Since I’m a radio personality, I obviously go to a lot of rock and metal concerts. One of my favorite venues is a bit off the trail: Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

While it might sound counter-intuitive to think of seeing big-named acts at a casino, Soaring Eagle brings some of the most popular names in music to their venue. Every year, I wait in anticipation for what acts they’ll bring in, because there are also some surprise.

Soaring Eagle has two venues– the indoor Entertainment Hall and the Soaring Eagle Outdoor Arena. The indoor venue holds intimate shows and seats about 3,000, depending on reserved seating or general admission. The outdoor venue is bigger, holding up to 11,000 general admission concert-goers.

A few of my past favorite shows at Soaring Eagle include Weezer, Disturbed, Three Days Grace, Shinedown and Matchbox Twenty. All of those shows stand out for their own reasons. The Weezer concert was so fun, because it was spontaneous. I saw they were playing over July 4th weekend, and a day before the show, I asked my boyfriend if he would want to go, not even knowing if he was a Weezer fan. He was in! I was able to photograph the show for the Audio Ink news outlet, and there was only one other photographer in the pit, so it felt like a personal performance.

The Matchbox Twenty show was also special, because I went with my friends Jamie and Kelly for a girls’ night. I also photographed that show, and this time, I actually was the only photographer in the pit! It was truly like getting serenaded by Rob Thomas. Counting Crows opened that show.

For their list of upcoming Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort shows, visit www.soaringeaglecasino.com.

Here’s a fun video of my mom and I road tripping to Soaring Eagle to see In This Moment.

Photo by Anne Erickson