By Christie BenderPrepare for a fully immersive experience during the Concerts Under the Stars series at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM), featuring a night of electrifying rock music performed by Coffin Problem Thursday, Feb. 6. Sit back and experience the wonders of the cosmos alongside mesmerizing music! 

Coffin Problem is a rock band whose music resembles an abrasive, yet familiar sound to the genre. The group consists of four talented musicians including Sean Stearns, songwriter; Billy Bartholomew, bass guitarist; Trevor Goldner, guitarist and Ben Weissenborn, drummer. The group’s songs intrigue audiences with a sound that is bruising and bright, yet cavernous and cathartic. 

“There’s a lot of great vibes through the music scene,” said band member Goldner in a Local Spins article. “There’s a lot of collaboration … It’s been getting better and better year by year. There’s a lot of great folks in the music community in general that make it just fun to be a part of.”

Coffin Problem will be accompanied by a live light show on the planetarium dome by visual artist Sean Kenny. Sean is a psychologist and experimental filmmaker who founded the Picke Fort Film Collective, a Montessori-style cinema lab that specializes in hand-made 16mm film loops of improvised sound performances. Sean’s work has been shown in festivals around the world including the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Concerts Under the Stars begins at 7:30 p.m., with Museum doors opening at 6:30 p.m. At each concert, performers will play two sets with a short intermission in between. Refreshments, beer and other beverages will be available for purchase. Tickets are $17, with reduced pricing of $12 for GRPM members. Tickets are available at grpm.org/planetarium, by calling 616.929.1700 or at the Museum’s front desk.

The 2020 Concerts Under the Stars series will continue on Feb. 27 with the smooth sounds of Indie rock from Seth Beck and will conclude on Mar. 19 with a unique mix of surf, pop rock by Hollywood Makeout.