Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
FRIDAY MARCH 29
Live Music Billy’s Lounge (GR) Drop 35 Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Smash Your Enemies, All Wave, Losing Sight, No Longer Bound, Tall Tales, 7 p.m. D.A.A.C. (GR) Derek Richards Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Larry Lowis Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) Legendary Rock Stars Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Guy Voss H20 (Battle Creek) Pierce The Veil, Memphis May Fire, Letlive, Issues; Kill Paris (The Stache) Intersection (GR) The Cones Jack’s Lounge (Spring Lake) Ladies Night In The Dark Room The Kirby House (Grand Haven) Mehrunes Dagon, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Top Heavy New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland) The Hired Hands, 5-8 p.m.; Joe Wang and the Test Pilots, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Gringo Star, The Boss Mustangs, Hollywood Makeout, Bonehawk Pyramid Scheme (GR) Full Kontakt Karaoke Quaker Steak & Lube (Kentwood) Open Mic Night Quinn & Tuite’s (GR) Substance with DJ Brandon Hill, 10-2 a.m. Republic (GR) Dennie Middleton River Bend Bar (Ada) Dance with Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Control with DJ Colin Clive Rocky’s Bar & Grill Uppercut (GR) Reggae, 10 p.m. The Root Gallery & Studio (GR) DJames and Friends The Score (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Venice Gas House Trolley, Stikyfut, Combat Corduroy, 9:30 p.m., free Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Black Friday featuring DJ Jason Ash with special guests Sixx Nightclub (GR) Ladies Night (18+) Stagecoach Barn (Richland) Happy Hour, 4-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) The Alligators Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Nashon Holloway & the Soul Messengers The Union (Kzoo) 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey West Regionals Van Andel Arena (GR) DJ LA, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SATURDAY MARCH 30
Seth Bernard & May Erlewine Bell’s Eccentric Cafe (Kzoo) West Side Soul Surfers Billy’s Lounge (GR)
JIM BREUER
@ FOUNTAIN STREET CHURCH MARCH 10 John Barbush Trio, 8:30-11:30 p.m. Bistro Bella Vita (GR) Drop 35 Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Tom Northrup Craftsman Chop Co. (Portage) Derek Richards Dr. Grins Comedy Club (GR) Nibi Lounge: Therron Kokales Firekeepers Casino (Battle Creek) KBS Draft Release Party, Signal Path, Healing Power(ex Pomegranates), Nate Holley, 9:30 p.m., free Founders (GR) Legendary Rock Stars Gun Lake Casino (Wayland) Deadwood Stone (CD Release), Uncommon Road, Bled Life, Society Kills, Gunship Radio, 6:30 p.m., $5 adv, $7 dos, all ages, Special CD+ticket for $15; The Better Fight Intersection (GR) Music Evolution Night with DJames JD Reardon’s (GR) Azz Izz Jack’s Lounge (Spring Lake) Tony Reynolds Ju Sushi & Lounge (Cascade) Karaoke Kuzzins Lounge (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11 a.m. Lady Godiva’s (GR) The After Effect, Lakeland, Red Legs, Krimson Saint, 7 p.m., $5 Lemonjello’s Coffee (Holland) Paul Mow Presents The Livery (Benton Harbor) The Brave Youth, 10 p.m., free, 21+ Mulligan’s (GR) Duffield Caron Project, 5-8 p.m., Combat Corduroy, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Parkway Tropics (GR) Mustard Plug, Mixtapes, Cain Marko, Sailor Kicks Pyramid Scheme (GR) La Boutique with Sonnrize, Dawns on the Decks, 10 p.m. Republic (GR) Mux Rec Presents: M.C. Friendly, Project Grizzly, Ty Beat Rocky’s Bar & Grill (GR) Exotic Dancing, 11:30 a.m. Sensations (GR) Glowstick Willy, That Freak Quincy, 9 p.m., free Shakespeare’s Lower Level (Kzoo) Static Saturday Sixx Nightclub (GR) Happy Hour, 2-6 p.m. Stella’s Lounge (GR) Male Dancing, 8 p.m. Studs Nightclub (GR) Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys, The JetyBeats and Rodney and the Regulars Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (GR) Nashon Holloway & the Soul Messengers The Union (Kzoo) 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey West Regionals Van Andel Arena (GR) Front Studio: Hearts in Motion Dance Classes, 9:30 a.m.; Back Studio: AniJAM, 12:45 p.m. Wealthy Street Theatre (GR) DJ Creole, 11:30 p.m. Wild Bull Saloon (Kzoo)
SUNDAY MARCH 31
Sunday Night Hype 36th Street Lounge (Wyoming) Industry Night: Open Mich w/Big Nick,7 p.m.close 36th Street Lounge Rock Room (Wyoming) Revival: 80s Dance Night w/ DJ Hustlah Billy’s Lounge (GR) Summer Sundays: American city themed events Blue Water Grill (GR) Trivia Sunday with Drew B. Bobarino’s (found inside the B.O.B.) (GR) Industry Night Crush (found insde the B.O.B.) (GR) HopCat Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.; Industry Night, 9 p.m. close HopCat Brewery (GR) Jeff The Brotherhood Intersection (GR) Sunday Night Funnies The Landing (GR) Mug Club, 2 p.m. The Livery (Benton Harbor) Bike Night Nick Fink’s (Comstock Park) Happy Easter!: Closed Old Dog Tavern (Kzoo) Blues Jam, 6-9 p.m. Old Hat Brewery & Grill (Lawton) Request Night with DJ Gami Papa Pete’s (Kzoo) Stick To Your Guns, Rotting Out, Detain, All Wave Pyramid Scheme (GR)
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volume 13 issue 3 march
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volume 13 issue 3 march
recoilmag.com
recoilmag.com
volume 13 issue 3 march
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