The Muggs Fill The Bag!

The Muggs Fill The Bag!

Detroit’s own greasy rock & roll outfit The Muggs, released their sophomore effort, aptly named “On With The Show” Friday night at The Magic Bag over in Ferndale in what was nothing short of spectacular style! In a year that seen the guys tour the US and Europe, including a stint on Fox’s “The Next Great American Band” The Muggs returned home to record their new record over at Tempermill Studios, laying down the tracks this past winter, all in preparation for this big night. And oh, what a big night it was. Dr2 has been to a good many shows over the years at the Magic Bag, but never have we seen this many people gather for a show here at this spectacular club. Then again, this was The Muggs, and this was their night to celebrate all their success and hard work over the past few years, so if they exceeded the 1,000 person capacity by a few hundred, so what, this is Detroit baby, and we love The Muggs! Standing room only was an understatement as it took some work just to find a spot to stand without one of those “Staff” guys plowing you over screaming “I need an aisle way here!” Rock & Roll at it’s finest! The Muggs are no strangers to playing the big show, evident by the line-up that they put together for tonight’s main event that included local indie folk rockers The Sisters Lucas and their party hardy buddies from their recent stint on TNGAB, Tres Bien! The Sisters Lucas started things off, supplying an excellent background for the hundreds of conversations between party goers catching up with each other. Featuring sisters Julie & Loretta Lucas, this 2 girl band takes turns on vocals while trading off duties on a myriad of off the wall instruments ranging from the guitar, keys, xylophone to the autoharp! An amazingly talented group, The Sisters Lucas will be playing up at the Crofoot May 15^th before heading to the Lincoln House for a show on the 30^th. Check em out over on the Sisters Lucas MySpace page. Sometimes you got to be lucky, and tonight it was Dr2’s turn, finding that hard sought after “Standing Room” that just so happened to be next to a rather large group seated at a few of those rare Magic Bag tables. Turns out to be the parents, friends, and extended family of Tres Bien! Turns out that this Clearwater Florida band has some Detroit connections, speaking with Cody Wilson’s (bass) parents, we found that his father is a Michigander himself, moving to Clearwater 20 some years ago, yet has his entire family located throughout the Metro Detroit Area! Tres Bien was also on that Fox TV show, being voted off during week 7, where they befriended our hometown heroes, The Muggs. The Muggs actually coordinated tonight’s CD Release Party around Tres Bien’s touring schedule when during the conversation to inquire about the possibility; it was revealed that they had planned on a stop in Detroit and would love to support the Muggs. Dr2 was glad they did, being a fan of theirs since the TV show last fall, and from the reaction of tonight’s crowd we’d say they just found a new home, hell just take a look at their MySpace page that says “Detroit Rock City” right above Clearwater! What a great set these guys put on, a definite Detroit Garage sound laced with mammoth back beats and screaming hooks that had the entire Bag mesmerized! Can’t wait to catch them up here again, and talking with the guys after the show, we don’t believe it will be a long wait! With anticipation nearing a fever pitch, the lights went down and The Muggs came on stage to a thunderous ovation in one of those “Had to be there” moments. What a sight to see, and these guys deserved every minute in their triumphant return to the Bag! Drawing mostly from their new disc, “On With The Show”, The Muggs treated all in attendance to one of the best “pure” rock & roll shows yet, mixing in some of our favorite Muggs anthems along the way! Donning a matching scarf hanging from his guitar, Danny Methric (guitar) held class on how to make a stringed instrument sing! Blazing speed and non-stop action is the norm for Methric, relying on his bombastic rhythm section of Tony “Muggs” Denardo (Rhodes bass) and Matt “rat-a-tat” Rost (drums) to keep him from exploding on stage with their heavy but steady bass driven lines. In true no bull shit Detroit style, nearing the end of their set, Methric announced that “ok…..this is where we are supposed to run off stage…..then run back on for the encore, but tonight, we’ll just pretend!” preferring to give their fans that extra song or two! The Muggs are scheduled to play 2 big free festival shows this summer with the first going down in the The Clem for the Stars & Stripes Festival on Sunday June 29^th, opening for Johnny Lang, Candle Box & Gary Hoey. Also, Downtown Detroit in the New Center area, The Muggs will be hitting the Pure Detroit Stage during the Comerica City Fest at 7:30 pm on Saturday July 5^th, always a great time there! Check them out in our “Top Friends” over on our MySpace page or right here on the links page. Hit up the Dr2 Gallery for more photos of the night & keep an eye out for the upcoming Dr2 View of The Muggs latest CD, “On With The Show” very soon! Support Local Music Before It’s Gone!