When attending a concert performance, it is rare that one gets to count on a thing becoming "The Thing" that happens right before the big break. It does happen, but for the most part we never really know until history confirms it was so.
But one place where music greatness has reliably launched has been via local promoter Hugo Claudin's many projects over the last couple of decades. This weekend at his Avenue for the Arts live/work space, you can experience Jamaican Queens at his Mexicains Sans Frontieres.
According to co-producer Dan Climie (and Austin Kane of LiveSmiths), this is the band's first return to the area since a live appearance at the 2013 Lamp Light Music Festival – a series of house concerts in Eastown held over an October weekend.
Now, as members of the band have settled on their individual music projects, they are out touring a lot as they prepare for the release of their sophomore release.
For fans of the band, Mexicains Sans Frontieres is absolutely the most perfect venue to hear this act, as you are sure to hear brand new songs in this incredibly intimate downtown loft space. And Jamaican Queens is surely one of those acts poised to break big, so I would not delay much longer if you are the type who enjoys having stories to share later about once-obscure acts playing tiny venues (i.e. U2's legendary performance at Fountain Street Church or the Black Eyed Peas at the tiny, old Intersection Lounge stage at their original location in Eastown).
Do not miss the opening acts, Convotronics, OBJ, and CARE, who, according to Climie, are some of the best groups out there in Grand Rapids. All of these acts, much like Mexicains Sans Frontieres' programming, are truly crossing boundaries much more freely in the hopes of advancing contemporary music and also our local scene as they create something new. "And the chance to see them before they break out," says Climie.
It's a sure bet that you up your odds of seeing "The Thing" happen here in Grand Rapids if you commit to supporting your local music scene by showing up. Jamaican Queens is one of these acts not to miss when they appear locally with a crop of new faces that will surely be on the lips of others in our city and beyond in the future.
Admission: $10 (limited to only 80 tickets with less than 40 left at press time)
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