The 8th annual Founders Fest, the official start of summer block party thrown by Grand Rapids, MI craft brewery Founders Brewing Co. was held downtown last Saturday on a closed off street in front of the brewery.
The festival expectations were higher than ever, in part because of headliners such as Nahko & Medicine for the People and the legendary Tremé-bred big band swing and jazz-fusion funk sound of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Online pre-sale tickets for the event reached an unprecedented event record 5,000 tickets the day before the event.
Nahko and his band were a huge highlight and arguably the main draw for many of the 6,000+ ticket holders, especially considering it was the band’s first Grand Rapids appearance.
“We might have stopped here back on our very first tour,” recalled guitarist Chase Makai. Playing virtually nonstop around the world and creating a full-fledged family style environment helps make it easy for everywhere to feel like a home. “If you travel the world you’ll realize there’s all these crazy vortexes that connect all the land and the people.”
It was clear from early on that the crowd’s buzz was all about Nahko and the musical medicine he and the band provide. Emanating pure positivity and healing hope, fans aligned with Nahko describe themselves as a family or as members of a tribe.
“Everybody wants to be part of a family,” explained Nahko. “You can probably understand that there’s a mad demographic in our generation that feels as though they don’t have friends or family because they come from a normal sort of broken home. We try to be as inclusive as we can with our music, because we know what it’s like to not be included.”
Part of why Nahko’s message resonates so well in a demographic like Grand Rapids is because of the city’s welcoming atmosphere. Through Founders’ reach of their own standard-setting All Day IPA beer, a similar sense of belonging and camaraderie through good beer is able to stretch across the city and out to the nation as the brewery expands.
One of the special treats of Founders Fest is the release of specially brewed Founders Fest Wheat ale. A lighter beer with a kick of flavor, Founders Fest Wheat is brewed specifically and only for sale once a year during the event.
But the true essence of Founders Fest as described by co-founder Dave Engers is, at its root, about saying thank you.
“Founders Fest came about honestly as a means to hopefully pay for our property taxes,” Engers said. “But through the years it has come to be more about the beer and music and is really a ‘thank you’ to Grand Rapids.”
Now in its 8th year, Founders Fest is a staple of the summer season because of the local pride in the brewery, as well as their consistent ability to bring in top-tier acts from all over Michigan as well as the nation. Previous years have seen acts such as Lettuce, Break Science and Ultraviolet Hippopotamus and many, many more.
“The goal is to keep it simple, you know, it’s not over commercialized, it’s not underwritten by any companies local or otherwise,” explained Engers. “It’s just a big party that we put on, a celebration of beer and music and food and the local artist community.”
Even though Nahko may have been the highlighting draw for the majority of the people (some of whom ran early from Gringo Star’s set to eagerly catch Nahko just tuning up on stage,) The Dirty Dozen Brass Band kept the crowd around until the last note of the festival.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band cut their teeth in New Orleans, LA in the late seventies, but has remained relevant throughout the decades by revolutionizing the brass band style of northern Louisiana with contemporary funk. Also of honorable mention is the studio sit-in and subsequent tour with jam-band legend Widespread Panic, as well as studio sit ins with indie superstars Modest Mouse.
In addition to the groovy thump of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Nahko and Medicine For The People, nationally acclaimed indie rock outfit Gringo Star and the soft melodies of Elephant Revival contributed to the feel-good vibes of the afternoon.
Nederland, CO natives Elephant Revival took the stage midway through the event and treated the crowd to a beautifully moving brand of bluegrass that blends elements of gypsy, Celtic, Americana and folk varieties. Out on July 24th is their live album Sands Of Now, recorded at The Boulder Theatre in Colorado.
Atlanta rockers Gringo Star wrapped up their fourth studio effort in March, but have yet to announce a title or release date. They appeared at Founders Fest on the heels of a supporting gig with Weezer guitarist Brian Bell’s solo act, The Relationship, and the crowd was very receptive of their upbeat brand of rock and roll.
But for as many outside acts as Founders brought from outside of the state, they had just as many regional representatives from within Michigan, both on and off the stage.
A shakedown street style alley of tents was featured on another closed street as an offshoot from the dual stage set up. Plenty of local artists and goodwill causes from Grand Rapids, as well as a slew of statewide grassroots organizations could be found doing what they could to impact the crowd.
One group, the Tree Love Collective, based out of Mt Pleasant, MI had representatives walking through the crowd, offering smiles and handmade buttons with positive messages to strangers. In true Nahko spirit, they describe themselves as “a collective of artists brancing together to inspire positivity and spread love by creating art and giving back to communities in need.”
On the stage, regional bluegrass phenom Billy Strings of Traverse City, MI made his Founders Fest debut, two weeks after opening for Greensky Bluegrass’s performance in Kalamazoo. Mandolin wizard Don Julin and upright bassist Kevin Gills accompanied Strings and together they have quickly been garnering attention in the bluegrass world in large part because of Billy’s blazing fretwork.
One of the major traditions of Founders fest lies in the cover band, the FBC All-Stars.
“The first two years of Founders Fest the bands were mainly made up of just employees and their bands,” said Jeremy Kosmicki, head brewmaster of the brewery. “As we started to grow and get more people attending we wanted to sort of break that trend and get some other entertainment in here. But rather than shut people out, we put together a super group of just employees.”
In maintaining the spirit of the celebration, the FBC All-Stars play party tunes, cover songs from the 80s, 90s and now. It’s a rotating lineup from year to year, as employee schedules fluctuate. “We have the base core group and we try to include as many different things as we can to keep it fun and interesting,” Kosmicki said. “Obviously we don’t need 4 guitar players, but last year we added a saxophone player for instance.”
Even though he is not a full time member of the All-stars for this year, Kosmicki did join them for a rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Money”.
Overall, Founders Fest 2015 was a huge success, and looks to grow larger still in 2016.
