The Skinny Limbs ft. Little Visits, Ben Childs, & Au Gres Show Review

It is a packed house at The Pyramid Scheme, located in the heart of Grand Rapids, and people are thrilled for the show ahead: A night of revelry with The Skinny Limbs featuring Little Visits, Benjamin James Childs, and Au Gres is in store for the evening of August 18th.

Little Visits: The new Detroit-native pop artist that makes “music for the anti-heroes”.

Benjamin James Childs: The young singer/songwriter posing a fresh sound to the Grand Rapids scene.

Au Gres: The project of Michigander Joshua Kemp that fuses indie rock, lo, and synth pop together into one amalgamation of brilliance t for the stage.

The Skinny Limbs: A band of brothers both related and not, taking inspirations from their West Michigan origins to present an art form reminiscent of the greats; The Police, The Beach Boys, and Henry Mancini.

Together, these Michigan-natives bestowed sets of greatness to the unsuspecting crowd, proving for the millionth time that small musicians run the world (or my playlists, at least).

To start out, Little Visits took the stage around 7:15. The short set was much more intimate than I ever could’ve suspected, especially considering that we were in the back of a pinball themed bar. Sitting down for their whole time on stage, the duo played and sang with a style similar to the United Kingdom’s own King Krule. It was laid back but engaging enough for people to move and feel the music in their feet, setting the tone for the following acts.

Little Visits on Instagram

Little Visits on Spotify

Moments after Little Visits left the stage, the esteemed Benjamin James Childs stepped out. The young musician awlessly melds the distinct styles of Nick Rattigan (Current Joys) and David Kushner both from a vocal and instrumental standpoint. A unique aspect of this set was his sheer talent on the guitar; it was almost as if it was a part of him. As a typical rock fan, the way he carried himself reminded me of how Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page did; with nothing but passion and love for the six stringed instrument. For the final song of his set, Childs brought on a full band (aside from Andrew Deters, who had been accompanying him on guitar already) consisting of a bassist, a drummer, and a banjoist for Amethyst.

Benjamin James Childs on Instagram

Benjamin James Childs on Spotify

From the get-go, Au Gres brought the energy. Josh Kemp was the most interactive lead singer I’ve ever experienced in my days of concert attendance, and his undeniable charm as a frontman reached everybody within The Pyramid Scheme. Overall, the group’s sound was reminiscent of the great Mac Demarco’s with airs of style found in soul music. An aspect that stood out in particular was keyboardist Andrew Harness. His utter spunk while he tickled those ivories reminded me of Joy Division’s Bernard Sumner and his presence as a musician was near-addicting.

Au Gres on Instagram

Au Gres on Spotify

Now for the main attraction: The Skinny Limbs. Right off the bat, this five piece band served out a groovy sound comparable to the mighty Surf Curse. It was a hometown gig for the group so they truly gave it their all, providing covers of Steely Dan’s Dirty Work and even Henry Mancini’s Lujon with their own original spins. A unique detail of their set was centered around frontman/lead singer Max Knoth and brother Nate Knoth. Throughout a majority of the performance, the two switched o between rhythm guitar and bass. Most of the time, I would believe that musicians of this caliber should stick to one instrument and one instrument only while onstage but in this case, Max and Nate can rock either or.

The Skinny Limbs on Instagram

The Skinny Limbs on Spotify

All in all, August 18th at Grand Rapids’s Pyramid Scheme was an evening filled with talent, drinks, and most importantly: kickass music. It’s with a hopeful mind that every one of the artists that performed carry on down this path to give us further art in the form of sound. Supporting local bands is vital for ultimate growth and success and I for one, can say that I’m contributing to the cause.