Title says it all! In 2023, my wife and I set a resolution to see one concert or music show per month in 2023. We fudged the rules a bit, and while we didn't actually see one per calendar month, we definitely averaged 12 shows over the course of 2023.
On December 30, 2022, we saw the Mustard Plug holiday show in Grand Rapids at The Intersection. They were led by Big Timmy & The Heavy Chevies, Dance Contraption, and The Koffin Kats. The Koffin Kats are homies - friends of a friend, so it was fun seeing them again. We actually counted this one as our January concert, but I definitely posted about it on the ol' blog here.
February brought us to the Pyramid Scheme, where we saw the homies False Harbor play along Detroit's Remnose and Grand Rapids' own Ten Peso Version. Very psychadelic, very jammy. All of the bands were great!
March we doubled up - saw Flogging Molly at 20 Monroe, then saw Dropkick Murphy's a week later. Flogging Molly was opened up by Skinny Lister and Anti-Flag. I've known Flogging Molly for quite a long time -a good friend in high school turned me on to Celtic Punk in one of our film classes together. Anti-Flag came into my sphere of awareness through a few odd videogames they appeared in. Dropkick Murphy's played after Jesse Ahern solo, and The Rumjacks (who I definitely did not learn of in college through pirating music). Unrelated to the parenthetical, I made a point to buy an album and merch from The Rumjacks.
Since we saw 2 concerts in the span of a week, we counted one of them for April, which opened up May for the Tulip Time concert at Central Wesleyan Church where Harper Grace opened up for Sara Evans. I'm always thrilled hearing a country musician sound exactly like they do on the radio. We doubled up again in May, seeing a second concert (that counted for June) at The Tip Top Deluxe. Daniel Mason and Silver Creek Revival opened for Rachel Brooke, in one heck of a fun little show- I absolutely love what Tip Tip has going on, and plan to support them as long as I can.
Come July, we had to double up yet again. Back at Pyramid Scheme, we saw Potionseller and The Quirk open up for Wheatus. Then, at the Listening Lawn, we saw Valentiger open up for Fastball!
We counted Fastball as our August show, then saw the absolute legends Agent Orange at Tip Top in September (after catching a couple of outdoor jams in Marquette over the Labor Day weekend).
October had us seeing John Sanger (local acoustic guy) at Dunnebeck's Orchards while sipping some tasty brews at their on-site brewery. And, for another example of doubling up, we caught the biggest show of our year by seeing Billy Strings at the Van Andel Arena. Billy Strings is from Michigan - the absolute coolest part was when he stopped between songs, peered over the audience, and grinned "I always wanted to play here!"
Since William Stringspeare counted as November, that allowed us to wrap up our 12 Concerts In 12 Months the same as we started it: December 29, 2023 at the Mustard Plug Holiday Show at The Intersection in Grand Rapids. This was a smoker of a show, holy cow! Saw the homies Dance Contraption again (they're quickly becoming a blog favorite), then J Navarro & The Traitors. If you're into second-wave ska and political punk, give them a gander! Finally, Flatfoot 56 were the last openers before Mustard Plug came on stage. I had seen Flatfoot 56 co-headline with Mustard Plug in the Great Lakes Rooms on campus at Northern Michigan University in 2011, which was a LOT of fun in an intimate venue (basically a conference room). Mustard Plug closed their set with an encore version of Verve Pipe's Freshmen joined onstage by Brian Vanderark, the dude who headed Verve Pipe.
It's been quite an experience - lots of shuffling schedules around, lots of time spent on Instagram and Facebook tracking our favorite acts and favorite venues, and let's not mince words, it was kinda expensive. What I've learned is that certain bands get used to playing certain sized venues - a super small place like Tip Top can be easily overwhelmed by a large rock and roll outfit, same as a larger venue like Pyramid Scheme (not that Pyramid Scheme is HUGE by any means) can swallow a band if they're not used to playing to the far corners of the space.
Some key takeaways from this year?
- It takes a great deal of talent, through clean playing and singing, to sound as good as a recording when you're playing live. But, some bands/singers/musicians live for live playing and can really put on a show.
- It's fun being on the edge of a moshpit. It's a LOT of work actually being in a mosh pit for more than a song or two at a time.
- There's one guy we saw at just about every show in Grand Rapids who bends over at the waist and puts his arm/elbow in front of him to part the crowd in a mosh pit. He's always dressed the same. I always pointed to him and told my wife "Hey, our friend is here!"
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