By Ryan Yuenger
ryany@wsjm.com
From a tribute to one of the greatest songwriters of all time to a Halloween dance party, one local venue is gearing up for a special weekend of music.
The Grand Rapids-based Mark Lavengood Band is set to perform a tribute to legendary songwriter and Chicago-area native John Prine this Friday at The Livery in Benton Harbor. On Saturday, the venue will turn up the funk, hosting Melophobix for a night of Halloween fun and a retro-themed dance party titled “The Nightmare at the Livery.”
Prine, whose career began in 1969 and spanned more than 20 albums and five Grammy Awards, died after contracting COVID-19 in April 2020. Often overlooked by the masses, Prine has been cited as an inspiration by artists like Bob Dylan, and was the first singer-songwriter to perform at the Library of Congress in 2005.
“With John’s recent passing and his birthday falling just a few weeks ago, we felt it was a really good time to bring that show in and pay tribute to one of America’s best,” said The Livery Booking and Promotions manager Brandon DeJaynes. “It’s a prideful source of songwriting for a lot of midwestern music listeners. John being a Chicago guy, getting his start in the dive bars of Chicago, being a postman – it’s just a really cool story to see John’s career come to life in the past decade or so.”
The week after his death, Prine hit number one on Billboard’s Rock Songwriters Chart after singles “In Spite Of Ourselves,” “Angel from Montgomery,” “Hello In There,” “When I Get To Heaven” and “That’s the Way the World Goes Round” all charted in the top 25.
DeJaynes said Lavengood – a regular performer at The Livery – actually approached the venue about playing this show.
“Mark personifies a lot of John Prine’s quirkiness and humor,” DeJaynes said. “Not to mention, he’s a killer Dobro player. … He’s a true professional and ambassador of Michigan music. We couldn’t be happier to bring him back.”
As is customary with any Livery show, Lavengood and his band will also be performing a full set of original bluegrass music.
Nightmare at the Livery
The folk will switch over to funk the following night as the Grand Rapids-based Melophobix brings a set of original tunes before delving into a retro-themed set of dance tunes.
“With the full band and horn section, they really crush a lot of dance party covers,” DeJaynes said. “They’ve debuted and carried on many great cover songs on our stage, so we thought … they should hit us with a greatest hits set of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.”
Guests are encouraged to wear their favorite era-appropriate costumes, and three finalists – one from each era – will be chosen. During the set break, a grand champion will be crowned.
Tickets for both shows can be purchased in advance at liverybrew.com
