Yankeeville @ The Silver Spur & Broke @ The Dawghouse 8/18
Alright, I know it’s almost a week ago, but I have to write about last Saturday, August 18th. The night started a little low key, with the DR2 crowd hanging out and tryin’ to figure out which way to point the bus. It was finally decided that we should skip the Woodward Dream Cruise and stay on the East Side. We had been invited by Howie Deville of The Silver Spur to come out and see the band and we had gotten a heads up from Broke and Dangerous Pursuit that they were playing with Paper Street Saints down the street from The Spur at The Dawghouse in Clinton Township. Soooo we were on our way. We arrived at The Spur first in time to catch the line-dancin’ regulars moving off the floor in preparation for the opening set of Yankeeville. After scoping out their website, we expected a Country cover band with some originals. Boy did we underestimate Eric and the guys!! Yankeeville is definitely unique. They opened their set in ordinary enough fashion with a variety of country covers of Dirks Bentley, Big & Rich, Brad Paisley, etc.. but then switched gears to do a cover of the Dukes Of Hazzard Theme song and then switched to Sweet Home Alabama. And they were just gettin’ started. Eric aka “Taco” cannot stay on the stage, often roaming the dance floor and stage to sing to the audience, up close and personal. Adam on guitar also joined Taco by wandering off stage to the center of the dance floor for a screaming lead solo! These guys showed right away that they had a lot of personality and really love what they are doing. Personally, that’s what I love to see in a band. I want to see them having fun. It makes me have fun and enjoy the night! Well. The first set was over and we decide it would be best to jump back in the cruiser and head down the street to see who was on at The Dawghouse. Greeted at the door by the owner, Jim, with the bad news that, because of a conflict with The Magic Bag, the Paper Street Saints were not going to play tonight, but they were going to reschedule for a later date. Our disappointment was not over because we then learned that Dangerous Pursuit had already played their set. Well, being optimistic folks we asked who had yet to play and learned that we were just in time for Broke’s set. So the night was looking up. This group has been around a while, recently playing a lot of gigs with their new singer/diva Lauren Whitmore, but we had not been able to catch their show. We settled in and rocked out to the set that included Broke’s originals “1888”, “Stone Broke In Detroit” (my favorite), and “Lanterns”. These guys (and gal) can rock!! With Kevin Smith rippin’ on Guitar(looking like he was ready to mosh at a moments notice), Randy Werner providing the steady rhythm on Bass, the big man, Doug Rowe hammering out the beat behind the skins, and, of course, Lauren beltin’ out the lead vox , they definitely jam!! Lauren has a set of pipes to rival Pat Benatar, in fact, they covered “Heartbreaker” but with serious attitude. If you like Detroit Rock-and-Roll and you get the chance, Broke is a definite must-see! Check out their site and listen to their music at www.myspace.com/brokedetroit . We will be watching this band. So at this point most sane individuals would have probably called it a night and headed home. Key words there, “most” and “sane”. We at DR2 have never been accused of being sane, so we were off to head back to The Spur to try to catch Yankeeville’s last set. We walk in and the insanity was just getting into full swing. “Taco” and the boys are in the middle of a cover of “When the Bodies Hit The Floor” by Drowning Pool!! The rest of the set continues in the same fashion with the music swinging from Hank Williams “Family Tradition” to Nickelback’s “Animals” and back again to Toby Keith, then Poison. What a RIOT!!! These guys made me regret missing their second set. Next time we won’t make that mistake. So if you are looking for a great night out, singing along with “Taco” and the gang havin’ a blast, look these guys up at www.myspace.com/yankeeville or www.yankeeville.net . So with our musical appetite fully satisfied for yet another Saturday night we piled back in the bus and headed home. Until the next show...... Keep Rockin’!!D:)