One Last Mardi Gras Party!

One Last Mardi Gras Party!

Wow! What an unbelievable Mardi Gras/Pre St. Patty/Video Release Party hosted by TNT’s over in Clinton Twp this past Saturday Night. What was billed as the “One Last Mardi Gras Party” turned into pure mayhem inside TNT’s with a non stop barrage of thunderous rock & roll from some of Detroit’s best bands along with the highly anticipated release of Critical Bill’s latest video for My Suicide. From the overflowing parking lot, to the overzealous crowd, this party was over the top with a houseful of who’s who, complete with latex painted crazies running around! Moving around TNT’s was quite the trip, even if you found a spot to slide through there’d ultimately be someone there that you knew, rendering movement null & void! Crazy fun times are bound to happen when those bad boys from the south side, Ray Street Park is the “1^st” band up. Coming out swinging, Ray Street Park delivered their monster of a tune, King of Everything FIRST! These guys always bring it tough and loud, making for a great start to the night, even seen some moshing during their set which is always a good sign! Lot’s of action going on everywhere between sets as the buzz was climbing ever higher with Jaeger Girls & My Suicide Girls running around, hell even the Evaline Guitars display was smoking! When Critical Bill throws a party they never hold back, bringing in Broadzilla to keep the party vibes flowing! Fronted by local music columnist Rachael May, Broadzilla is an all female power trio who will blow you away if you’re not hanging on for dear life! Fresh off a successful show during last week’s Blowout in Hamtramck, Broadzilla is quite the treat to catch at such a small venue since they are more accustomed to performing at the area’s more modest sized clubs like The Magic Bag in Ferndale or even The Emerald Theater in Mt. Clemens where they have an upcoming benefit gig for Angelo Ganos featuring Seduce, Broadzilla, Universal Temple of Divine Power and Dangerous Pursuit April 3^rd. Now that’ll blow you away! Well with the “Standing Room Only” crowd elevated to a “Climbing All Over You” status, things started to get pretty heated inside TNT’s, had to be the biggest crowd we’ve there yet, estimated guess of 400-500? Phew, it was hard to even hold a conversation with Nick of Dangerous Pursuit & Chris Honoway who were hanging with Dr2 all night! As big of a night it was for Critical Bill, it was an even bigger night for this next band that hadn’t been up on a stage together in over 3 years, LAST. Hitting the scene hard a few years back, LAST enjoyed regional success with 3 different releases before they parted ways. Lead singer Anton (Tone) Stabley referenced his “warmth of Florida” a number of times throughout night, and I’m sure when he returns south he’ll be referencing the “Heat of Michigan” that this reunion show generated. Wow! is probably the best word to describe what occurred up on stage during their extremely “Hot” set that had this crowd on fire! By the looks of the guys up on stage, they enjoyed the show as much, if not more, than their frenzied fans that couldn’t be contained, clawing & pushing their way to the front of the stage when Powerdise & Michael Scott joined them! Last also includes Wally from the Unheard who even brought his wife Shannon up on stage to join in on the singing! Leave it to the guys in Critical Bill to put together one of the, if not the, hottest show to date this year, a task that no local radio station in Michigan could of matched tonight! The highly secretive filming of the newest video from Critical Bill, My Suicide, was not with out its controversy either as there were numerous (sic) leaks of “unauthorized” (yea right LOL) footage of the shoot leaked on the web. Boy these guys not only have the whole package, they know how to market it too! As the lights went down every video screen in the place flickered to life with the My Suicide Video tag that transcended into a computer screen that starts to flash a bunch of rowdy “My Suicide Girls” groping each band member! The action looked to be hot & heavy as the video continuously jumped from scene to scene, making it an ideal candidate for one of those MTV channels. Oh wait MTV doesn’t play videos anymore do they? Well I’m sure it would fit just as good on Fuse TV, at least they play videos! What an intro as the video ended and the PA came up, Screamin Scott of Wrif could be faintly heard introducing the guys perfectly in sync with Critical Bill launching into the title track off their latest CD Downtown The World! All of a sudden it was like being at a Kid Rock concert or something as the mass of bodies just swarmed the front of the stage, swaying and pumping fists to the quintessential Critical Bill song This Is Critical. Why these guys aren’t all over the radio is beyond me, but Powerdise did pose that very question to Screamin at one point, calling out WRIF with “if you guys can play Linkin Park…..etc…..why won’t you play us?” I guess when you can pull in as many people as they do, you can call out whoever you want! Unbelievable! It didn’t take long before the moshing got out of hand and Powerdise had to settle down a couple of unruly dudes, by getting them in a “group hug”, and telling them not here, not now, before letting them go and continuing the song. It was aprox 3 1/3 seconds later that I see that same guy send this huge left hook into the other guy which sent Powerdise jumping off the stage to get between them to break up the fight! Never quite seen that before, lights popping on, music stopping, and there is the lead singer right there stopping the fight! Crazy shit going down in the city! After that incident it appeared to bring everyone together, lights back off and Critical Bill back together on the stage picking up right where they left off! Ya just got to love that Detroit Rock & Roll. What an amazing night that saw just about everything you’d see at one of those huge over priced Palace shows right in our own back yards for $5! Screw the Nationals; this is where the real music lives! Detroit Rock Review, the ONLY place for Local Music News & Reviews! Support your local musician before they’re all gone!

M;