Detroit Concerts
2005 Hamtramck Blowout Recap
The night kicked off with a screening of the 2004 Blowout DVD. The movie started off with a montage of clips of various bands’ performances while The Hentchmen song “LaSabre Radar” played over the footage. The rest of the movie consisted of interviews with the likes of Brian Smith, John Speck, Rachel May, Willy Wilson, Chris Handyside and a host of others involved in the scene. The interviews were played in between clips of many of the Blowout performers of 2004. Some of the band clips tended to run a bit long and the movie seemed to lose its focus a bit, but overall it was a fun look back at last year’s festivities.
The Garden Bowl was turned into a sweaty dance party as the Dorkwave crew manned the one’s and two’s. It took a little while to get the crowd moving but once they did, a hipster dance party was in full effect until the bar closed down. Mixing songs from such artists as Sheila E, Adult, Depeche Mode and Madonna created a lively and fun vibe in the Garden Bowl bar. It seemed that the Dorkwave crew gained a bunch of new fans after last night.
Over in the Majestic, MCR caught hip-hop group Black Bottom Collective. Named after a historic section of northeast Detroit, the group is lead by Khary Kimani Turner. Backed by a live band consisting of drums, keys, guitar, bass and 2 female backup singers, Turner dropped socially conscious rhymes with a poetic feel. MCR was quite impressed with this group and plan on looking out for them in the future.
Local news stations Fox 2 and Channel 4 were on the prowl trying to be hip and edgy. At one point the Problem Solvers busted in and began getting in kids’ faces, saying something to the effect of, “Is this the kind of life you want?” and, “Fantastic Sam’s is down the street – get a haircut and get a job!” … (OK, the Problem Solvers weren’t there, but they really should’ve been).
Upstairs at the Magic Stick the highlight of the night was Lee Marvin Computer Arm. When they hit the stage at about 11:30 the crowd came alive feeding off the band’s energy. LMCA mixes the past and future with their sound, which could be described as At the Drive In mixed in with the MC5. Singer Casey Weedon flew all over the stage screaming out his lyrics while trumpeter Jason Eggert was equally as frantic in his role as back-up singer/tambourinist/trumpet player (yes, that’s right – they have a rock and roll trumpet player). Tambourines, hand claps, cowbell and whatever else they could find were also in the mix and the crowd ate it all right up. The band played maybe 20 minutes but left everyone, including themselves, exhausted – yet wanting more.
Thunderbirds are Now! closed things out at the Stick with a frantic, yet contained set that focused mainly on material from the band’s forthcoming album, Justamustache. The band’s performance was actually far tighter than at past shows, courtesy of the far more deliberate tone of the band’s newer material. Scott Allen once again staked his claim at being the most hyperactive person alive, throwing his microphone and tambourine all over the stage while flailing around wildly. Things got a bit rowdy towards the end of the set with “Pink Motorcycle Helmet,” which fell apart pretty marvelously to end the live music portion of the evening.
From there, everyone filed back to the Garden Bowl, where even at 1:30 a.m., the place was still packed wall-to-wall with folks getting down to the Dorkwave sounds. It seemed that most people in attendance had a great time and were excited that it’s Blowout time once again … All of us here at MCR sure are excited, and that’s a fact.
Thursday Night
The worst part of every year’s Hamtramck Blowout is admitting that the whole thing is over. For three days (four, if you’re one of the brave souls that took on the Launch Party, too), MCR night life revolved around $2 Molsons, frantic prayers for close parking spots, cell phone calls trying to coordinate venue meet-ups with friends, and (for the nerdiest of us) ‘study’ sessions that involved trying to plot out courses of action for the evening via computer printouts of the Blowout schedule. Yeah, we’ll admit to all of that, because no one’s ever mistaken any of us for being too cool for school or anything. For as crazy and as hectic as it all sounds, by halfway through Thursday night, everything already seemed routine – as if this weird sort of rock-and-roll multitasking was second nature or something. Despite the negatives that could possibly be associated with four days of cheap beer, smoky bars and way loud music, all of us here at MCR grew somewhat depressed with the end of Blowout festivities, and jokes were even made to the effect of wanting to find something that could be considered a Blowout post-party on Sunday night.
While the Majestic Complex’s Launch Party was a fine affair, it doesn’t really feel like the Blowout until the shows start up in Hamtramck itself. There’s something cool about starting the weekend by splitting the Thursday 9:00 p.m. schedu
le between two bands, just because it seemed like it’s in the spirit of things to do so. Ryan and I headed over to The Locker Room, where Vespas held its own for a few songs with some angular, layered rock (think Sonic Youth’s feedback laced meanderings packed into three minute Pixies-esque songs). The urge to roam was strong, though, and five minutes later, the two-piece guitar pop act All Right Tokyo had MCR heads bobbing over at Baker’s Streetcar. Meanwhile, Big Matt found himself enamored with The Candy Band at The Belmont. In Matt’s words:
The Candy Band ran through a wide variety of children’s songs, but did them in their own punk style – which is very Ramones sounding. They played such classics as “Skip to My Lou”, “Spiderman” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” along with some originals such as “Paper, Rock, Scissors”, “Playdate” and “Monsters”, which was based on the tune of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” It seemed that the band members might not have been used to playing to actual adults, as their on-stage banter was very themed towards children (although in the setting of the Belmont, it came across with some humor). Rumors that the Milf Hunter was there were completely false. Overall, it was a fun and different set and a great way to start the night off.From that point on, the male contingency of MCR had decided to lump together as a traveling unit for the rest of the evening. The posse was in full effect at Baker’s for the Prime Ministers, who also counted Uncle Grambo and various Friends of Whatevs as audience members.
The Prime Ministers played at what may have been the coolest ‘non- venue’ venue – if that makes any sense. As far as we know, Baker’s Streetcar doesn’t usually host bands. It felt like we were drinking in someone’s basement, and we were just waiting for mom and dad to come home early or for the neighbors to call the cops. Anyways, the Prime Ministers took the “stage” on Thursday night running through songs off of their latest release, Prime Ministers Go For The Glory. Songs like “Bored Again Kristen” and “Summer Shoulders” are perfect summer pop jams that made the crowd forget that it was the dead of winter – we were transported us all the way back to August imagining we were driving around town with the convertable top down. One thing that was kind of funny about the Prime Ministers set was right after the third song, the Jaeger girls came by looking frightened and bewildered and then took a picture with the band between songs. The highlight of the set was the spell-a-long/ sing-a-long version of “Sunday Volume,” which had many in the crowd clapping along. This, in turn, warmed everyone up as they headed out into the night to catch another show.
Well said, Matt. ‘Twas a hop, skip and a jump over to the Knights of Columbus Hall from there, as Scott Morgan and Powertrane ripped out a tight set with a really clear live mix. Morgan certainly has been around the scene longer than most, but man oh man, on this night Powertrane ripped harder than most acts 20 years younger could. Bookending the set with a few old Sonic’s Rendezvous Band tunes (“Dangerous” and “City Slang”), Morgan led the band through a guitar-solo filled forty minutes that left MCR staffers saying aloud, “Now that right there is a damned ROCK BAND” … And yes, Uncle Grambo was right on Whatevs when he said that lead axe slinger Robert Gillespie bore a pretty startling resemblance to Alice Cooper. Did anyone else find it a bit odd (and slightly disturbing) that there was a HUGE orange Jaegermeister banner hanging on the wall about three feet away from a bronzed figure of Jesus on a wooden cross? Weird.
Anyways, MCR has already spouted off about the absolutely stellar performance Loretta Lucas at Baker’s Streetcar on Thursday night (I, personally, will go on record as saying that this was my favorite performance of this year’s Blowout), but there’s no reason not to review the particulars again. Lucas stood up at the ‘stage area’ wearing a knee-length white lace dress with see-through lace sleeves (accessorized with an almost knee-high pair of brown boots), and between her dress and the smile on her face when she started her set, the entire audience was hooked on her every breath almost immediately. She’d croon quietly, and just when it sounded as if her voice would falter and crack, she’d raise up and belt out a slightly raspy vocal wail that widened eyes and dropped jaws. While the few tracks Lucas performed with her twin sister Julie were standouts, her finest moment was easily a daintily sweet cover of Melonie’s “Brand New Key.” I’ll do you the favor of typing the name a few times so no one forgets it: Loretta Lucas, Loretta Lucas, Loretta Lucas, Loretta Lucas, Loretta Lucas.
Friday Night
I dug the sound of Baker’s Streetcar so much on Thursday that he headed back on Friday to check out Colic’s set. Outside of some initial confusion as to whether or not it was actually Colic that was setting up when I got there (when did the band pare itself down to being a three-piece?), the set was entertaining – lots of heads were bobbing to catchy rock tracks like “Falling Asleep at the Wheel,” and the sound quality at Baker’s was once again top notch. Ryan made an attempt to check out Molly Jean’s set, but wound up disappointed that what should’ve been a solid performance was marred by some major sound mix issues.
While Matt checked out a hoppin’ set from The Avatars, I met up with Ryan again and took in a set from The Holy Fire, who sounded surprisingly spry at the Knights of Columbus hall. While it seemed like the guitars were buried a bit too much underneath the vocal tracks, the intensity of the band’s performance wasn’t at all affected – especially during the set’s last two
songs, which saw the guitarists flailing about as if they were trying to angrily choke sounds out of their strings.
Ryan stuck around at the hall to check out Bang Bang’s set (“LOUD” was the frequent description given for that one) and reported the highlight to be the return of original singer Dave Graw for the anthemic “1977.” Meanwhile, I floated over to Paycheck’s to catch a searing set from The Muggs, who once again proved that rock-and-roll in its purest form is most definitely not dead at all. Danny Methric put on yet another disgusting display of guitar solo fireworks, lacing into originals like “White Boy Blues” and a cover of The Beatles’ “Yer Blues” with furious fretwork. The band’s thick reading of “I Don’t Need No Doctor” (obviously patterned after the version on Humble Pie’s Rockin’ the Fillmore) was the set highlight, as Tony DeNardo laid down some solid bass-key work behind Methric’s guitar noodling. The crowd at Paycheck’s was so receptive to the Muggs that the band kept playing twice after its set had supposedly ‘ended’.
On a different end of the musical spectrum, Matt found himself amongst a big crowd at Smalls for the Saturday Looks Good to Me show. From Matt:
Fresh off of their European tour, Saturday Looks Good to Me had the headlining spot at Smalls on Friday night. The six-piece band tore through Fred Thomas’ ‘heart on the sleeve’ Phil Spector-ish anthems that played heavily off the band’s latest release Every Night, though the band didn’t ignore old favorites such as “Meet Me by the River”, “Diary”, and “Alcohol.” Thomas’ upbeat sounding songs had the packed house dancing, singing and clapping along with every note. Sassy singer Betty Barnes mesmerized many folks in the crowd with her ‘hand on the hip while singing’ dance move. SLGTM were set to close the show with the latest single “I Don’t Want to Go,” but a shaky rendition led the band to throw in “Parking Lot Blues” for good measure.
Saturday was sort of a bummer for the MCR crew, as the realization had set in that the Blowout was already almost over. Still, everyone pressed on with the knowledge that there were still many bands left to play, and even more $2 Molsons left to drink. If memory serves right, the largest contingency of MCR staffers at any one Blowout gig gathered at the New Dodge to check out The Vamps gritty set. This band was just flat ON, dropping dirty little blues-laced nuggets with vocals that were impressively Joplin-esque.
Matt wandered over to check out part of power-pop act Lisboa’s set at the Painted Lady, but split when the band’s rhythm guitarist managed to break two strings within the first few songs. From there, Matt wound up meeting up with me at Carbon to check out The Questions, who put on yet another standout performance at this year’s Blowout. The first half of the band’s set gave the impression of a spooky, dark, Bizarro-world relative of the Stray Cats. The Questions diversified quite a bit with the second half of the set, launching off a few catchy rock numbers and a straight up slide-guitar blues ditty, as well. In what will definitely serve as a defining moment of this year’s Blowout, guitarist/frontman Drew Bardo closed the set by dropping his guitar and performing a twisted poetic monologue that would’ve made Jim Morrison blush. The band’s rhythm section pounded away as Bardo wailed about bohemians and mythological gods, winding up the experience by heading out into the crowd and hollering in a few folks’ faces.
While Ryan was checking out the Hard Lessons at the Knights of Columbus hall, Matt meandered over to a packed-in-like-sardines Smalls to see Nathaniel Mayer and the Shanks. Take it away, Matt:
Nathaniel Mayer played to what was the biggest crowd I have ever seen at Smalls. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder without any room to move. The temperature outside may have been pretty low but inside things were quite hot, literally and figuratively. Backed by a five-piece band, Mr. Mayer prowled around stage singing his tales of love and lust. His voice sounds as if he has been eating cigarettes and glass over the past 40 years, but yet at the same time he still sounded good. Many of Nathaniel Mayer’s songs featured call and response parts that the enthusiastic crowd happily shouted out. One of the high points was during the song “You Gotta Work,” (off the album ‘Just Wanna Be Held’) when Mayer became somewhat of a preacher talking about the ills of work, collecting welfare and how no one really wants to work – and his fans agreed with overwhelming support. For a man in his 60’s, Mayer is still quite the showman. At one point in the set, he pulled a woman on stage and held her hand and sang to her – then danced with her a bit before sending her on her way. If you ever get the chance, this Detroit legend is a must see.
I passed on the sweaty confides of Smalls for the more intimate Whiskey in the Jar, where I saw The Silent Years defy its band name by playing what was easily the loudest set I took in at the Blowout. The thing was, the band was just straight up tight. The rhythm section popped through the whole set, and the singer’s vocals frequently rose up into intense wails while the second guitarist flailed at his guitar like Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. Most of this material came from the band’s forthcoming CD, Stand Still Like the Hummingbird – and while the disc itself is laid back, the band’s live performance was anything but.
Ryan closed out the Blowout at the Knights of Columbus hall with the usual craziness that ensues when one sees The Sights. Matt and I, on the other hand, chose to pay our respects at the last gig of our favorite Detroit party band, the Detroit City Council
One of MCR’s favorite bands, the Detroit City Council, played its final show to help close out the Hamtramck Blowout on Saturday night at Small’s. Although the band didn’t bring out the old all-white tuxes, they did go out in fine style, as the DCC had the packed house shaking with its brand of funk. Singer Tom Potter was in rare form, spouting out frequent comments like, “I feel real sexy tonight,” and “I’m feeling very improper.” At one point, Potter actually encouraged audience members to take their pants off and dance. Not long after that, he intro’d a track with, “This song is about fucking.” He later added something to the effect of, ‘If you can’t get laid at the Blowout, there is something wrong with you,’ which drew a roar of approval from the crowd.
Towards the end of the set things got a bit alcoholically sloppy, but that really just made the set more fun. Celebrating on-stage was at an all-time high, and the band’s infectious partying spirit spilled over into the crowd. The band’s cover of the Ohio Players’ “Fopp” was a dirty, oozing, blues-funk rendition laced with searing guitar work; a playful, ‘champagne of b
eers’ enhanced version of the band’s own “Party Planet Rising” helped to answer Potter’s frequent requests to see some asses wigglin’.
As usual, the band closed the show with the requisite DCC cover of Parliament’s “Hit It and Quit It,” which wound the band’s final show down amidst a sloppy haze of guitar and a thudding rhythm section. The DCC always provided a fun and entertaining show with solid songs, and the band will be greatly missed amongst the MCR posse. The only question now, of course, is “Who will take up the ‘Ass Struggle’?” The Detroit City Council may be gone, but it most certainly is not forgotten. Those of us that have become familiar with the Council will never forget that it most certainly is always our civic duty to shake that booty.
Another Blowout is now in the books and it seems more people than ever hit the streets of Hamtramck to witness all the great musicians in the area. We saw some old favorites, discovered some new great bands, ran into countless great people, braved the freezing cold and drank a few too many Molsons. No the rumor isn’t true, Hamtramck hasn’t been renamed Jaeger-ville, even though the Jaegermeister folks hung their flags in every imaginable place in town. The Blowout brings a different excitement to seeing a show rather than going out on an average Friday night. Seeing people running down the street from one place to another just to catch a few songs from a certain band and everyone pulling out their schedules to see where to go next was quite amusing. We couldn’t believe people were still buying wristbands at 11 p.m. on Saturday night just to see any band they could. We were asked multiple times by people out in the street who is playing at what bar; being at Smalls and having people ask where the bands play just goes to show how big this event has gotten. Thanks to everyone who put in all the time to pull this great event together: The Metro Times, the city of Hamtramck, all the fans of area bands and especially to all the great musicians who played the Blowout and for making this event what it is. We’ve already begun the countdown to next year’s event!
