The Strutt and IDEA Association are throwing a two-day outdoor summer festival at Arcadia Park in downtown Kalamazoo on July 3-4. The first annual Boiling Pot Fest will feature some of the best independent music in Michigan, as well as local food, microbrews, and art. According to the official website:

“The mission of the Boiling Pot Music Festival is to create an event centered around community engagement and local arts. It is an all-ages, family-friendly music and arts festival designed by local non-profits and businesses to increase the health and development of Kalamazoo communities. We strive for diversity, a safe environment and good, old-fashioned American fun.”

Sounds good to us. Check out the lineup below. Looks like a solid variety of styles and genres that, actually, just might have something for everyone…crazy.

For all the details, hit the official site at www.boilingpotfest.com

Some of the best talent in indie rock will grace the stage at the Strutt tonight; two nationally-touring and critically-acclaimed talents that both could pack the place in their own right.

MewithoutYou seamlessly combines a careening art rock sensebility with evocative lyrics, sometimes shouted and sometimes whispered. Initially known for their intense performances and unbridled “hobocore” energy, the band courted screamo and hard rock audiences across the world and proved their point with a handful of outstanding albums that still stand the test of time. In the years following, mewithoutYou has embraced experimentation, incorporating a variety of atypical instruments and embracing more melodic styles.

Listening to mewithoutYou is like running through the burning rubble of your parent’s house and trying to decide what you are going to grab. Frontman Aaron Weiss and company are sure to make this show one to remember.

David Bazan has been recognized by media outlets both small and large as one of the greatest songwriters in popular music. Bazan has been active in music for over 15 years, fronting the outstanding indie rock band Pedro the Lion and synthesizer-based side project Headphones.

Bazan has a captivating delivery that manages to be both syrupy and sincere. Such a voice only compliments his vivid and powerful songwriting. When Bazan dips his thoughts into irony or apathy, the effect is so strong that the listener can hear both the attitude and the underlying current of emotion, and that underlying current is all the stronger. He speaks of love, politics, and religion- all the things you aren’t supposed to talk about around the dinner table- without reserve. These are songs about car accidents, late-night phone calls gone wrong, romance and fall-out with women and God, waking up a broken man, states having affairs with each other, and having your leg run over by a train. This is not your average singer-songwriter fare. This is Bazan. Don’t miss it.

If they aren’t already sold out, tickets are $15 at the door. Also, show starts mega early. 7pm don’t be late.

Well, actually, while bringing in accurate aerial drawings of various regions wouldn’t be expressly recommended against, it may be particularly out of place (and rather off-color, as that last joke turned out to be). Either way, Maps and Atlases is playing tonight. and they’re pretty rockin’. A slick combination of varied rhythms, moving guitar lines and flawless vocal melodies and harmonies all add up to characterize a band that sounds like they’re having a lot of fun. These boys are coming in all the way from Chicago, which isn’t a terrible drive, but it’s still a bit further than Portage. They could use some Kalamazoo love (but couldn’t everyone?).

Supporting Maps and Atlases tonight is the Grand Rapids-based outfit Victor! Fix the Sun. Super-precise math-rock guitars cushioning a vocal line specifically tooled to cut right to the core of you. These guys are most excellent players, and a treat to watch while they rip it the hell up. Check ’em out if you don’t believe me.

And of course, rounding out tonight’s bill is the local veterans The Reptilian. I don’t know if much more needs to be said, other than they’re pretty terrifying. If you’ve never seen these guys live, now is one of your last chances before they strap up the van and hit the ol’ dusty trail for a month, so make sure you fit it in to your schedule. It’s gonna be a good time. 9pm at the Strutt. Don’t be late.

Rather recently, DIT got hit with about a million and five requests for shows on July 8th. At first, we were turning everybody down because there’s a lot of stuff going on that week and we didn’t -really- want to flood the market with another 3-band show. Then someone came up with a crazy idea.

So we took another look at the bands requesting shows for the 8th, and realized that the crazy idea just might work.

What comes next is Emilio Festivez! A one-night folk/punk festival at the No Fun House on Thursday, July 8th. There will be rockin’ and pickin’ and grinnin’ and everything you really want in a festival at a DIY venue. The line-up is killer, with a lot of out-of-town talent coming together to make what is almost guaranteed to be an excellent show. We got bands like

Anniversary Club!

Paul Blest!

Glocca Morra!

The Greek Favourites!

Peggy Wray!

The Fake Boys!

No Shoulders

The Scurvies!

as well as a short list of ‘maybe’s to round everything out. Plus, Kalamazoo’s own John Van Hattum is gonna bust out the flaming torches and put on his infamous juggling act. It’s gonna be a good time any way you slice it.

All that’s still two weeks from now, though, and there’s plenty of good music hittin’ the ‘zoo between now and then. Take tonight’s show at the Strutt, for example. Make sure you keep checkin’ back, ‘cuz we’re gonna keep talking about shows. I mean, that’s sort of the whole point.

We’ve added even more bands to the Midwest Noise Conference. It’s starting to look pretty rad. Check it out:

Our friend Pat Yankee is now officially confirmed. He will be performing as his noisy alter ego, Paranoid Time. Pat is a very active member of the noise community. He’s been booking noise shows for 10 years and runs SNSE Records. Pat will be helping to facilitate the event and is working on booking some really cool artists. More details TBA.

Dental Work – Noise merchant extraordinaire. Coming down from the cherry filled land of Traverse City. Aside from making music, he also runs a cool record label called Placenta Recordings.

This show will be part of a mini tour Dental Work is doing with Xrin Arms from California. Therefore, we’ll be getting performances from both of them. I know CA is not usually considered a midwestern state but who really cares?

We’ve also got two killer bands coming from Grand Rapids. Victory! and Ripped Dad. You may know Victory! as the rhythm section for the reformed Spit For Athena. They will be gracing us with their own special brand of Noise Core insanity. Ripped Dad has no internet presence yet. They still rule though. You can take my word for it. Ripped Dad is three of the members of Skeleton Party getting even more experimental then usual.

To top it all off, we have a lights show lined up for the later bands. Sid Redlin’s friend Ben Ruggles will be setting up some crazy visual effects once it gets dark. This is going to be awesome.