Category Archives: Upcoming shows!

When, where, who, and how much. The four questions that everyone really wants answered in life.

Katy Needs A Life/ Bethesda / Brown Cow @ Louie’s, Saturday 5/10

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This Saturday night, Louie’s Trophy House Grill (440 E. North St.) will feature three different acts in their back room where the buffalo roam.  A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Driving in from Kent, Ohio are Bethesda.  The 6-piece has been working hard the last few years and played some high profile gigs, including a slot at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.  They self-describe their music as how The Decemberists would sound if fronted by a female.  Below is the title cut from their most recent album, The Reunion.

Kalamazoo tune-smith Katy Needs A Life will be performing her keyboard-driven happy music about sad subjects.  You can feel the cork about to pop with these infectious numbers.

Kalamazoo live favorites Brown Cow are also on the bill.  You will find them at the end of the rainbow and your rope.  Their second coming came in last and out of the closet.  They kindly ask that you “f*ck yourself pretty.”

This takes place at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night, May 10th, 2014 at Louie’s Trophy House Grill on 440 E. North Street, Kalamazoo, MI.  The cover is a suggested $5 and the age is 18+.  Turn off the internet and come rock out with your sock out.

Gitis Baggs / Boring People acoustic / Chris Rawlins @ Louie’s Friday, 5/9/14

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If you’re looking to get away from the television set this Friday evening and expand your social horizons and sense of local culture, Louie’s Trophy House Grill (440 E. North Street, Kalamazoo, MI) is hosting an intimate portrait of local singer/songwriters in (mostly) bare bones acoustic fashion.

Headlining this event is Gitis Baggs, member of the Double Phelix music collective and prolific songwriter extraordinaire.  Originally on the bill as an acoustic opener when the lineup was quite different, Baggs has now assembled a strong arsenal of musician muscle and shall unleash his infectious melodies and crunchy guitars in full band fashion.

90s revivalists (sic) Boring People will be stripped down to a duo for this performance. Most of BP singer/songwriter Wallace Luckas’ songs are originally written and demoed in this format, so the skeletons of these songs reveal the germination and creative process in a conducive and fitting manner.

Opening the evening with an acoustic set will be Kalamazoo modern day troubadour Chris Rawlins.

https://chrisrawlins.bandcamp.com/

Once again, this happens on Friday, May 9th at Louie’s 440 E. North Street in Kalamazoo. Doors for this show will be at 9:00 p.m. and the show shall be underway around 9:30.  The cover is a suggested donation of $5.  This is at 18+ event.

 

Post-Punk From Eastern Europe And So Much More – Milhouse – May 7th

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Maybe one of the most surprising things for people when they first learn about all the basement shows happening in Kalamazoo, is just how far some bands travel to play here for these small audiences in these strange settings. I have heard multiple people over the last year express shock at bands from New York or Portland “why are you here? how did you get here?” The fact remains that many bands prefer the unconventional, the DIY for touring, but at first encounter it does seem quite strange.

Kalamazoo has hosted countless bands from this continent, but artists traveling in from abroad, especially for basement shows, is a rare treat. And this Wednesday, Kalamazoo has a rare and wonderful treat for you in the form of Macedonian dancy post-punk band, BERNAYS PROPAGANDA. If you like hard-hitting, get-yer-ass-movin’ punk, this is just the thing for you.

And now you know where Macedonia is

If that was not cool enough on it’s own, Bernays Propaganda are on tour with GHOST MICE of Bloomington, IN. Ghost Mice were here not long ago, supporting the KCAC at a benefit show. If you haven’t seen them, they’re a long standing energetic acoustic folk punky project, long associated with Plan It X Records.

PLUS this show will include two locals who have never played Milhouse before – GUPPY – who are a new project without any recordings, but feature members from The Reptilian, Shoto, George Costanza, and Ackley Kid so you know it’s going to be good. THE MUSHMEN will also be making their first appearance to the Milhouse basement, promising to get you dancing.

Please bring money for the touring groups as Macedonia is unfathomably far away from our little Midwestern city. Respect the venue, respect everyone around you, make some new friends. SHOW STARTS AT 900, don’t be late!

Chicago Underground Duo / Prognosis Negative / WMU Jazz All-Stars 4/29

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Chicago Underground Duo are two veteran jazzers from Chicago, IL who formed the group after playing together in several projects such as: Chicago Underground Trio, Chicago Underground Quartet, and Chicago Underground Orchestra. I would assume that they’re touring to promote Locus, their latest recording. With this duo you get a crazy fusion of jazz, techno, film-music, and probably a thousand other genres that are unable to even be comprehended. This is all wrapped up with a tasteful, cute bow, that represents renowned musicianship.

Prognosis Negative, on the other hand, are two of Kalamazoo’s preeminent weird dudes (Sean “Hard Bagel” Hartman and THE SAXSQUATCH) who come together for this special project on certain occasions such as: bahtmitzva’s, times that you would rather be sleeping, opening for a completely unrelated act, and creeping out people who just walked into their performance and have no idea what is going on. They are a trip, to say the least. This is not any of those occasions, because this show presses the boundaries of what you can consider jazz, so they fit right in.

AND THE WMU JAZZ ALLSTARS are exactly what they sound like. A collection of all-stars from Western Michigan University who are intending to play jazz for all you fine folk.

The doors are at 8, the show is at 8:30, It’s at Louie’s Trophy House Grille. Come get your fancy suited.

Les Rhinocéros, Mold, Seventeen Again – Milhouse – Monday 4/28

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Les Rhinocéros is a really great groovy experimental math rock band from Washington, DC. Don’t take my word for it, there are plenty of places you can find them on the internet. I had the opportunity to catch them at the Milhouse last year and I was absolutely blown away by their technical prowess and ability to create interesting and captivating emotive sounds-capes. If you’re a musician you should really check these guys out. I know that as an aspiring drummer I was inspired by the way their drummer plays.


Seventeen Again are awesome. They are one of my favorite local groups. Seventeen Again is like running with the bulls in Pamplona and falling down but getting out of the way just in time. Their sets are usually short and sweet so don’t miss out.


MOLD I am excited to see MOLD because as far as I know they are a relatively new outfit including former members of PAN. They are driving and volatile. They have conflict, they have resolution. They have angst, they have anger. They just christened a new venue a couple weeks ago at what looks like it was a stellar show.


This is sure to be a great show. You can’t miss seeing talented bands like this grace the same stage in Kalamazoo.

4/23 – The New Diet // Kal Marks // Boring People // Blank

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Come on down to the Milhouse on Wednesday April 23rd ’round 9:00 PM with a few dollars for a responsibly rip-roarin’ time.

The New Diet from Chicago is simultaneously chill and loud with excellently written songs that make you feel all the feelings you need to feel.

 

Kal Marks from Boston shares a record label with some other quality bands we’ve had pass through our humble town, including Speedy Ortiz and Krill.

 

Kalamazoo locals Boring People and Blank will be playing as well.

Good times will be had. Bring those $$$ billz for those touring acts and remember:

Respect the house, respect each other!

 

MINUTES + More! – KCAC Benefit Show – 411 Club – 4.19.14

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Though Kalamazoo is packed full of good bands of all sorts and sounds, there are a few key names that ring ubiquitous with the town – MINUTES, the four piece post-punk / rock and roll outfit, is definitely one of those names. Though over the last couple of years their live performances have been sporadic, the buzz around the band remains. Not only that, but they were able to throw together an incredible album at the end of last year.

Because of the occasional nature of their shows, consider this show an LP release for their 2nd full length ROLAND.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

MINUTES are bringing a few out of town friends to share with all of you. THE RUTABEGA out of South Bend and STOMATOPOD of Chicago will be performing and seeing what all the big fuss is about Kalamazoo. Plus local libraries of indie rock BORING PEOPLE will kick the night off.

And if this show didn’t seem enough like an event in and off itself, it is sponsored by THE CORNER RECORD SHOP as per RECORD STORE DAY.

But even more, still! Some of the buddies from MINUTES and other folks in the music and arts community of Kalamazoo are working diligently on creating an all ages, affordable and accessible all ages art space in Kalamazoo (known as the KCAC or Kalamazoo Collective Arts Center). They are currently in the fundraising stages and THIS SHOW IS ONE OF THOSE FUNDRAISERS. So please pay 5 at the door, or pay more! Or if you live in the modern age of digital money, you can donate at a somewhat later date directly on the indiegogo site.

If you want more information about the KCAC, please go to thekcac.org.

Doors at 8, show at 9. Donate if you know what’s good.

 

Har-di-Har / Glimpse Trio / Filmloom / Saxsquatch & The Bridge Band

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This Friday (April 18th 2014) at Louie’s, four bands will grace the stage.

Har-di-Har describe themselves as…

…an Iowa-based multi-instrumental glass-pop, synth-folk, husband/wife duo performing with the instrumentation of a four-piece band.

Their recent EP “Hard Parent/Thick Child”  is sometimes dark, sometimes ethereal, often driving.

There’s an official video for “Once Branches” from that EP, or if you prefer to see what the live experience will be like, here’s a clip of them playing “We’ve Been Missing” at the Octopus and College Hill Music Festival.

Also on the bill is the California-based Glimpse Trio, who add a dash of experimental sound and structure on top of the slow rock framework. Their self-titled album can be downloaded for free from their bandcamp site.

A little bit closer to home is Grand Rapids’ Filmloom – two multi-instrumentalist composers who painstakingly layered toy piano, horns, woodwinds, and a wide variety of percussion instruments on their chill-yet-exciting mini-rock epics. A great place to start is their song Isolation, which you can stream from their bandcamp right now.

And from right here in Kalamazoo, is the immutable Saxsquatch and the Bridge Band, with a core membership of three brothers who could be each accurately addressed as “J. Selner”, and a revolving cast of horns, woodwinds, guitars, and sometimes more. They bring a high energy live show with jazz, blues, and various grooves, all at the direction of the bombastic Saxsquatch, with periodic detours into the experimental and improvised.

The show starts at 9pm, with a suggested cover of $5. Go ahead and let ’em know you’re coming by joining the facebook event.

Gnar Of A Profound And Varied Kind – CHILD BITE, GRAY BEAST, FROSTBITER, ANYBODY BUT THE COPS – 4.17

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THIS SHOW IS TOO GOOD TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME TALKING ABOUT IT.

cutting to the chase

CHILD BITE are the gnarliest, noisiest punk band out of Detroit. They last played Kalamazoo Halloween 2012 and are looking forward to gracing us with their presence once more.

THE GRAY BEAST is the full band project of wordy and wild genius Sycamore Smith out of Marquette, MI.

FROSTBITER is Matt the masked bat Maverick in whatever form he feels like. The set is promised to be nothing like FROSTBITER. If you’ve never seen FROSTBITER, then I have no idea what to tell you.

ANYBODY BUT THE COPS have either written a few songs with many changes, or are playing at least 28 different tracks for you, all about 5 seconds long. Supposedly this is a punk band.

THIS SHOW IS AT LOUIE’S. THERE’LL BE DEAD ANIMALS LEERING AT YOU WHILE YOU DONATE 5 DOLLARS. 8 PM IS DOORS. BE THERE, BE SQUARE, BE EXCELLENT, BE 18 AND UP.

This is The Punk Music You’re Looking For: – at Bespin, AKA Cloud City

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The punks are taking to the stars tonight, coming in to port at Kalamazoo’s newest house venue. Bespin, AKA Cloud City is having their first ever show tihs very eve, and it’s gonna get heavy. Energy, Volume, Slashing Guitars. What more do you want in a Wednesday night?

First on the docket, Plan-It-X-affiliates RUBRICS will be up from South Carolina, and playing loud, fast, and super catchy, borderline-pop-influenced music. Barbed hooks with a thick slathering of anarchist lyricism. This is pop-sensibility gone bad.

Down from Grand Rapids, DIANE REHM will be bringing passionate spoken (shouted?) lyrics over drums and guitars that are powerful, deliberate, and ultimately furious.

Courtesy dianerehm.bandcamp.com

Courtesy dianerehm.bandcamp.com

Playing support tonight, Local rock outfit BLANK will bring the sauce and be the boss. Hard hitting music, super-nice dudes.

Finally, former members of Pan will be playing in their new outfit MOLD. Technical prowess meets heavy riffs meets that classic rock record that you play late at night when nobody else is around.

Music starts at 8pm. Bring some skrilla for the touring acts, as gas ain’t cheap and freedom ain’t free. Respect the house, respect the bands, respect yrselves.