Scene Report: Lightning Love On Ypsilanti, MI

Photo by Tiffany Nicholson

In Scene Report, musicians from all over the globe fill us in on what’s going on sonically in their hometowns. This week Lightning Love‘s Leah Diehl gives the scoop on Ypsilanti, MI.

Ypsilanti is a super small town, but there’s a large population of artsy young people and weird locals that makes it an interesting place to live. It’s largely a blue collar area, but it’s also home to Eastern Michigan University. The blending of the two cultures, in addition to the beautiful old parks and architecture, makes it a popular place to live. It has the small, friendly, Midwestern town feel but still caters to the young artistic community. My first instinct is to say that the music scene is mostly folk, but there’s actually a big number of garage, pop, rap and country groups. And due to the small population, we all end up sharing bills with each other and hanging out. Of all the places we’ve lived in Michigan, this is definitely our favorite.

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skylightsintheillions

I have to agree on the pig, they are not cool w/ performers or fans, and up until last time there, always have to track people down for an hour to get paid, not the favorite place to play in AA. East Quad is much better, MUCH nicer people.

Leah

Good call on East Quad. I totally forgot about that one.

http://www.facebook.com/mikevial Mike Vial

Nice synopsis of a great town in Michigan with a vibrant downtown and DDA.

Guest

I look at the fact that the Pig is one of “the last spots in Washtenaw county” for live music not as a good thing. Of all the MANY shows I’ve played across the country and outside of it, I can always expect the highest level of rudeness to come from that venue.

CMJ - New Music First

Scene Report: Lightning Love On Ypsilanti, MI

Bacon, beer and a naked bartender await