Venue spotlight: Grewal Hall at 224

A remarkable music venue will forever be engrained in a city’s sonic legacy. You have CBGB in New York, Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, the Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee — the list goes on. While Lansing has demolished some of its most legendary rooms over the years, like the Lansing Civic Center, the Silver Dollar Saloon and the Small Planet, new spots have continued to pop up like Whac-A-Mole and fill in the gaps. Long-running watering holes like Mac’s Bar, the Green Door and the Avenue Café all do their part to host exciting live acts.

The newest spot is Grewal Hall at 224, which opened last year at 224 S. Washington Square in downtown Lansing. It immediately filled a need for a mid-sized local venue. It has since kept up a busy calendar of notable national and emerging local acts spanning numerous genres: rock, rap, country and more. While it’s much too early to tell what its legacy will be, it’s off to an admirable start.

“If your community takes arts and culture seriously, you need to have venues of every size,” Grewal Hall partner Scott Bell told City Pulse just before its opening. “You need to have a place where local and regional artists can aspire to play. In the Lansing and East Lansing area, we were missing a 900-capacity venue that could host national and international touring artists. One of our goals with Grewal Hall at 224 is to make people outside the 517 area code think of Lansing as a destination for live music and events.”

Read on for a sampling of Grewal Hall’s upcoming show roster.

Soulja Boy
Sept. 19
Doors 7 p.m., all ages

Back in 2007, Soulja Boy’s breakthrough rap single, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart after going viral during the rise of “ringtone rap.” Born DeAndre Cortez Way, the now 34-year-old Atlanta rapper, record producer and entrepreneur was a forerunner in using social media and internet platforms like YouTube and Myspace to promote and market music. In short, it paid off. After “Crank That,” he found success with “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” and “Turn My Swag On,” proving he was more than a one-hit viral wonder. Beyond that, his influence on younger artists like Lil Yachty and Chief Keef is undeniable. Openers at Grewal Hall are Quazar, StayTrue Red and Blood Rich Business.

The Sugarhill Gang
Oct. 11
Doors 7 p.m., all ages

If there were a short list of iconic opening lines to groundbreaking songs, “Now what you hear is not a test, I’m rappin’ to the beat!” would sit near the top. The trailblazing 1979 single — “Rapper’s Delight,” by the Sugarhill Gang — forever changed hip-hop by pushing it into the global mainstream and proving the then-new genre had mass appeal. While stacks of rap songs were cut before it, “Rapper’s Delight” was the first to become a Top 40 Billboard hit. The earworm track not only laid the groundwork for lyrical rhyming but also commercialized the art of sampling (it masterfully samples the instrumental break from Chic’s disco-dance classic “Good Times.”)

Hailing from Englewood, New Jersey, the group initially consisted of three members: Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien. After making waves on the East Coast, the legendary Sugar Hill Records signed the group of emcees. Despite lineup changes over the years, Sugarhill Gang’s influence on the evolution of hip-hop remains significant. Along with other architects, like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Whodini and Run-DMC, Sugarhill Gang is among the most recognizable names in early rap history. Fortunately for local hip-hop heads, the group will headline at Grewal Hall on Oct. 11.

Everclear w/ Marcy Playground, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack
Oct. 13
Doors 6 p.m., all ages

Thanks to radio stations like Impact 89 FM and 94.1 The Edge, Greater Lansing has long had a soft spot for alternative music. On Oct. 13, three noteworthy ‘90s bands will share a bill at Grewal Hall: Everclear, Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack.

While Everclear formed in 1991, the band didn’t hit it big until the mid-’90s alt-rock boom. Mainstream success and ample MTV airplay made 1995’s “Santa Monica” the group’s debut hit. From there, the Portland, Oregon natives landed other spots on the Billboard rock charts throughout the 2000s, thanks to “Father of Mine,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” and “Wonderful.”

Co-opener Marcy Playground also enjoyed success during the golden era of slacker college rock. The New York City-based outfit topped Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart (now called Alternative Airplay) for 15 weeks with its lethargic yet hooky single “Sex and Candy.” Led by frontman and primary songwriter John Wozniak, the band’s poppy grunge-folk sound was a perfect fit for the times, keeping them busy touring and recording.

Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, which first performed in Lansing at the 1999 Old Town Octoberfest, is led by songwriter Jimi Haha (real name Jimi Davies), the band’s founder and frontman. In 1997, the band’s single “High” gained traction on MTV’s alternative music show, “120 Minutes,” a then-career-starting blast of national exposure. Its follow-up, “Do Right,” another funky, reggae-influenced pop-punk single, also became a hit.

Visit hall224.com for the entire calendar.