Sonic Lunch draws hundreds to Liberty Street

East Liberty Street was blocked off from South Division Street to South Fifth Avenue every Thursday over the summer for Sonic Lunch, a local concert series started by the Bank of Ann Arbor 18 years ago to entertain downtown workers during their lunch breaks. Hundreds of local community members and out-of-town fans flocked to Liberty Plaza Thursday, Aug. 20, to watch Ohly, a Detroit-based indie artist and Ax and the Hatchetmen, a six-member indie rock band, perform on a hot summer afternoon. 

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, event organizer Matthew Altruda said Sonic Lunch started out smaller, but it has grown to the point where street closure is necessary. 

“It’s rare for us to do under 1,000 people — the whole city takes their lunch break with us,” Altruda said. “We used to not close the street every week. We just had it in Liberty (Plaza), but now we have to close the street because of our crowds.” 

Sonic Lunch also invites local restaurants to serve food at stands during their concert, yet despite the growing crowds, Altruda said he is struggling to find restaurants willing to serve food during the lunchtime event. 

“To be completely honest with you, back in the day doing this festival, I had to turn restaurants away, and in 2026, I have to beg them,” Altruda said. “People don’t have the staff to do it; people just aren’t doing lunches anymore.” 

Connor Lyman, LSA junior and concertgoer, had previously heard Ax and the Hatchetmen live. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Lyman said he was excited to hear their newer work.

“I know a lot of their music, so it was great because I knew a lot of the songs that they played,” Lyman said. “It was cool to see some of the new work they did, cool to see like the harmonizing guitar stuff that they did, and the horns are always great.” 

Axel Ellis, the band’s lead singer, said the crowd’s cheering kept them energetic on stage, even in the heat. 

“Everyone was so nice,” Ellis said. “It was like such a sweet turnout, and it was like the sun came out, and then it got real hot, and everyone kept all the energy up, which keeps us up, and it’s an exchange of vibes.” 

Altruda said he focuses on a diverse lineup when choosing which artists to invite to perform. 

“I try to have a very diverse lineup of female and male headliners,” Altruda said. “We’ve done that forever. We want to be as diverse as possible. I want 12-year-old girls to come to my concert and see a female playing the bass and be like, ‘I want to be a bass player.’”

The final performance in this summer’s concert series was on Thursday and featured two female artists, Mavis Staples and Mei Semones.

Altruda said that while diversity in both identity and music genre was a priority when booking musical guests, he prioritized quality when deciding concert lineups.

“I try to book everything for everyone, but I also need to make sure they’re really, really good,” Altruda said. “The goal with Sonic Lunch for me a lot of the time is if people show up and don’t know who the band is, they’re gonna leave a fan because we bring quality every week.”

Daily Staff Reporter Rebecca Borlace can be reached at rborlace@umich.edu. 

Related articles