Stars and Stripes Festival- The Clem 2007
Stars & Stripes Fest 2007- Review
Category: Music
Stars and Stripes Festival- The Clem 2007
Unbelievable. That pretty much sums up this event. A Closed off Clem, warm/dry weather, food, vendors, lots of music, crazy people and COLD BEER. What more can one want? Well here's my short list. 1st – more entrances/exits from the grounds. (although we did not have an issue with this personally, but could see it being one) 2nd-although I may be dreaming here, but why not take on the flavor of the "other" stages and put some of our many Local "National" acts on the main stage? I'm sure I don't need to list those who fall into that category. If there is one city/state/metro area who could pull that off, it would be this State. Oh well, maybe one day. Anyways, since this is DR2 I will only say this about the "National" acts, They were good and I enjoyed them all. Now on to the more important stuff like, how was the fest itself & how were all those local acts during their sets? Well if you were not one of the "estimated" 300,000 to attend any of the 3 days the fest ran, shame on you! I mean this is Detroit Rock City, and I include the Clem in there too! Man what an awesome time we had. We attended all 3 days and not once was there any hint of a problem. Parking was a breeze, even Friday night for the Fireworks show. $5 and we parked across SB Gratiot in one of those Municipal lots and were able to get in and out quick. Although the beer was a little pricey, it was Bud, it was Cold, & it was very available. Never had to wait in a line, especially if you found Monica over at Fritt's serving cold ones from the Ice Trough for $2 bucks. They got busted and were not serving over the fence Saturday or Sunday…..bummer. And the food, you got hungry just walking down main street and smelling it! Again a bit pricey, But if it meant a KR or UK on the main stage…………….And the PA's they had there were awesome. The sound boards looked used and older but the JBL's they had stacked looked right out of the box! Talking with the sound guy (can't remember his name) at the Wrif stage, they were pushing 42,000 watts out of them! The Main Stage suffered abit from the "open" layout, but only from a far. Up close it was also rocking. The Wcsx stage was a bit more laid back with a very small board, virtually no sound guy, and a smaller, but still new JBL's. Let's get to the music. Friday afternoon we caught Greenstreet on the Wrif Stage. These guys play sort of a "pop rock" style, catchy riffs, and lots of harmonies. Although the crowd for this set was minimal, they put on a solid performance. Greenstreet hails from Troy, Mi and includes brothers Matt (Lead Guitar) & Mike Vendittelli (Bass), Matt Kysia (Vox, Rhythm Guitar) and Scot Poloney on drums. These guys are getting some national exposure as they head out for shows in Chicago on Friday, then up to the Summerfest in Milwaukee Saturday. Catch them before it's too late at Royal Oak's Fifth Avenue July 13th, check them out @greenstreetband.com. Mt. Clemens home boys Critical Bill opened the main stage Friday afternoon with a loud bang. Never caught these guys before, so it was a real treat to see their set in their own hometown. By the reaction of the crowd, my guess is everyone felt the same. From the mold of a KR, Critical Bill plays a Hip Hop/ Rock style of music. They definitely have a large following as evident by the total eruption that took place as Lead Vocalist Powerdise & the boys slide into there "anthem" – This is Critical. Wow, just a sea of pumped fists as they ripped this one across your face. I loved it! These guys are becoming quite the regional act as they been playing throughout the Midwest and beyond as support for Tech N9ne. Next hometown show is @ the Emerald on Aug 9th; find them at critical-bill.com. We headed over to the Wcsx Stage to see Barb Payton, then headed back to the wrif stage (after a quick visit to Fritt's) to catch Detroit's own Mindcandy. Seemed as if a whole lot of people had the same thought! Mindcandy drew them in, and in what was billed as Bass player Terry's last gig with Mindcandy, proceeded to rock the nearby courthouse. Hope there wasn't any trials going on during this set! Loud and rambunctious, Rudy pranced across the stage with confidence as we all Recognized that these guys rock. Of course they also Dropped A Bomb on all of us as they finished one rousing set. Probably one of their best sets I've witnessed from Mindcandy to date. They certainly benefited from that huge PA!. Check them out at mindcandyrock.com, as they have a new CD about ready to drop. Now I did find myself back at the Main Stage for a quick view of Puddle of Mudd before sneaking back to the Riff stage to catch those downriver boys Ray Street Park. You would have thought that these guys were also from Mt Clemens as they had the whole street packed with fans, and this during Puddle of Mudd's headlining set. Motor City Love at it's finest. Needles to say, if you were there, RSP delivered a final knock out punch, closing out the first day of music on the Wrif Stage. Lot's of head banging-fist pumping was going on every where. I just love it when Rick Stafford wails out King of Everything with Terry Alan alongside just pounding that bass! What a set, what a first night! As the sun went down, the Annual Mt Clemens fireworks went up. Nice display to end the night and send every one off before a huge return on Saturday for day 2.
Day 2.
Stopped first to get some of them damn stupid "corn dogs"! These things are so bad for you that they're good! The goal today was to catch one of our favorite bands, Radiocraft. But first we were surprised to find Radiocraft's guitarist, Ronnie Alcini, performing with the band Stealing Alan's Rights on the Wcsx stage. A pleasant surprise as we were takin back by their smooth sound. We will need to dig in a bit on these guys as we enjoyed their set. As we headed toward the Wrif Stage, Ronnie, in true Detroit style, ran past us down Main Street, amp in tow and guitar in hand, to meet up with Radiocraft, who were in process of setting up for their 5 pm slot. What is it about Radiocraft? It seems as their stage gets bigger, PA louder, and the crowd larger, they react to the moment in front of them. Suzie Ferro feeds of these bigger shows, leaving no doubt that she definitely can front a rock band. As her band mates deliver the pulsing beat, Suzie takes command of the stage pulling her audience "into" her songs, while demanding your attention as she flawlessly moves across the stage. Giving us all their hits from the 2nd CD Red, they ripped through the title track Red, Bakersfield and one of our favorites, The Wheel. Thanking the men & women of our military, Radiocraft reached back to their first cd for Soldiers Fortune, as Suzie again sparkled with her dazzling vocals. They then pushed forward, treating us to Bribe The Guards, a new one from their forthcoming EP. As their set was winding down, she lit up Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown, as Suzie & Radiocraft left us all feeling as if we had just attended a show at the Palace! Quite a remarkable set from a well established group. Radiocraft is set to drop a new "EP" sometime this fall. Can't wait to get our hands on this disc, as this time Grammy-nominated producer, Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nickleback, 3 Doors Down, Bon Jovi, etc) has taken over the controls for this release. Suzie says to expect the same 70's rock sound, but with fatter guitars & a bit more 'tude, as this disc will prove to be their best effort yet. They're set to open up for the Zen CD release party July 6th over at the Bullfrog. Check them out @ http://www.radiocraftmusic.com. Afterwards we did hit up on Karen Newman's Star Spangled Banner and the sweet flyover by the US Air Force, before catching Flint's very own Mark Farner. Very captivating performance from the Grand Funk Railroad singer, as he rotated between his own & GFR tunes. One of the favorites was his rendition of I'm Your Captain, with his vocals rolling over the chorus and the entire audience singing every word with him………
Day 3.
Waking up tired, hung over and feeling like hell swarmed over, we pulled ourselves together enough to get over to the Fest for the final day. With our sights set on the 4 pm slot with Overloaded, we headed in and over to the Wcsx stage to catch Erich Goebel. Erich is a renowned "Blues" guitarist from Detroit. He has recently released his latest disc called East Side Soul, which features Johnny Bee Badanjek, of Mitch Ryder, Rockets fame. His electric style proved to be a real crowd pleaser as he played his ax behind his back for an entire song. Interesting set from this long time Detroit Blues veteran. Check his site out at erichgoebel.com. Judging by today's crowds, word must have been spreading of the ongoing musical onslaught taking place here in The Clem. Very well attended today, as the lines for food and of course beverages seemed much longer than the past 2 days. Good to see, hopefully all expectations are being met, and we'll have Stars & Stripes Fest back next year. Anyways, as the 4 pm slot drew nearer, we made our way back over to the Riff Stage for the explosiveness of Overloaded. Boy, word really must have gotten out as the wrif stage was swollen with fans for such an early set. You could feel the anticipation of the show we would all soon witness when Overloaded took the stage. Firing the first shot with their mega anthem, everybody's fist was in the air for this first song "Feeling Overloaded". I love this song. Featuring great riffs from one of the area's best guitarist, Erick Kluiber, and a biting vocal from Chris Gillen, this tune gets everyone on their feet & pumping their fist. By the time they got to the rapid fire of the hit tune ShotGun, the audience had moved to the front of the stage to witness this bombastic performance that was going down in The Clem. Luckily, thanks to a couple "Late" arriving fans that wanted to hear Feeling Overloaded, Chris announced that indeed they would play it again, provided everyone pumped their fist to the song. Well indeed they did. How awesome to get to hear your favorite tune twice in one set, kind of unprecedented. With Screamin Scott looking on, Overloaded launched into their set closer "Hellfire". As the name suggests, this tune rips through you, as the heavy base from Michael Massie and Lorenzo Gonzalez pounds off your chest. Fitting end to one of the more "heavy" sets of the entire festival. Overloaded certainly has that unique look and sound of Detroit Rock & Roll, and quite recently opened up for Godsmack at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, and also up in Mt Pleasant. Their also set to drop a new disc in August, with a CD Release party scheduled for August 3rd over at the Magic Bag. Check these guys out @ www.overloadedmusic.com. Back to the CSX stage to check out this Danny D guy. Never heard of him, and needles to say, was quite surprised to hear his stuff. Hailing from Hamtramck, Danny D literally grew up in the center of Detroit Rock City. Suffering from Tourette's Syndrome & sounding similar to a Bob Seger, Danny D's set drew mainly from his CD Sunny Days. Check his new CD out at CDBaby. Back to the Wrif stage to check out them "Earworms", who play that distinct Garage Pop Punk. Not a bad set. Dressed in all black, they popped through their set with catchy riffs and vocals. You can catch up with them @http://www.myspace.com/theearwormsdetroit.
Well, it was off to catch the Gin Blossoms and then home to recuperate from this amazingly never ending weekend of great Detroit Rock & Roll. As you can see by the post date here, it took a few days to do just so! Be sure to check out the pic's from this and other amazing events we have attended. Next week we're off the City Fest to catch Hellen on Friday, the The Hard Lessons on Sunday! Detroit Rocks. Over.
Mark