The last thumping bass, screaming guitar, pounding drum and the odd element that makes alternative music alternative -- the elements that fueled the 26th annual Barking Tuna Festival -- are quiet for now.
But the reverberations from the Tuna Fest's organizer, WIDR 89.1 FM, go on throughout the year.
Earlier this month, Barking Tuna Festival invited 11 bands to perform over three nights at The Strutt's main stage.
For the first time in three years, WIDR decided to forgo a finale at the State Theatre where it has at times proved difficult to fill the seats of one of the city's larger venues.
As organizers evaluated the situation it seemed to make more sense to have three nights of great music at one venue than two mediocre nights and one big night at the State Theatre.
"It's a big move for them and it's going to do really great things for our business," says The Strutt's owner Darren Bain.
Leading up to the festival, The Strutt and WIDR also hosted a battle of the bands, which they call "The Battle for the Tuna." Bands compete to open the final night of the festival.
"It's the best of the best in Kalamazoo," says Justin Vaughn, a local session bassist. "I know it's something I've always wanted to be a part of but I haven't really had a chance yet. I've been to a couple of the shows and it's always a great time."
The Battle for the Tuna showed off local talents throughout three nights of hard-fought, strenuous and emotional performances. An alternative-metal-post punk band, Coma Nova, made the cut.
"They always have a great lineup. It's a good way to hear bands I've never heard of before and WIDR always makes sure the bands are worth your money," says local music fan Ryan Fields.
And introducing listeners to bands they might otherwise never hear is central to WIDR's role in the community.
The noncommercial radio station of Western Michigan University is staffed by WMU students, volunteers from other area colleges and WMU alumni.
The uninitiated listener may think WIDR DJs have no idea how to behave on the air. They play mixes of genres that sound like they've been thrown together at random. Most of the time they play songs a majority of the population would deem not worth listening to.
But the radio station's supporters say that's its value. It provides a bit of controlled chaos on the dial that exposes people to the good, the bad and the ugly.
It provides alternatives in an era when commercial radio stations give listeners highly structured playlists acceptable to their specific and narrowly defined market.
Some say Kalamazoo's music scene would be a lot less vibrant without WIDR's eclecticism.
"You can't have an audience for blues, jazz, many varieties of rock and R&B and everything else if an audience hasn't had exposure to these sounds," says Mark Wedel, an unofficial community adviser and supporter of WIDR.
"People often don't buy tickets to a concert where they'll hear a genre they haven't heard much of, by a band they have no clue about," Wedel says. "I think, for example, it's because WIDR has broadcast decades of reggae that we have Island Fest. 'Blues Power' has been on WIDR since the '70s, so we have the Kalamazoo Blues Festival."
Wedel is one of those who got a lot of music education from WIDR. Back in the day, he first listened to punk rock and other "weird stuff." But he found himself enjoying blues, folk, jazz, hip hop and many varieties of world music. He was at the first Barking Tuna Fest in 1985 and credits much of his exposure to live music to shows WIDR put together.
When he went to college at Western Michigan University he intended first to be a WIDR DJ and second to enroll in the English department's creative writing program. He went on to work at the radio station for three years, serving as production director, then program director until it became clear he might not graduate if he kept it up. Since graduation, Wedel has put his WIDR experience to work at commercial radio stations and as professional entertainment writer.
Originally known as Western Inter-Dormitory Radio, WIDR got its start as an AM station available only to WMU students. DJs spun records in a trailer and the music was broadcast through the pipes of WMU. Residents on campus listened by placing their radio antennas on the metal fixtures in their dorm rooms.
The station went on the AM dial in the 1960s. In 1969 Campus Media, Inc. described WIDR as "one of the finest campus stations in the country." It is a legacy the staff continues to try to live up to today.
The switch to the FM dial came in 1975. In a time when there were few FM options WIDR-FM became the No. 1 station in Kalamazoo even though it was known to be a "progressive" or "underground" station.
The station is proud of its history as the first in the area to play rap, punk, grunge and more "weird music."
Presenting live music, like the annual Barking Tuna Fest is also an integral part of that background.
This year, big name acts like King Khan and the Shrines -- from Montreal by way of Berlin -- were among those invited.
As WIDR General Manager Dave Emmert said before the event, "Since we're bringing in bands from all over the world, we hope that the Barking Tuna Festival will begin to show that Michigan knows good music, and knows how to have a good time."
Jared Field is a freelance writer living and working in Kalamazoo.Photos by
Erik Holladay John M. Wohlgemuth, Joe Varchola, Reena Pandit and Dave Emmert were part of the WIDR annual event Barking Tuna Festival.
Joe Varchola, production manager
Dave Emmert, operations director
John M. Wohlgemuth, general manager
Reena Pandit, program director.