Motorcity Special #2 – Saturday

The Motorcity Special # 2 is coming this Saturday to the Pike Room of the Crofoot. The concept is as follows: A bunch of bands play, Motorcity Special records it, burns it to vinyl (is this the right term? cuts to vinyl? I’m a moron, sorry), then sells it at the NEXT Motorcity Special. They do this by selling vouchers, then you have to show up for the next one to get your record….

Eat This City ripped (burned? I’m a moron, sorry) into the Motorcity Special concept for various reasons. And now, much much later, I feel like I should throw my 2 cents in.

THE BAD
Motorcity Special #1 had some of the worst sound problems I’ve ever hard at a live show. It was my first time experiencing Canja Rave live, and I still have no idea what they sound like live. I have their record, and it’s not filled with microphone squeaks, so I think it’s safe again to blame the sound guy. But when you’re doing a LIVE RECORDING to press vinyl to (oh, that’s the term: press) it shouldn’t be the sound guy’s first day on the job. Lo-fi Bri took his time to carefully setup so the Electric Fire Babies wouldn’t have sound issues. He tried, and Lo-fi, who is probably the nicest guy on earth, looked like he was going to punch some face when the sound went to hell (I think an army of wind-up robots held him back).

THE GOOD
Kirk from MotorCityBlog assured me that the sounds that were being recorded and what was coming out of the monitor at Motorcity Special #1 were totally different. The recordings were all good, and he’s just as pissed as everyone else that the PA system was fucked.

ↂBlack Lodge – This is probably going to be their last show. They broke-up after their Club Bart show and canceled all shows (including Land of Nod Experiment!) – then decided to rejoin and tolerate each other long enough to be a part of Motorcity Special recording session.
ↂMarco Polio and the New Vaccines – They just got back from their tour and from what I’ve heard, Steve their vocalist got naked on stage during more than one show (including Land of Nod Experiment!). I think that’s his new thing, getting naked. Steve naked probably looks like this [NSFW] but I’m sure someone’s into it.
ↂThe Jesus Chainsaw Massacre – If you’re one of the many people who think Jesus Chainsaw Massacre sucks, you’re missing the much bigger, cosmic, absurdist, brilliant level that this band operates on.
ↂThe Beggars – They’re just straight up rock’n roll power. They make red bull look like chamomile tea.
ↂWolfbait – Nerds to the core, rocking out some fantasy metal that will make you want to carry a broadsword all of the time. Amazing live.

Kevin and Kirk put on Motorcity Special because they support local music. They’re not getting rich off of this (no one in Detroit is getting rich besides M&M and Kit-rock). They only have the best intentions, and I will most likely be at EVERY Motorcity Special because it’s an awesome idea a lot of fun. I’m not just saying that because Kirk has a harem of women/could kill me with a baseball bat.

A REBUTTAL to the Eat This City post
$35 for a record? Let’s do the math shall we:

$10 to get into the show (which features 5 bands) – not bad.
$15 for a super limited edition LP of some pretty top notch Detroit talent – pretty sweet.
=====
$25 – Well worth it in my eyes.

Of course they’re going to sell ticket vouchers on ebay! Since when is selling records on ebay to recoup losses some horrible offense? While I will grant you being “forced” into going to the next show kinda sucks, it’s a business model – and a pretty clever one. The records aren’t $35 if you can buy vouchers without going to the earlier show! If I didn’t feel like paying to get in I’d just have one of the dozens of people I know will attend pick mine up for me. They’re not evil geniuses, they’re two dudes trying to find a sustainable way to produce records.

THE POSSIBLY BAD
Dr. Detroit tells me that every time I bitch out a sound guy, the MotorCityRocks ratings go through the roof. So, I’d like to point out that, SOMETIMES the soundguy at the Pike Room sux really bad. During the Vivian Girls a year or so ago, the dude fell asleep (srsly) during their set, and their cries for a better mix went unheard. If you missed Ariel Pink’s show last week, you can recreate it by playing his last album and having a friend shout “Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor? Can I get more vocals in the monitor?” between each song (and during some of them). I think I’m going to go to sound mixing school, because it can’t be that fucking difficult. I mean there has to be one, or a series of, knobs that control the volume of the vocals in the monitor. I may be 50% deaf in one ear, but in the land of the deaf the one eared man is king.

(For the record, I do think there are highly competent sound people in Detroit. Like Vincent Gallo’s twin at the Lager House.)