Pere Marquette Beach was the scene for Lakeshore Brewers Guild’s 3rd Annual Burning Foot Beer Festival and it was the place to be in Michigan on August 26th. With 65 craft brewers, five bands, Lake Michigan as the backdrop, hot sand between your toes, a mosh pit, (not to be confused with a fire pit) and s’mores it was definitely the place to be.
Burning Foot Beer Festival
Since the festival is organized by the Lakeshore Brewers Guild, we were pleasantly surprised to find Arbor Brewing, Dark Horse, Tri City Brewing, Kuhnhenn Brewing, Draught Horse Brewery, and Canton Brew Works among the 65 breweries on the beach.
Near the Unruly Brewing tent we found Amy Sherman from MLive, Todd Parker from Little Guy Brewering Company and Shannon Long from Pure Brews America. Clearly, we were the last to know about the Burning Foot Beer Festival.
The Burning Foot veterans came prepared with chairs, tables and beach toys. You had to be on your toes as there were sharks about.
VIP Tent
We met with Allen Serio, Lakeshore Brewers Guild board member and a primo festival organizer. He said, they wanted to make the VIP area special and worth the extra cash. Having a preview of the 2018 Festival beers was one of the perks. It was definitely worth it. I especially enjoyed the s’mores.
Shoe Check
The shoe check-in was an excellent idea! Who ever thought of it needs a big kiss. For a small donation to the Noah Project (a no-kill animal shelter), the volunteers will keep the stuff you realize you didn’t need safe, like your shoes.
Burning Foot Music
Unlike most beer festivals, Burning Foot Beer Festival sets out to feature the music as much as the great beer. They had a big portable stage on the beach facing the water with an outstanding sound system. The music was loud, but not stupid loud. It was clear from the attention of the crowd, that the music was a key reason why they enjoy this festival.
Melophobix
Getting the party started just as the main gates were opening was Melophoix. This seven-piece band from Grand Rapids sounded great on this fun day of music and beer on the beach. They served up some serious grooves with a backbone of ska. At times, they reminded me of the Dave Matthews Band when Dave is rocking. A great band for a beach party.
Southpaw
Next up were the hometown Muskegon band called Southpaw. These three guys were revved up to throwdown some power pop punk. If you think of early Green Day, Descendants, or NOFX, you’ll get a taste for this band. I think I may have even heard a little guttural death metal “yeah” during some of the choruses. Southpaw did the hometown proud with a great performance.
Tropidelic
Coming all way from Cleveland was the hard rockin, hip-hoppin, reggae of Tropidelic. The overall feel of this band was reggae and hip-hop, however their guitar player added a definite metal edge.He could play the funky grooves and then would blaze up a wicked guitar solo all while head banging like he was jamming with Pantera. There was no denying this band was all about having fun and the vibe infected the crowd. People got up close to the barrier dancing and cheering on the burly grooves.
Badfish (A tribute to Sublime)
The ska punk band Sublime would be proud to hear how well Badfish represented their music at the Burning Foot Beer Festival. It was as if Sublime were on stage. The really eerie thing was that guitarist / vocalist Pat Downes sounds just like the late Brad Nowell. To make it even wilder, Pat sort of looks like Brad too. The band played all the Sublime hits and the crowd ate it up.
Less Than Jake
Music stage hosts Bill Marshall (WFFR 100.9) and Mitch Anderson (Black Circle Radio) toasted the crowd with a beer held high and welcomed headliners Less Than Jake to the stage. They immediately had the crowd jumping to their brand of punk infused ska. A first for us at a beer fest was to see a mosh pit erupt. Brenda nearly got sucked into the pit, but thankfully a bystander pulled her out of harm’s way. From the look of the crowd, they had a great time
The Burning Foot Beer Festival in Muskegon was a hell of a party. We made new friends, saw a bunch of old friends, enjoyed great Michigan beers, and listened to some cool tunes. There were many great moments. We have over 400 pictures in our gallery. Drop by and explore. If you find yourself in the gallery, give us a shout.
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