Dr2 Re-Launch Party

It's not often that we get a chance to toot our own horns, but we must say that the "New & Improved Dr2" Website Re-Launch Party was a huge success, thanks to nearly 500 of you who helped us celebrate in typical un-abashed Detroit Rock & Roll Style! Whoa, what a throw down! With a super-sized line-up featuring some of Detroit's hottest acts, the Emerald Theater came alive as we unleashed the brand new format for our website, bringing with it an extremely user-friendly interface, while making it much more interactive, laying a solid foundation for many more upgrades and features along the way! After weeks of broken links & constant tweaks, the website was officially "open for business" September 23rd, which gave us a super huge reason to celebrate with the help of our fabulous sponsors, DetroitCity.Tv, who selfishly webcast our event to over 5,000 viewers that night, yes, 5,000, while Dil & Roc's Airbrush Tattoos rocked some awesome designs, even garnering themselves a line of people waiting to get the "paint"! Ghost Vodka, the only Vodka made in Detroit, entirely from Michigan grown ingredients, was on hand offering free samples, while Metro 37 Recording Studios manned the sound booth for us, delivering us all an exceptional sounding night of rock & roll!

But, as always with Dr2, it was the bands that made the night for us, Straight Up. Mound Road Engine started the party, bringing their full onslaught of pedal to the metal rock & roll, to the delight of a very respectable large crowd who were ready to rock by 8 O'clock, which is exactly why they made the finals of a huge Kid Rock Battle of The Bands last year. Nothing slow & sweet about these guys (and gal), dropping a 40 minute set of explosive metal, MRE not only bangs your head, they delivered an awe inspiring performance that had the front & center photographers clamoring for more! What a beginning to what was quickly becoming the show to be at.

This next young band has recently stormed onto the local scene, winning Detroit's infamous Radio Station, 101 WRIF's $10,000 Battle of The Bands competition this past summer. Hailing from the Clawson area, Headlights Over Hills brings a certain raw feel to their music, yet somehow manages to completely captivate its audience with a stage presence usually reserved for seasoned veterans. Sporting the latest in gadgetry, HOH grabbed the attention of the Emerald Theater with their near flawless delivery of their modern rock/pops songs such as Malpractice Makes Perfect, & Like Fireworks, prompting an all out mosh up while Dr2 was inundated with the question we like to hear the most..... "hey, who are these guys", a sure sign that this young six piece just won a slew of new fans.

The Ryan Horizon Band is another up & coming young band, recently making the finals of the Hayloft's $10,000 "Sign My Band" Contest, which has been making waves across town with their fresh take on the contemporary alt rock genre. A genuine vocal over some sweet melodies is always a recipe for success, and these guys have a full cook book of ear popping hooks, that when mixed in with their phenomenal "in-band" light show, is nothing short of a well cooked home meal! Hats off to these guys as they pulled off an amazing 40 minute set!

By now, anticipation was running rabid inside the Emerald Theater. Lots of action going on, friends congratulating us, strangers high fiving us, but the biggest surprise came as we went up to introduce the next band, when out of nowhere, we were rudely interrupted by.....oh, our good Friend Tommy Morris of DetroitCity.Tv? We were like wtf Tommy, why you interrupting our moment on stage, not like we get a lot of them! Ahhh, but in an amazing moment of true, genuine "Detroit Love", Mr. DetroitCity.Tv himself took over the mic, then proceeded to shower us with enough compliments to make both our heads spin! But in the end, it was Tommy's heartfelt gift of Old English "D" rings that put Don & I into that rare "speechless" moment, Thanks Again Tommy! Of course that didn't last long, cus we were there for one thing, and one thing only, to party with some of the best bands in the city!

With great music come great people, and this next band fills that suit to a T, actually they're usually donning suits on stage, completing one of the most compelling stage shows in town. Cody Stagefright is the epitome of what rock & roll stardom should be, and they took us all to school on how to deliver a rousing set to the now packed Emerald Theater. Ensconced with a naturally soulful vocal, Jim Woolsey (vox, guitar), along with Chris "Volcano" Fortson (rap vox), came out swinging with an extremely well balanced selection of rockin, hip hop tinged soul that brought the Emerald crowd (and Dr2) storming to the front of the stage as the pair delighted the crowd with there non stop energy from one end of the stage to the other. At one point during their set, Woolsey opted to climb the Emerald's massive cabinets, while performing their emotion filled "Who Believes In Nothing" an amazing site to see, Woolsey standing nearly 15 ft tall, while draining every ounce of energy out of his voice, sending chills down everybody's spine, I know it did mine! But as always, CSF saved the best till the end, with Woolsey pulling Oliver's drum kit apart, delibrately setting them in front of the now watching drummer of Headlights Over Hills, who graciously accepted the sticks and began to play away with the band, which by now featured Woolsey on the kit, Volcano on Guitar, and Chris Oliver rapping? Amazing! It should come to no surprise that Cody Stagefright just recently won The Hayloft's $10,000 "Sign My Band" Contest, be sure to catch them October 29th as another Michigan Made Band, Natives Of The New Dawn returns home to play the Hayloft!

Shhhhh, HUSH is Coming!! was the proverbial chant heard throughout the Emerald Theater after we introduced the final band tonight. As the lights slowly came up the curtain began to open, revealing a larger than life Neon Lit "HUSH" logo hanging from the back of the stage. Fresh off an opening stint for Ludacris, it was an awesome sight, on an awesome set, that included 2 drummers (P-Dog & ?) on either side of the DJ Invicible, bass (take a Shance), guitar (Kyle P), check that, 2 guitars (+ Matt Austin), keyboards (Aaron Berch), vocals (Cadillac Dale), AND the MC HUSH. Now this is HUSH at his best, This is HUSH opening the set with My Introduction as his live band came out one by one to their gear, before firing it up to a hip hopin', rap rockin', full blown rock & roll assault! The entrance alone would have been enough to satisfy the most strident aficionado, but tonight it was only the beginning of more than an hour of HUSH's most spectacular beats spawning his entire career. From Hush Is Coming, to Pull Out a Pistol, Rise Again, to Jessica Gordon & Ronnie Masters joining the band on stage for their fresh take of the Who's Baba O'Riley, HUSH was spitin' out the rhymes as fast as the crowd could digest them, prompting a well deserved encore that took the night right up to the 2am limit! Oh what a set, man what a night! Look for HUSH down at Saint Andrews Hall this Saturday where the band will be opening up for Bone, Thugs, n Harmony in the heart of Detroit!

We genuinely would like to thank each and every one of you that took the time to come celebrate our re-launching of our new website, and to all you bands, again, a great big thank you! We couldn't have done it with out you! Look for the next Dr2 Event "Live From The Emerald" coming at you soon! But in the meantime, be sure to check out the all "New & Improved Dr2" Website, only at DetroitRockReview.com – The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!