Rock Lansing

On Saturday May 10th I had the pleasure of attending the Rock Lansing Music Festival in Lansing Michigan. Yes, this review is coming in later than I had planned, but one dysfunctional camera SD card and one broken hand later, and I am finally  here to tell you about what a great time I had at this event.

The Rock Lansing line up featured a mix of local and national bands, but as anyone that frequents music festivals knows, what makes or breaks the fan experience lies in the details…so let’s start there…

Only a three hour drive from my home in Cleveland, Rock Lansing is held in downtown Lansing at Adado Riverfront Park (a scenic grassy area that offers both sunny and shaded areas, & even a few benches to take a break overlooking the river). I was surprised to find reasonable parking fees ($10!), and even a good amount of nearby street parking. I opted to park on the street, and felt completely comfortable walking to and from the venue.

Like many music festivals this event features two stages, one at each end of the park… I’d say less than 100yds apart. Very convenient to get from stage to stage in time to see every act. I even noticed some attendees parked their lawn chairs in the middle of the park and would just rotate to face whichever stage was active.

The food options included the usual festival fare, along with some of the best local barbecue I’ve ever had, and some fun and fruity boba tea which hit the spot on a surprisingly hot day. There were a lot of vendors. Probably the one that stood out to me the most was selling old and repurposed band tees. What a great idea. Looking through their stuff I realized I’ve probably thrown away enough old band shirts to pay for a pretty nice vacation somewhere tropical lol.

There were also merch stands for the performing acts too.  It was nice to see how many of the bands spent time there meeting and greeting their fans. That’s something not as common at larger festivals. Even the lead singer of the headliner Saliva spent an hour taking pictures and signing merch after their set.

I’m going to step away from fan experience and put on my media shoes for just a minute to give a big THANK YOU to Evan J Thomas and TAG Publicity. Your communication, organization and hospitality were top notch. Thank you for your professionalism and passion for the music.

On that note, let’s talk about the music. I really enjoyed the mix of nationally signed artists (Saliva, Ayron Jones, Adelitas Way) and local performers (Heartsick and Absolute to name a few). The set times ranged from 25-60 minutes, allowing ample time to get to know the sound of bands I hadn’t heard before.

The full lineup included: Saliva -Ayron Jones – Evans Blue – Adelitas Way – Crobot – Conquer Divide – Shallow Side -Heartsick – Lines of Loyalty – Riding with Killers – Absolute – Assume Nothing – Mr. Denton On Doomsday – Ritual Suns  – School of Rock –

All in all I came back from this festival with two main thoughts…

1) Why doesn’t Cleveland have anything like this?

2) If you’re looking for a weekend away and some good music, I would highly recommend making your way to Rock Lansing

Check out some more photos below and let us know about your favorite local one day music festival 🤘🏼