West Michigan’s Entertainment Guide for 27 years
» March 2015
Free! / Music / Culture / Dining / Beer
Accidental Comedy Local nurse Nardos Osterhart didn’t mean to become G R’s funniest person. (But she is.)
Also Inside: St. Patrick’s Day Festivities West Michigan Whiskey 101 LaughFest: Brian Posehn & Iliza Shlesinger Electric Six
© 2015 Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Comstock, MI
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2/16/15 1:01 PM REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 | 3
OW! N E L A S N O S (search LaughFest) TICKEViT sit ticketmaster.com Featuring free and ticketed events with laughter in all of its forms including comedy, performance, improv, film, and a variety of seriously funny stuff.
Sunday, March 8 Downtown Grand Rapids
MARCH 5-15, 2015 2015 LINEUP INCLUDES:
GEORGE LOPEZ Sunday, March 15
WANDA SYKES Monday, March 9
BILLY GARDELL Saturday, March 7
LAVELL CRAWFORD Wednesday, March 11
JIM JEFFERIES Thursday, March 12
CRISTELA ALONZO Saturday, March 7
HOLLAND
BRIAN POSEHN Friday, March 13 & Saturday, March 14
NICK THUNE & BRODY STEVENS Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7
JERROD CARMICHAEL Friday, March 13
COSTAKI ECONOMOPOULOS Saturday, March 7
RYAN HAMILTON Saturday, March 14
BEST OF THE MIDWEST COMPETITION
Presents
NATIONAL STAND-UP COMEDY SHOWCASE Friday, March 13 & Saturday, March 14 See a showcase of some of the best comedic talent from all across the country! See Showcase I or Showcase II, or grab tickets to see all 10 seriously funny comics! All proceeds benefit the free cancer, grief, and emotional health support programs offered through Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids
Wednesday, March 11 These ten comics hail from the Midwest and are some of the hottest “up-and-coming” comedians around! They will vie for the title “2015 Gilda’s LaughFest Best of the Midwest Comedian” and a $2500 cash prize! Underwritten by
Saturday, March 7 & 14 So many shows, so little time! Check out LaughFest’s Best to get a little sampling of comedians from across the festival. Local, regional, and national comics take the stage for this secret lineup of seriously funny folks; you just never know who is going to stop by!
Check out the full list of showcases, talent, and events to date at
laughfestgr.org Thank You to our PREMIER SPONSORS
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LAUGHFEST’S BEST
BECOME A LAUGHFEST FRIEND! Get even closer to the festival! Memberships start at just $25, join today at laughfestgr.org/membership.
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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What’s Inside 26
March 2015 | Volume 27, Issue 3
Local comedian Nardos Osterhart
SCENE:
11 Random Notes 12 Eclectic 14 All Ages
SOUNDS: 17 18 20 22
Local Music: Big Dudee Roo On Tour: Electric Six On Tour: Lights On Tour: Rene Marie
COMEDY Features: 26 30 31 31
Nardos Osterhart Brian Posehn Iliza Shlesinger The Don’t We Boys
ST. PATTY’S DAY features:
36
No green Beer, thank you very much
41
Installation art: Michael peoples
32 St. Patty’s Day Best Bets 34 Whiskey 101 36 Session Beer
SIGHTS: 41 42 44 46 48
Visual Arts: Michael Peoples Indie Film Dance: MOVEMEDIA Style Notes: Simple Pleasures Lit Life: Diane DeCillis, Linda Nemec Foster and Miriam Pederson
DINING & DRINKING:
51 52 54 56 66
Restaurant Listings Gluten Free: Terra GR Taste This: Q&A with Whistle Punk Pizza Beer Briefs Last Call
SCHEDULE:
59 Daily Event Listings and Best Bets
Letter from the Editor
W
W est M ic h ig a n ’ s E nterta inment G uide
ell, this is a little surreal. I am excited and sad to say this is my very last editor’s letter. For a long time, I never thought this day would come.
When this issue hits the streets, I will be starting my new job as creative content consultant at Public Sector Consultants in Lansing. While I’ll be using the same skills, the work is completely different from what I have done at Revue. That’s not a bad thing, though. I’ll be working with issues I’m passionate about and helping to make Michigan a better place. Working at Revue has given me opportunities I didn’t think were possible for someone my age. At 24, I was talking to national entertainers and covering music festivals like Lollapalooza and Pitchfork. I interviewed idols like Kathy Griffin, Henry Rollins and Ani DiFranco. I calmed myself down enough to talk to one of my music obsessions (unfortunately, not David Bowie) Kevin Barnes from of Montreal. I was living THE DREAM. Man, if 16-year-old Lindsay could see me. Revue Publisher Brian Edwards took a chance on me back then when I was just an eager journalist who was stuck in a crappy retail job. I will always be thankful to him for getting me where I am today. While I love the work I have done here for the past six years, I really am going to miss the people the most. I’m lucky to have worked with many brilliant and hilarious writers, minions and colleagues. I laugh every day, multiple times a day because of these people. That’s going to be hard to leave behind. Lastly, I have met so many incredible people in the community because of this job. While interviewing national musicians and entertainers makes for good bragging rights, it’s the local interviews I have really enjoyed most. In this issue, it’s Nardos Osterhart, who not only has a great story, but is so funny and wonderful company. I am proud to have her as my last feature in Revue. Keep being cool, West Michigan. And rock on.
Editorial Publisher Brian Edwards / brian@revuewm.com Associate Publisher Molly Rizor / molly@revuewm.com Editor Joe Boomgaard / joe@revuewm.com Managing Editor Lindsay Patton-Carson / lindsay@revuewm.com Design Creative Director Kim Kibby / kim@revuewm.com Ad Design Rachel Harper, Kim Kibby Contributing Writers Kyle Austin Eric Mitts Kelli Belanger Allison Parker Missy Black Carly Plank Joe Boomgaard Emma Kat Richardson Steven de Polo Rei Robinson Alexandra Kadlec Josh Spanninga Nolan Krebs Kerri VanderHoff Audria Larsen Anya Zentmeyer Steve Miller Contributing Photographers Seth Thompson, Kelsey Wahowiak Revue Minions Gabriella Patti, Abigale Racine, Josh Veal Sales / 616.608.6170 Kelli Belanger / kbelanger@revuewm.com Molly Rizor / molly@revuewm.com Digital Editor Jayson Bussa / jayson@revuewm.com
Lindsay Patton-Carson, Managing Editor / lindsay@revuewm.com
Advertising index Barfly Ventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Bell’s Brewing . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 19 BOB’s Brewery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Brewery Vivant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Calvin College SAO . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cascade Optical . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 CityFlats Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 DeltaPlex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 58 Dr. Grin’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Eastown Antiques. . . . . . . . . . . 65 Erb Thai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Fajita Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Firekeepers Casino . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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Flanagan’s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Foot Outfitters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Founders Brewing Co.. . . . . . . . 16 Gilda’s Club/LaughFest. . . . . . . . 4 Grand Rapids Civic Theatre . . . 45 Grand Rapids Public Library. . . 49 Grand Rapids Symphony. . . . . . 49 Grand Woods Lounge. . . . . . . . . 67 Holiday Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 35 Hope College Performances. . . . 65 HOUSE: Sext Farm promo. . . . . . 29 The Intersection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Joe Bonamassa. . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Kzoo Valley CC. . . . . . . . . . 19, 63 Literacy Ctr. of West MI. . . . . . . 64 MI Irish Music Festival. . . . . . . . 39 Millennium Restaurant Group. . 38 Miller Auditorium. . . . . . . . . . . . 15 New Belgium Brewing. . . . . . . . 68 New Horizons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Old Dog Tavern. . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 One Trick Pony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Orbit Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Palazzolo’s Gelato . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Pearl Street Grille. . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Pyramid Scheme. . . . . . . . . . 5 Right Brain Brewery. . . . . . . . . . 37 River City Improv. . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Find us online! Website: revuewm.com Twitter: twitter.com/revuewm Facebook: facebook.com/revuewm
River City Saloon. . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. . . . . . 55 Saugatuck Brewing Co.. . . . . . . 37 Schuler Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Seven Steps Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 SMG/Van Andel (MythBusters). . 40 Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. . 3 SpeakEZ Lounge . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 St. Cecilia Music Center . . . . . . 29 Tavern on the Square. . . . . . . . . 33 Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill . . . . . 22 UICA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Wellspring RAD Fest . . . . . . . . . 45 West Michigan Symphony. . . . . 49 Wharton Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Revue is published monthly by Revue Holding Company. 65 Monroe Center, Ste. 5, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Office: 616.608.6170 / Fax: 616.608.6182 ©2015, Revue Holding Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part granted only by written permission of the publisher in accordance with our legal statement, fools.
On the cover: Grand Rapids comedian Nardos Osterhart fell into stand-up comedy in an unconventional way. See her story on page 26. Photo: Seth Thompson
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Random Notes
of Montreal
Local Music ///
Grand Rapids is getting one more place that supports our local music scene. Starting in March, the Grand Rapids Public Library will host a monthly music series. Called Music in the Stacks, the concerts will be held at GRPL’s main branch and are free to the public. The library has Kent County String Band booked for March 19 at 7 p.m., Ghost Heart set to perform April 15 at 7 p.m. and Saltbreaker May 14 at 7 p.m.
National Album Releases ///
tUnE-yArDs
to Ourselves on March 17; Action Bronson has Mr. Wonderful on March 24; Courtney Barnett drops Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit on March 24; Laura Marling has Short Movie on March 24; Death Cab for Cutie releases Kintsugi on March 31.
to create catchy indie-pop albums. Her latest, Nikki Nack, was released in May 2014. Tickets for the Calvin show are $25.
On Tour ///
Ghost Heart King Jr. and Nelson Mandela is... well, it’s reducing the impact they’ve made on the world to an effort to sell albums. Let’s not do that anymore, OK? Use your own celebrity to promote Rebel Heart when it comes out on March 10. YOU’RE MADONNA. YOU CAN DO IT! ... Sure, The Age of Adz was a commercial and critical success for Sufjan Stevens and is a great representation of pop music in the 2010s, but it really doesn’t compare to timeless classics like “Chicago” or “For the Windows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti.” Nope. Not even close. Luckily, Stevens did his experimenting and is coming back to his haunting ballads if his recent single, “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross,” is any indication. Let’s hope the rest of Carrie & Lowell is just as delightful when it’s released on March 31. ... Other notable releases: Will Butler with Policy on March 1; Modest Mouse releases Strangers
Oh, hey. Did we see something about Will Butler releasing an album this month? Why, yes, we did. The Arcade Fire band member (and brother to AF’s frontman, Win) is branching out on his own with Policy and embarking on a supporting tour. The multi-instrumentalist will perform at Calvin College’s Covenant Fine Arts Center on March 26 as part of Calvin College’s annual Festival of Faith and Music. Not only does Butler have his very own Grammy award (Album of the Year for 2010’s The Suburbs), but he also received an Academy Award nomination for his work with Owen Pallett on 2013’s Her. Tickets for the show are $20. ... OK, if that’s not impressive enough, the lineup just keeps going for this year’s Festival of Faith and Music. The weird and wonderful Merrill Garbus (aka tUnE-yArDs) is performing on March 27. Unconventional in her music, Garbus uses loops and fuses musical styles together
Beer ///
While The Dude may not imbibe beer, per se, that doesn’t mean you can’t combine beer and Lebowski. For the second year in a row, Michigan Beer Tours brings us the Big Lebowski Beer Tour on March 28. Get ready for five hours of beer, bowling and Lebowski. The tour starts off with registration at Central City Taphouse, then heads to Latitude 42 Brewing Company for some pints. An event inspired by The Big Lebowski wouldn’t be complete without bowling. Grab Donny and Walter and join up with the tour at Airway Fun Center for a few rounds. The tour continues on with a stop at One Well Brewing and ends with a quote-along Big Lebowski viewing at Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets range from $55 to $99. n Random Notes is compiled and written by Lindsay Patton-Carson. For more music, beer and entertainment news, including giveaways, “Like” us on Facebook (Facebook.com/revuewm) or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/revuewm.
Important Dates: Ad Reservations: March 19 / Editorial Deadline: March 5 REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule
Kevin Barnes, aka the star of our sex nightmares, is not one to slow down. The mind behind Of Montreal has released 13 full-length albums in 18 years. The latest, Aureate Gloom, comes out a year and a half after the band released Lousy with Sylvianbriar. The first release since Barnes’ separation from his wife, the album digs deep into personal material and experiences from his life over the past year. Aureate Gloom is set to be released on March 3. ... Oh, Madonna. Just stop. Please. It’s getting a little sad. You were once a boundary pusher, promoting sex positivity and questioning the status quo. Now you’re throwing around the N-word and using the likenesses of social justice icons to promote your new album. Look, we love you, we really do. You’re an icon. But putting your album’s imagery over the likenesses of Martin Luther
Will Butler
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/// Eclectic
Midwest RAD Fest
Wellspring Theater, Kalamazoo March 19-22 $12-$35 midwestradfest.org, (269) 342-4354
Mummenschanz
March Eclectic Events From an epic Irish bonanza and avant garde mimes to clover clad pets and post-modern dancers, this month is going to be weird, wild and wondrous. By Audria Larsen said Shane Philipsen, sales and event manager for BarFly Ventures. “One of these coins will get you a VIP ticket.” Crafted out of antique gold, the coins will be easy to spot and clues to their whereabouts will be found on Irish On Ionia’s Instagram as well as through FOX17. So keep your eyes peeled!
Irish on Ionia
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
Downtown Grand Rapids March 14, 7 a.m.–11 p.m. General admission $15, Camp O’Mally ticket $25, VIP ticket $55 irishonionia.com, (616) 454-9105
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Michigan’s largest St. Patty’s Day party, Irish on Ionia. The hugely popular event is expected to draw an unprecedented 20,000 attendees and to accommodate the revelers, the shindig will now span three city blocks beginning at Ionia Street and stretching to Commerce Avenue. Kicking off at 7 a.m. party goers can enjoy a kegs and eggs breakfast where the first 200 people to show up will enjoy a free breakfast buffet. Mayor George Heartwell will give his annual toast and a limerick around 11 a.m. and the rest of the day will be jam-packed with nonstop entertainment, food carts and boozy delights. Catch the top three Michigan Irish bands, Stone Clover, The Tosspoints and The Waxies with DJ sets mixed in between. To keep the party hopping, Bangarang Circus will be creating a spectacle, bagpipers will be making the rounds and even a
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Erin Go Bark! Pet Parade Saugatuck March 14, 2 p.m. saugatuck.com, (269) 857-1701
Irish on Ionia youth dance troupe will regale the crowd. New this year is a treasure hunt created in partnership with FOX17. “We’ve created 50 of these really cool five-year coins that will be hidden around Downtown GR,”
The 13th annual Erin Go Bark! Pets and their People Parade returns to this year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the Saugatuck area. Any pet that can be trotted out in public (no tarantulas, please) is welcome to march in the parade along with their loyal human companions. Pets are encouraged to “express their Irish side” and dress in a “wee bit of green.” Prizes will be award to the best-dressed pets. So doll up your dogs, gussie up those gerbils and fancy up your leashed felines for some fun. The parade line up begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Culver Street Parking Lot.
RAD Fest, aka the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, proves that dance is not dead. Over the course of five days, more than 250 contemporary dance artists will perform in this juried event that showcases modern, post-modern and experimental dance by emerging talent culled from across the region. Live performances, an interactive design installation, master classes, film viewings and even a discussion panel offer a myriad of opportunities for audiences and dancers alike. Some events are invite-only like the Choreography and Cocktails kickoff. Many other events are open to the public and one even includes audience participation through a Kinect motion sensor that takes movement to a multi-media level.
MUMMENSCHANZ Wharton Center, Lansing March 25, 7:30 p.m. $15-$45 whartoncenter.com, (517) 353-1982
Come again? Mummen-what? Mummenschanz is German for mummery and was a term akin to mime artists in the 1500s. In 1972, a trio of Swiss collaborators created a performance art group by that name, specializing in Mask Theater (think surreal masks and strange props). After more than 40 years of touring the world, Mummenschanz is coming to Wharton Center to present an utterly unique stage experience. Weird shapes, bizarre objects and figures perform compelling stories without sound or even music. “They use a lot of pantomime and dance,” said Bob Hoffman, public relations manager at Wharton Center. “They’ve taken their development of masks and playing techniques and expanded it.” Despite what is described as a “wordless universe,” the show has enjoyed wide acclaim and garners wildly enthusiast reviews. “It’s so captivating that it makes people laugh and the only thing you’re hearing is the reaction of the audience,” said Ryonn Clute, marketing manager at Wharton Center, who has seen the show previously. Forget your mime fears and get weird. n
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/// All Ages
maneuvers. Last year they collected 1,300 pounds of food for the hungry. Want to enter the parade? The only cost is to donate ‘non-perishable food to the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry. Send your registration to parade@muskegonjaycees.org by March 7.
Evidence Found: Explorations in Archaeology
Kalamazoo Valley Museum 230 North Rose St., Kalamazoo Through Aug. 30 Free! kvm.kvcc.edu, (269) 373-7990
Recess Monkey at LaughFest
March Madness This month, have some laughs and learn about your neighbors, both now and in the past, all across West Michigan. By Steven G. de Polo
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
HONK!
Master Arts Theatre 75 77th St. SW, Grand Rapids March 5–7 Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. Saturday Matinees at 2 p.m. Adults $18, seniors and students $16 masterarts.org, (616) 455-1001
Being bullied because you are different is not a new thing. The musical HONK! is based on the 19th century tale The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. With music by George Stiles and book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, HONK! is a fast-paced comedy about learning to embrace differences. In the story, a brood of chicks includes four beautiful, fluffy, bright ducklings and one that that they call UGLY. Only able to HONK!, Ugly is loved by his mother, a hungry tomcat and other barnyard characters who can see the beauty on the inside. Will the ugly duckling become a beautiful swan? Go see HONK! and find out. Master Arts,
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a family oriented community theater, has no tolerance for bullying and embraces all differences. In fact, most actors are strange “ducks” who become beautiful swans on stage.
Recess Monkey
Keystone Church - Spaulding Campus 655 Spaulding Ave. SE, Ada March 14, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. $7, infants free laughfestgr.org
LaughFest gets family friendly with Recess Monkey at Keystone Church-Spaulding Campus. Within seconds of hitting the stage, the high-energy rock band is ready to entertain young and old alike. Three Seattle schoolteachers with more than 30 years in the classroom, Drew Holloway, Korum Bischoff and Jack Forman have even more experience performing in indie rock bands. The music is eclectic, the songs melodic and lyrics chock full of childhood themes that can be enjoyed by
everyone. Get ready to sing and dance along to “Duct Tape World” from their new album, Wired: “We made a duct tape world... ...a duct tape petting zoo ...a pirate ship with a duct tape crew ...unbreakable Christmas ornaments, too ...a duct tape turkey for you ...permanent mummy bandages, too ...a duct tape dancing tutu”
Evidence Found: Explorations in Archaeology is a new exhibition focusing on southwest Michigan’s “backyard” archaeology projects. The highlight will be the dig at Fort St. Joseph, a French trading post established in 1691 in Niles and occupied for over a century. Professor Michael Nassaney of Western Michigan University has only recently begun unearthing the fort, which had been lost to time. Evidence Found will help visitors learn what’s been found — and found out — about the evidence left behind by people who lived before us. Some is spectacular, but much is simply trash. In archaeology, trash can tell much about the person who threw it away. What does your trash say about you? Continuing through August, this exhibition will show how archaeology compares with the image of the swashbuckling Dr. Indiana Jones. Don’t forget your leather hat, but leave the bullwhip at home. n
This children’s music band ain’t just for kids!
Muskegon St. Patrick’s Day Parade 4th Street & Clay Ave March 14, 11 a.m. Free! muskegonjaycees.org/parade.html
Your family is invited to the annual Muskegon St. Patrick’s Day Parade sponsored by the Greater Muskegon Jaycees. Eat your green eggs and ham early to catch the 11 a.m. start at 4th Street and O’Clay Avenue. Marching east to Jefferson Street, the parade includes families, organizations, fraternal groups, businesses, marching bands, churches and schools tossing Skee-bucks to good little boys and girls. Look for the Jaycees Cart Corp performing along the parade route collecting food donations with their synchronized grocery cart
Archeological dig at Fort St. Joseph, featured in Evidence Found exhibition
MARCH 20-21 | 3 Performances Only Welcomed by
millerauditorium.com (800) 228-9858 • (269) 387-2300 REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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/// local music
Crossroads Resurrection at Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival
local music news The Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary March 20-21 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. The two-day event is free, and features live performances, a whole bunch of cool workshops for people into the spectrum of stringed instruments and tons of different local and regional vendors. Among those performing are Red Tail Ring, Crossroads Resurrection, Deep Fried Pickle Project and more. Visit fretboard.kvcc.edu for the full lineup.
Big Dudee Roo Shifts Gears on New EP | by Nolan Krebs
T
“We’re also excited that this record will be our first release as a member of the Earthwork Music Collective, a group we’ve long admired for the great work it does promoting community, sustainability and social justice in Michigan,” Lockwood said. With Lockwood handling principle songwriting duties, the EP features three original songs, including an alternate version of “I Know You Know,” a cut from his recent solo record. Heavy Dudee also features a cover Concerts in March of “Republic County” by songMarch 6: Watermark 920, writer L.A. Fahy, who Lockwood Muskegon, wsg The Carboys said he “found out about when I March 7: Founders, Grand Rapids, was playing bass for the Ragbirds wsg with The Carboys and The and he opened a show of ours Fever Haze there a few years back.” March 12: Bell’s Eccentric Cafe, Kalamazoo, wsg Ben Daniels Band Big Dudee Roo will play a March 27: The Intersection, Grand couple different release shows Rapids, opening for Donna the for the new album, including Buffalo March 6 at Watermark 920 in Muskegon with The Carboys; at Founders in Grand Rapids on March 7 with The Carboys and The Fever Haze; and at Bell’s in Kalamazoo on March 12 with Ben Daniels Band. In addition, the group will open for Donna the Buffalo at the Intersection in Grand Rapids on March 27. The dudes also plan on touring the state throughout spring and summer. To keep tabs on Big Dudee Roo, check out bigdudeeroo.com or check them out on Facebook. n
Son Lux, the hard-to-pin-down project of New York artist Ryan Lott, plays at the Ladies Literary Club in Grand Rapids with the support of powerfully experimental GR group CARE. CARE recently finished recording an album due out later this year, so it’s a safe bet this show is a good chance to preview some of their newer tunes. The show is March 11. Kalamazoo’s Sexy Toxins, a two-piece disco pop punk band, will play with Detroit’s beloved Electric Six, as well as Avan Lava at Louies on March 1. Sexy Toxins also plays on March 12 at Louie’s with Turquoise Jeep and The Wrap. In an eclectic mix of post-rock regional favorites, Heavier Than Air Flying Machines (Grand Rapids), Tyranny Is Tyranny (Madison, WI) and The Real Lazy Genius (Grand Rapids) take over The Pyramid Scheme on March 27. Kalamazoo’s Out Favor Boys will be opening up for Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit, Samantha Fish and Mike Zito at the Kalamazoo State Theatre on March 6. The Mainstays, a Kalamazoo R&B/funk fourpiece, are wrapping up a string of tour dates around the state and will end up at Salt of the Earth in Fennville on March 8.
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule
h e o ri gi n s of Waylan d’s B i g D u de e Roo read like something you might hear in a folk song. Years ago, in a small town on the banks of the Rabbit River in Allegan County, three string-pluckin’ kids tapped into their love of old-timey tunes with the help of their next door neighbor on skins. Almost 10 years later, some things have changed and some remain the same. The lineup still consists of the same members who got their start playing at the Wayland High School senior talent show eight years ago: Max Lockwood, Justin Dore, Nate Wagner and Kurt Rizley. The dudes also still take the better parts of ‘90s grunge and stitch them into country-tinged folk rock. Their first records, Germination! (2010) and Listen To Your Discontent (2011), featured Lockwood’s sister, Aurora Lewis, on lead vocals, but after Lewis left to pursue a career in dance, the foursome tipped the scales slightly in favor of, as Lockwood puts it, “a lot of loud guitars and drums.” The band is set to release a four-track EP, Heavy Dudee, on March 7. Recorded on a misty day last fall in a barn in Sparta, the record finds Big Dudee Roo moving into slightly spacier and more rock-driven territory. “When we shifted to the four-piece setup, we decided to go back to our grunge roots a little,” Lockwood said. “We came up listening to a lot of Neil Young, Pearl Jam and My Morning Jacket ... so it felt good with this record to explore that side of the band and have fun with it.” Heavy Dudee also marks the beginning of a new partnership the band is rightfully stoked about.
Let the tunes of Fonn Mor, the traditional Irish folk collective based out of West Michigan and Chicago, get you hyped for St. Patty’s Day. The group plays Bell’s on March 7.
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/// On Tour
Electric Six:
The Working Class Band | by Steve Miller
Schedule | Dining | Sights | Sounds | Scene
B
e i n g i n Ele ctr i c S ix i s li ke being an average Joe working the shifts. Record the next album the first half of the year, put it out in the fall. Tour three months a year. Rinse and repeat. Might as well keep a home in the ‘burbs and buy a minivan. Yea, sure, and in that minvan, crank the E6 oeuvre: Song titles like “I Buy the Drugs,” “I Never F****d Her,” “Gay Bar” and “I’m the Devil.” The Detroit band, which tossed around other names including Black Guy, Action News Sex Stars of 1977 and the Pretty Boys before settling on Electric Six, is recording studio disc number 11 this spring, a fertile output for a band that has only once hit the U.S. charts, whatever that stands for these days. The idea is a steadfast collective output of excellence, which E6 is well on the way to. “The band I want to emulate is The Fall,” said Electric Six Singer Tyler Spencer, invoking the prolific British band that has cranked out 31 full-length studio releases in 34 years. “I want to put out one or two albums a year and have this massive catalog. It’s that kind of career I hope to have, and I’m doing pretty well.” I note that The Fall’s singer, Mark E. Smith, is known to be a cranky nutjob who, despite be-
18 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
ing 58, looks like he’s a very pickled 80. Spencer thinks on that one. “OK, well, I hope when I’m his age I look better than him.” For now, he’s hit a comfortable, smooth patch in his creativity. No second guessing, Spencer says, because “at this point I never try anything I can’t do. I know what works for me.” Which ends up being an output spanning a spectrum of endeavors. He’s used his platform as the charismatic singer in an accomplished band to wedge himself into other efforts; self-publishing a noirfiction eBook called Chinatown Reacharound, doing his own acoustic guitar troubadour tour to support his two solo CDs, and even playing a glam rock-based character in an advertising campaign for the California Milk Processing Board called White Gold. Spencer, who once aspired to be a television weatherman, is an indie rock Renaissance man despite being an incorrigible geek. Example: an appearance on “Kids Interview Bands,” a charming set of videos in which two children, yes, interview bands. “We’re here with Electric Six,” one of the two little girl interviewers of around 11 years old begins the segment, pointing to Spencer.
“Electric One,” Spencer corrects, looking at off the release in the U.K. where the LP went the camera. “If you break that down fractionally, gold. that’s two twelfths.” Electric Six never achieved that level of comMore looking at the camera. mercial success again, but has instead delivered a “What’s your least favorite chore as a kid?” steady patter of loud wit, combining Sparks-like he’s asked. charm and smarts with synth/guitar backgrounds. “Mitt Romney,” Spencer deadpans. It lands back to the routine, which is a He’s a natural. creative circle of dressing rooms, guitar amps, It’s been his band, though, that’s given him scribbled lyrics put onto stages all over the world a home for the tweaky humor of his words and via plane tickets and van rides. the music behind his on-stage push-ups. Electric Six, however, live the dream of milThe history line is your basic American lions: to play their own music for a living from music tragedy: Formed in the late ‘90s under the sea to sea, before vodka-toasted kids in Russia name Wildbunch, mixed amongst the burgeon- and faithfuls across Europe. They hit stage in ing Detroit garage scene. Australia and Japan and then “We weren’t a garage band, come home to play private parthough,” Spencer insists. “I never ties for wealthy fans. Electric Six owned a jean jacket in my life.” Spencer can explain their Louie’s Trophy Room, Kalamazoo They broke up in 2000, appeal, no problem, as if anyone March 1, 7 p.m. / $13, $15 day Spencer went to Los Angeles could do it. of show for a straight job. Hated it. He “We’re these very normallouieskzoo.com, (269) 385-9359 came back to Detroit and fired looking guys with this bizarre up the band again, this time overtone in our music and our called Electric Six. lyrics,” he said. “And that’s what people are in In 2003, the band released its first LP, Fire, some way. No one’s really normal, but everyone which contained the band’s signature single tries to project that in their lives.” “Danger! High Voltage,” a trendy Euro-trash Cue the minivan. And how about a listen piece — with an uncredited Jack White on back- to an old Wildbunch favorite: “Naked Pictures ing vocals — that was one of three charting songs (of your mother)”? n
GREAT BEER DESERVES GREAT MUSIC.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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2015
FRETBOARD FESTIVAL! FRI, MARCH 20 7PM – 9PM Kick-off concert featuring The Real Fantastics
SAT, MARCH 21 11AM – 6PM
Local musicians, luthiers, and historians gather for a day of music, workshops, and lectures.
FREE ADMISSION fretboardfestival.com /FretboardFestival
The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College and is governed by its Board of Trustees
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Visit bellsbeer.com for show times and event details. MAR 5 Everyone & their Empty Cups, Mold, The Shortlife • Free MAR 6 Buckwheat Zydeco wsg Joshua Davis Trio* $18 advance, $20 day of MAR 7 FONN MÓR wsg the Quinn Irish Dancers • $6 MAR 12 Big Dudee Roo wsg Ben Daniels Band • Free MAR 13 the Soil & the Sun wsg Flint Eastwood* $8 advance, $10 day of MAR 14 Pete Rock & Slum Village wsg HANiF, Dezert Eeez, Analog Ancestry* • $22 advance, $25 day of MAR 16 Square Dance Kalamazoo wsg The Corn Potatos • $5 MAR 20 The Go Rounds wsg Chris Bathgate, The Antivillians • $7 MAR 21 WIDR Record Swap • 11am-4pm, $3 donation MAR 21 Bonehawk wsg Blue Snaggletooth, The Evil Deauxerz • Free MAR 23 Oberon Release Day w/ The Real Fantastics • Free MAR 24 The Travelin’ McCourys wsg Billy Nershi $18 advance, $20 day of MAR 26 Bennett wsg Jesse Ray & the Carolina Catfish, Moxieville • Free MAR 27 Jimkata • $10 MAR 28 House of Boogie, All Vinyl Funk & Soul Dance Party • Free MAR 29 Yoga • 12pm, $10 APR 2 Phoffman Trio • $15 APR 11 The Verve Pipe • $18 advance, $20 day of APR 17 Larry McCray • $10 APR 18 Charlie Hunter Trio* • $13 advance, $15 day of MAY 23 Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers* $30 advance, $35 day of SUNDAYS Trivia every Sunday • 5-8pm *pre-sale tickets available at bellsbeer.com, frontgatetickets.com and Bell’s General Store.
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/// On Tour
Music. defined. March 7 - $18
Ken Yates + Brian Dunne March 21 - $22 hillary reynolds band
HillarY reYnolDs BanD March 28 - $18
rutH & Max BlooMquist BanD darlingside
tall heights
March 31 - $22
DarlingsiDe + tall HeigHts
How Lights Conjured Her Creativity for New Album
april 10 - $25
| by Dwayne Hoover
liz longleY april 11 - $8
DelilaH DeWYlDe & tHe lost BoYs april 17 - $25
JonatHan BirD + sallY Barris april 24 & 25 - $25 liz longley
setH glier – CD release ConCerts
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check webSite for Seating optionS. bar avaiLabLe. MaJor credit cardS accepted. 21+
for a full schedule, visit seth glier
Seven StepS up Live MuSic & event venue: 116 S JackSon St. Spring Lake, Mi 49456 pindropconcertS.coM (231) 557-7687
20 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
pindropconcerts.coM.
E
lectropop artist Lights This internal exploration helped birth what knows what it takes to cre- became her third studio release, Little Machines. ate good, catchy tunes. The 27-year-old According to Lights, the key to truly reaching has been at it since her teens, writing out and connecting with people through her songs that have found their way to songwriting is best achieved by embracing the television, an Old Navy ad campaign and suc- abstract. cess on the charts including two certified gold “While writing something that drops very albums in her native Canada. specific references can be But after the release of cool, it’s important to make “We rely on art to her second record, 2011’s art that is fairly open to interSiberia, Lights found herself help us through our pretation by the listener,” she in a bit of a slump, lacking individual experiences said. “We rely on art to help direction and focus on her us through our individual and kind of like a songwriting. So she turned experiences and kind of like to other forms of art to Rorschach test, a Rorschach test, we find our push through and find some we find our own own answers within it.” inspiration. A new album wasn’t the answers within it.” “I felt it was important to only big news for Lights last continue exercising creativity year, as she and husband, even though music was a little frustrating,” Beau Bokan (vocalist for metalcore band Lights said. “So I painted a lot, wrote random Blessthefall), welcomed daughter, Rocket stories, sketched and wrote poetry every day. It Wild, in February, which is helping her find kept the creative juices flowing even in a bout new focus and inspiration. of writer’s block.” “Not only as a band, but in terms of proShe even sought out a significant change duction and sound, we are better than ever in scenery, spending some time in New Mexico and it’s a really energetic, fun show,” Lights living in an eco-friendly house known as an said.“Motherhood has brought in a whole new Earthship. layer of confidence and I feel great on stage.” n “[The] whole environment itself was pretty inspiring, being out in the desert in a home that is completely carbon zero and off the Lights wsg X Ambassadors grid,” she said. “[It] makes you think about the The Intersection, Grand Rapids bigger picture a bit, which in turn makes writ- March 10, 7 p.m. ing a song seem pretty insignificant, ultimately $15 advance, $18 day of show sectionlive.com, (616) 451-8232 taking the pressure off a bit.”
Never a cover charge
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MONDAY: Happy Hour All Day Long!
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Happy Hour 11 AM-7 PM & 11:30 PM-1 AM Jam with Everett 8 PM-12 AM (first Tuesday of the month) St. Patrick’s Day 3/17 Bagpipe Show at 6 PM, BRENA at 7:30 PM, Irish Food Starting at Noon! Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinners!!! BRENA BAND from 7:30 PM-11:30 PM!!!
wedneSDAY: Happy Hour 11 AM-7 PM & 11:30 PM-1 AM 1/3 lb. Deluxe Olive Burger Special All Day! With the purchase of a beverage. $3.50 Deluxe Olive Burger with Olives, Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato and Cheese on a Brioche Bun. Add chips for $.50 or French Fries for $1.25
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saturDAY:
MAR BUTLER 26 WILL CFAC | 8:30pm | $20 or FFM Pass MAR 27 TUNE-YARDS CFAC | 7:30pm | $25 or FFM Pass MAR 28 LECRAE Spoelhof Fieldhouse | 9pm | $30 or FFM Pass
Happy Hour 11 AM-7PM Live Entertainment 9:30 PM-1:30 AM — No Cover Charge! Taco Special all day!!! with purchase of a beverage 3 Hard Shell Tacos for $2.75
sunDAY:
MARCH bands 3/6 & 3/7 IN THE RED 3/13 & 3/14 LITT UP 3/17 BRENA 3/20 VINTAGE TRILOGY
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Happy Hour 12 PM-7 PM Beer Pong, starts at 9 PM Taco Special all day!!! with purchase of a beverage 3 Hard Shell Tacos for $2.75
21
/// On Tour
René Marie’s Independent Spirit Shines Through New Cover Album | by Carly Plank
Schedule | Dining | Sights | Sounds | Scene
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22 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
o llowi n g i n th e f o otste ps o f h e r i d o l, Eartha Kitt, Rene Marie seldom plays by the rules. Since emerging as a voice to be heard at the age of 42, the jazz vocalist has captured a worldwide audience as well as multiple awards and nominations. Most recently, Marie earned her first Grammy nomination in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for her 2014 release I Wanna Be Evil (With Love to Eartha Kitt). After first observing Kitt in her role as Cat Woman on the 1960s “Batman” television series, Marie was inspired to find out more about the actor and singer. “Eartha Kitt was insistent upon being fully herself,” Marie said. “She didn’t fit into any of the niches women were supposed to fill at the time. Some people say that her entire persona was an act, but I don’t think that’s the case. She was honest and open, and had no shame when she performed in public.” Marie didn’t realize that when her first few albums of original material were released, it was highly unusual for jazz singers to release self-penned songs. Balking at the concept of a traditional tribute album, Marie found ways to fully inhabit each of Kitt’s songs by changing such aspects as tempo, mood and emotional emphasis. “I held an incorrect view that a tribute album was a lazy person’s way of doing
something creative,” Marie said. “But the arrangements of the songs we chose to do were so different from the originals that they seem like new songs.” For example, Marie’s version of Kitt’s popular song “C’est Si Bon” is much more spacious, smooth, and slightly more mysterious than its counterpart. “I think my personality has changed from singing Eartha’s songs,” Marie said. “I don’t suffer fools lightly anymore. I see a red light, and that’s the universe’s signal to drive right through.” Building a full-time career from the ground up turned out to be an endeavor that would test Marie’s closest relationships. Her husband issued a pivotal ultimatum to Marie between maintaining wifely duties and continuing to sing. “My ex-husband made my singing very difficult,” she said. “It wasn’t that I chose singing over my marriage, but I chose not to live with someone who was okay with issuing an ultimatum. It proved to be a huge gift he gave to me.” n
René Marie
St. Cecilia Music Center, Grand Rapids March 12, 7:30 p.m. / $35-$40 public, $10 students scmc-online.org, (616) 459-2224
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ST. PAT R I C K ' S DAY ST R E E T PA RT Y
SATURDAY MARCH 14
N O W
S P A N S
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F U LT O N
T O
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/// comedy
Nardos Osterhart
Accidental Comedy by Lindsay Patton-Carson / photos by Seth Thompson
When Nardos Osterhart wanted to practice public speaking for her day job, she turned to unconventional training to help her master the art of delivery. Instead of working with a speaking coach, the registered nurse and manager at a major health care organization in Grand Rapids took to the stage as a stand-up comic to hone her presentation skills. She planned to do it for a year, but that was three years ago.
“I
asylum in the United States. In 1982, the family moved five-year-old Nardos to Oklahoma. “My parents divorced, but my father was a real proponent of us assimilating into American culture and my mother is very much, ‘Hold onto your culture and your traditions,’” Osterhart said. Although she hasn’t been to Africa in nearly 14 years, Osterhart plans to taking her nine-year-old twin daughters in the future so they can better understand their heritage. “My girls are having such a different experience from the one I had as an immigrant,” she said. “They were born here, so there’s always this desire to instill in them, ‘Don’t forget where we came from’ in terms of culture and also in terms of all the advantages and comforts of this life. So I think it would be important for them to understand that identity because living here in West Michigan, they’re not at all tied or in touch with my Ethiopian heritage.” Osterhart found her way to Grand Rapids years after she immigrated to America. While attending the University of Oklahoma, she met her husband and moved with him to the city after graduation. It wasn’t until years later — and the birth of her twins — that Orterhart would try her hand at comedy. “I think the thing that’s interesting about my story … is that I’m 37 and I’m doing stand-up,” she said. “You’re never too (old) to try something different and figure out who you are.”
“He said, ‘You’ll have three minutes to do your material,’ and I thought, ‘What material?’ When you’re new, (three minutes) feels like an eternity.”
H
er next big gig comes this month at Gilda’s LaughFest, where she is part of the Laugh Riot Dolls comedy show on March 12. “I love that time of year and I love that long stretch of going downtown and seeing all those banners and all that promotion and that huge yellow smile,” Osterhart said about LaughFest. “It makes you think we’re really unique. It’s a small town, but it’s a big event.” The 90-minute Laugh Riot Dolls show Osterhart is performing in is a femalefocused collection of beginners (the Baby Dolls) and experienced (the Laugh Riot Dolls) comedians. “This is going to be a good show,” said Heather Kozlakowski, founder of the Laugh Riot Dolls. “Not only are these women funny, but these are good, supportive women. And that’s what Nardos is. She’s a good, supportive woman and she’s funny.” While the LaughFest show will feature an all-female lineup, the Laugh Riot Dolls aren’t exclusive to women. “It grew into a very, very supportive female environment,” Kozlakowski said. “It’s also not exclusive to females. I’ve put on the Laugh Riot Dolls featuring (Continued on next page)
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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saw myself improving as a comic, and finding acceptance from other comics who have become dear friends,” said Osterhart, who even won the Funniest Person in Grand Rapids competition in 2013. “You’re also chasing after a high if you’ve had a great set. Either you hope to personally top the last time you were on stage or must erase the memory of a failed and miserable experience.” Today, Osterhart — a political refugee from Ethiopia, registered nurse, wife and mother — continues to moonlight as a stand-up comedian. But three years on, she still remembers the jolt of booking her first gig. When the idea popped into her head, she went straight to Dr. Grins’ website and emailed Stu McCallister, the comedy club’s MC. Almost instantly, McCallister got back to her with a date. “I felt a rush of nervousness and excitement,” Osterhart said. “He said, ‘You’ll have three minutes to do your material,’ and I thought, ‘What material?’” Osterhart had just a few weeks to prepare before her big Dr. Grins debut. To get comfortable onstage, she practiced her set at area open mic nights at the Riverfront Hotel and Tip Top Deluxe in Grand Rapids. “When you’re new, (three minutes) feels like an eternity,” she said. Osterhart said it took about nine months to a year for her to finally get comfortable being on stage in front of an audience. But in gaining confidence, she also admits that she stuck with familiar material for too long. It became her crutch while on stage. “I did not give up my early material for such a long time because so much of me was like, ‘Don’t screw this up.’ It’s almost a script,” she said. “I think that was part of the learning process in terms of getting comfortable on stage.” As she learned and evolved as a comic, Osterhart has been able to build relationships and earn the respect of fellow comics. “She has a good stage presence, very likable,” McCallister said. “You always see a smile on her face. You want her to succeed.” Osterhart’s stand-up has also snowballed into a co-hosting gig with McCallister on his LMNOPodcast, where she helps balance his perspective and comedy style, he said. “She’s completely different from myself,” McCallister said. “She’s a female, she’s African American, she actually has a real job and a family and is responsible … and I’m just telling stupid jokes.” Osterhart admits, however, that her path to stand-up comedy was an unlikely one. Born in Ethiopia, her family left the region to escape political turmoil. They relocated to Germany for two years until they were granted political
27
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Monday
Wednesday Nights
1/2 off all MI craft drafts, 8pm-1am
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VINCEcMh O19R-2RIS 1
Nardos Osterhart, Continued from previous page
Boy Toys. I’ve done two of those shows last year and I want to do more of those shows.” One of the other reasons Osterhart has continued after her one-year stand-up goal is so she can represent women in a maledominated field. “There aren’t enough female voices,” she said. “So I feel a like there’s a need to kind of carry that torch because there’s plenty of material out there regarding men and what they’re interested in, but when it comes to women and their experiences, it’s kind of underrepresented.” As for her initial reason for getting into stand-up, well, she says she’s killing it in those presentations for her day job. “I think I’ve come a long way. I’m more comfortable in my job, I’m more comfortable in presentations and addressing larger groups,” she said. “If strangers can laugh at you when you’re trying to be funny and (you make
them feel) lighthearted about things, then it shouldn’t be that hard to deliver a serious bit of facts or data to people in terms of being persuasive and guiding them toward your goal.” While she’s succeeded in becoming a better public speaker as a result of her standup act, Osterhart isn’t quite ready to give up comedy. In fact, she has her sights set on even bigger goals. “This year … I would like to do a very comfortable, routine, 30-minute set, I would say once a month if I can get booked,” Osterhart said. “What I’d like to do is go and do those 30 minutes, be interrupted a few times during that set and not even feel phased by it. That to me is the mark of a real professional and a person who is really comfortable on stage, who really knows her material and is willing to play with the crowd a little bit and then get back to where they were.” n
St. Cecilia
RENÉ MARIE
Music Center PRESENTS
2015 Grammy Award Nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album! With her incredible range of vocal ability, her powerful emotional resonance and strong independent streak... René is the most provocative risk-taker among today’s jazz divas.
SPECTACULAR JAZZ SERIES MARCH 12, 2015 Scene Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule
INCLUDES POST-CONCERT DESSERT RECEPTION
SO Special. SO SCMC.
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/// comedy
Brian Posehn Sorry, Guys. Fart Jokes Aren’t Forever. | by Eric Mitts
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
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30 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
fath e r, a fan b oy a n d a “ f a r t i s t, ” comedian/actor/writer Brian Posehn is many things, but a grown-up isn’t one of them. Currently co-writing Deadpool for Marvel Comics, and working on a comedy/metal album with Scott Ian of Anthrax, Posehn is now living out his inner adolescent dreams. He first came to fame as a writer for HBO cult favorite “Mr. Show” in the mid-‘90s, and not long after gained household recognition on the NBC sitcom “Just Shoot Me!” Numerous TV, movie and voiceover appearances followed, before he emerged on his own as a stand-up, following the success of the “The Comedians of Comedy” tour, featuring his close friends Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford and Zach Galifianakis. He’s since released two comedy albums (2006’s Live In: Nerd Rage and 2010’s Fart and Wiener Jokes), has appeared regularly on Comedy Central’s “The Sarah Silverman Program” and helped out with Adult Swim’s “Metalocalypse.” In 2013, he released his third comedy album, and first-ever hour-long DVD special, The Fartist. “I feel like I kind of exhausted that area,” Posehn said about telling fart jokes. “I mean, once you call an album The Fartist, unless you’re going to call the next one The Fartist 2, it’s time to move on.” Posehn said the fresh material he’ll be performing as part of LaughFest will eventually be turned into a new special, which he plans to record sometime this spring. And before you ask: it’s not going to be called “The Fartist 2.” “It’s like going back to when I was on ‘Mr. Show’ where we would hit areas in these sketches, and after a while you had to put a note on the board, like, ‘No more Hitler.’ We’ve done enough of those jokes, it’s time
to move on. Farting is like the Hitler of the body.” Naturally, Posehn has shared his love for superheroes and bodily sounds with his five-year-old son, who has become another big part of his life and his act. “It’s not surprising that at five he finds farts hilarious,” Posehn said. “I’m just worried that he’s going to mature and I’m not. If I haven’t done it at 48, it’s never going to happen.” Over the last 15 years of his career, Posehn’s comedy has gotten more personal, taking influence from the real-life humor of comics like Louis C.K., while not losing the absurdist side he first developed as a Steve Martin fan and avid pot smoker. “Before I had my son I never wanted to be one of those comedians that isn’t real onstage,” Posehn said about how parenting hasn’t changed his comedy. “I didn’t want to do the superficial, ‘Oh, my son fell from heaven and he’s made of muffins!’ I wanted to tell the good parts, but also tell the bad.” That reality allows Posehn to revel in sharing his love for science fiction with his son, and his fans, while also worrying that his nerdom fatherhood fantasy might eventually come to a crushing end. “We’re connecting and I think it’s just going to get better until he gets to the point where he’s 15 and he’s like, ‘You know what, Dad? Farts aren’t funny, Black Sabbath kind of sucks and I don’t like horror movies.’ But right now, we’re having a blast.” n
Brian Posehn The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids March 13 & 14, (two shows each night: 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.) $25, 18+ pyramidschemebar.com, (616) 272-3758
Iliza Shlesinger
Equal Opportunity Offender
W
h e n Ili za Sh lesi nger started pursuing stan d - u p out of college, there weren’t a whole lot of women in the audience and even less performing on stages alongside her. However, it’s been about a decade since Shlesinger dove into the male-dominated industry. As this generation begins to chip away at the gender imbalance of our forefathers, Shlesinger’s heavy-handed delivery of gender jokes reflect the kind of group dynamics observed in the friendships women have with each other versus with men. “Way more females are consuming stand-up comedy than even four or five years ago,” Shlesinger said. “When I started, it was mostly guys in the audience, but now, not only are girls doing stand-up comedy, but we’re consuming it, also.”
more,” but she said there are certain things Which works out well for Shlesinger she thinks are timeless – relatable to all and – who after winning NBC’s “Last Comic any woman, regardless of her stereotype, Standing” in 2008 and rising to No. 1 on almost instantaneously – like figuring out iTunes charts for her first album, War Paint how to layer clothes for the (2013) – has earned a reputaweather or eat “the right way” tion for her style as “honest on a first date. and aggressive.” Iliza Shlesinger She said her abrasive “I think with honesty McFadden’s, Grand delivery isn’t an accident; comes vulnerability – you Rapids March 6, 11 p.m., $20 men relate to aggrescan’t make fun of others unlaughfestgr.org, (616) sion, and she wants less you’re willing to make fun 735-4242 to relate to men as of yourself,” she said. “With a much as she does lot of my observation about women – a mark of girls, for example, I’m allowed her earnest attempts at crafting true to make those jokes because I’ve lived understandings of both the men and through those situations. Whether it’s an the women she refers to in her jokes. eating habit or something physical about “It’s a message for girls wrapped myself, being honest about yourself gives in aggression for guys,” she said. people the ability to relate to you.” “…I want to be an equal-opportuniNow that she’s older, you won’t find ty offender for both sexes.” —Anya Shlesinger “sh*t-faced with a pack of girls Zentmeyer wandering freezing through the streets any-
The Don’t We Boys
Big Plans Ahead
A
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule
misdirect from any given extreme to another. For s far as benchmark goals example, what at first might seem like a carjacking are concerned, The Don’t We may end up being a high-strung friend reiterating Boys are ahead of schedule. seat-belt safety. Shortly before recruiting Scott “One of the things I always say is that we perErickson as their third member near the end of form comedy the only way we know how - with last summer, sketch comedians Joe Anderson and one foot in the grave,” Anderson said. “Which is A.J. Schraeder of The Don’t We Boys wrote up a this idea that we’re going to try to do things like list of goals for 2015. taking extreme situations and making them relat“One of our goals for March of 2015 was that able or taking relatable situations we wanted a ‘feeling of inevitable moand making something extreme mentum,’” Anderson said. “The great The Don’t about them — but that relatable part is, right now we’re early. We’re We Boys with part is the constant.” ahead of schedule on that.” Dubalicious And according to Anderson, Shortly after San Francisco’s Compass College that performance is made easier by SF SketchFest, the trio wrapped up of Cinematic Arts, the other Boys. filming a pilot episode for a new TV Grand Rapids “You get to take chances series produced by Squirm.tv and March 14, 8 p.m., $10 knowing that you’ve got, in our Waterfall Productions. Filmed in the laughfestgr.org, (616) case, two other people on stage Holland-based Haworth Corporate 735-4242 that are going to make sure it Headquarters building, The Don’t works,” Anderson said. We Boys! pilot crafts an alternate “You keep the scene moving, if something reality where sketch comedy is a highly valuable, happens, you keep going,” Erickson added. “It’s globally traded commodity in this world, and like the Mighty Ducks when they’re skating in Erickson, Anderson and Schraeder – appearing as that V. You can cycle out — it’s not about keeping Mr. Don’t, Mr. We and Mr. Boys – are billionaire the same person at the tip of the spear the whole proprietors of a multinational company. time. We’re cycling out, we’re dancing, we’re The TV show, which Anderson calls a “sketch misdirecting.” —Anya Zentmeyer comedy in a sitcom skin-suit” builds on the trio’s existing comedic brand — an abrupt, yet goofy
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Compiled by Gabriella Patti and Josh Veal
St. Patrick’s Day Best Bets
Recommended events before, during and after March 17
Fonn Mor
Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo March 7, 9 p.m., $6, 21+ bellsbeer.com, (269) 382-2332 Fonn Mor puts on an exciting Celtic show with a modern twist. Down a couple craft brews and dance all night to some fiddle, accordion and drums. Before Fonn Mor takes the stage, enjoy traditional Quinn Irish Dancers. They’ll show you how some real Irish dancing is done.
St. Patrick’s Day with Peat in the Creel & Belfast Gin
Kalamazoo Valley Museum March 13, 7 p.m., $5, All ages kalamazoomuseum.org, (269) 373-7990
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
Milk St. Patty’s Day for all it’s worth with two lively Celtic bands taking the museum stage Friday, the night before most festivities really kick off. Don’t party too hard with these eclectic bands, though. You still have the rest of the weekend to celebrate.
St. Patrick’s Day Weekend
The Curragh Pub, Holland March 14, 12:30 p.m.-close; March 17, 4-10 p.m. $5 (March 14), Free (March 17) curraghholland.com, (616) 393-6340
GRBC’s Annual St. Patrick’s Crawl
Grand Rapids March 14, 7 p.m., $42 grbarcrawl.com, (616) 802-2950 The Grand Rapids BarCrawl goes green for a pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Drink your way across the city with a crew of likeminded libation-lovers.
Fricano Event Center, Muskegon March 13 & 14, 5:30 p.m., $6 at door, 12 and under free michiganirish.org, (231) 683-2065
Nessa, Celtic Band
McGovern’s corned beef, Irish dancers and performances from Seamus Kennedy and Finnvara’s Wren come together to make one huge and unforgettable Irish party with more than 2,000 attending last year. Food, beer and TWO silent auctions are all back as well. Tickets available at the door.
Sit back and take in Nessa’s new twist on Celtic classics at the Playhouse. Legendary flute skills and an improvisational backing band reinterpret classics out of the U.K.
Howmet Playhouse, Whitehall March 14, 7:30 p.m., $10 adults, $5 students howmetplayhouse.org, (231) 894-4048
St. Patrick’s Day Party with Moriath One Trick Pony, Grand Rapids March 14, 6 p.m., FREE! onetrick.biz, (616) 235-7669
Enjoy some classic Irish meals, Guinness in a glass and bagpipes along with Moriath’s bright, contemporary take on the timehonored Celtic classics.
Drink specials and giveaways all day with THREE Irish bands playing at the pub: The Moxie Strings, Paddy’s Cure and Peat in the Creel, followed by a DJ bumpin’ modern jams until close. Stop by any time to take part. Return to Curragh on St. Patrick’s Day at 4 p.m. for FREE performances by An Dro and Peet in the Creel and more drink specials and giveaways.
St. Patrick’s Party
32 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Irish on Ionia is Mayor Heartwell-approved.
St. Patrick’s Day Saturday
Saugatuck Brewing Co., Douglas March 14, 8:30-10:30 a.m. $17, $15 for pint club members, Kids 12 & under $8 Evening performance is free saugatuckbrewing.com, (269) 857-7222
Irish On Ionia 2015
Grand Rapids March 14, 7 a.m.-11 p.m. $15 general admission, $25 O’Malley ticket & $55 VIP ticket irishonionia.com The St. Patrick’s Day street party that we’ve all been waiting for is back! Hosted by McFadden’s Irish Saloon, this year the party will start on Ionia St. and stretch from Oakes to Fulton & Weston to Commerce. Come eat, drink and join thousands of others as they take to the streets to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.Go hardcore by purchasing a VIP ticket and receive 22 oz. drinks for the price of 12 oz. all day. Local bands Stone Clover, Paddy’s Cure, The Tosspints and the Waxies will be performing live, as well as a performance by the Ardan Academy of Irish Dance.
Enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast while listening to live music by Dalraida. Stay through the evening, and see Soltre taking the stage at night. Select Irish beers are $3 all day.
Traditional Irish Hooley
Fenian’s Irish Pub, Conklin March 17, 10:45 a.m., No cover charge feniansirishpub.com, (616) 899-2640 Celebrate with Fenian’s Irish Pub, self described as “the friendliest people on Earth” for its 28th Annual “Wearin’ of the Green” Parade. Line up at 10:45 a.m. on North Main Street and work your way over to Fenian’s Irish Pub for a traditional Irish hooley. Live Irish music, session and song will continue throughout the day. n
Saturday, March 14th & Tuesday, March 17th Open @ 7am! Live Entertainment irish Food & Drink Specials
100 Ionia Ave (616) 456-7673 www.tavernonthesq.com
GR’s Best ST. Pats Bash!
St.P St.Patrick’sDay Scene Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule
Join us to Celebrate on Saturday and Tuesday We will be serving an Irish breakfast at 8:00 am on both days to start the celebration. Enjoy a selection of seasonal Michigan Craft Brews, green beer, a variety of drink featuress and special Irish menu items. Live Entertainment: Saturday – Reviving the Era Tuesday – Luke D and Stereo Vegas We look forward to serving you and making this St. Patrick’s Day a very memorable experience. ) Opening at 8 AM ) 139 Pearl Street, SE ) Grand Rapids ) Phone 616 .454 .7852 ) REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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by Josh Veal
Barrels of Fun
West Michigan Whiskey 101
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
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Journeyman Distillery
aint Patty himself might not have been going out on weekends and knocking back whiskeys at the pub, but his Irish kinsfolk have since developed a reputation for turning way, way up, and Saint Patrick’s Day is all about celebrating that.
The name ‘whiskey’ comes from the Irish Gaelic uisge beatha, meaning “water of life,” which says a lot right there. With its soothing warmth and courage-inducing powers, Irish whiskey used to be the most popular drink in the world. “Just about every spirit had its day in the sun, so to speak, and right now we get to bask in the glory of whiskey’s ray of light,” said Kevin Stanley, bar manager at Stella’s Lounge, which boasts an extensive whiskey menu (more than 250 kinds!). Nowadays, with bourbon, rye and wheat on the market, there are more options than most people know what to do with. Although there’s an existing culture around whiskey that could potentially scare off newbies, fans of the libation can be extremely welcoming. “Taste is in the beholder of the palate,” Stanley said. Lucky for us, West Michigan has a growing craft distillery scene. “[Whiskey has] flavor, distinction, fun, longevity, availability and a following,” said G. Foster II, a bartender at Stella’s.
For those who’ve already mastered the nuanced art of drinking beer, New Holland Brewing’s taproom could provide the next step. Their distilling began side-by-side in the brewery 10 years ago. A natural drink evolution for the owners, there are multiple whiskeys inspired by New Holland beers. After aging for three years, the spirits were made available at the taproom and were soon distributed. Their Beer Barrel Bourbon pulls much of its flavor from the oak barrels that shelter the warm, malty Dragon’s Milk Stout, and vice versa. The Hatter Royale is laced with citrusy Centennial hop goodness, a perfect intro for IPA-lovers. There are also plenty of straight whiskey as well, if that’s more your taste. Take a trip South, and you’ll find Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks. “Everything we do here is built around education,” said Bill Welter, Journeyman founder. Floor-to-ceiling glass allows patrons to watch the entire process. The mash tank, the aging barrels and the still, a massive machine dubbed Willy Wonka, are all visible from the tasting room. In-depth tours take place every weekend and tasting flights with
detailed flavor descriptions are available every day of the week. Journeyman’s Buggy Whip Wheat is meant to be perfect for newcomers, and it is, but like the enthusiasts at Stella’s, they won’t tell you what to drink or how to drink it. “What makes a good whiskey is something you enjoy drinking. It’s a personal experience,” Welter said. Whatever you fall in love with there, it’s up to you. While it might take some time, the trip to Journeyman is worth the drive. That’s the beauty of whiskey itself. “It develops over time and creates a story,” Welter said. In addition to West Michigan distilleries like Coppercraft in Holland, there’s a healthy offering of bars in West Michigan with big, beautiful whiskey menus for the veteran and rookie alike. In Grand Rapids, Stella’s Lounge is home to more than 250 whiskeys from every corner of the world and H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. hosts a “lim-
The Taxonomy of Whiskey Bourbon — This is America in a bottle. Made from corn, a good bourbon will have a subtle sweetness, a soft burn and a fruity, patriotic aftertaste. A bad bourbon will taste like the Cinnamon Challenge. Rye — Characterized by a burn from literal hell, but some people like that. Ryes are a great way to keep warm and eliminate unwanted taste buds. Scotch — Smoke, swimming pools, shoe stores, peat moss, leather and woodshops all in one sip. Renowned for its complexity, there’s a reason scotch is known worldwide for being really dang good. Irish — Always triple-distilled, once more than most, they’re smooth, coppery and distinctly smokeless, making this one of the most drinkable choices available. Wheat — Rare, but tasty, wheats are slightly sweet, grainy on the palate and sway back and forth in the soft summer breeze. Refreshing!
itless” Bourbon Bar, both of which have local whiskeys available. If you’re ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some water of life then Hennessy’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Muskegon, Curragh Irish Pub in Holland and the London Grill in
Kalamazoo are all providing some exciting holiday festivities with cornucopias of quality whiskey. Don’t be afraid. Anyone can drink whiskey, it just takes lots of practice. n
At Stella’s Lounge, the soup of the day is always whiskey. Photo: Neil Braybrook
Scene Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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by Joe Boomgaard, Revue Beer Czar
Just say no … to green beer
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
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s yet another high holy holiday of the drinking variety approaches, craft beer fans owe it to themselves and their friends to remember this simple mantra: Friends don’t let friends drink green beer. If St. Patrick were around in the 21st century, he’d certainly use his saintly powers to drive the dyed swill out of America, especially since there are so many full-flavor, lower-alcohol craft beer options on the market, even from the subset of Michigan brewers. With that in mind, REVUE’s beer team set out to find Michigan-made beers that would be good for a daylong drinking session. The goal: Identify some sessionable beers that are full-flavored, but that don’t pack the punch — and the responsibility — that comes with a higher ABV beverage. Three of us blind tested 12 beers that were below 5.0% ABV — regardless of style — to find out which ones were suitable for honoring the patron saint of Ireland. Here’s what we found.
The Beers Bean Flicker
Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven, Mich. Style: Blonde Ale (with coffee) 4.5% ABV This beer drinks more like a coffee stout than a blonde, and that disparity throws you off at first. It’s a beer that doesn’t follow convention and stands apart as a unique beverage that’s really loaded with flavor. Bean Flicker may not be a true drink-allday beer, but it’s definitely not one to miss. Score: 88
All Day IPA
Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Style: Session IPA 4.7% ABV The aroma is HOLY HOPS! The hop flavors start big, but trail off and leave little finish. It’s a sessionable beer you could knock back again and again. It’s the OG all-day craft beer and it shows. It’s a staple in many of our fridges for a reason. Score: 81
Lil’ Sunshine
Latitude 42, Portage, Mich. Style: Golden Ale 4.8% ABV This beer pours a cloudy golden color and has a fruity, almost cider-like aroma and taste. It’s not terribly complex, although it does get better after sitting for a minute. Overall, it’s a perfectly nice, drinkable session beer. Score: 73
Gateway IPA
Griffin Claw Brewing, Birmingham, Mich. Style: Session IPA 4.0% ABV This beer has a nice pour that’s mostly clear with a decent hop smell. It tastes like a toned-down IPA with a decent finish and clean aftertaste. It’s light, but it works. Score: 72
(Continued on page 38)
LAST DAY ON TAP!
On Tap Until Mar. 14
SAT. 3/14 ST. PATTY’S DAY PARTY
Green Beer • Irish Food Specials Live Music & More!
The B.O.B. / 20 Monroe Ave NW / Downtown GR 616.356.2000 / www.thebobsbrewery.com / #BOBsBrewery
Keep Beer Curious. le Availab18! April
Scene Sounds | Sights | Dining | Schedule
release party
Saturday, April 18th
Live music, a pig roast & lots of Pig Porter on tap & 22 oz bottles! 225 E. 16th Street, Traverse City, MI rightbrainbrewery.com
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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The Beers, continued Hop Gobbler
Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven, Mich. Style: Extra Pale Ale 4.5% ABV
Ghettoblaster
Motor City Brewing Works, Detroit, Mich. Style: English Style Mild Ale 4.2% ABV
This one lived up to its name and drank like a light pale ale. There was a nice grassy aroma with some citrusy hops and a pleasant bitter aftertaste coming from a fairly light body. All three reviewers liked this beer enough to say we’d drink it again.
Notably, this hazy amber beer was darker than the others. We were divided over the aroma. Two liked the roasted malty notes, but one reviewer noted some aromas may have been off. The flavor lived up to — if not surpassed — the aroma.
Score: 69
Score: 64
Third Coast Beer
Full Circle
Bell’s Brewery Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich. Style: Golden Beer 4.8% ABV
New Holland Brewing, Holland, Mich. Style: Kolsch 4.9% ABV
The beer pours with some cloudy haze and has a thicker body than some of the others tested here. There’s a bit of a sweetness to it and some hops also make a nice appearance. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but it’s a solid, workaday craft beer for an afternoon session.
This light-colored beer looks the part of a session ale, but it divided the judges. There was some sweetness in the nose that carried over to the flavor, which was only mildly hopped. One person noted off aromas in the nose here, too. The beer was sort of unbalanced and held back by its lack of any aftertaste.
Score: 67
Score: 58.7
Schedule | Dining | sights | Sounds Scene
Honorable Mention:
38 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Clocking in at 5.0% ABV, Michael Faricy’s Stout from Arbor Brewing Co. didn’t quite make the cut for this story, but we all tried it nonetheless because it was a true Irish Stout and it is St. Patty’s Day, after all. It had a smoky nose with plenty of dark roasted notes and more than a hint of coffee, all of which carries over to taste. This stout finishes dry. It’s a nice beer for the day, even if it’s slightly too heavy to be a session beer. It averaged a score of 77.
Also-rans We tried these beers as part of this tasting, but their scores didn’t come close to the others tested here. For that, they get a “try again.” • Wanderer, North Peak Brewing Co. • Local’s Light, Short’s Brewing Co. • Smooth Operator, Right Brain Brewery • Oarsman, Bell’s Brewery Inc.
/// festivities
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Thursday, April 16 • 7:30PM • DeVos Performance Hall FOR TICKETS CALL: 1-800-745-3000 ONLINE: Ticketmaster.com 40 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
VISUAL ART
by Kerri VanderHoff
Installation Art Immersion in Sensory Experiences
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lation space, working on site and creating work specifically n I m p r e s s i o n i st e x h i b i t i o n for the space. The two artists share almost nothing in comdraws high attendance; it’s a wellmon except they both work with installation.” known movement in art history and the general Michael Peoples is a Grand Haven-area artist. His work public has become very familiar with it. is in the practice of repetition, recently focusing on transient Though one must remember, even the now material. The majority of works in the exhibition are in widely popular Impressionists faced a mixed molded wax. reception when first emerging in the late 19th century. Their “Subject and color is where I find my boundary-pushing work was described as “unconnection,” Peoples said. “When choosfinished” by conservative critics of the time. ing an object to reproduce, I search for an One of the more recent boundaryMichael Peoples: underlying personal symbolism. Something pushing genres is installation art, which came WUNDERKAMMER I relate with but do not have a complete to prominence in the 1970s. Essentially, in(German for ‘Cabinet of understanding of why. I see what I do as stallation art takes into account the viewer’s Curiosities’) conceptual, the transmutation of an idea entire sensory experience within a space. The Through March 18, 2015 into form.” items that comprise the installation remain David Heino: David Heino currently resides in secondary; it is the effect on the viewer’s Common Magic Milwaukee. He questions the notion of spacial and cultural expectations that is of March 26-May 1, 2015 applying labels or names to artists or their primary importance. work, and that words should not have While the general public is still becoming Fire Barn Gallery importance to an audience’s experience of familiar with installation art, West Michigan 18 North 5th Street, Grand Haven the visual arts. has enjoyed greater exposure through ArtPrize. firebarngallery.com, (917) “Last year, I participated in the Maker This past year’s winner of both the critical and 572-0175 Faire we had here in Milwaukee. I showed popular vote, Intersections by Anila Quayyum what I had of Rainland,” said Heino, who Agha, is an installation piece. is planning to have two versions of this Extending the conversation for the West particular work in Grand Haven. “People liked it. No one Michigan audience, Fire Barn Gallery of Grand Haven is prewent on and on about art. Kids stuck their hands in it. It was senting two consecutive exhibitions exploring this interesting quite wonderful.” genre. Heino bends the common definition of installation art. “[It’s] a new direction for us,” said Chris Protas, gallery He acknowledges that he is very much aware of the gallery director. “In two separate solo exhibitions, artists Michael environment at Fire Barn, and would like to see a meaningful Peoples and David Heino will both use the gallery as an instal-
Installation by Michael Peoples whole of work and space, but won’t be tied to notions of a unitary world akin to a theater stage. “My show will be a collection of paintings and other things,” Heino said. “It just so happens that painting has been my primary means of expression for most of my life, but I do other things as well.” n
Power Objects: The Future Has a Primitive Heart
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts 2 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids March 14-May 15, 2015 uica.org, (616) 454-7000
From the first cave paintings and fertility statues to “Post-Internet” art, the objective over thousands of years is similar. Art objects are designed to express and connect to the sublime, the transcendent, the powerful forces and instincts that are part of human existence. This selection
of works from the collection of Josh Rogers and Lesley Weisenbacher explores the ways in which today’s artists are interpreting and making new power objects.
Redefining the Multiple
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 314 S. Park St., Kalamazoo Through April 26, 2015 kiarts.org, (269) 349-7775
This exhibition features the work of Japanese artists with foundations and formal training in printmaking. Although each of the participat-
ing artists’ personal work has transitioned over the years—some is now more associated with other media—printmaking and the production of multiples remains at the core of their creative processes. Curated by Hideki Kimura, Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan; and Sam Yates, Director, Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Frozen in Time: Photography by Tony Reidsma
March 5-April 18, 2015 hollandarts.org, (616) 396-3278 Frozen in Time was a project Reidsma began during the winter of 2014. That winter brought record-breaking cold temperatures, which led to record ice coverage on Lake Michigan. Reidsma set out to document this unique occurrence. The original purpose of the project evolved beyond the 2014 weather to include recording the effects of the drastically changing water levels of Lake Michigan.
Holland Area Arts Council 150 E. 8th St., Holland
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Diing | Schedule
Other Art Events
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indie film
Buzzard Comes Home for West Michigan Premiere Schedule | Dining | Sights Sounds | Scene
I
f elements of paranoia, dark comedy and lower-class rage are A big part of the film’s allure to critics and audiences alike a few of the things you look for in a movie, look no further is the method of guerrilla filmmaking Potrykus utilized while than the work of local filmmaker Joel Potrykus. The Grand shooting the movie. For Potrykus, this meant filming on a very, Rapids-based director/writer/actor populates his films with very small budget with a small crew, utilizing local West Michigan characters like drug-addled werewolves and pyromascenery and collaborating with local friends to act in niacal stand-up comedians, who are all caught up and assist with the production of the movie. in strange (even surreal) situations in the Midwest. “[I like] the guerrilla style because it’s full control, There’s no easy way to pigeonhole Potrykus’s work, and it just kind of feels more real to me, but it also as he eschews conventions and generic genres, but he comes with a lot more headaches where you have to does have one rule when it comes to making films. do a lot of everything yourself, and it can be kind of “What it ultimately comes down to is I’m making stressful,” Potrykus said. movies that I want to see, that don’t exist,” Potrykus Teaming up with Potrykus in Buzzard is longsaid. “Like, I really want to see this movie about a time collaborating actor, Joshua Burge, of local band guy who’s into horror movies and he’s cheating his Chance Jones. While Burge wasn’t a trained actor company. Those are just the kind of things that I like.” when they first met, Potrykus knew from the start he Joel Potrykus was the actor for his movies. In Buzzard, Potrykus’s latest feature film, he does just that. The movie follows slacker horror junkie Marty “I would just go see his shows and think ‘Man, if Jackitansky as he scams bogus checks from his temp office job, I could get a little bit of that energy that he’s got into a movie. I hitches a bus ride to Detroit to hide out and ultimately, slip further don’t know if he can act or anything, but man, he’s got a presand further into a paranoiac rage. After garnering praise from the ence,’” Potrykus said. international film festival circuit and earning comparisons to cult Burge initially started working with Potrykus in his short film classics such as Repo Man and Office Space, Buzzard will finally Coyote and quickly became a frequent collaborator, starring in both make its way home to West Michigan when the UICA screens 2012’s Ape, and now Buzzard. It worked out so well for Potrykus the film from March 6-19.
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By Josh Spanninga
in fact that he now considers working with non-professional actors a bonus. “I prefer to work with musicians or performers rather than trained actors who can sometimes come with a lot of baggage and little annoying traits that they’ve picked up on over the years, whereas with musicians, they sort of have this innate ability ... they have a persona established and they’re able to bring it into a film,” Potrykus said. It all really comes back to Potrykus being able to make his Buzzard own films on his own terms. March 6–7, 11–15, 17–19 Using musicians as actors, filmUICA, Grand Rapids ing on a shoestring budget and $4 members, $8 non-members exploring a darker side of the (UICA will also show Potrykus’s Midwest have all played a role in previous effort, Ape, on March 4) creating the ethos of his films up to this point, and he’s fine with that. “I’m spending a whole year of my life doing a movie, so I want to make sure that it’s something that I really, really want to see,” Potrykus said. “I’m kind of showing the world a little different side of the Midwest, I guess. My Midwest.” To warm up for the release of Buzzard, the UICA will also be showing Potrykus’s previous effort, Ape, on March 4. As an added bonus, Potrykus and his crew will be doing Q&A sessions after every screening of the film on opening weekend, and he hints that there may be goodies such as stickers, posters and other paraphernalia, so it’s best to get there early. In any case, Potrykus is excited to finally be able to screen his film in his hometown. “I’m pretty curious to see who shows up, what kind of crowd they are and what they think of their hometown being shown in such a weird light,” Potrykus said. n
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12/19/2014 3:22:53 PM REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Diing | Schedule
Fundamentals
43
By Allison Parker
On Stage
Other Performing Arts Events Peter and the Starcatcher Miller Auditorium, Kalamazoo March 29, 3 p.m., $35-$58 millerauditorium.com, (269) 387-2300 Like a playful child, Peter and the Starcatcher transforms a handful of everyday objects into accessories of thrilling adventure. Ropes become doors and a rolling pin becomes a sword in this inventive Pan backstory, where imagination knows no boundaries. Here to tell this whimsical tale is a cast of 12 actors who portray more than 100 nuanced characters onstage.
Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged) Wharton Center, East Lansing March 19, 7:30 p.m., $40 whartoncenter.com, (517) 353-1982 Known for its extraordinary knack for abbreviation, The Reduced Shakespeare Company boils the evolution of comedy down into a hilarious 90-minute romp. Supreme Court puppets, Looney Tunes songs and audience participants assist this three-man troupe in their noble endeavor to chronicle the history of the belly laugh from caveman jokes to Adam Sandler. Whether you’re a dry-wit junkie or a hopeless slapstick fan, there’s a delicious shade of humor in this production for you.
Schedule | Dining | Sights Sounds | Scene
The Light in the Piazza Actors’ Theatre Spectrum Theater, Grand Rapids March 19-21, 26-28; 8 p.m. $20-$28, student rush: $10 actorstheatregrandrapids.org A Broadway favorite from the ‘00s, The Light in the Piazza tells the story of a wealthy Southerner named Margaret vacationing in Italy with her daughter, Clara. When Clara unexpectedly falls for a young Italian man, a secret in her daughter’s past prompts Margaret to forbid the relationship. As the young couple’s love persists, Margaret must come to terms with her own convictions about relationships and letting go.
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Grand Rapids Ballet Company dancers Isaac Aoki and Kyohei Yoshid
MOVEMEDIA’s Got the Moves
I
f yo u a r e n ’ t p ro u d o f West Michigan’s performi n g arts, Grand Rapids Ballet’s MOVEMEDIA is a darn good reason why you should be. A tradition now four years in the running, MOVEMEDIA has earned the company a standout name in the dance community and attracted choreography submissions from five different continents. MOVEMEDIA I and II are halves of a series featuring contemporary dance numbers that blend technology with modern neoclassical movement. For MOVEMEDIA, contemporary dance is not so much a rejection of traditional movement as much as an emphasis on life experiences, including the choreographers’ personal ones. When constructing a piece, the choreographers strive to create a familiar situation told from a specific point of view. As a result, audiences gain a new understanding of a particular situation or issue after watching each piece. “What we want the audience to come away with is the idea that they now look at [a
While MOVEMEDIA is a performance, situation] from a different perspective or in a different light,” said Artistic Director Patricia it is less of a presentation and more of an Barker. “You can see an artist’s piece of sculp- inclusion into an artistic discussion. If a ture from one position all the time and just particular aspect of a dance sparks curiosity, look at but unless you walk around and find audience members are encouraged to talk with the other sides and see the light come through, choreographers, who are often available after you’re not looking at it through the light of the performances. The hope is that the prothe sculptor — so this is what we bring — this duction will not only entertain, but also allow the audience to participate in is what our choreographers do something that will somehow and this is the excitement that affect their understanding. our audience feels.” MOVEMEDIA I “The one thing that we In order to share each Grand Rapids Ballet March 13-15, show times at 2 want the audience to make unique vision with the audi& 7:30 p.m. sure they know is that they ence, MOVEMEDIA offers $30.50 are a part of something its choreographers nearly grballet.com, (616) 454-4771 special—that they’re a part of unlimited artistic freedom something that takes them in terms of technology and on a journey of some kind, props. Bare bulbs, elaborate projections and even bulky furniture are all an emotional journey or a sense of awareness, fair game. The emphasis is on letting the something that awakens in them — it can be choreographers have a full arsenal of resources thought provoking — something that touches with which to convey meaning as expressively either the past, the present or what they think of for something in the future,” Barker said. n as possible.
presents
march 19-22, 2015 264 dance artists 5 different concerts 10 dance films
master classes | discussion panels | Vip eVents Epic cEntEr | Downtown Kalamazoo artist linE-up, ticKEts & mastEr class information
Mar 14–May 15, 2015 uica.org/power-objects
WWW.GRCT.ORG
616.222.6650
616 454 7000
T H E
2 Fulton W Grand Rapids MI 49503
R O G E R S
&
FEB 27 - MAR 22
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Diing | Schedule
W E I S E N B A C H E R
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN’S
C O L L E C T I O N
www.midwestradfest.org 269.342.4354
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Style Notes
by Missy Black
SIMPLE PLEASURES Little luxuries to maintain bliss and get you through the (still) cold months until warmer weather.
I
Schedule | Dining | Sights Sounds | Scene
f you fancy a cup of tea, try on this gold metallic, hand-painted, lip-stained mug with gold edging. The cure for drab weather and sour moods, this refined china piece (not dishwasher safe) runs $16 and is the definition of a simple pleasure. “It’s time to take those daily routine items and make them something special or out of the ordinary,” said Spring Sweet, owner of the shop with the same name in Holland. Other uses include filling it with pencils on your desk or makeup brushes and beauty items for a dash of darling. “It’s a great gift for women of all ages,” and is a continuation on the gold craze we’ve been seeing in clothing and home décor.
*Soft combed cotton socks with swear words, fun graphics and witty and wise sayings. $9.50. Rebel in Grand Rapids.
46 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
*Hydrate with the nutty fragrance of coconut milk with a touch of honey in the Coconut Milk & Honey Dry Mist Body Oil. Also in lavender and grapefruit scents. $9.99,
*Try a little aromatherapy with the thick-and-sweet Almond Biscotti goat’s milk lotion that’ll have you smelling your hands for the rest of the day. True story. $10.99, Betty
Apothecary Off Main in Grand Rapids
Lou’s Bath Body and Mind in Rockford
*The warm glow and literary inspiration of soy candles in scents of Old Books, Trashy Romance Novel and Book Cellar from Frostbeard Studio. $17, Tallthers in Muskegon
6740 CASCADE ROAD 6 1 6 . 9 4 2 . 9 8 8 6 www.cascade-optical.com
Hype r O p t i k 1134 Wealthy Street 6 1 6 . 3 0 1 . 1 9 1 1 www.hyper-optik.com PHOTO: ROB CONENS FRAME: THEO CINQUANTE+8 MODEL: MANSFIELD MATTHEWSON
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
47
by Kyle Austin
LIT LIFE
Other Literary Events
Trio of Michigan Poets Converge for Collaborative Reading
E.J. Levy and Joe Wilkins March 5, 7 p.m. Hope College, Winants Auditorium jrvws.org, (616) 555-5555
March brings a literary double header from the Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series at Hope College. Flannery O’Connor Award-winning fiction writer E.J. Levy joins Paterson Poetry Prize-winning poet and memoirist Joe Wilkins onstage for a rowdy collision of talent. Catch an exclusive Q+A session at 3:30 p.m. in Hope’s Fried-Hemenway Auditorium.
A Polish Doctor in the Nazi Camps
March 12, 7 p.m. Grand Rapids Public Library - Main Branch grpl.org, (616) 988-5413
Schedule | Dining | Sights Sounds | Scene
Medical anthropologist Barbara Rylko-Bauer discusses her book, A Polish Doctor in the Nazi Camps – a taut recounting of her mother Jadzia’s 15-month endurance of three Nazi concentration camps and a 42-day death march, spending part of the time working as a prisoner-doctor to Jewish slave laborers. A book signing will follow Rylko-Bauer’s insights into her mother’s amazing story.
Peter Ho Davies
March 18, 7:30 p.m. Aquinas College, Grand Rapids aquinas.edu/cw, (616) 632-8900 Born in Britain in 1966 to Welsh and Chinese parents, fiction writer Peter Hoe Davies has appeared in Harpers, The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, the Guardian, Independent, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, among others. He is the author of the novel The Welsh Girl (2007), and two short story collections: The Ugliest House in the World (1997) and Equal Love (2000).
48 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Linda Nemec Foster
Miriam Pederson
Diane DeCillis
have produced 10 collaborative exhibitions hether it’s a duet of poetry and sculpture that mine their color a mass protest, lective experience and shared values. They’ve something incredible hapalso taught a course at Aquinas College for pens when human voices two decades called Artists and Writers in join together. The converCollaboration. There, students learn how gence of different ideas and to open their creativity up to these kinds of expressions allows us to see, think and feel intersections. from a perspective far broader than our own. When Foster released her poetry collecThis is especially true in the world of poetry, tion, Ten Songs from Bulgaria, in 2008, she where many are finding that collaboration never imagined it would turn into something both in and outside of the medium reveals a larger. Three years later, she got wealth of untapped potential. a call from Laszlo Slomovits, “People are learning that Diane DeCillis, Linda a musician who had read her collaboration is a necessity,” Nemec Foster and collection and begun compossaid Poet Miriam Pederson. “It Miriam Pederson ing music that was lyrically inspires different possibilities Kent District Library – and melodically inspired by for poetry because people are Kentwood Branch her haunting imagery. Soon, experimenting and you get this March 23, 6:30 p.m. kdl.org, (616) 784-2007 they had enough material to kind of fuel that moves you release a full album, Cry of out of your comfort zone.” Freedom, that artfully weaves On March 23, Pederson sound and word together. will join fellow Michigan poets Diane DeCillis DeCillis owned and operated Lido Gallery and Linda Nemec Foster for a special reading & Gifts, an art gallery that presented poetry, that unites their individual talents together fiction and visual art side-by-side, for 34 years. in concert. No strangers to collaboration, For the release of her first collection of pothese three women have forged lasting poetic ems, Strings Attached, which won a Michigan careers in large part by allowing their art to Notable Book Award in 2014, she had pupcross boundaries. peteers from the Detroit Puppet Theatre act Over their 40-plus years of marriage, out the poems as she read them. For her next Pederson and her husband Ron, a sculptor,
project, she’s working with a classical composer to create a 20-minute opera using her poetry as a springboard. “I can read a poem and my words can be interpreted by whoever is listening to them, but then to see another interpretation through music or art or actors, I think it pulls people in more to see another element added to the reading,” DeCillis said. At their upcoming reading, the trio aims to play their poems off of one another in a jazzlike call-and-response. Deeper than their desire to push the boundaries of poetry, however, is their collective identity as women. With the reading taking place, fittingly, during Women’s History Month, expect a rich narrative to emerge out of each poet’s exploration of their individual experience, one that doesn’t limit its scope to one group of people or another. “For me, feminism is not just a label; it’s an expression of the unique individual and having that uniqueness not stopped by laws or prejudice or bias,” Foster said. “I think of men as feminists too, wanting their voices heard, but also wanting the voices of their mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters heard, too. It takes on this aspect of the human potential.” n
W
Series Sponsor:
A MUSICAL INTERLUDE IN THE LIBRARY
Hear selections from hit musicals including
Phantom of the Opera and A Chorus Line.
KENT COUNTY STRING BAND Thursday, March 19 7:00 pm Main Library
Tickets start at $18 MySymphony360 $15 | Students $5 Media Partners:
GRSymphony.org
Marcy. Diva. Cabaret.
GHOST HEART Wednesday, April 15 7:00 pm Main Library
Marcy Richardson cabaret diva mix Sat, Mar 28, 7:30 pm Doors and bar open at 6:30 pm We’re bringing her back! Soprano Marcy Richardson is a true stage animal with a passion for Baroque, sophisticated musical theatre, and contemporary music. Her Cabaret show last year was a highlight of our first season @The Block. Her Diva Mix program is sure to take us all by surprise! Pianist Kelly Karamanov also returns.
360 W Western Ave, 2nd Floor Muskegon, MI 49440 For tickets and program: westmichigansymphony.org facebook.com/AtTheBlock 231.726.3231
SALTBREAKER Thursday, May 14 7:00 pm Main Library
THESE CONCERTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 111 LIBRARY ST NE 616.988.5400 WWW.GRPL.ORG REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Diing | Schedule
$25
49
ARE BACK AVAILABLE ONLY AT THESE LOCATIONS
950 Wealthy ST SE | Suite 1A Grand Rapids, MI 49506 616-356-2573
4160 Lake Michigan DR NW | Suite B Grand Rapids, MI 49534 616-724-4102
DINNER AND A Schedule Dining Sights | Sounds | Scene
@
MOVIE CRAFTMEX
Receive a gold movie ticket for the special price of $7.50 with a minimum purchase of $10 per person.* Ask a server for full details!
E. BELTLINE & KNAPP’S CORNER 2183 E. Beltline Ave. NE 616.272.3047 www.fajitarepubliccantina.com
*Dine-In only. Valid only at the Grand Rapids location. Movie ticket valid only at Celebration Cinema, Grand Rapids, MI. Must purchase a minimum of $10 per person to receive discounted movie tickets. Not valid with any other discount, coupon or, offer.
50 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
We will miss you, Lindsay!
Restaurant listings arranged by region
Grand Rapids Angel’s Thai Café 136 Monroe Center NW. 616-454-9801 THAI. This downtown restaurant makes your order fresh, fast, and hot. You can order your entree with your choice of meat and spice level, or create your own. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Thai Steak and Yum Talay. Bar Divani 15 Ionia Ave. SW. 616-774-WINE. ECLECTIC. Bar Divani offers a sophisticated environment, with the chefs use local ingredients in their creations. Taste the homegrown flavor in the Prosciutto Flatbread, the Linguine Alfredo or the Plum Salmon. By pairing with Dancing Goats Creamery, Otto’s Chicken, S&S Lamb, Ingraberg Farms, Mrs. Dog’s and Madcap, Bar Divani serves extraordinary tastes. But, what would a night out be without a few drinks? The bar serves more than 300 types of liquor, 300 wines and 50 beers to compliment each handcrafted meal. » SERVING: Dinner after 4 p.m. OPEN ON: Everyday but Sunday. GO THERE FOR: Local Cuisine.
Bentham’s Riverfront Restaurant 187 Monroe Ave. NW. 616-774-2000 AMERICAN. Enjoy great breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert options while looking out at the Grand River. Casual attire. » SERVING: Breakfast Lunch OPEN ON: Open 7 days, closes at 2 p.m. GO THERE FOR: Lunch buffet.
The Bistro 11 Monroe Avenue NW (at Courtyard Marriott). 616-242-6000 AMERICAN. Serving American food bistro-style, whether it’s grab-and-go or guests dining in for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The Bistro offers fresh seasonal options, serves Starbucks beverages and has a full-service bar. » SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: Sandwiches.
Blue Water Grill 5180 Northland Dr. 616-363-5900 SEAFOOD. One of Grand Rapids’ most inspired restaurants in terms of overall ambiance, with Frank Lloyd Wright-style architecture, a stunningly massive fireplace, and some of the best water views in West Michigan. The food is similarly inspired, drawing from Italian, Mediterranean and classic American influences. All the traditional favorites are accounted for with a wide variety of wood-fired pizzas, seafood, steaks, chops, salads, and sandwiches. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Grass Fed Beef. The B.O.B. 20 Monroe Ave. NW. (616) 356-2000 ECLECTIC. If you’re not sure what kind of dining you want, you can just head into The B.O.B., where you can choose from one of its several venues. Go into Gilly’s, where you can dine on seafood or B.O.B.’s Brewery, the restaurant’s in-house brewery. You can dress down for some pizza at Bobarino’s or dress it up for a steak at Judson’s Steakhouse. For after dinner, take in a show at Dr. Grins or enjoy live music at H.O.M.E. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Beer and numerous dining options. Bombay Cuisine 1420 Lake Dr. SE 616-456-7055 INDIAN. Offering savory and subtly spiced dishes from northern India, Bombay Cuisine is a hot spot for those who like to add a little flavor to their lives. With a lunch buffet served every weekday, this restaurant provides its eaters with an array of traditional Indian cuisine. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: Naan, Butter Chicken. Brewery Vivant 925 Cherry St. SE. 616-719-1604 BREWPUB. Housed in a former funeral chapel, Brewery Vivant crafts Belgianstyle ales with a focus on barrel aging. The brewpub also brings Belgian tradition when it comes to food, featuring French and Belgian-style meals to pair perfectly with the beer. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open
7 days. GO THERE FOR: The Burger Bulls Head Tavern 188 Monroe NW. 616-454-3580 AMERICAN. Downtown eatery is a great spot for business lunch or casual pre-show dinner, with a wide-ranging menu that includes salads, burgers, pasta, seafood and steaks. Specialties include the ostrich burger, sashimi tuna and smoked Gouda chicken pasta. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Closed on Sunday. GO THERE FOR: The Ostrich Burger. Chapbook Café 2660 28th St. SE, Grand Rapids. 616-942-0595. CAFE. Take a break from browsing the shelves at Schuler Books with a homemade selection of soups, sandwiches and quiches. Soups are prepared in-house daily and served with fresh baked bread to accompany a small-but-elegant sandwich menu. Try a quiche or traditional Italian Panini grilled on fresh ciabatta bread, or for a quick bite, grab a bagel or scone from the dessert case. » SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days GO THERE FOR: Homemade soups and sandwiches CitySen Lounge 83 Monroe Center St. NW. 616-608-1720 AMERICAN. CitySen Lounge, located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, is a bar with a big-city feel, offering exciting options for lunch, dinner and breakfast on the weekends. The focus is on fresh ingredients and a full bar with local brews, wine and creative cocktails. » SERVING: Weekend Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: Daily happy hour The Corner Bar 31 N. Main St. 616-866-9866 AMERICAN. The downtown Rockford tavern serves a solid menu of burgers, burritos, salads and sandwiches, but it is best known for hot dogs — serving almost 1,000 per day. Its hot-dog-eating challenge has been conquered by more than a few, but it raises the question: Why would you want to consume Corner Bar dogs in a hurry rather than savor each bite? » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Hot dogs. The Cottage Bar 18 Lagrave Ave. SE. 616-454-9088 AMERICAN. The Cottage Bar is the oldest operating restaurant and bar in downtown Grand Rapids. Come in for the Cottage Burger, smothered with green olives, bacon, lettuce, tomato, hickory mayonnaise and Swiss and American cheeses. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Closed Sundays GO THERE FOR: The Cottage Burger.
Cygnus 27 Cornucopia 187 Monroe Ave. NW. 616-776-6425 ECLECTIC. Enjoy 187 skyline Monroeas Ave. 616-774-2000 DELI. A refreshing the youNW. dine atop the Glass Tower. Indulge option for on-the-go, or casual, fare. deli in a variety of globally infusedlighter dishes at Enjoy this AAA options such asrestaurant. homemadeCasual soups,attire; salads, Four-Diamond no Panini jacket sandwiches and freshly brewed gourmet»coffee. required. Private dining also available. SERVING: SERVING: Breakfast Lunch OPEN ON: Open 7 days.FOR: GO Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE THERE FOR: Sandwiches. Seasonal Sunday Brunch.
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Erb Thai 950 Wealthy St. SE #1A. (616) 356-2573. Additional locations at 4160 Lake Michigan Dr. NW, Suite B, and 820 Michigan St. NE. THAI. Food rooted in traditional Thai cuisine, but also made to accommodate health conscious and special diets. Not too strong, not too weak, like harmony and melody. Marketing representative Molly Rizor was a Thai virgin when she went and is now glad Erb Thai was her first experience. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Peanut Curry Noodles.
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Fajita Republic Cantina 2183 E. Beltline Ave. 616-272-3047 MEXICAN. A fresh twist on Mexican-inspired cuisine, Fajita Republic uses farm-fresh vegetables, never-frozen meats and limesqueezed margaritas. Fajita entrees are flamed table-side and the owners promise there are no microwaves used at Fajita Republic, ensuring that all meals are made fresh. Additionally, there are 101 tequila varieties, as well as Mexican craft beers, wine and specialty drinks. SERVING Lunch Dinner. OPEN: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Fajitas, Tequila
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Founders Brewing Company 235 Grandville SW. 616-776-1195 BREWPUB. A beer-lover’s paradise with a national reputation for flavorful, awardwinning beers. Likewise, the brewpub’s menu consists mainly of flavorful handcrafted deli sandwiches that can stand up and complement the beers (or vice versa). » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Award-winning beer, handcrafted sandwiches. Garden Court Lounge 187 Monroe Ave. NW. 616-774-2000 LOUNGE. An excellent choice for a quick drink with friends or when you desire relaxing with your favorite drink. (Continued)
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Dining Schedule
Big O Café 80 Ottawa NW. 616-451-1887 ITALIAN. The downtown (and downstairs) restaurant has a reliable menu featuring pizza, pasta, and sandwiches that are Italian and Cuban influenced. A great spot for lunch or a quick glass of wine and plate of pasta before a downtown event. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Dead Head Vegetarian Pizza, Cuban dinners on Friday nights.
Bistro Bella Vita 44 Grandville Ave. SW. 616-222-4600 ITALIAN. One of Grand Rapids’ best dining experiences, featuring Mediterraneaninspired country cuisine, a swanky yet comfortable downtown atmopshere and personable service. BBV’s culinary team creates authentic, housemade recipes made with locally grown produce, fresh seafood and rotisserie roasted meats. Specialty gluten-free menu, and can prepare custom dishes for lactose intolerant, vegetarian, and vegan diets. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Mediterranean Country Cuisine and Martinis.
REVUE’s dining listings are compiled by staff and minions. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of restaurants in the region. For an expanded list, be on the lookout for new and improved dining changes on our website, revuewm.com. The listings are not intended to be reviews of West Michigan restaurants, although we will inject some opinions into the listings based on staff experiences and personal preferences. To submit or to correct information in a dining listing, e-mail editor@ revuewm.com.
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Dining Garden Court Lounge (Continued from previous page) The Garden Court Lounge offers a fine array of beer, wine, cocktails and liqueurs. SERVING: Drinks OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Specialty cocktails.
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Gilly’s 20 Monroe NW. 616-356-2000 SEAFOOD. Gilly’s may not be the biggest name on the seafood block, but it takes second place to no one in regards to quality, freshness and inspiration. A vast array of exotic fish is line-caught, flown in and prepared fresh daily. Every facet of Gilly’s speaks to impeccable attention to detail. » SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: Closed on Sunday. GO THERE FOR: Fresh seafood at a great price. GP Sports 187 Monroe Ave. NW 616-776-6495 SPORTS BAR. Catch the big game on one of 30 televisions, including a big screen for optimal game viewing. This colorful and casual restaurant not only caters to sports fans, but also features top-notch burgers, pizzas and specialty drinks. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Score Big Burgers.
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Graydon’s Crossing 1223 Plainfield NE. 616-726-8260 TAVERN. An authentic take on the English Pub, with a huge selection of beers on tap and a menu that includes classic English dishes like Fish & Chips, Shepherd’s Pie and Irish Stew, as well as Indian specialties like Tandoori Chicken and Tikka Masala. A great casual atmosphere for drinking and dining. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Beer and authentic pub food.
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G.R.P.D. (Grand Rapids Pizza and Delivery) 340 State St. SE. 616-454-9204 ITALIAN. The current GR location opened in 2004 as the first established pizzeria in the Heritage Hill district. A common meeting spot for local folks, business professionals and college students, a place where one could gather for a quick meal or a reflective lunch. It offers both hand-tossed pizza and Chicago-style stuffed pizza, as well as pasta, sandwiches, salads, and wings. Online ordering, too. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Pizza.
Schedule Dining Sights | Sounds | Scene
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Grand Rapids Brewing Company 1 Ionia Ave SW. 616-458-7000 BREWPUB. Good for the environment and your palate, GRBC is Michigan’s first certified organic brewery and features a menu stocked with locally grown ingredients. With a diverse selection of beers on tap inspired by historical Grand Rapids figures and a hearty array of burgers, melts and hand-cranked sausages, this place represents the best of the brewery’s 120-year legacy. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Organic beer and locally sourced food.
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Grand Woods Lounge 77 Grandville Ave SW. 616-451-4300 AMERICAN. The restaurant’s interior exudes a warm, casual ambiance reminiscent of the great eateries of the Pacific Northwest; the outdoor porch features two outdoor bars and a fireplace. Menu stocked with affordable appetizers great for sharing, plus salads, sandwiches, and entrées. Lots of domestics and microbrews, plus an array of martinis including the “Woodstini,” a tasty mix of Stoli Orange Vodka, mandarin oranges and raspberries. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Cocktails.
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The Holiday Bar 801 5th St. NW. (616) 456-9058 AMERICAN. Tucked smack
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dab in the “Heart of the Westside, The Holiday Bar boasts a classic 40-foot Horseshoe bar, along with cheap eats and drinks, both served until 2 a.m., with specials happening daily. The Holiday Bar has a full menu that features pub fare like chicken strips, pierogis, battered homestyle mushrooms and more. It’s a great place to watch the game, listen to music or just hang out with friends. » SERVING Lunch Dinner. OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Cheap eats and drinks.
GLUTEN FREE GIRL:
Terra GR
Harmony Brewing Company 1551 Lake Dr. SE (616) 233-0063 BREWPUB. Harmony features 12 craft-brewed beers in addition to signature root beer for the kiddos. Named one of the top-five brewpub menus in West Michigan by yours truly, Harmony’s ultimate deal is a take-out combo that features one of its 10” gourmet wood-fired pizzas and a growler of beer for $20, as well as a $5 cheese and $6 pepperoni pizza deal every Tuesday. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Pizza and brews.
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HopCat 25 Ionia SW. 616-451-4677 TAVERN. Rated the 3rd best beer bar on the planet by Beer Advcoate, HopCat’s spin on its food is thus: “It’s the food your Mom would feed you, if your Mom loved beer.” That’s specifically true for HopCat’s beerbar cheese, cheese ale soup and porter braised beef, but mom would also love the Hippie wrap (it’s vegetarian), the crack fries (not real crack), and Killer Mac and Cheese. Because what mom doesn’t like mac and cheese? SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Widest variety of beers, crack fries.
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Lumber Baron Bar 187 Monroe Ave. NW. (616) 774-2000 LOUNGE. Settle into the warmth and charm of this historic bar — complete with a fireplace, leather club chairs and a large selection of premium drinks and appetizers. » SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: Closed Sundays and Mondays GO THERE FOR: Scotch or Brandy after a Symphony concert. Marie Catrib’s 1001 Lake Dr. 616-454-4020 ECLECTIC. The East Hills eatery makes everything from scratch with local ingredients, and there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. Get there early for lunch, as there is almost always a wait. » SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Salads, soups and sandwiches. Mixology 235 Louis St. NW. 616-242-1448 LOUNGE. Casual, upscale service and atmosphere allows guests to relax and enjoy the city views. This type of service allows guests to complete business tasks while still enjoying the accessibility to great food and libations. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: Specialty cocktails. O’Toole’s 448 Bridge St. 616-742-6095 PUB. This West side pub is equipped with delicious and outrageously topped burgers, as well as an extensive beer selection, and arguably, the best happy hour specials in town. If food is not your passion, this is a prime place to kick off your Sunday Funday with its $3 Absolut Bloody Mary bar. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 Days. GO THERE FOR: Gourmet burgers, Absolut Bloody Mary bar.
T
erra GR is a respite for those who are exhausted from hunting menus for gluten-free (or vegetarian and vegan) options. Take one look at the extensive menu, featuring locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table dishes, and you’ll be overwhelmed with delicious choices. For an appetizer, you might choose buffalo cauliflower, which includes housemade hot sauce and blue cheese vinaigrette, or decide on one of the many salads found on the menu. Choose from five pasta dishes, which can all be ordered with gluten-free noodles or any of the wood-fired pizzas, available with gluten-free crust. Are you overwhelmed yet? There’s more. All eight entrée staples, including seared duck breast and vegetable tagine, are gluten free. You can also stop in for brunch on Saturday or Sunday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. where you’ll discover even more options, like pork belly hash or a mushroom and goat cheese omelette. Top off your meal with a brunch cocktail (I recommend Terra Coffee or Spiked Chai) and your day will be off to a fabulous start. —Kelli Belanger
1429 Lake Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, terragr.com, (616) 301-0998 *Menu items are seasonal and change based on availability
Olive’s Restaurant 2162 Wealthy St. SE. 616-451-8611 ECLECTIC. Gaslight Village mainstay for Easties looking to have a cocktail and casual dinner. The menu is surprisingly broad, with innovative starters (e.g., Napoli fritters, Paella cakes) and diverse entrées like Southern meatloaf, braised short ribs and mobu tofu. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: A broad selection. One Trick Pony 136 E. Fulton. 616-235-7669 AMERICAN. Connected to The Cottage Bar, One Trick Pony offers an eclectic American menu that ranges from salads, fish, pizza, homemade soups and more. Pair the food with live music, which OTP features weekly. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Eclectic pizzas.
Pearl Street Grille 310 Pearl St NW. 616-235-1342 AMERICAN. Dine in a relaxing environment where kids eat free and the chef uses local vendors and suppliers. Conveniently located in downtown Grand Rapids, Pearl Street Grill offers nightly happy hour specials that include signature cocktails and Michigan beer, as well as a $10 burger and beer special, $5 pizzas and more. » SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner. OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Late night specials. The Pita House 1450 Wealthy SE, 3730 28th Street, 4533 Ivanrest SW (Grandville). 616-454-1171 MEDITERRANEAN. Gyros so big you can club someone with them, the smoothest hummus in town and other Mediterranean fare, including kibbe, kafta and falafel. Additional locations on 28th Street and
SchulerBooks&Music MARCH 32 years as your local, independent bookstore! 14
1pm
March Events Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomy Association presents: Astronomy as a Hobby, Steps to Better Enjoyment
Mondays
This month’s topic, ‘What’s Next From My New Hobby?’, will offer helpful advice on upgrading equipment, astrophotography and more to amateur astronomers. A ‘Telescope Tune-up Clinic’ will follow the presentation from 2:15–3pm. Participants are invited to bring in their instruments for assessment, alignment and minor repairs.
21
2pm
31
7pm
CRAFT PINTS All dAy $3.50 dRAFTS $1.50 domeSTICS $3 oFF PIzzAS
Tuesdays
Write Michigan Award Ceremony
$2 WellS $5 BBQ PoRk oPeN mIC
Join us in celebrating the third annual Write Michigan Short Story Contest! Copies of the 2015 Write Michigan Anthology will be available and winning authors will be on hand for a book signing. Susan Dennard, author of the young adult Something Strange and Deadly series, will present the keynote.
Wednesdays
lAdIeS NIghT STARTINg AT 6Pm lATe NIghT hAPPy houR STARTINg AT 10Pm dJ dANCe PARTy 9Pm
Local Author Night: Celebrating Local Women Making History! Join authors Deb Moore, Betty Epperly, Susan Lovell and Chapbook more for a night highlighting our local authors!
Michigan Postcards
50
¢
SchulerBooks.com
2660 28th Street SE • (616) 942-2561 Grand Rapids, MI 49512
Red Jet Cafe 1431 Plainfield Ave. NE. 616-719-5500 ECLECTIC. The funky restaurant in Creston’s old library is the kind of place you’d find in Chicago’s hip neighborhoods, offering non-sequitur menu items that somehow seem to work. Seriously, how many other places in town can you find that serve high-end organic coffees, crepes, wood-fired pizzas and artisan baked goods. Is it a bistro? Is it a coffeehouse? Does it matter? » SERVING: Breakfast (weekends) Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days; 11 a.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. weekends. GO THERE FOR: Crepes. Reds on the River 8 E Bridge St #100, Rockford. 616-863-8181 AMERICAN. Relaxed ambiance, great food and a view of the river
WOMEN’S
HISTORY MONTH
All events are subject to change.
For a complete list of events visit www.SchulerBooks.com equate to an enjoyable time out. With quality food and fresh ingredients you’re sure to find a meal that tickles your fancy. Staff is trained to help you should you encounter unfamiliar territory. » SERVING: Lunch, Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days GO THERE FOR: Red’s Steak Burger Reserve Wine & Food 201 Monroe Ave. NW (616) 855-9463 ECLECTIC. With 102 wines available by the glass and more than 300 by the bottle, paired with an ever-changing food menu influenced by West Michigan grown foods, Reserve promises diners a unique experience. Cocktails and craft beers add depth to the primarily wine-centered menu. » SERVING: Lunch, Dinner OPEN ON: Closed on Sunday GO THERE FOR: Wine and food pairings, charcuterie, happy hour. Rinaldi Pizza and Sub Shop 966 E. Fulton St. 616-458-3737 ITALIAN. The tiny pizza
shop at the corner of Fulton and Diamond is publisher Brian Edwards’ favorite spot to stop for a large slice after a late night at the office. “It’s got the four C’s of pizza going for it: chewy, cheesy, crusty and cheap — with a perfect balance of sauce and cheese,” Edwards says. Fold it over, New York-style, he recommends. » SERVING: Lunch, Dinner. OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Pizza. River City Saloon 1152 Leonard St. NW. 616-451-0044 AMERICAN. Combine your tastes of live music and filling food at River City Saloon. The restaurant and bar has Mexican options, burgers, salads and more. On the weekends, indulge in any of these menu items or a couple drinks while listening to some local music by bands like Hey Marco, OTC, Litt Up, Drop 35 and more. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: Wednesday olive burger special
Fridays
BumP ANd WASh $5
saTurdays
Bloody mARy BAR ANd BRuNCh 10Am duFFIeld CARoN PRoJeCT eveRy SATuRdAy 5-8Pm FRee! $3 CAPTAIN moRgAN $5 glASS oF WINe
sundays
Bloody mARy BAR ANd BRuNCh 10Am Weekly BlueS JAm 6Pm FRee 402 e kAlAmAzoo Ave kAlAmAzoo, mI 49007 (269) 381-5677 REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Dining Schedule
Kalamazoo SE. Sandwiches are made to order with fresh vegetables and ingredients. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Fresh pita wraps.
Thursdays
$1.50 ReTRo BeeRS $5 NAChoS 10Pm FRee lIve muSIC 9Pm
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taste this
by Alexandra Kadlec
How did your collaboration with partners Logan and Tami Pitts begin? Jeremy: Logan and Tami were customers of Mia & Grace who became close friends of ours. Once we discovered they shared the same passion for food and hospitality, it was inevitable that we would work together. What do you love about the work you’re doing? Jamie: The opportunity to create a menu using the best locally sourced ingredients in season. And the relationships that can be built through food — being part of a community, forming new friendships and helping people realize all of the wonderful foods grown here in Michigan. How have you built relationships with local farmers? Jamie: When we first started Mia & Grace seven years ago, we visited Muskegon Farmers Market and began to make contacts there. Farmers are a lot like chefs. Everyone kind of knows everybody, so we kept making new contacts with farmers who could provide honey, meat, produce, eggs, mushrooms and more. We’ve carried over these relationships, and now most of the farmers in the area know that we’re interested in their homegrown products. What kind of experience are you hoping to create for your customers?
The pizza
The chefs
Jeremy: We want Whistle Punk to become the local pizza joint — a place where people can hang out, listen to old records and watch Neapolitan pizza being made right from their seats. What’s most unique pizza you’ve created?
Schedule Dining Sights | Sounds | Scene
Catching Up with Jeremy and Jamie Paquin of
Whistle Punk Pizza “A
place that celebrates the art and craft of producing a high-quality pizza.” This is the vision for Whistle Punk Pizza, a new restaurant in downtown Muskegon with a name inspired by the town’s lumbering history (“whistle punk” is what the newest member of a logging camp was called.) After operating out of a mobile oven at the Muskegon Farmers Market and popping up at local festivals over the summer, Whistle Punk opened a permanent location at 1133 Third St. last November. Revue caught up with two of the restaurant’s four partners, Jeremy and Jamie Paquin—also owners of Mia & Grace, to discuss these pizza lovers’ latest foodie venture.
54 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Jeremy: It’s called the Yellow Belly — a combination of fresh Michigan corn, jalapenos, cream and spices. The only unfortunate part is that we won’t be able to offer it again until next summer. Can you recommend a good drink pairing for a couple of your pizzas? Jamie: We don’t serve alcohol at Whistle Punk, but we do offer local sodas. Our Jam Cracker — a combination of house-cured ham, roasted garlic, crème fraiche and orange rhubarb jam — pairs well with a classic orange Faygo. What’s on the horizon? Jeremy: The mobile unit will be at Muskegon Farmers Market starting again in the spring or when the weather will permit. We’re definitely thinking of other markets along the lakeshore, but we want to take things nice and slow. The menu will always be pizza only. We would love everyone to enjoy Whistle Punk as much as we do, for it to be a showcase of what great pizza can be when it’s made with the best local ingredients and a great dough as a canvas. n
S:9.25”
a juicy steak dinner can turn a
S:10”
private
party get-together into a
you’ll never forget.
Grand Rapids | 616.776.6426 | Inside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel | ruthschris.com
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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Dining Rockwell-Republic 45 S. Division Ave. 616-551-3563 ECLECTIC. Menu offerings range from sushi to burgers and everything in between. The cocktail menu runs the gamut from classics like the Manhattan to more modern variations and the beer and wine menus are nothing to sneeze at either. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Specialty cocktails, broad menu, lively atmosphere.
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Ruth’s Chris Steak House 187 Monroe Avenue NW. 616-776-6426 STEAKHOUSE. Serving only the best steaks, Ruth’s Chris hand-selects its steaks from the top 2% of the country’s beef, which is then broiled to perfection at 1800 degrees. Enjoy the freshest seafood, classic sides and homemade desserts that satisfy any craving. SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: Closed Sundays. GO THERE FOR: Steak.
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San Chez a Tapas Bistro 38 West Fulton St. 616-774-8272 ECLECTIC. Using available local products, San Chez a Tapas Bistro is a social setting where people can remember the one rule of kindergarten: sharing. Featuring small, delicious dishes, San Chez a Tapas Bistro can satiate your desire for variety. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 Days. GO THERE FOR: Tapas.
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San Chez Cafe 38 West Fulton St. 616-774-8272 ECLECTIC. This comfy venue allows customers to “walk on sunshine” with its windowed-out structure. A hidden secret for breakfast in downtown Grand Rapids, San Chez Cafe promises a great start to any day. SERVING: Breakfast Lunch OPEN ON: Open 7 Days. GO THERE FOR: Sandwiches.
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The Score 5301 Northland Dr. NE. 616-301-0600 SPORTS BAR. The Score is the perfect combination for beer and sports lovers. More than 70 TVs carry all major sports packages and there are 128 beers on tap. During the summer months, enjoy live entertainment seven days a week, outdoor dining (complete with real palm trees) and volleyball tournaments. The menu ranges from burgers to pizzas and wings tossed in one of The Score’s 16 sauces. SERVING: Lunch Dinner .OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Lots of beer options.
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Six.One.Six. 235 Louis St. NW. 616-242-1448 ECLECTIC. Marketinspired menus, sweeping views and progressive rhythms combine to create a memorable dining experience. The dishes tempt taste buds and is the perfect spot for foodies. SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 Days GO THERE FOR: Variety and being seen.
Schedule Dining Sights | Sounds | Scene
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Speak EZ Lounge 600 Monroe Ave. NW. 616-458-3125 ECLECTIC. While this lounge may be modeled after the year 1933, its food is not. There’s a variety of food for all to enjoy whether you’re omnivore, vegan or gluten free. Come in for a bite of Rustic Sage Risotto that goes perfectly with one of the lounges signature drinks. SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: The diverse menu
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Stella’s Lounge 53 Commerce Ave. 616-356-2700 TAVERN. The Chicago-style whiskey bar has more than 200 varieties of distilled spirits, old-school video games, a superexcellent jukebox stocked with rock and punk classics, and a menu filled with vegetarian and vegan bar food — and stuffed burgers. Did we mention you can sip cans of PBR and other classic beers out of a mason jar? SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Vegetarian and vegan bar food.
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Beer Briefs
Terra GR 1429 Lake Dr. 616-301-0998 AMERICAN. Terra boasts fresh, healthy ingredients in all of its menu items. The restaurant doesn’t feature one menu, either. It offers a Saturday and Sunday brunch menu, as well as menus for lunch, dinner, dessert, beverages, wine, happy hour and kids. The food is inspired by the seasons and ingredients come straight from one of Michigan’s many farms. SERVING: Brunch Lunch Dinner. OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Fresh foods with ingredients from regional growers.
Founders KBS Week In case you weren’t among the lucky ones to score tickets to pick up Founders’ KBS in mid-March, don’t fret. The brewery has a whole week full of events in West Michigan from March 9-14 to celebrate the release of this year’s batch of the bourbonbarrel-aged stout. Look for special tappings of KBS all week at bars throughout the region. See kbsweek.com for the details.
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Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill 760 Butterworth St. SW. 616-272-3910 AMERICANA. You might walk into Tip Top for the cheap happy hour specials or one of the many rockabilly acts. But get comfortable with one of the venue’s signature menu items. Get classic with a sandwich or burger, but we recommend immersing yourself fully in GR’s west side and ordering Tip Top’s Polish Plate. SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Dinner, drinks and a show.
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The Winchester 648 Wealthy St. SE. 616-451-4969 ECLECTIC. Upscale Wealthy Street bar and restaurant feels like it was plucked from Chicago’s Bucktown or Logan Square neighborhoods. A comfortable spot to drink or dine, with an always evolving menu featuring shared plates, salads and inventive sandwiches. The Cuban Reuben, originally created as something of a joke, remains a (very tasty) staple item. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: DIY Bloody Mary Bar Special, Yucca Fries.
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Wolfgang’s Restaurant 1530 Wealthy St. SE. 616-454-5776 BREAKFAST. The bustling Eastown breakfast spot is home to some of the heartiest breakfast dishes and funniest menu descriptions. Courteous staff never fails to offer a cup of coffee to go after we’ve finished breakfast. SERVING: Breakfast Lunch OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Breakfast all day.
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Lakeshore 8th Street Grille 20 W. 8th St., Holland. 616-392-5888 AMERICAN. This eclectic grille offers a mix of draft and bottled craft beers and a variety of pub classics and new, American beer-inspired dishes. Happy hour includes half-off appetizers and $1 off drafts. SERVING: Lunch, Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: 28 taps of craft beer.
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Bil-Mar Restaurant 1223 S. Harbor St., Holland. 616-842-5920 AMERICAN. A destination restaurant for locals and tourists for more than 60 years. Dazzling sunsets and an all-American menu featuring fresh seafood and hand-cut steaks. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Lake perch, lobster strudel, prime rib.
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CityVu Bistro 61 E 7th Street, Holland. 616-796-2114 AMERICAN. A distinctive rooftop dining experience in downtown Holland with fresh gourmet flatbreads and an array of seasonal entrees are in. The contemporary-yet-casual atmosphere, full bar and unique menus make it the ideal spot for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: flatbreads
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Beer for a cause Grand Rapids-based Mitten Brewing Co. raised more than $30,000 for area nonprofits in 2014. The craft brewery holds monthly events that raise funds for partner organizations, which have included Paws With A Cause, Autism Support of Kent County, Habitat for Humanity, Make-A-Wish and Crash’s Landing, among others. Since it opened in 2012, Mitten has raised more than $60,000 for local nonprofits.
Everyday People Cafe 11 Center St., Douglas. 269-857-4240 AMERICAN. REVUE Publisher Brian Edwards calls Everyday People Café his favorite restaurant along the lakeshore. The atmosphere is casual and upbeat, the staff knows its stuff about wine and food, and the seasonal menu is filled with meticulously prepared, eclectic comfort food like Butternut Squash Risotto, Braised Lamb Shank and Ahi Tuna. A great wine list and tremendous desserts. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Gorgonzola Pork Chop, Greek Salad with Grandma Gigi’s Dressing (Edwards).
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Fricano’s Pizza Tavern 1400 Fulton Ave., Grand Haven. 616-842-8640 ITALIAN. Claims to be the first pizzeria in Michigan, but customers care less about its longevity than the amazingly crispy thin crust and simple ingredients atop its much-lauded pies. Four other locations around West MI, including Comstock Park, Muskegon, Holland and Kalamazoo. SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Pizza.
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Hops at 84 East 84 East 8th St., Holland. 616-396-8484 TAVERN. Hops at 84 East features a beautiful taproom sporting reclaimed wood and copper. With 60 beer taps, two English beer machines, and eight wine taps, and an extensive spirits portfolio, Hops has a special beverage for everyone. The full food menu includes brick-oven pizza, burgers and sandwiches, chicken wings and a rotating special of the day. There are also gluten-free options, including their famous pizza. Several large-screen TVs adorn the restaurant if you’re in the mood to watch the big game. SERVING: Lunch, Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days GO THERE FOR: Craft beer and brick-oven pizza.
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Kirby House 2 Washington, Grand Haven. 616-846-3299 AMERICAN. The Grill Room doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is — a chop house and grill. Atmosphere is warm with Tuscan tones, atmospheric lighting, classically cool music and leather booths. The menu focuses on steaks and chops and makes no apologies. The steaks are prime USDA choice, the seafood selection immaculate, and the wine and beverage list is top shelf. Relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Nightlife.
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Mia & Grace 1133 3rd St., Muskegon. 231-725-9500 AMERICAN. Calls itself a bakery and bistro, but that’s too limiting to describe the creativity of Mia & Grace’s menu. The farm-to-table eatery in downtown Muskegon is casual and comfortable and serves lots of one-of-a-kind items like the Pork Belly Reuben or the Duck PB&J (duck confit, carmelized onions, cashew-peanut butter, green pepper jelly, anadama bread). SERVING: Breakfast Lunch OPEN ON: Closed on Sunday. GO THERE FOR: Salads, Soups, Creme Brulee.
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New Holland Brewing Company 66 E. 8th St., Holland. 616-355-6422 BREWPUB. One of West MI’s premier microbreweries serves up better than average pub grub, including the Tarheel barbecue Pulled Pork, Grilled Portobello and The Treehugger, which is billed as “a vegetarian sandwich utopia.” SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Mad Hatter IPA, Dragon’s Milk.
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Phil’s Bar & Grille 215 Butler St., Saugatuck. 269-857-1555 AMERICAN. This cozy (some would say “small”) bar and grille in downtown Saugatuck is one of those unassuming spots you might easily overlook, though locals in Saugatuck will tell you about their love affair with Phil’s. Eclectic menu is all over the place, but in a good way, and the staff is super-friendly. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Portabella Mushroom Fries.
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Piper Restaurant 2225 South Shore Drive, Holland. 616-335-5866 AMERICAN. Upscale-but-casual spot located on Lake Macatawa, offering great views from virtually every table. Menu includes tastefully prepared items like Almond Crusted Walleye and Grilled Pork Loin, as well as wood-fired pizzas. Reservations are welcomed. SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Almond Crusted Walleye.
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Salt of the Earth 114 East Main St., Fennville. 269-561-7258 AMERICAN. Salt of the Earth is a farm-to-table-inspired restaurant, bar, and bakery located in the heart of SW Michigan farm country in Fennville. Focuses on fresh, seasonal, and local ingredients whenever possible. Also serves up live music on weekends.
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SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: House made rustic cuisine. Saugatuck Brewing Company 2948 Blue Star Highway. 269-857-7222 BREWPUB. Enjoy a traditional Irish-style pub that features quality beer, wine, food and service. Try one of 12 unique brews that are served in the pub and bottled and distributed throughout the Midwest. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Beer in a family friendly pub environment.
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Vitale’s of Zeeland 59 W. Washington St. (616) 772-5900 ITALIAN. This family owned restaurant specializes in Italian dining, but also has a full menu including Mexican and American specialties. Family friendly atmosphere with newly remodeled dining, and an expanded sports bar with big screen TVs. Happy hour specials, live music every Saturday and has been voted Best Pizza seven years in a row by the Grand Rapids Press. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Pizza.
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ers, pizzas, steaks and some eclectic items like quail. Try the FSG chips, a combination of potato, beet and sweet potato chips. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Blue Burger, Almond Crusted Walleye, FSG Chips.
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Open for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner: 7 days a week.
Food Dance 401 E. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo. 269-382-1888 AMERICAN. Food Dance is committed to building a thriving and sustainable local food system, supporting artisans who practice craft food processes. It’s about the connection with people and places the food comes from. Offering breakfast, lunch and dinner, private dining space, catering and delivery, while an on-site market offers humanely raised meats, artisan cheeses, fresh bread and pastries. SERVING: Breakfast Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Fresh Local Foods.
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Note Worthy Dining.
Old Burdicks Bar & Grill 100 W. Michigan Ave. (269) 226-3192 AMERICAN. Old Burdick’s Bar & Grill features tasty sandwiches, burgers, salads and entrees, as well as a great selection of cocktails, wines and beers. SERVING: Lunch Dinner. OPEN: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: The Old Burdick Burger.
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Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Arcadia Brewing Co. 103 Michigan Ave., Battle Creek. 269-963-9520 BREWPUB. You’ll find some of the usual suspects on the Battle Creek brewpub’s menu, including wood-fired pizzas and some of the best barbecue in the region. But you’ll also find some delightful surprises — Osso Bucco in a brewpub?! — on the menu, courtesy of award-winning Chef Sean Kelly. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Handcrafted ales and barbecue.
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Bell’s Eccentric Cafe 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave. 269-382-2332 BREWPUB. Eccentric Café’s regular menu of appetizers, sandwiches, sides and salads — plus the daily soups and specials — exists for a simple and important purpose: to complement the Kalamazoo microbrewery’s award-winning beers. Eat up while you drink up. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: The Beer.
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Bravo! 5402 Portage Rd., Kalamazoo 269-344-7700 ITALIAN. Much-lauded restaurant has earned its stripes over 23 years as one of the region’s best dining experiences, including a 3-star rating in the 2010 Forbes Travel Guide. The Tuscaninspired cuisine is spectacular, the atmosphere comfortable and intimate, and the service first-rate. Also brews its own beer in small batches for pairings with menu offerings. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. (Closed Sat. lunch) GO THERE FOR: A great dining experience.
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Fieldstone Grille 3970 W. Centre St., Portage. 269-321-8480 AMERICAN. Lodge-retreat atmosphere overlooking the Moors Golf Club natural wetlands. The “field-to-plate” menu features burg-
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Downtown Grand Rapids Inside Holiday Inn 310 Pearl St. NW (616) 235-1342 pearlstreetgrill.com
Olde Peninsula 200 E. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo 269-343-2739 BREWPUB. Downtown brewpub serves up the expected (e.g., steaks, ribs), the authentic (e.g., London Broil) and some pleasant surprises (e.g., extensive vegetarian offerings, Italian food). Offers a range of beers brewed on the premises and served on tap, plus a full bar. Check out the seasonal porters on tap right now, including the Vanilla Porter (5.5% ABV) and Stout Chocula (5.25% ABV). SERVING: Dinner OPEN ON: 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Beer-B-Que Ribs, London Broil.
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Martell’s 3501 Greenleaf Blvd., Kalamazoo. 269-375-2105 AMERICAN. Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood that overlooks Willow Lake, Martell’s offers casual ambiance and an expansive menu with steaks, prime rib and other comfort food entrées like Italian style meatloaf and pork shank. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days (Sundays-dinner only) GO THERE FOR: Quiet casual ambiance.
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Union Cabaret & Grille 125 S. Burdick St., Kalamazoo. 269-384-6756 AMERICAN. A partnership with Western Michigan University, Union features eclectic food and cocktails, plus live jazz music performed by WMU faculty and students. SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Closed Sunday. GO THERE FOR: Portabella Fries, Bloody Maries with infused vodkas. n
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To submit or to correct information in a dining listing, e-mail editor@ revuewm.com.
Only $139 per night + $20 dining gift card Fridays and Saturdays from now until April 18th Offer only applicable at CityFlatsHotel - Holland Some blackout dates apply—visit cityflatshotel.com for more info!
61 East 7th Street / Downtown Holland / 616.796.2100 / cityflatshotel.com
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights Dining Schedule
Central City Taphouse 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall. (269) 492-0100 TAPHOUSE. If Central City doesn’t have the kind of beer you want on tap, you’ll probably find it with the 75+ bottles. OH, you say you’re not a beer drinker? Well, Central City offers 20 wine ‘taps’ and a full bar. If you’re not the drinking type, that’s cool too. There are a number of food options to pick from, including a raw menu, a pizza menu and the allday menu, which features burgers, soups and entrees. » SERVING: Lunch Dinner OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: Diverse beverage selection.
Old Dog Tavern 402 East Kalamazoo Avenue, Kalamazoo. 269-381-5677 AMERICAN. The food at Old Dog Tavern is just about as eclectic as the live entertainment the establishment offers all week long. Of course, there are the trusted and true burgers and pizzas, but Old Dog also offers U.P.-approved pastys, an open face sandwich, curried pumpkin hummus and a brownie sundae inspired by Atwater Brewing’s Vanilla Java Porter. The menu has so much on it that it might even bring some harmony between picky and adventurous eaters. SERVING: Brunch Lunch Dinner. OPEN ON: Open 7 days. GO THERE FOR: The eclectic menu options.
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The Schedule Get Scheduled! E-mail your info to schedule@revuewm.com or add your events into our calendar at revuewm.com.
sunday
3.01
monday
3.02
Billy’s Lounge BassBin Center Art Gallery Calvin College Between the Shadow and the Light DeVos Performance Hall Hope College Musical Showcase Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga
tuesday
3.03
Ambrosia Theater (BellyDance GR) Tuesday Night Conga Class Billy’s Lounge Open Mic Night Center Art Gallery Calvin College Between the Shadow and the Light Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates
The Intersection Suicide Silence, Emmure, Within The Ruins KIA How to Return, Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kent District Library: Krause Memorial Branch KDL Caffeinated: Coffee Brewing and Tasting LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition The Music Factory Know Lyfe Dead Label Frizzle Fried Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Tom Duffield, Open Mic with Branden Mann Shakespeare’s Lower Level Country Line Dancing Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Temperance Movement UICA Portraits by James Lacroix, Appropriate Behavior, Metalhead (Malmhaus) The Union Alex Mays Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile Movie: Fargo
3.04
Billy’s Lounge Paint Nite, Campus Karaoke Center Art Gallery Calvin College Between the Shadow and the Light Foundry Hall Song Swap Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga Gipper’s Bar & Restaraunt Party Sing Along With Bimini Lite GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. Steve Hilger Band KIA How to Return?, Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kellogg Arena Shrine Circus LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Red Rooster Tavern Oat Bran Boys SpeakEZ Lounge Local Spins Live: Dan Rickabus Nicholas James Thomasma UICA Portraits by James Lacroix, Appropriate Behavior, Metalhead (Malmhaus), Ape The Union Jazz Mix Night Wealthy Theatre Simply Born presents Microbirth
thursday
3.05
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Everyone & Their Empty Cups, Mold, The Shortlife Billy’s Lounge 90s Holla Back Center Art Gallery Calvin College Between the Shadow and the Light Czar’s 505 Dom Pare & Jeff Arcuri DeVos Place West Michigan Home & Garden Show Dr. Grins Clean Comedy Showcase Founders Brewing Co. Nora Jane Struthers, The Party Line Frauenthal Theatre Muskegon Civic Theatre presents Other Desert Cities Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Library Reading the Great Lakes GR Public Museum Real Pirates Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington Hope College Visiting Writer Series Q&A with E.J. Levy and Joe Wilkins The Intersection North Mississippi Allstars & Anders Osborne present N.M.O. KIA How to Return?, Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kent District Library: Kentwood (Richard L. Root) branch ‘Creating a Scene’ Writers Workshop Knickerbocker Theatre Dance 41
Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern The All American Funk Parade One Trick Pony Gabrial James Red Wall Gallery The Evolving System Group Portfolio and Recent Printmaking Work by Bill Hosterman Rockford Brewing Company B-Side Growlers Shakespeare’s Lower Level Comedy Open Mic UICA Portraits by James Lacroix, Appropriate Behavior, Metalhead (Malmhaus), Rushmore
friday
3.06
Amway Hotel LaughFest Yellow Up Party Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Buckwheat Zydeco, Joshua Davis Trio Billy’s Lounge The Macpodz Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends Center Art Gallery Calvin College Between the Shadow and the Light Czar’s 505 Gizzae DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony Presents ‘Brass and Variations’
Best Bet: Folk Over the years, the mid-sized town of
Drive-By Truckers Athens, Georgia has produced an inordinate Kalamazoo State Theatre amount of stupidly talented musicians. You know, March 19, 8 p.m., $35, bands you may have heard of, like R.E.M. and $27.50 the B-52s. On the twangy end of the spectrum, kazoostate.com, (269) Drive-By Truckers have been carrying on this 345-6500 torch of Athenian pride by keeping the airwaves saturated in tunes that are more ear candy than plain old alt-country. After releasing a round dozen (though not yet baker’s) albums, the DBT crew is continuing to do their hometown proud by keeping career momentum at an all-time high. Despite undergoing numerous lineup changes, and all the turmoil involved therein, the band’s latest effort, 2014’s English Oceans, is as solid a slice of southern-fried rock as the Truckers have ever put forth. It’s a good thing there’s still air in these long-traveled Truck tires — nobody wants to do a drive-by on balding big-rigs. But we won’t have to worry about that any time soon. Reported by Emma Kat Richardson
Drive-by Truckers REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights | Dining Schedule
Billy’s Lounge West Michigan Blues Society 25th Anniversary Party, Revival Founders Brewing Co. Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra Frauenthal Theatre Muskegon Civic Theatre presents Other Desert Cities Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM GRAM Sunday Classical Concert Series, Edward Burtynsky: Water GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates The Intersection JJ Grey and Mofro KIA How to Return, Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II The Livery Andrew Fisher Miller Auditorium Ivy + Bean, The Musical Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Double Strung, 7th Son Blues Jam The Orbit Room Wailers and Rusted Root Rosa Parks Circle Broomball SpeakEZ Lounge Randissimo’s Sunday Jazz Jam UICA Portraits by James Lacroix, Appropriate Behavior, Metalhead (Malmhaus) Van Andel Arena Disney On Ice: Passport To Adventure
GR Public Library Meet Rita Williams-Garcia GR Public Museum Real Pirates Knickerbocker Theatre One Night Only Series: The Barkleys of Broadway O’Toole’s Open Mic Night Stella’s Lounge The Drunken Retort
wednesday
59
Schedule DeVos Place West Michigan Home & Garden Show Dog Story Theatre Human Amusements Dr. Grins Clean Comedy Showcase Foundry Hall Tunebugs Frauenthal Theatre Muskegon Civic Theatre presents Other Desert Cities Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific
GR Public Museum Real Pirates H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. Funkle Jesse Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Lil Scrappy, DJ Buscat Keystone Church Late Night StandUp Showcase, Amateur Stand-Up Showcase Kzoo Civic Theatre Kalamazoo Civic Theatre presents Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Kzoo State Theatre Tab Benoit wsg Samantha Fish, Mike Vito, Out of Favor Boys Knickerbocker Theatre Dance 41 Ladies Literary Club Pop Scholars The Livery Nora Jane Struthers The Party Line LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition McFadden’s Iliza Shlesinger Mulligan’s Pub Id of Christ, Ape Not Kill, Black Fruit The Music Factory Spence
Best Bet: Sludge Rock
Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Out of Favor Boys The Pyramid Scheme Laughfest: Nick Thune & Brody Stevens River City Saloon In The Red Rockford Brewing Company The Moonrays Soaring Eagle Casino The Price Is Right Live Show Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Sarah Jean Anderson presents Bad Apple UICA Bring Your Own Beamer 02, Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix The Union Marci Linn Band Van Andel Arena Monster Jam
saturday
3.07
Torche
Schedule Dining | Sights | Sounds | Scene
Miami-based sludge rock giants Torche have made a career of mixing the badass with the, er, bizarre. The band’s 2012 album, Harmonicraft, features candy-chomping, rainbow-puking mystical goat dragons fighting amidst the clouds on the cover. Giant-tongued inflatable aliens and demonic stuffed animals run amok in their music videos. Hell, they even threw an extra “e” onto the end of their band name because they do what they want. And they know exactly what they want to do: rock heavy, rock hard and never stop. Listening to their records, one gets a small sense of what it would be like if the Foo Fighters got hopped up on steroids and adrenaline, ditched all of their ballads, cranked the volume to 11 and kept going full throttle till they puked.
60 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Needless to say, their music is catchy, fun and most of all, heavy. We’re talking the kind of music that puts a fire in your stomach and hair on your chest. Any naysayers who doubt the superhuman machismo of the band have only to check out their newest album, Restarter, which was released just last month and is chock full of blissful metal madness. Best of all, to support the release of Restarter, Torche has left their snowbird and spring breaker-addled home of Miami, Florida to embark on a monthlong tour which will bring them to The Pyramid Scheme on March 18. Reported by Josh Spanninga Torche wsg Nothing, Wrong The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids March 18, 8 p.m., $17 pyramidschemebar.com, (616) 272-3758
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Fonn Mor Billy’s Lounge Battle of the Bands, The Everything Show Vol. 2 Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends Center Art Gallery Calvin College Between the Shadow and the Light Czar’s 505 Kris Hitchcock Small Town Son DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony Presents Brass and Variations DeVos Place West Michigan Home & Garden Show; Bids for Bachelors and Bachelorettes Dr. Grins Clean Comedy Showcase Firekeepers Casino Collective Soul First Baptist Church The Ventriloquist Curse Founders Brewing Co. The Carboys, Big Dudee Roo, The Fever Haze Fountain Street Church Billy Gardell Frauenthal Theatre Muskegon Civic Theatre presents Other Desert Cities Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga, Butterfly Ballet: Who Am I? GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion Grand Volute Costaki Economopoulos GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. Raggedy Ann Holland Civic Theatre Amateur Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Manic Focus, Artifakts, Stay At Home Dabs; Heavyweight Championship
KIA How to Return?, Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Knickerbocker Theatre Dance 41 Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Ladies Literary Club River City Improv LowellArts! LowellArts! EXHIBIT: West Michigan Regional Competition McFadden’s Iliza Shlesinger Mulligan’s Dirt Chili, Kill All Control The Music Factory Edge From Falling, I Among Giants Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Benjamin and Analisa, Duffield Caron Project, St. Patrick’s Preview Party wsg An Dro and The Waxies One Trick Pony Troll for Trout Papa Pete’s NuSkin, Flops Ego The Pyramid Scheme Laughfest: Nick Thune & Brody Stevens; LaughFest’s Best River City Saloon In The Red Saugatuck Brewing Co. The Inaugural Barrel Aged Bootleg Bash, Sam VanWagoner Seven Steps Up Ken Yates & Brian Dunne Shakespeare’s Lower Level The Life and Times, Honey Pot, Trace of Lime Soaring Eagle Casino The Price Is Right Live Show Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Hangdog Hearts, James Hunnicutt, Mason Damn Tinsley, Brother Doug UICA Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix Unruly Brewing Company Afro Zuma, King Crabapple Van Andel Arena Monster Jam Wealthy Theatre Laughfest presents Cristela Alonzo, Mrs. Doubtfire, Patch Adams
sunday
3.08
The B.O.B LaughFest Celebrity Lip Synch Billy’s Lounge Revival Calvin College Chapel Expressions: Poetry Jam Compass College of Cinematic Arts College Improv Showcase DeVos Place West Michigan Home & Garden Show Dog Story Theatre Warm Cheese Downtown Grand Rapids Funderwear Run Dr. Grins Amateur Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up
First Congregational Church of Lowell PJ Walsh Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga, Wabi-Cha (Tea) and Transformation of Shigaraki Ware GRAM GRAM Sunday Classical Concert Series GRCC Ford Fieldhouse People and Pets GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates KIA How to Return?, Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof The Livery Mister F Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Old Time Jam, Gator Boys Blues Band Perrin Brewing Company Blackout Diaries Riverfront Hotel Sunday Night Funnies Shakespeare’s Lower Level KVBA Blues Fundraiser, Kathleen and the Bridge Street Band, The Marci Lind Band SpeakEZ Lounge Randissimo’s Sunday Jazz Jam UICA Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix Van Andel Arena Monster Jam
monday
3.09
Billy’s Lounge BassBin Compass College of Cinematic Arts Sketch/Improv Showcase DeVos Performance Hall Wanda Sykes Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GR Public Museum Real Pirates H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. Brena Knickerbocker Theatre One Night Only Series: The Quiet Man O’Toole’s Open Mic Night The Pyramid Scheme Amateur Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Anne McCue
tuesday
3.10
Ambrosia Theater (BellyDance GR) Tuesday Night Conga Class Billy’s Lounge Open Mic Night
Miranda Lambert
DeVos Place Signature Event – Breuer, Madigan, Sinbad & Willman Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates: The Intersection Lights, X Ambassadors KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Tom Duffield, Open Mic Night with Branden Mann Shakespeare’s Lower Level Country Line Dancing SpeakEZ Lounge Martini Moth Night Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Leon Virgil Bowers, Dave Vacant, The Dead End Band UICA Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou The Union That Freak Quincy Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile Movies: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
wednesday
3.11
thursday
3.12
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Big Dudee Roo, Ben Daniels Band Billy’s Lounge 90s Holla Back Cook-DeWitt Center Samuel Park Dog Story Theatre Thunderstood/ Best Friends Dr. Grins Laugh Riot Dolls, Homegrown Show Founders Brewing Co. The Ragbirds Fountain Street Church Jim Jefferies Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Library A Polish Doctor in the Nazi Camps GR Public Museum Real Pirates Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington, Museum After Dark presents Epic Humor Fails: Past and Present Holland Park Theatre Epic Humor Fails: Past and Present Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kent District Library: Byron Township Branch Storm Chasing: A Visual History LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition McFadden’s College Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up Showcase Mulligan’s Pub Darn Wishes, Grave Hounds, Mavericks and Monarchs Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, Brown Bag Film: Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Thunderwude One Trick Pony The Weatherheads The Orbit Room LaughFest 2015 presents Big Jay Oakerson, Ben Roy
The Pyramid Scheme Amateur Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up Rockford Brewing Company Abigail Stauffer and Dave Haughey St. Cecilia Music Center Rene Marie Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill 24th Street Wailers, The Carl Webb Band UICA Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix Wealthy Theatre WYCE Live At Wealthy Theatre presents Todd Snider
friday
3.13
The B.O.B National Stand-Up Showcase Bell’s Eccentric Cafe The Soil & The Sun, Flint Eastwood Billy’s Lounge Otis Blueswell Jr. Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends Compass College of Cinematic Arts LOL Short Film Fest, Improv at the Movies with special guests Lethal Action Force Crescendo Academy of Music Crescendo Fiddlers: Fiddle Club Czar’s 505 I Am Band Slim Gypsy Baggage DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony Presents ‘The Best of Broadway’ DeVos Place West Michigan Women’s Expo Dog Story Theatre Rapid Delivery Improv Farmers Alley Theatre Goodnight Moon The Fish House Matt Gabriel Foundry Hall Tunebugs Fountain Street Church Patton Oswalt Frauenthal Theatre Beethoven and Blue Jeans Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga Fricano Event Center Michigan Irish Music Festival St. Patrick’s Day Party GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters Smuggling Humor into the Poetry Reading H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. JGJ Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington
Best Bet: Country We can’t be entirely sure yet, but it does appear that perhaps Miranda Lambert is trying to be country music’s answer to Kanye. While there may not be any speechinterrupting moments from Ms. L, she certainly has that proud swagger part down pat. After all, this is her Certified Platinum tour; quite naturally, the follow up to the Platinum tour. And her last album was named Platinum, too. Seeing a trend here? In case you’re not picking up on Lambert’s very broad signals, she’s quite successful and would like you to acknowledge that fact. Not without good reason, either. Her pop-
The Intersection Sam Hunt, Native Run Kentwood Community Church A Night of Skittles Keystone Church Amateur StandUp Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Kzoo Valley Museum St. Patrick’s Day with Peat in the Creel & Belfast Gin Ladies Literary Club Pop Scholars The Livery Ernie Hendrickson LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Master Arts Theatre Contents Under Pressure McFadden’s Jerrod Carmichael Mulligan’s Pub Red Legs, The Love Hate, DeSoto The Music Factory Eddie Trunk
crossover appeal seems to have shaken up the CMT world and she’s been picking up awards and rave reviews like a convict collecting roadside condom wrappers. Seriously, country doesn’t often get much of a moment in the spotlight, so it’s hard to blame Lambert for celebrating the hell out of being on top. Right on, sister. We’re gonna let you finish. Reported by Emma Kat Richardson Miranda Lambert Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids March 15, 7:30 p.m., $54.75, $39.75 vanandelarena.com, (616) 742-6600
Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Treading Bleu, Great Black Night Peter Martin Wege Theatre Grand Rapids Ballet presents MOVEMEDIA The Pyramid Scheme Laughfest: Brian Posehn; The Dirty Show River City Saloon LITT Up The Riviera Theatre Whiskey Before Breakfast Rockford Brewing Company An Dro and The Waxies Shakespeare’s Lower Level A Black Tie Rave, SuperDre, Subtractive, DJ Undersound, Hector Cruze Soaring Eagle Casino Murder Mystery Dinner: Totally ‘80s Totally Murder Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill The Twistin’ Tarantulas CD Release Party wsg The Devil Elvis Show
UICA Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix, What We Do in the Shadows Whiskey River Saloon Brena
saturday
3.14
The B.O.B St. Patrick’s Day Celebration; LaughSpin Panel Discussion Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Pete Rock & Slum Village, HANiF, Dezert Eez, Analog Ancestry Billy’s Lounge The Mainstays Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends Compass College of Cinematic Arts Don’t We Boys with Dubalicious The Curragh St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Czar’s 505 The Blue Effect
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights | Dining Schedule
The B.O.B Best of the Midwest Billy’s Lounge Campus Karaoke Fountain Street Church Lavell Crawford Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga Gipper’s Bar & Restaraunt Party Sing Along With Bimini Lite GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Library Humorous Speech Contest GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU – Kirkhof Center Orny Adams The Intersection Turquoise Jeep KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kent District Library - East Grand Rapids Branch Creative Canvas Painting LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition McFadden’s Amateur Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up Muskegon Museum of Art Postcard Salon, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Papa Pete’s Prime Suspects Red Rooster Tavern Oat Bran Boys
Shakespeare’s Lower Level Freight Bandits, Bong Mountain, moonraker, Lateral Moves, The Shortlife SpeakEZ Lounge Local Spins Live: AnDro Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill The Bottle Rockets wsg Ryan Dillaha, The Miracle Men UICA Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix The Union Jazz Mix Night
61
Schedule DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony presents The Best of Broadway DeVos Place West Michigan Women’s Expo Dog Story Theatre Mars Downtown Grand Rapids Irish on Ionia Dr. Grins National Stand-Up Showcase Farmers Alley Theatre Goodnight Moon Founders Brewing Co. KBS Draft Release Party Fountain Street Church Bo Burnham Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga Fricano Event Center Michigan Irish Music Festival St. Patrick’s Day Party
GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion Grand Haven Community Center March Garden Day GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. The Hip Pocket Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington Howmet Playhouse Nessa The Intersection Mega ‘80s Keystone Church Recess Monkey KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Knickerbocker Theatre Ryan Hamilton Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Kzoo State Theatre The Rock Show: Ultimate Tribute To Journey
Ladies Literary Club River City Improv The Livery Alligator Blackbird LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Master Arts Theatre Contents Under Pressure Miller Auditorium PFX The Pink Floyd Experience Mulligan’s Pub Digi Damn for the Masses Muskegon Museum of Art Super Brick Art Saturday, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Benjamin and Analisa, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Duffield Caron Project, Mushmen, Matt Wixson’s Flying Circus, Run and Punch One Trick Pony St. Patrick’s Day Party with Moriath
Best Bet: Rock
sunday
3.15
Schedule Dining | Sights | Sounds | Scene
Heart
What?! Did you read this lineup? What ISSSSS this madness? Heart AND Joan Jett? How are we even going to be able to stop our (black)hearts from exploding before this unbelievably amazing thing comes to pass? I know guys, I know. Take a deep breath, because we’re going to need to muster all of our energy to keep up with these phenomenal femmes. As revolutionary movers and shakers, each in her own right, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson have sometimes been described as the “American Led Zeppelin,” and this description has nothing to do with anyone choking to death on their own vomit (RIP Mr. Bonham). Frankly, these chicks just freakin’ rock, and have been doing so for longer than the collective lifespans of many Zep-heads. Ditto Joan Jett, Heart wsg Joan Jett and the whose icon-status was guaranteed from the moBlackhearts ment that first “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” downbeat struck. Friends, do we even need to spend any further time trying to convince you, here? Didn’t think so. Reported by Emma Kat Richardson
62 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Peter Martin Wege Theatre Grand Rapids Ballet presents MOVEMEDIA The Pyramid Scheme Laughfest: Brian Posehn, LaughFest’s Best River City Saloon LITT Up Saugatuck Brewing Co. St. Patrick’s Saturday Schuler Books Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomy Association presents: Astronomy as a Hobby, Steps to Better Enjoyment Shakespeare’s Lower Level The Coop and Egi Soaring Eagle Casino Clint Black with Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill British Racing Green wsg The Love Hate UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix, What We Do in the Shadows Wealthy Theatre Laughfest presents Pete Holmes Whiskey River Saloon Whiplash Alley
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids March 28, 8 p.m., $75, $45, $35, $20 vanandelarena.com, (616) 742-6600
Billy’s Lounge Revival DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony presents The Best of Broadway; George Lopez DeVos Place West Michigan Women’s Expo Dr. Grins Amateur Stand-Up Showcase, Late Night Stand-Up Farmers Alley Theatre Goodnight Moon Fountain Street Church Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM GRAM Sunday Classical Concert Series, Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Kzoo State Theatre Gordon Lightfoot The Livery Soltre Miller Auditorium The Women of Ireland Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Nashon Holloway, Cats in the Hat Peter Martin Wege Theatre Grand Rapids Ballet presents MOVEMEDIA
The Pyramid Scheme Swervedriver, Gateway Drugs Riverfront Hotel Sunday Night Funnies The Riviera Theatre Steel City Rovers SpeakEZ Lounge Randissimo’s Sunday Jazz Jam UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, Buzzard, Portraits by James Lacroix, What We Do in the Shadows Van Andel Arena Miranda Lambert Certified Platinum Tour
monday
3.16
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Square Dance Kalamazoo feat. The Corn Potatos Billy’s Lounge BassBin Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Monday Night Jazz Series: My Thin Place Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GR Public Museum Real Pirates The Intersection Fashawn The Livery Adam Ezra Group O’Toole’s Open Mic Night Stella’s Lounge The Drunken Retort Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill St. Christopher, Uberlube, Dave Vacant, The Dead End Band UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, Buzzard, What We Do in the Shadows
tuesday
3.17
Ambrosia Theater (BellyDance GR) Tuesday Night Conga Class The B.O.B St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Bell’s Eccentric Cafe St. Patrick’s Day wsg Belfast Gin Billy’s Lounge Open Mic Night The Curragh St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Fenian’s Irish Pub Traditional Irish Hooley Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo State Theatre Gregg Allman LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition
The Music Factory 10 Years Otherwise The Glorious Sons Luminoth Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Whiskey Before Breakfast, Open Mic with Branden Mann River City Saloon St. Patty’s Day Celebration feat. Bagpipes and Brena Saugatuck Brewing Co. St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Shakespeare’s Lower Level Country Line Dancing UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, Buzzard, What We Do in the Shadows Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile Movie: In Bruges
wednesday
3.18
Billy’s Lounge Campus Karaoke The Fish House Timbre wsg Sipsi Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga Gipper’s Bar & Restaraunt Party Sing Along With Bimini Lite GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick The Pyramid Scheme Torche, Nothing Wrong Red Rooster Tavern Oat Bran Boys SpeakEZ Lounge Local Spins Live: Brad Fritcher’s Moods UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart The Union Jazz Mix Night
thursday
3.19
Aquinas College Women’s History Month Dramatic Reading of Having Our Say by Ebony Road Players; Writing Women’s History: ‘A Polish Doctor in the Nazi Camps’ Billy’s Lounge Sex Trivia DeVos Performance Hall The Sing-Off Live! Tour Dr. Grins Vince Morris
Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Library Music in the Stacks: Kent County String Band GR Public Museum Real Pirates Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Thriftworks, GeoVybe; The Lacks KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Kzoo State Theatre Drive-By Truckers LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition, Downtown Lowell Gallery Hop Mulligan’s Pub Edge From Falling, Inner Itch, Not for Lease Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Rubiks Cube Algorithm One Trick Pony Kathy Lamar The Pyramid Scheme The Blaq Attaq, Lambo, A.B. Rockford Brewing Company Otis Blueswell Jr. Shakespeare’s Lower Level Comedy Open Mic Spectrum Theatre Actors’ Theatre presents The Light In The Piazza UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, Buzzard, What We Do in the Shadows
friday
3.20
saturday
3.21
The B.O.B Chilly Blues Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Bonehawk wsg Evil Deauxers, Blue Snaggletooth Billy’s Lounge Hip Pocket Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends Czar’s 505 Bass Invaders IV Dr. Grins Vince Morris Farmers Alley Theatre Goodnight Moon Fenn Valley Ethnic Winemakers Dinner First Baptist Church The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga, Butterfly Ballet: Who Am I? GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion Grand Haven Community Center West Michigan Home Brew Competition GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. Global Village Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Here Comes The Mummies KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Kzoo Valley Community College 2015 Fretboard Festival The Livery The Steepwater Band LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Miller Auditorium Blue Man Group Mulligan’s Pub Distorted Waltz, Evergreen Shade, Flex 2.0 Muskegon Museum of Art Exploring LEGO® Boundaries, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Benjamin and Analisa, Nathan Douglas and Blue Star Highway, Duffield Caron Project One Trick Pony Organissimo The Pyramid Scheme The Go Rounds, Chris Bathgate, The Anti Villains River City Saloon Thundering Heart Saugatuck Brewing Co. The Trace Duo Schuler Books Write Michigan Award Ceremony Seven Steps Up Hillary Reynolds Band SpeakEZ Lounge Delilah DeWylde & The Lost Boys Spectrum Theatre Actors’ Theatre presents The Light In The Piazza Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Valentiger, The HandGrenades, Hollywood Makeout, North Atlantic Drift University Theatre WMU Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, What We Do in the Shadows
The
PAUL THORN BAND
MARCH 29, 2015 7:30 p.m. Dale B. Lake Auditorium Doors open at 6:45 p.m.
Tickets: $20 www.kvcc.edu/artistsforum Scene | Sounds | Sights | Dining Schedule
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe The Go Rounds, Chris Bathgate, The Anti Villains Billy’s Lounge Starfarm Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends DeVos Performance Hall The Australian Bee Gees Show Dr. Grins Vince Morris Farmers Alley Theatre Goodnight Moon Firekeepers Casino ZZ Top Foundry Hall Tunebugs Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy
H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. The Rock Show Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Kzoo Valley Community College 2015 Fretboard Festival KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II The Livery The Outer Vibe Wilson’s Reservoir LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Miller Auditorium Blue Man Group Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Brass Rail, Kaitlin Rose and the River Bend The Orbit Room Screaming For Silence wsg Coldville, Fled Five, Deadwood Stone and Broken Like Me Riverbend Bar & Grill Alden Nash Band River City Saloon Vintage Trilogy Rockford Brewing Company Roosevelt Diggs Shakespeare’s Lower Level Ekoostic Hookah, Yosemite, The Freak Quincy Spectrum Theatre Actors’ Theatre presents The Light In The Piazza Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Everything Under The Sun, Fable The Poet University Theatre WMU Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, What We Do in the Shadows The Union Crossroads Wealthy Theatre Goddess Peace Fire
Kalamazoo Valley Artists’ Forum Presents
sunday
3.22
Billy’s Lounge Revival DeVos Performance Hall Third Day
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Schedule Farmers Alley Theatre Goodnight Moon Founders Brewing Co. Jimkata Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM GRAM Sunday Classical Concert Series, Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Civic Theatre South Pacific GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy The Intersection The Acacia Strain KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof LaFontsee Galleries Underground Concert Series: Charlie Kohlhase’s Chicago Explorer’s Club Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Graham Parsons and Mike Savina, Crossroads Blues Band Shakespeare’s Lower Level 4th Annual Oberon Eve Party SpeakEZ Lounge Randissimo’s Sunday Jazz Jam University Theatre WMU Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, What We Do in the Shadows
monday
3.23
Schedule Dining | Sights | Sounds | Scene
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Oberon Release Day Billy’s Lounge BassBin Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga Grand Rapids Public Museum Real Pirates
64 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Knickerbocker Theatre One Night Only Series: The Thin Man O’Toole’s Open Mic Night Old Dog Tavern GLAMA Jam The Pyramid Scheme Watching For Foxes, Bigfoot Buffalo
tuesday
3.24
Ambrosia Theater (BellyDance GR) Tuesday Night Conga Class Bell’s Eccentric Cafe The Road to Delfest: The Travelin’ McCourys Billy Nershi Billy’s Lounge Open Mic Night Foundry Hall Drew Gibson Emily Hurd Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Tom Duffield, Open Mic Night with Branden Mann UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, What We Do in the Shadows Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile Movie: Slap Shot
wednesday
3.25
Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga
Gipper’s Bar & Restaraunt Party Sing Along With Bimini Lite GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates Hope College The Bad Plus KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Red Rooster Tavern Oat Bran Boys UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, What We Do in the Shadows The Union Jazz Mix Night
thursday
3.26
Art Reach of Mid Michigan Painting the Town Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Bennett wsg Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish, Moxieville Billy’s Lounge 90s Holla Back Dr. Grins Johnny Beehner Founders Brewing Co. Sidewalk Chalk Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Eric Paslay Kalamazoo Civic Theatre Stepping Out Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II LaFontsee Galleries Lookie Here
LowellArts! LowellArts! EXHIBIT: West Michigan Regional Competition Mulligan’s Pub His Majesty Corrupt, Divided They Fall, Fire Said the Albatross Muskegon Museum of Art Brown Bag Film: Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Abigail Stauffer Rockford Brewing Company The Weatherheads Spectrum Theatre Actors’ Theatre presents The Light In The Piazza Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Bill Heid Trio UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart, What We Do in the Shadows
friday
3.27
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Jimkata Bobarino’s Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends Czar’s 505 Out of Favor Boys DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony presents Mozart and Tchaikovsky Dr. Grins Johnny Beehner Forest Hills Fine Arts Center The Very Best of Celtic Thunder Foundry Hall Tunebugs Four Winds Casino Frank Caliendo Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B. Denise Brown Connection
Early Warning: Marilyn Manson at The Orbit Room, May 13 Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Donna The Buffalo, Big Dudee Roo, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Knickerbocker Theatre Failure: Lab Kzoo Civic Theatre Stepping Out LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Mulligan’s Pub On the Cinder, Lectralux, Three Cents Short The Music Factory Super Bob Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick The Pyramid Scheme Heavier Than Air Flying Machines, Tyranny Is Tyranny, The Real Lazy Genius River City Saloon Funkle Jesse Spectrum Theatre Actors’ Theatre presents The Light In The Piazza UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart
University Theatre WMU Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web
saturday
3.28
Bell’s Eccentric Cafe House of Boogie Bobarino’s at the B.O.B. Dueling Pianos with Dennie Middleton and Friends DeVos Performance Hall Grand Rapids Symphony presents Mozart and Tchaikovsky Dr. Grins Johnny Beehner Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy
At lAdies literAry club
MArch 7 MArch 14 MArch 21 MArch 28 All shows 7:33 PM rivercityiMProv.coM
Learn more on March 2 or 11 To register for a tutor orientation, call (616) 459-5151 or visit literacycenterwm.org
HOPE COLLEGE GREAT PERFORMANCE SERIES PRESENTS
Holland Museum A Hundred Flowers: Phillip A. Harrington The Intersection Circa Survive, Balance and Composure KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Kzoo Civic Theatre Stepping Out Kzoo State Theatre Kalamazoo Body Building Championship Kent District Library: EngelhardtLowell Branch ‘Stealing Home’ Documentary Screening The Livery Brainchild LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Mangia Mangia Harper & Midwest Kind Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Benjamin and Analisa, Ukelele Strum, Duffield Caron Project, Jared Knox One Trick Pony The Trace Duo Portage District Library The Adventures of Johnny Forrest and Sue Magee in Pirates’ Gold Rivertown Sports Chicago Outfit vs. Grand Raggidy Roller Girls River City Saloon Agent 87 Saugatuck Brewing Co. Big Boss Blues Trio Seven Steps Up Ruth & Max Bloomquist Shakespeare’s Lower Level Crazy 80’s Party with Starfarm Spectrum Theatre Actors’ Theatre presents The Light In The Piazza Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill Cale Tyson, Ryan Dillaha and the Miracle Men UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart University Theatre WMU Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web Van Andel Arena Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Whiskey River Saloon Michatucky
sunday
3.29
Bell’s Yoga in the Backroom Billy’s Lounge Revival DeVos Performance Hall Brit Floyd Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates GVSU Performing Arts Center Restoration Comedy Kzoo Civic Theatre Stepping Out Kzoo Valley Community College Artists’ Forum presents Paul Thorn KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Miller Auditorium Peter and the Starcatcher Muskegon Museum of Art The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Cats in the Hat SpeakEZ Lounge Randissimo’s Sunday Jazz Jam UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart University Theatre WMU Theatre presents Charlotte’s Web
monday
3.30
Billy’s Lounge BassBin Blue Water Gallery GVSU China: The Life of the Civilian DeVos Place Paws, Claws and Corks Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GR Public Museum Real Pirates Knickerbocker Theatre One Night Only Series: Casablanca Muskegon Museum of Art Robotics with LEGO® Bricks
O’Toole’s Open Mic Night Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill The Concussions, Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys
tuesday
3.31
THE BAD PLUS with KNEEBODY
MARCH 25 @ 7:30 PM | KNICKERBOCKER THEATRE ADULTS $18 | SENIORS $13 | CHILDREN $6
Ambrosia Theater (BellyDance GR) Tuesday Night Conga Class Billy’s Lounge Open Mic Night Frederik Meijer Gardens Butterflies are Blooming, Splendors of Shiga GRAM Edward Burtynsky: Water, David Greenwood: Stop Motion GR Public Museum Real Pirates KIA Redefining the Multiple, Second Sight/Insight II Knickerbocker Theatre Canadian Guitar Quartet LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Competition Muskegon Museum of Art Expressions 2015: 33rd Muskegon County Annual Student Art Exhibition, Robotics with LEGO® Bricks, The Illustrations of Amy Young, The Art of the Brick Old Dog Tavern Tom Duffield, Open Mic Night with Branden Mann Schuler Books Local Author Night: Celebrating Local Women Making History! Seven Steps Up Darlingside wsg Tall Height UICA Power Objects: The Future Has A Primitive Heart Wealthy Theatre Meanwhile Movie: Blade II n
For more events and detailed info, check out our calendar at revueWm.com.
hope.edu/gps
For Tickets call 616.395.7890
Made in Germany • Tradition seit 1774
WEBSITE: revuewm.com Facebook: facebook.com/RevueWM Twitter: @RevueWM
99
$
Spring Styles FOOT OUTFITTERS
1411 Robinson Road • 451-4732 Repairs Available
1411 Robinson Road www.footoutfitters.com Grand Rapids, MI (616) 451-4732 Repairs Available
4820154-01
Buy in store or online REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
Scene | Sounds | Sights | Dining Schedule
Find Revue online!
8995 95
$
65
Last Call by Rei Robinson
The Enigma Derby Station, Gaslight Village Speak never, friends and loyal readers (both of you), that I’ve not drank within an establishment dubbed by a designation of hat, lest they be put asunder. The fallacious malalignment could not be further from its proper port of purpose. My penchant for the spirituous potable is rivaled only by my delight of nomenclature doffed from haberdashery. Hear me, young man, for I have gone East, to Gaslight Village’s Derby Station. And found have I the rejoinder to the enigma of my traveller’s weariness. The answer is, enigmatically: The Enigma. No question, the Enigma is bright enough to revive and strong enough to unwind, a balance that could grow wonted enough to put the “addict” back in “enigmaddict.” Its gentle flavor and warm grasp offers a tranquil poolside tipple that puts the “dip” back in “dipsomania.” I believe it was Umberto Eco who wrote, “But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth. Also it is made terrible by this damned hangover. Damn this hangover! Someone get me an omelette or something! Or some haystacks!” But then again, I have been drinking. HARK AS I RECKON AND SHALL YOU DISCOVER THE HEART AND MAKE OF THE ENIGMA. 1 oz. each: -Vodka -Malibu Coconut Rum -Amaretto -Southern Comfort Muddle some fresh mint and add a splash of orange juice, cranberry and grenadine. Shake that mother and pour it into a tulip glass, garnishing with cherries and slices of lemon and lime. Drink with two lips.
66 | REVUEWM.COM | March 2015
Photo: Kelsey Wahowiak
Friday March 13
Saturday March 14
Scary Lucky Party
Party on the “Patty-O”!
P. (616) 451.4300 www.GrandWoodsLounge.com 77 Grandville Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
The Place to Celebrate
Saint Patrick’s Day!
w w w . g r a n d w o o d s l o u
Live Entertainment
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE
Irish Drink Specials
March 6th - STEREO VEGAS March 13th - AVON BOMB March 20th - MIX PACK March 27th - BRENA
DJ's
Happy Hour in the woods
$4 - Woodstinis and Wine $3 - Wells and Drafts Mon – Fri 2pm – 6pm
SATURDAYS
DJ DANIMAL LADIES NIGHT!
REVUEWM.COM | March 2015 |
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SlowRide SESSION IPA
Sit Back and Session in Style.
Padded with citrus aromas and a bevy of hops, this could be the most comfortable ride you can have with a sessionable IPA. Experience life in slow-mo at newbelgium.com
#GoSlowMo
SLOW RIDE SESSION IPA IS BREWED BY NEW BELGIUM BREWING FORT COLLINS, CO