We are not impressed.
Seriously. Not impressed, Kalamazoo.
Barking Tuna Fest was this past weekend. Four acts; 20 bucks; about the only time we get any sort of reputable indie acts in town. Okay, so $20 is a bit steep for a roll-call of mostly underground bands. Still, I would think that once you’ve shelled out the Hamiltons, you’d stick around for the show.
Hear the fish, love the fish
This just in: WIDR, the campus radio station of WMU, has a headliner for its annual music fest. Heading up the festivities will the Fruit Bats, a SubPop band out of Chicago. They’re filling in where Regina Spektor fell off not so long ago.
Just as exciting, last night’s finale of Battle for the Tuna revealed an opening act for BTF. Kalamazoo artist Matt Black and the Natural Mystics wowed the crowd at the Strutt enough to win the fish fight and take the bottom spot on October 10 at the State Theater.
Hear the fish, love the fish
Kalamazoo has birthed its fair share of really good music: From Brian Vander Ark and the Verve Pipe to Steve Zegree and his posse of jazz vocalists. None of them has ever played Barking Tuna Fest, but that doesn’t mean BTF’s roster of musicians is anything to shake a stick at.
The whole BTF affair is part social event, part fundraiser for WMU’s student-run college music station WIDR. And if you’re into the whole hipster, indie music genre then BTF is a ne’er-miss event, featuring top acts and up-and-comers a-plenty.
