Stars And Stripes In Da Clem (Day 3)
Day 3
After 2 full days of rolling through the streets of Da Clem, Sunday was a day to lay back a bit and try to collect ourselves before heading back into the jungle for one last day of local rock mayhem! Amazingly Sunday turned out to be the most “fun” day of the weekend long Stars And Stripes Fest as it seemed just about every local band you could name was somewhere on the grounds of the fest or in the VIP tent! You know us here at Dr2, we just enjoy talking it up the bands, getting the inside scoop, or just introducing them all to each other! What a trip it was!
It was a short day for the Locals on the National Stage where we found PHX up first before those greasy rockers from the depths of Detroit, The Muggs, hit the big stage at around 5pm. Never a doubt how these guys would come across amongst that mammoth setting, after all these guys are not only Television veterans (The Muggs appeared on Fox TV’s The Next Great American Band), they’ve played all the big stages throughout Metro Detroit and have toured across Europe where they are extremely huge in Spain! Had a newbie with us today, first time seeing The Muggs, after the 3rd song he turns to me and declares “Man they make a lot of noise for only 3 of them!” Exactly what we’ve been saying for a few years now, they’re just amazing! An awesome afternoon for Detroit’s favorite rock’n blues band, playing a bunch off their new disc “On With The Show” and hammering out their best “oldies” before a huge crowd that had to be a few thousand strong! Another totally cool moment came later during Candlebox’s set as I stood and chatted with Tony (Muggs) Denardo. After being snubbed by Ann Carlini in typical WRIF fashion by never mentioning any of the local bands that had played the stage during the day, preferring to thank only Gary Hoey, before introducing Candlebox, did we say that’s bullshit? Kevin Martin (lead vox) of Candlebox apparently took offense to the deliberate snubbing of The Muggs by Wrif by taking a full 20-30 seconds to proclaim “I’ve been a big fan of theirs ever since catching them on The Next Great American Band Show”, stating many acolaves of affection towards Danny Methric, again declaring his admiration for his gift! The look on Tony’s face would of fit thos Mastercard “Priceless” commercials, as the only thing Tony could get out was the fact “I need to get his contact info!” You got to love The Muggs!
A quick stroll down Market St found us over at the Jaegermeister Stage for one of Detroit’s most explosive bands, Shram! Still riding high off their last release “Disturbing The Peace”, recently completing a cross country tour in support of The Dreaming where they shook rafters and turned quite a few heads all across the USA. Never ones to “stand still” for any length of time, Shram traveled to Winnipeg back in October and again this past May to finish recording their newest disc slated for release sometime this fall with famed Nickelback producer Dale Penner at the Paradise Alley Studios. Working as hard on the stage as they do on, Shram delivered an amazing 40 minute set flush with a smooth mixture of new material splattered between their tried and true hits. Shram has always had that “flash” about them, Brian’s brilliantly flagrant guitar playing, Dave Dion’s masterful driving bass lines, but it was 13 yr old dummer phenom Jason Hartless who has made leaps and bounds. Arguably one of the best drummers in the city, Jason has begun to come of age, no longer the shy little boy playing with the big guys, Jason has now grown into the gig, commanding attention as he stands up pounding his kicker and taunting his band mates as well as the crowd to get into it! What an amazing transformation over the past 12 months as it now looks like there is no stopping these guys now!
What a grand weekend it was in Da Clem thunderstorms and all, they still managed to draw an estimated crowd of 350,000 attendees over the weekend, a success by any measure. Dr2 would like to commend the organizers as they did indeed address some of our complaints from last year and incorporated them into this year’s fest by adding more entrances (the walk to get in was shorter), and they certainly added more local “nationals” on the National Stage. Now if we can only convince them to fill the stages with all local bands………why not Chiodos or Kid Rock in ‘09? Till next year, remember Detroit Rock Review is the Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!