It’s April. The weather is either beautiful or terrible in Holland, MI this time of year. Today, it is a little cold and a little grey, but amidst that, the daffodils are blooming in the front yard; new life is on the way.
Because we have two shows at Park Theatre, our hometown haunt, this month, I wanted to take a few minutes to chat about how important that venue has been for us as a band and for me personally.
The beginning of 2023 was a hard period for me. I was experiencing extreme and debilitating brain fog as a symptom of long haul COVID 19. I dropped out of school and moved back to the Chicago suburbs so I could be closer to my support system. It felt like a lot of things were on pause and life was in flux. It was a liminal and confusing time for me and for the band too.
Michael Sherman had just joined on drums a few months earlier and before that, Carter and I had been operating as a duo. We had played only one proper Mannequins show in our basement on Halloween in 2022. Through that show, we made friends with another local band Casper. Early in the spring, they asked us if we wanted to play at Park Theatre that April with a band from Indiana called Flo State. I was in Chicago and Michael and Carter were in Holland, but we said yes and scheduled a whole week of rehearsals.
The show became a beacon of hope for me as I worked to improve my health, so I could play songs on stage with my friends. I practiced relentlessly on my own, tweaking my pedals and amp, running difficult guitar passages, and singing the songs over and over. Amidst a lot of uncertainty, our show at Park Theatre was a rope pulling me through the winter of 2023.
When the show date arrived, I felt that we were in great shape. The songs were tight and our energy was good. We arrived at the venue for an early soundcheck and were immediately welcomed by the consistently kind, accommodating, and professional staff at The Park.
As we took the stage, I remember feeling weightless and alive. That is often the feeling I get while singing songs, but that night, it was stronger than ever before. I remember inhaling and exhaling the feeling that The Mannequins was a stronger force than I had previously imagined. It made me think that we should keep going, that it was imperative that the band kept our energy and passion.
The other bands who played that night, Flo State and Casper, both blew us away, not only with their music but also their kindness. I am happy to say that our friendships have continued to blossom through the last couple of years.
I knew that I believed in the band. but it had been a tough few years. The show at Park Theatre in April of 2023 reawakened the Mannequins as a creative project and reinvigorated us as artists in a way that is hard for me to fully articulate. Now, almost exactly two years later and after countless other shows at the Park, that magic hasn’t dissipated.
Many of my most favorite moments as an artist have taken place on that stage and so many amazing faces have looked up at me from the floor singing words back to me that I never imagined would reach other hearts. Park Theatre and all it represents makes me feel grateful: grateful for my body and hands, for language and art and the awkward and beautiful ways we connect with each other, for Carter and Michael and all the other former and sporadic members of the band: Davis Miller, Kevin McKenzie, and Luke Penning. It makes me grateful for togetherness and community and hope and light in a world that often feels bereft of all of those things.
I can’t wait to feel that all again in just a few weeks. Thanks for everything, Park Theatre, and thanks to everyone who has been one of the humans swaying and singing along. I will never have the words to describe it all.
This year, it’s been a good April for me and the band, and I think it will only get better. I hope that April is good to you too.
-Grant
Here are some videos from that first Park Theatre Performances in 2023: