Sponge @ Club 54 w/ Army of Good, Busted Puppets, & Avatar
Sponge @ Club 54 w/ Army of Good, Busted Puppets, & Avatar (8-10-07)
Sponge…. Avatar….Busted Puppets….Army Of Good….a packed Club 54 on a Friday night. All I can say is, thank god it was a Friday! Man if you missed this event at Club 54 la
st Friday night, you missed another jamming night of Detroit Rock & Roll! With the stage set, a massive PA brought in by Razor, (did I mention massive?) a system I’m told that was pushing 15,000 watts which literally shook da Club and you! Awesome! The night was shaping up to be a rather large one as Army Of Good took the stage @ 9 o’clock to a full club. We had seen these guys a while back on one of those cold nights back in March @ da club with a few other bands. Well, I can say that these guys have really turned it up a notch or two since then. Hailing from the Flint area, with Biff Benson (Vocals), Andy Bowman (Vocals,Guitar), Paul Mazzola (Lead Guitar), Joey Stewart (Drums), Korey Pickett (Bass), they ripped off a 40 minute set that wasn’t anything like the first! Backed by that enormous PA, Army Of Good came across loud, crisp, & clear. They really get the crowd going when Bowman puts down his guitar, and picks up his mic to join Biff up front to start trading off vocals and rhymes. They’ll be at the Dirt Fest in Birch Run on August 25th with 49 other bands. Check them out on their myspace page @ myspace.com/armyofgood1.
On a hot summer night, what could be better than a hot rock & roll band like the Busted Puppets. I’m not talking
just hot, I’m mean like Kid Rock’s So Hot! Finding any info on this band proved to be rather frustrating. They have an EP out called “Drugs & Ammunition”, which was recorded with Tommy K over @ Digital Vision in Wixom. We do know that the band is from Highland Michigan, and features the mesmerizing “front woman”, Brittany, who, once she steps on stage, has everyone watching as she slithers and dances across the stage. Wearing next to nothing, Brittany uses her looks as well as her awesome voice to captivate her audience, bringing them into her music one at a time, and then unleashing that mysterious glance, that makes you sit up & notice. Playing a 40 minute set, the Busted Puppets, drew from their EP “Drugs & Ammunition”, which is overtly laden with that 4/20 mindset (it is rock & roll after all), with the songs “left Unsaid” and “Waltz The Trapeze” , then lit up the stage while laying down their new tune “Paranoia”. Dancing off the stage as her set ended, this 5 ft bundle of energy could not be contained as Brittany danced and jumped to just about every song Motorcity Mike could spin. Definitely a group worth seeing, check them out @ www.myspace.com/bustedpuppets, this won’t be the last time we hear from this unique Rock & Roll outfit.
As 11 pm rolled around, da Club started to swoon with the mass of people now gathered for tonight’s show. Up next was Avatar, another band from the “outskirts” of Detroit City, from Clarkston, 
home of the infamous Pine Knob. Oh wait, I mean DTE Energy…..ah who cares, it’s still Pine Knob. This is a 3 pc that will roll up its sleeves, then pound you with their straight forward rock & roll. Rolling with the large crowd now surrounding the stage, Avatar delivered a set worthy of the opening act for a big name like Sponge. Set squarely in the roots of Detroit rock & roll, these guys surely now how to get a club moving. As the opening chords from “Fallen” hit the PA, da Club was on its feet. By the time they hit us up with my favorites from them,” She Says” & “Closer”; Avatar had succeeded in their mission, getting Club 54 hyped up for the main act Sponge. Check em out at http://www.thebandavatar.com to hear their stuff, they rock!
With da Club at full tilt now, the clock passed Midnight with no Sponge in sight. With the show producer, Ron from Razor Entertainment, sitting at the Dr2 table, Club owner Maria was getting a bit antsy when it approached 12:30 with still no Sponge in sight. Ron was beckoned to retrieve the band 
from where ever they were. With Ron running outside to find out what was up, Vinnie D and his crew came running in and jumped up on stage to a thunderous applause. Upon Ron’s return, we find out that they were trying to “Party Till They Dropped” out in the parking lot! Once a rock star, always a rock star! We also learned from Ron, that yes, Sponge was recording the show for a planned upcoming “Live” album and possible DVD. As Sponge launched into 16 candles, I couldn’t quite get over how much Detroit rock fans, love their Detroit rock stars. It’s been over 10 years since Sponge was on “Top” of their game, but by the look of tonight’s crowd, and the by the sound of the show, you’d would of swore it was 1995 again! Again, as the hit song from Wax Ecstatic, Where’s Mary, began, da Club went absolutely crazy. As the show was coming to a close, Sponge just stepped on the pedal and floored the entire club with their hit “Plowed”, done as recorded and also slowing it down, letting da Club sing acappella with them, obviously to drive home the “live” album sound! And it didn’t stop there, as Sponge went on to cover Kid Rock’s famous chant (made famous by the Red Wings), “Ain’t No Party, Like A Detroit Party, randomly exchanging the Detroit, with Club 54, the roof was about to bounce into the parking lot, especially when the aforementioned song was only a lead in to the newest Sponge song “Party To We Drop”. Inviting all the ladies up on stage to dance, the show ended as it had begun, with Sponge jumping off the stage and back out into the parking lot. Check the group out @ www.spongetheband.com. Again, this will be a night to remember for Club 54!