Posted by: Adam O'Connor on April 23, 2009 at 10:50 am
Rock Lottery @ The Magic Stick [4.22.09]
Someone took the Sights & Sounds winter holiday quasi-”experience” at the Magic Stick, upgraded it, and presented it to us as the Rock Lottery. People in Detroit obviously take Captain Planet Day seriously, because there were plenty of drunken folks who shelled out $10 to help “green” up the city. With clear conscience, it can be said that every act was entertaining in its own way Wednesday night. Now, whether that’s entertaining in the fact that we cringed at how god awful they were, or that it was clearly impressive that a randomly thrown-together group of musicians was able to put together an enjoyable set (1 original + 1 cover) is up for your interpretation. Two covers (both of ’70s female-led rock bands) stand out in my memory. Randy (Deastro), two Dales (Beavers and Wilson), and Other Dude completely murdered “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. It was single-handedly the most amusing cover of the night, in a horrible, drunken karaoke-esque sort of way. Heart’s “Barracuda”, by Loretta Lucas and company, was fucking magical, and the clear topper for the evening. In all honesty, it was a relief that no band completely ruined both of their songs, but then again, nobody had insanely high expectations entering this train wreck of Save the Planet-ness. It was definitely tons o’ fun for everyone involved, we all had a few good laughs, and anyone who witnessed the entire show got to see 30 songs total. Props to Virginia and the crew at the Stick for pulling this all together. I can’t wait to see what folks are planning for Flag Day on June 14th!!
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Tags: Magic Stick, Rock Lottery
Posted by: Adam O'Connor + Laura Witkowski on April 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Titus Andronicus has an interesting sound and dynamic. A good portion of their set Saturday night at the Magic Stick (moved from the Majestic Theatre) sounded like old Irish drinking anthems + harmonicas and distortion. But mostly you couldn’t understand a word of what was going on, as if all the vocals were being sung with a mouth full of hot potatoes and/or marbles, or else they just did their best cover set of “Yellow Ledbetter” over and over again. Also, it didn’t help that you couldn’t tell if everyone’s guitars were plugged in properly or not. I kept hoping that someone would suddenly realize that it wasn’t Read more
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Tags: Lucero, Titus Andronicus
Posted by: Adam O'Connor on April 13, 2009 at 1:27 pm
The Belmont was all ’70s hair and mustaches Friday night. Oh, and a drunk hippie girl falling on her caboose after slipping on some beer. I swear, I’ve never heard someone land on their ass with a louder ‘thud’ in my life. But that was the encore to three solid sets by three bands that I didn’t expect anything less from. The pleasant surprise for me, though, was White Mystery. To my best recollection, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Alex White in any of the 1 million bands she’s been in. But she has a great reputation, and she definitely didn’t disappoint. People were calling it punk and/or garage. Either way, it was refreshing to hear a 2-piece play something that looks and sounds like it fell off the set Read more
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Posted by: Laura Witkowski on April 7, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Chicago is a great city - I’m glad they’re our neighbors. Every time I’ve gone there for a show, I’ve had a great experience. Morrissey was an exceptionally good experience however - one of the best shows I’ve ever been to in fact. I was a little nervous, because each time I’ve seen him it’s been at a seated venue — the Aragon Ballroom was a general admission show. With a fan base as fanatical as his, and a stature as short as mine, I knew that we’d need to get there really early in order to get a decent spot. Doors for the show were at 6:30pm. We drove by the venue at about 4pm just to take a look and get a general idea of the size etc. and to see if anybody might already be lined up to get in. From the outside, the venue reminded me of a smaller Fox Theater, and along the side of the building there were already about Read more
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Tags: Chicago, Morrissey, the Courteeners
Posted by: Adam O'Connor on April 6, 2009 at 11:27 am
Deastro/FTDT Record Release Party @ Pike Room [04.04.09]
Deastro’s record release party, via FiveThreeDialTone Records, was a smashing success Saturday night at the Pike Room. Vinyl release #001 was greeted by a capacity crowd (230+) at the free show that also featured phenomenal sets by Lightning Love, F’ke Blood, and Terrible Twos. All three openers rocked the jammed-full room, despite a slow start. Apparently, even though indie kids don’t like sports, everyone stayed home just long enough to see the University of Michigan States College play the Fantastic Four, or whatever silly shit was going on Downtown this weekend. By the time Randolph Chabot Jr. (aka Deastro) took the stage, sporting that creepy rainbow mini-popple hoodie vest-thing, it seemed like the whole wide world was ramped up to see what Read more
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Tags: Deastro, F'Ke Blood, Five Three Dialtone, Lightning Love, Terrible Twos
Posted by: Adam O'Connor on April 2, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Junior Boys @ The Pike Room [4.1.09]
Yessssssssssglowsticks! While crazy nu-hippie jam band Lotus rocked the patchouli crowd at the Crofoot Ballroom next door, Junior Boys entertained a near-full Pike Room Wednesday night. Nobody was out of control, nothing went beyond mellow/enjoyable, and there was no bullshit gimmicky seizure-inducing light show. Their set was extremely solid and very dance-able, although it was pointed out to me that Detroiters tend to not dance, sway, or even bob their heads more than a little at most musical performances. By the time the Boys played “In The Morning” to end their pre-encore set, however, there were more than a few white folks grooving as best they could. I’d bet my Detour paycheck that the 80-100 people that turned out definitely experienced everything they could have been hoping for. Their latest release, Begone Dull Care, dropped in Canada last week, and because ‘Merica sucks, we won’t see it legally until April 7th. Perhaps that means we’ll be seeing a review for it shortly…
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Tags: Junior Boys, The Crofoot Ballroom
Posted by: Laura Witkowski on April 1, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Morrissey, The Courteneers @ The Michigan Theater [3.31.09]
I’ll get this out of the way: I’ve been a Morrissey fan for over 15 years - the unwavering, devoted kind of fan that frankly, if it wasn’t me, I would probably hate. So this account of his appearance last night at the Michigan Theater is coming from the gushy-fan-girl perspective. Tickets for the show said doors at 7:30pm. Because of my previous experience seeing Morrissey, and because I don’t like to be late for anything, we got there at 7:15pm. The opening act - The Courteeners, went on pretty much RIGHT at 7:30pm. They sounded a lot like the Strokes meets the Jam with a bit of Velocity Girl thrown in if that helps paint a picture for the two or three VG fans reading this.
But alas, this is Morrissey - he’s not a “go-on-late-in-the-evening” type performer. In fact, at almost 8:30pm exactly he took the stage. As the familiar guitar intro to “This Charming Man” rang out, the lights came on and there he was - in a Read more
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Posted by: Johnny Loftus on March 31, 2009 at 3:00 pm
The Von Bondies, Lightning Love @ Schubas - Chicago [3.30.09]
Monday night? Well, sometimes it’s made for fighting, too. The music room at Schubas isn’t large, but when it’s respectably full on a chilly early Spring evening, it can make anyone feel right at home. Performing a set clearly honed during a successful run to SXSW and back, the Von Bondies made approximately 2,000 apologetic jokes about Detroit being the Joseph Cassano of American cities — The Prez just totally made the chairman and CEO of GM fire himself, after all — but never apologized, defended, or otherwise pretended that this wasn’t their room to heat up and split open. “Pale Bride” was second, “C’mon C’mon” was the bookend at second to last, and even if my pals A____ and M____ thought Christy Hunt and Leann Banks were a little Read more
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Tags: Lightning Love, Von Bondies
Posted by: Ryan Allen on March 30, 2009 at 12:27 pm
The Von Bondies, Millions of Brazillians, Gospel Gossip, First Communion Afterparty @ Saint Andrew’s Hall [3.28.09]
Was I hanging out at a biker bar in Redford on Saturday night, or at an indie rock show in the belly of one of Detroit’s oldest rock clubs? With a healthy collection of Ed Hardy enthusiasts and at least one Aerosmith hockey jersey spotted, the lines were a bit blurred. But chalk that mass appeal up to the Von Bondies and their new-found accessibility. They’re hometown heroes with one certified hit, an ace new album under their belts, and a live show that has gone from timid to simply commanding — so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t appeal to dudes that love Budweiser and Kid Rock. Say what you will about lead Bondie Jason Stollsteimer, but there is no denying that the guy is Read more
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Posted by: Adam O'Connor on March 27, 2009 at 2:05 pm
A.C. Newman, The Broken West @ The Pike Room [3/26/09]
A.C. Newman and his traveling gypsy band rocked a packed Pike Room Thursday night in Pontiac. The buttoned-up, mature, Starbucks crowd started the evening with arms folded, then slowly began to tap their collective foot, and then finally everyone in attendance let loose as the band nailed their set beyond expectations. Assuming that Newman would carry the set, it was a surprise to see how talented his backing (5 additional members) band was. Throughout the show, they would play a total of Read more
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Tags: A.C. Newman
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