#smallpool

[evanescencefan101]

[neopuff]

rex & caesar // life of the party

[ask-sebastian]

Evening Musical Owl 🦉

[eskawrites]

new chapter of our hearts know deeper seasons than our memories is up!

“I’m sorry,” Jonathan says once they’re close to Robin and Steve’s place. “I don’t want to fight.” It’s a low-effort apology, but to be fair, she doesn’t think she’d do much better. And she doesn’t want to fight, either, though she’s not sure this even counts as one. “Neither do I,” she says. “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.” “I’m sorry we left late,” he says. “I know you hate that.” It sounds like a peace offering. She looks over at him and softens. “It’s okay,” she says. “We’re here now. Let’s just enjoy hanging out with our friends.” “Of course.”

[hotcinnamonsunset]

$20 small venue concert tickets are the reason i keep on carrying on actually

[lyricallymnded]

cameras & coastlines // smallpools

[beautiful-noises]

meet me at the emporium

pretending life is dazed and confused

[listen here]

i. downtown fool around smallpools/ ii. tentwentyten generationals/ iii. come dancing the kinks/ iv. low rider war/ v. party at the dancehall ryan scott/ vi. free ride the edgar winter group/ vii. tesco disco the kooks/ viii. can she dance dr. dog/ ix. right down the line gerry rafferty/ x. cathy come home flyte/

[scrawlingskribbles]

and it is on this, the 7th of July in the year of our lord 2023, that whilst having my itunes library on shuffle I have come to the realization with equal parts lividness and mortification that I actually in fact do like one of the songs from that one U2 album that randomly got shoved into everyone’s itunes libraries—nearly 10 entire years after said album-shoving happened hsjsbsjsjs x’3c

[cheridraws]

♪

Insincere - Smallpools

Send me "♪" and I will shuffle mp3/ipod/music player and write my favourite line with my handwriting

[barricadebabe]

Barricade Babe - Grand Rapids, MI

Intro

This week I am changing it up a little bit and writing about two shows I went to this past week. This past week I attended a SmallPools concert at the Intersection (Elevation) in Grand Rapids and I also traveled to Frankenmuth, MI in a snowstorm to watch The Voortex Jazz & Blues Band with Papa Kiszka.

SmallPools was joined by Dreamers and Young Rising Sons, their current tour is called “The Cameras & Coastlines Tour. So far the band has been to Nashville, Des Moines, Omaha, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Silver Spring.

The Outfit

For the SmallPools show I went with a new pair of Brown Urban Outfitters cropped pants and paired the rest of my pieces around these pants. I chose to wear my Velveteers baby tee shirt that I haven’t worn in awhile due to the colder weather. Lastly, I wore a faux fur jacket that I thrifted that day with my doc martens. It was warm enough to keep me warm during my walk from the car to the venue and took it off after the Dreamers set.

For the Voortex show, I was spending time in Frankenmuth all afternoon with friends while we handed out posters for an event my friend Peyton and I are putting on at Fischer Hall in Frankenmuth. On top of this, it had been snowing for Michigan for two days straight at this point and needed to wear something warm enough while we walked outside and enjoyed everything Frankenmuth has to offer in the winter! I wore a tan turtleneck sweater with my favorite Zara jeans and of course my doc martens. Couldn’t go without my winter jacket and scarf for this trip/show.

Pre-Show

I showed up at the Venue for the Small Pools show at 7pm which was the time everyone was under the impression the first opener started. But the first act actually started at 8pm. I wish I would have known this was going in only because the venue The Elevation is a pretty small venue allowing anyone attending the show a great view of the stage. I used this time to walk around a little bit, check out the Merch, use the restroom and grab a water before the set. Granted I did all of that in about 20 minutes so I sat at a cocktail table until the first set.

For the Voortex show, we spent the whole afternoon/evening in Frankenmuth doing the things my friends and I do everytime we attend. When we first arrived we went to a local coffee shop and grabbed some hot drinks before we set off on our mission handing out posters promoting our show to the local businesses. It was a great afternoon in Frankenmuth, there were alot of tourists enjoying the Christmas/Winter activities and it was snowing giving the night a little bit more magic.

The Merchandise

The Rising Sons, Dreamers and Small Pools all had a decent selection of merchandise. I saw many people with posters the Dreamers and Small Pools were selling. They also had alot of really cool designs of hoodies, t-shirts and crewnecks. The first openers The Young Rising Sons were selling their merch/standing by their merch table after the set. If you wanted to snag a picture or get to know the band a little bit this was a great opportunity to do so.

The Voortex band does sell merchandise online, I do own a blue Papa Kiszka shirt I bought at previous event where they were being sold!

The Openers

The first band to open for SmallPools is the band, The Young Rising Sons. TYRS is a pop, indie pop, pop rock, alternative rock band from Red Bank, New Jersey. They are joined by lead singer Andy Tongren, Julian Dimagiba bassist, Steve Patrick drums and Max Iantorno. I thought they were a good opener to the start of the night even though the energy was not as high as I thought it would be. Granted it was a wednesday night and from what I could tell the concert goers who knew their songs were a little bit on the younger side, which I think is great but not as many people had heard of them until now (including myself). By the end of their set more people had started to trickle into the venue which I believe added to the energy at the end.

Dreamers was the second opener of the night. I am a small fan of Dreamers and have listened to their music before seeing them live. I was NOT disappointed to say the least. Dreamers consists of two main band members, Nick Wold the main singer/guitarist and Marc Nelson the bassist/keys. They were joined by another accompanying rhythm guitarist and an amazing drummer who totally killed it throughout the whole set. They put on an amazing show with great energy that definitely got the crowd going, not only did they get the crowd going but everyone in the band was also very energetic. I loved the lights and stage presence, definitely a great opener leading up to the Small pools performance.

The Performance

I have been an avid listener of Small Pools for a couple years now. When I found out they were going on a little tour and coming to where I live I knew I had to see them! I was very surprised with how amazing their performance was. The energy they brought to the stage and how they had the crowd full of strangers come together to dance/jump around together was great. I’ve been to shows where bands attempt at this and then play I kinda dull or not a fast paced song. But Small Pools did a great job of keeping the crowd engaged such as talking to people in the audience and interacting with them. They had someone throw a tambourine to the lead singer during the chorus of …… They also talked to the audience about a mic stand issue they were having on stage which just made you feel a lot closer to the artist and everyday things they may deal with. One of my favorite parts of the show was when the lead singer told everyone to put their phones away and he proceeded to pop into the crowd and sing the song with the crowd while jumping around with everyone. It was so cool to see everyone safely having such a good time together and living in the moment.

Set-List

Over & Over

Stumblin’ Home

Passenger Side

Street Fight

Social

Cameras & Coastlines

Mother / Creep

Life of the Party

Simulation / Everybody wants to Rule the World

LoveTap!

Encore

Killer Whales

Million Bucks

The last two songs of this show were probably my two favorite, while performing Killer Whales SmallPools is notorious for throwing a inflatable killer whale pool toy into the crowd. I thought this was a really fun and cute way to end the night.

The Voortex Band always puts on an amazing performance, if you enjoy jazz and blues, and good conversation with amazing human beings I would recommend seeing them any chance you get! Typically the shows take place at local places. This show was at T.Dubs in Frankenmuth, a great local restaurant! It was such an intimate show where you got to enjoy good music with good food and drinks.

Post-Show

Overall, I really loved this concert night. It was so fun and it was the first show I went to solo in a couple years. It was a nice laid back show for a Wednesday night where I got to enjoy some live music by myself. The only thing I was a little disappointed to not see live was American Love. I love love love this song and it is the song I first discovered of Smallpools.

I love Voortex shows and I will continue to go to as many as I can because I love supporting small local bands. Until next time, I hope everyone has a good thanksgiving and see you at the barricade 🫶

[neopuff]

bandit/petey // life of the party

[ask-sebastian]

Morning Musical Owl 🦉

[kidpix-album-covers]

Smallpools - LOVETAP! (2015)

[mysongoftheweek]

June 28-July 4, 2024

Be Kind, Rewind - Smallpools

[lyricallymnded]

motion // smallpools feat. yot club