Out of Favor Boys Album Release Party
18+ Standing Room Only Show | 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Out of Favor Boys Album Release Join us at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe to celebrate the release of Love & Sorrow, the latest recording by Kalamazoo’s own Out of Favor Boys. The album features 11 original compositions that reflect the band’s numerous influences, incorporating rock, soul and blues into a thoughtful collection of songs. OFB will be joined by friends and guest musicians who played on the record to perform the new songs, as well as some classic OFB jams. The horn section and organ highlight the group’s roots in soul and blues, as well as their commitment to keeping people on the dance floor. Since coming together in 2003, Out of Favor Boys has been a blues staple in the region. OFB won the 2017 West Michigan Blues Society Blues Challenge, winning the right to represent WMBS in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2018. They represented the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association in the 2004 IBC. For more than 20 years, the group has played festival stages, smoky bars, music clubs and private shows from Detroit to the West Michigan Lakeshore to Northern Indiana and Chicago. OFB has recorded five studio CDs and one live double-CD. Love & Sorrow was co-produced by OFB and Pete Galanis and primarily recorded at La Luna Studios in Kalamazoo.
Kait Rose & Co Presents: An Intimate Evening Featuring the Music of Joni Mitchell
18+ Seated Performance 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Kait Rose & Co. Presents: An intimate seated show featuring the early works of Joni Mitchell by several well known Michigan musicians, Kait Rose, Charlie Millard and his band mates Jerry Millard and Will Harris, Greg Orr, Audra Kubat, Payton & Annabelle, Patti McNulty and many more special guests. This will surely be an evening to remember.
Headband Henny and PARALLELZ with Special Guests Celeste Allison, & Moravian
18+ Standing Room Only Show | 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Hailing from Grand Rapids’ vibrant music scene, PARALLELZ is an indie rock band with a sound that defies easy categorization. Its music seamlessly weaves funk, soul, R&B, and pop elements into a tapestry of catchy, dynamic indie rock. Fronted by multi-instrumentalist and producer Sean Stynes, the band delivers a potent blend of thoughtful songwriting and infectious energy. PARALLELZ is backed by a powerful rhythm section with Dan Julian on drums and Brad Watson on bass, while Jacob Chapman’s captivating keys, horns, and vocal harmonies always hit right. Recent additions of guitarist Paul Costopulos and vocalist Katana Valle-Sloane have added layers of depth and texture to the band’s sound. Sean Stynes’ electrifying fuzz guitar work and vocals complete the band’s unique sound, creating a sonic experience that’s both familiar and refreshingly new. The band’s 2024 debut record “Strange Mythologies” was mixed in part by renowned LA engineer Matt Biship (The Killers, U2, Taylor Swift) and delves into the universal themes of love and loss, exploring the mythologies that surround these experiences in our culture. The album’s characters grapple with these myths as they navigate pivotal life changes, inviting listeners to reflect on their own beliefs and journeys. Headband Henny is a rising artist from Kalamazoo, Michigan, blending the emotional depth of alternative R&B with the experimental edge of neo-soul and hip hop, drawing inspiration from artists like Frank Ocean, Steve Lacy, and Kevin Abstract. His breakthrough feature on the single “One on One” with Micah Daily-White has amassed over 5 million streams across platforms and sparked viral moments with 3,000 uses on TikTok. Henny’s debut album Purple racked up 400,000 streams and was named one of the top 5 albums of 2023 by Revue Magazine in West Michigan. His raw storytelling and genre-bending sound have earned him a loyal fanbase, and in 2024, him and his live project opened for the All-American Rejects in Dearborn, Michigan. Known for his introspective lyrics and captivating performances, Headband Henny is a unique voice in the modern music landscape, offering a fresh take on love, identity, and self-expression.
KALAMASHOEGAZER 16
18+ Standing Room Only Show | 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian KALAMASHOEGAZER 16, The longest running Shoegaze & Dreampop Festival in the US, in Kalamazoo, MI. 16 years. 2 days, 12 bands, September 5th & 6th! For two-day packaged passes, click here! FRIDAY, 9/5 Doors: 5:30 pm (Show starts 6:00 pm) Origami Phase (Detroit, MI) Cardboard Highway (Kalamazoo, MI) Fern Murphy (Indianapolis, IN) Overly Polite Tornadoes (Kalamazoo, MI) Lightfoils (Chicago, IL) For Saturday Single Day Passes, Click Here!
KALAMASHOEGAZER 16
18+ Standing Room Only Show | 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian KALAMASHOEGAZER 16, The longest running Shoegaze & Dreampop Festival in the US, in Kalamazoo, MI. 16 years. 2 days, 12 bands, September 5th & 6th! For two-day packaged passes, click here! SATURDAY, 9/6 Doors 4:30 pm (Show starts 5:00 pm) Desert Liminal (Chicago, IL) Cigarettes for Breakfast (Philadelphia, PA) Snowcuffs (Chicago, IL) Vida Eterna (Kalamazoo, MI) Brief Candles (Milwaukee, WI) Waves Crashing (Olympia, WA) Seashine (St. Louis, MO) For Friday Single Day Tickets, Click Here!
THE SPITS wsg Human Eye & Archaea
18+ Standing Room Only Show | 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, brothers Sean and Erin Wood formed The Spits with Lance Phelps in 1993 after realizing rock had gone limp, hated partying and just plain wasn’t fun anymore. And even though they didn’t even know how to play, the self-professed deliquents who grew up with New Orleans–style jazz and bluegrass “got cultured” and formed a band dead set on reminding the world how to have a good time. The Spits didn’t fit in with the punks or the garageheads when they landed in Seattle two years later, but carved out their own path with a series of empty open mic nights and parties under a bridge in the University District. Things started snowballing a year or two later with a good word from Mudhoney’s Steve Turner and a reputation for livewire gigs. By the late 90s/early 00s, The Spits were almost as famous for rowdy shows and outrageous costumes as they were for their acid-fried melodic rippers. Releasing five LPs over the next decade-plus, in addition to EPs and 7-inches, the gospel of The Spits spread far and wide, expanding the band’s live legend further and further while giving more fans the chance to hear their uniquely catchy songwriting and punk mayhem. And while several band members have come and gone since their formation, including Wayne Draves and Josh Kramer, The Spits have never lost their edge, never lost their live chops and most importantly, never lost that sense of beer-soaked chaos.
Elephant Revival
2025 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 18 and over event. 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Elephant Revival is a unique collection of multi-instrumentalists blending elements of Celtic, Americana, Folk and Indie Art Rock. The band consists of Bonnie Paine (vocals, cello, djembe, washboard and musical saw), Bridget Law (fiddle, vocals), Dango Rose (upright bass, mandolin, vocals), Charlie Rose (banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, vocals) Darren Garvey (drums, percussion, vocals) and Daniel Sproul (guitars, vocals) of Rose Hill Drive. The music they create together is like weather systems meeting in the sky, Bonnie’s warmly haunting voice either merging with the rhythms and melodies of the band or providing a counterpoint and transforming it.
THE DEAD SOUTH wsg The Sadies
2025 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 18 and over event. 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian The Dead South have never been about constant reinvention, but about full commitment to their own singular way. With confidence in their sound and style and trust in each other, The Dead South arrive at the cusp of explosive global success in an enviable, and well-earned, position: total autonomy. It doesn’t really matter what you call their music – progressive bluegrass, alternative Americana, country, folk and western, what matters is that this is theirs, and people from all different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, languages and ages love it. True blue right through, The Dead South don’t shy away from ruffling traditionalists’ feathers from time to time, as they flawlessly execute banjo rolls and lightning-fast mandolin tremolos, 3-part harmonies and songs of classic themes -murder ballads, disloyalty, ghosts and the like, all with a wink and a smile. As they continue their climb to the top, The Dead South have learned an important lesson: If you’re going to be outsiders, you’d better be great. Confirmed by the passion of their Dead South cosplaying fans, who go to concerts in the band’s signature look, this four-piece acoustic set from the middle of the Canadian prairies have found their people. Good Company, as they call themselves, is a global community of vastly dissimilar folks who might not see eye to eye, but who stand shoulder to shoulder at the gigs.
Superchunk wsg Tee Vee Repairmann
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Following a series of worldwide tours celebrating the 30th anniversary of their landmark album Foolish in 2024, Superchunk’s return to the road is heralded by “Bruised Lung,” their first new song in over a year. Since releasing their first 7-inch in 1989, Superchunk have run the gamut of milestone albums: early punk rock stompers, polished mid-career masterpieces, and adventurous curveballs. “Bruised Lung” finds them as vital as ever, a scorching guitar anthem that at once recalls what has earned Superchunk their reverent following while looking forward to their future. “Bruised Lung” is elevated by Merge Records favorite Rosali on lead guitar and backing vocals. Catch Superchunk all over the country this fall.
The Baseball Project Featuring members of R.E.M. and The Dream Syndicate with The Minus 5
2025 Bell’s Beer Garden Summer Concert SeriesThis is a 18 and over event. 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian The Baseball Project are 5 friends who are veterans of the Alternative / Indie Rock scene (and who in fact helped create it), starting in the early 80’s. The band features members of R.E.M., The Dream Syndicate, The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows and Filthy Friends. These are just a FEW of the countless bands that Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Linda Pitmon perform in. They come together in this “supergroup” to focus on the fascinating stories that baseball spawns – character studies of both the heroic and the oddball variety. You don’t need to be a student of the game to dig them though – often times baseball is just a jumping off point for deeper stories of triumph or failure….or hilarity – all while playing their infectious and rockin’ brand of power pop/ jangle folk / Indie Rock that they do so well! The Baseball Project formed in 2007 when all 5 band members were attending a party for R.E.M.’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Steve and Linda were there as guests of Peter Buck but were only passing acquaintances of Scott, who was a touring member of R.E.M. At some point in the very wee hours of the party, McCaughey and Wynn found themselves leaning against the same bar and struck up a raucous conversation that ricocheted from music talk to baseball. They both confessed a longstanding and hitherto unrequited desire to write and record an entire album of songs that would dig deeper into the game and the psyche of the more eccentric characters that have played it. Linda (drummer in Steve’s band, The Miracle 3) wandered past and heard the promises being made to “maybe one day try to do it”. Being a huge baseball fan herself, she threw down a challenge to the pair to finally do it. They immediately set about writing and sharing tracks long distance (Steve and Linda live in NYC and Scott is in Portland, OR). Within a few weeks the trio of baseball fanatics with killer record collections had booked studio time at Jackpot Studios in Portland. After a couple of short writing and acoustic rehearsal sessions in Scott’s living room (Linda played a peach crate), they commenced recording and in 4 short days completed the 13 tracks that would soon become their first release, “Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails”.
