Good Vibes

June 27, 2010

Good Vibes: G.R. band returns to T.C.
By Erin Crowell
It’s the Fourth of July holiday weekend – a time to feel good; and nothing epitomizes that more than the good vibes from a live band.
Enter The Outer Vibe: The electro alt/rock/pop sensation from Grand Rapids that has created a fan base throughout the Midwest, including here, in Northern Michigan. The group returns for a three-day concert at Turtle Creek Casino, in Williamsburg, July 2-4.

SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON
The Outer Vibe is all about having a good time.
“Our goal is to get out there and have fun, and to make sure everyone else is doing the same,” says guitarist Nick Hosford.
“We really just want to get people pumped up,” adds Jeff Brems, on drums.
If you’ve ever been to an Outer Vibe performance, chances are there will be people dancing. A major element to the band’s sound is rhythm and funky beats.
“On the Run” resembles the rhythmic bounce of Modest Mouse’s “Dashboard.” And, like the sounds of Modest Mouse, the sounds of the Outer Vibe are quirky – a Saturday morning cartoon…for adults.
Yet, the band is bold in their approach – heavy guitars, loud horns…there’s plenty of reason to tap your foot and bob your head.
“You can expect to have a good time,” says Vibes’ vocalist, Sean Zuidgeest.

THE “A-TEAM”
The band has been rocking all millennium, forming back in 2000.
“We just decided if the world was going to end, we would start a band,” says Hosford, “and when the end didn’t happen, we just had to stick with it…just kidding.”
The Outer Vibe started as a four-piece high school band—evolving throughout college—to its current five-piece “A-Team,” as Hosford jokes.
As mentioned before, the band boasts Zuidgeest on vocals, Hosford on guitar and Brems on drums; and includes Andrew Dornoff on bass with Lisa Kacos on trumpet, keyboards and keytar.
All decisions are made as a collective – “from the clothing we’re going to wear for that night’s set,” says Kacos – to the list of songs they perform, including original material.
“There’s five of us and we can take a vote; and if one person thinks a song stinks, the majority rules,” says Brems. “We’re very egalitarian.”
The Vibe performs a variety of material—from covers to originals—all depending on the performance.
“If it’s a four-hour concert, we’re going to play a lot more cover songs,” says Zuidgeest. “We play anything from Johnny Cash to Gnarls Barkley.”
“When people are there drinking and dancing, they like to hear songs they know and can sing to,” adds Kacos.

VACAY PERFORMANCE
They say they want people to get to know the band more – on a personal level.
“We meet people all the time between sets. That’s how we’ve built a lot of our relationships,” says Hosford.
Many of those relationships come from out of town, with people traveling from as far as Indianapolis.
The band says they plan on having a big crowd at this weekend’s performance.
“We were at other shows and heard people saying they didn’t know what to do for their Fourth of July,” says Hosford. “So we told them, ‘Come on up to TC, we’re playing all weekend.”
This will be the second performance at Turtle Creek Casino since the band’s three-day Memorial Weekend performance.
“The Traverse City area is so welcoming,” says Kacos. “We’re fortunate to get to come up to a place where people are excited to vacation anyway. We get our own vacation while doing what we love to do.”

The Outer Vibe performs in the Level 3 Lounge of Turtle Creek Casino, in Williamsburg, July 2-4, at 9 p.m. The band will also make an appearance at Hot Topic, in the Grand Traverse Mall, on Sunday, July 4, at 3 p.m. Visit theoutervibe.com for more info.