Monday @ Arts, Beats, & Eats 9-1-08

What an absolutely perfect day it was to attend an all day outdoor festival that included a wide variety of food, an array of off the wall art, and of course a vast menagerie of music all of which makes Pontiac’s Arts, Beats, & Eats the hugely successful festival it is. Arriving a bit later than anticipated, it appears we missed the Pajama Party that was hosted by our friends in Overloaded, damn wish we’d a seen that one, but I guess their pic’s tell the story! 60 Second Crush was already into their set when we arrived at the Detroit News Stage, and the first thing we wondered is WTF happened to the stage? This year’s stage was on the verge of a joke, small & cramped with a little PA that was smaller than what we use in our basement, cabinets that looked as if they were dragged all the way from DJ Supply to Pontiac, and A sound man that again had no clue as to what he was doing. Amazing isn’t it? Good thing they had Detroit bands up there to save the day as the Crushers pounded out yet another sweet set, topped by a guest appearance by Colby Veil, lead singer of Dopesnake, Addler’s Appetite, & Hollywood Roses! One of thee most solid, hard hitting bands in Detroit, 60 Second Crush never disappoints and always seems to throw a twist at ya, just ask Dana as we even captured a rare moment of her singing backing vocals, can’t wait for something big to happen with this group! Check them out this Saturday at the People’s Art Fair at the Russell Industrial Center @ 8pm; check the Dr2 Gig Calendar for more info! The Matt Austin Band certainly turned our heads as they headed on up on stage, not as 3 pc this time but a 4 pc, adding a rhythm guitarist/back-up vocalist to round out his sound. Boy did it work! By the time the guys launched into World Wide Flight we were sold on the fat, full sound the extra guitar adds to their sound, freeing Matt up to do what he does best, sing and rip out some screaming leads with out missing a beat! It will be interesting to see what happens next for these guys as they've been selected as a finailist in the latest WRIF competition, The Big Break, to open up for Tesla down at the Fillmore-Detroit on October 17th. Dr2 & Crew finally got a chance to catch another Detroit area sensation, the lovely Alyssa Simmons. Having performed all across the nation, Simmons style is more of the R&B, Pop music style and it fits her well. With over 200,000 MySpace views and a whole slew of songs with 20,000+ plays, it may only be a matter of time before she hits it big! Certainly a joy to watch perform, Simmons has quite the line-up in her band that includes backing vocalist Crystal Star, and Detroit's very own guitar virtuoso, Brian Lord who also shares the stage with Sarah Lenore & Mitch Ryder to name a few. A phenomenal talent at only 18, Alyssa Simmons is definetly a rising star, check her out over in our “Top Friends.  Critical Bill has been quite for most of the summer, returning to The Stage today for a huge show opening for Puddle Of Mudd & Rev Theory inside the spacious Phoenix Amphitheater. Critical Bill is no stranger to the big stage, in fact they appear to welcome it as they look & sound as at home up there as they do at any of the smaller venues they play. In fact, with the huge show these guys bring, the larger venues are becoming a must for them, usually selling out the small venues to overcapacity. With full show in tow, Critical Bill hit up on most of their latest release, Downtown The World, opening with This Is Critical, even filling the stage with the Critical Girls for Jump Around, while Powerdise took to the Main Floor with his usual flashy style! Looks like Michael Scott’s shoulder surgery went just fine, looking as badass as ever, shredding his guitar as violently as he did prior to the procedure he recently underwent to repair some damage incurred during their last tour. Watch for Critical Bill opening for Sponge at the newly re-opening Hayloft over in the Clem October 11^th, should be a wild time, get there early! Back at the Detroit News Stage, those Bad Boys from Mid Michigan, Dirty Americans, returned to Arts, Beats, And Eats this year in preparation for their upcoming CD Release Party with The Vamps & The Muggs on Sept 13^th @ The Crofoot, where they’ll be unleashing their latest 5-song EP that they’ve been shopping around to a number of labels. As usual, the Dirty Americans dropped another energetic set on their fans, playing all the favorites from their first EP as well as a great preview of the new including Snake In The Grass, How I Roll, and of course Dr2’s favorite Detroit Son Of A Bitch! These guys also pulled off that rare event themselves by inviting their young super fan Angelo Coppola on stage to sit in for Jeremiah during one point, awesome! Check back soon for the Dr2 View of the new Dirty Americans EP to be posted in the next few days! In the mean time, head on over to the Dirty Americans MySpace page where you can give all these tunes a quick listen, find them in our “Top Friends” over on the Dr2 MySpace Page! Be sure to stop on over to the Dr2 Photo Gallery and check out all the photos from the night! Detroit Rock Review, The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!

Encore with The Hard Lessons!

Friday night found Dr2 & Crew over in Pontiac for the Metromix Encore official Arts, Beats, & Eats Afterparty inside the Crofoot complex in Downtown Pontiac in what was nothing short of a fantastic time! The Crofoot itself is reason enough to hit up any show played there let alone what the night’s line-up had to offer with the headliners, The Hard Lessons, Millions of Brazilians, Deastro, Our Brother the Megazord as well as a “Regenerations” Fashion Show by Hale Blu. Besides the Crofoots awesome line-up, musical performances could be had throughout the complex where Prussia and Zoos of Berlin took over in the Vernor’s Grill. Walking into the Crofoot at the very end of the Megazord’s set; we were promptly seated atop the stage in the balcony, an amazing vantage point to take in a concert from the artists point of view! Deastro hit the stage with his Mac, Acoustic Guitar, and 1,000 ft of spaghetti noodled cabling connected to a variety of black boxes that enable him to create subsonic, self described German pop. Also the proprietor behind the sinfully electric, Our Brother The Megazord, Deastro, aka Randolph Chabot Jr., took to the stage wearing a hand made, brightly colored, furry ball creation that draws everyone’s attention to the one man band(s), while he bends, twists, and contorts an array on knobs and dials, producing some unique sounds, before picking up his electro-acoustic guitar to jam along to the beat. Crazy how one guy can create that much noise from so little equipment, we hear he even diassembles toy's just to get to the music box inside to record the sounds digitaly! Crazy wacky fun! We’ve been hearing about Millions of Brazilians for some time now and actually missed our first chance of seeing them back in March during the Blowout, though tonight we had a bird’s eye view of this bass-less power trio based out of Taylor. From the moment MOB walked onto the stage and plugged in, the Dr2 Crew was in total amazement from the sure mass of their sound emulating from just 3 guys on the Crowfoot’s huge stage. Currently working on a studio album with Eric Hoegemeyer over at Rust Belt Studios, MOB has taken Detroit by storm as of late, receiving plenty of pen time amongst the city’s many music blogs and playing increasingly higher profile shows all across the metro area. Catch these guys next at The Pike Room September 18^th with The French Kicks, or find them in our “Top Friends” over on the Dr2 MySpace Page!

HaleBlu with her Regenerations Fashion Show, brought along a slew of hot female as well as male models who invaded the stage next, sending the Crofoot’s main floor into pure mayhem. Walking out in catwalk style, this fashion show was as much about what the models weren’t wearing than what they were, which in most cases was barely anything at all! Quite an entertaining hour to say the least, which brings us to tonight’s headliners, The Hard Lessons who earlier in the evening opened up for The Blues Travelers inside the Phoenix Amphitheater. What more can be said about this eclectic 3 pc that hasn’t been said before? How about the fact that the Hard Lessons are not only a major draw in Michigan, but have become a major attraction across the country as their indie pop continues to storm every major university city in the US. Fresh off their B & G Sides (boys & girls) Record Release, The Hard Lessons are themselves learning some Hard Lesson as Anvil (drums) has announced he will be leaving the band for good come September 27^th, his final show. Tonight’s set was typical Hard Lesson Fare, delivering their Detroit Garage / Pop sound via the Crofoot’s massive McCauley PA, trading off vocal duties as only a husband and wife tandem could do (KoKo Louise aka Korin Cox (keys vox) & Augie Visocchi married 3 wks ago), playing off one another with their charismatic magic that has been ever so present from the beginnings. Ripping through such stalwart HL hits as Milk & Sugar, See & Be Scene, and the vastly popular Come Back To Me, before Augie stole the show by doing what Augie does best, climbing the PA to reach the balcony’s rafters, swinging his way over top of the crowd before dropping 10 ft to the ground, racing through the crowd, returning to the stage while the crowd roared with their approval. Another highlight of the night occurred when Augie took the recent Detroit scandal and turned it into an off the hook chant about the Detroit Zoo, delivering a strong message to Kwame Kill-Patrick in classic Augie rhetoric! Another amazing set from one of Dr2 favorites! Check them out in our Dr2 Links & catch them again before it’s too late at the Ferndale DIY Festival September 21^st at the corner of 9 Mile & Woodard for this all day affair featuring a long list of Detroit’s favorite bands.

Although it may have been the end of the show inside the Crofoot Ballroom, the night was not finished yet as another band was taking the stage inside the Vernor’s Grill. By the time Dr2 arrived, the grill was over filled, backed up all the way down the hall and back into the Ballroom, before we were finally able to slither through the crowd to catch the final act of the night Zoos of Berlin. Not sure how the hell this quintet pulled off playing a set in this miniscule setting, but we’re glad they did as this again was the first time seeing this group after hearing their name mentioned everywhere the past couple of years. Taking a different approach to what I’d call euro-electro-pop, ZOB blends catchy guitar riffs with blazing horn melodies, creating a Bowie-Eno-esque sound that sent the sprawling mass of bodies gyrating to their beats! Quite an interesting end to an even more interesting night, check these guys out over at their MySpace page and find a show near you! Stop on over to the Dr2 Photo Gallery and check out all the photos from the night! Until next time, Detroit Rock Review- The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!

More Rock & Roll!

What an amazing night of More Rock & Roll from Detroit’s own Dismantle, where I’m surprised any one made it out alive with all the Smokin’& Drinkin’ that was going down inside New York, New York this past Saturday night! Presented by Locked & Loaded Productions along with Wrif & Detroit Rock Review, Ny, Ny was damn near filled to capacity by the time we ourselves arrived at 9pm! Sour Mash was up first, playing their classic infused style of rock to an ever building crowd that was quickly filling up with members of some of Detroit’s best bands. A quick game of Musical Chairs done to Kid Rock’s All Summer Long had the crowd in stitches before crowning a winner who walked away with the $20 Grand Prize. No Justus hit the stage next. The guy's were a bit on edge since tonight's set would be done with one less guitarist than they usually have. Everyy time we see Ronnie Mower (vox, guitar) perform he raises the bar a bit higher.  True to form, No Justus, playing an extended set, actually stepping it up. Not only did they raise the bar, they pushed it right on up to the top, blending Mower’s southern-rock styled vocals with just the right amount of twang to catch everyone’s attention, especially Dr2 & Crew, putting on an amazing set that was an absolute perfect segue into tonight’s headliners! During most breaks at a rock show, things get turned down a bit while everyone sits around and watches the bands load in/out. Not Tonight. Tonight was crowd participation night as another contest took center stage. This time it as a play on the old SNL skit called “More Cowbell”! Each contestant took their turn up front with a supersized cowbell and drum stick, turning what was a semi-mild crowd, into a rip roaring mob as the contestants danced, pranced, and in some cases, gyrated their god given gifts all in the name of fun. It’s always cool to see what bands do show up in support of the night’s band and tonight we had a good number of them as Dr2 spotted members of Tyranny, Hell Rides North, Lies Unknown, Critical Bill, even MUEN Magazine was repping! In fact we had a chance to talk it up with Shane (vox) of Sypher who informed us they’re nearing completion of their first release and expect it to be ready sometime this fall so keep your ears right here at Dr2 for more info! With all the commotion going on inside Ny, Ny we never noticed that the curtain in front of the stage was lowered during the break until we noticed the swelling crowd in front of the stage signaling it was just about time for things to kick into high gear! If you haven’t been to Ny, Ny recently, they’ve made some huge changes to the venue, including the aforementioned curtain, they’ve also raised the stage, added sound reinforcements, and one of the biggest improvements is the lighting, giving the place a “real” concert venue feel! As the opening chords of More Rock & Roll wallowed through the PA, the curtain began to slowly rise, bringing into view tonight’s headliners, Dismantle in full light as the front of the stage was now crammed to the hilt, what an entrance! Rolling right into Two Timing before giving us a preview of some of their newer material that included Meet Me In The Middle, Backwoods, Ride Home & Accelerator, Dr2 can’t wait for a new disc from Dismantle and you can rest assured that we’ll have it here for you first! One of the coolest points of the night came midway through Dismantle’s set when they actually stopped to host a Beer Bong contest on stage that featured a 3 way drink off that went 2 rounds before naming the “driest” winner for the night! Justin and gang were at the top of their game with their set punctuated by a thundering solo by Eric "the Crusher" Brodzik on drums  and a screaming guitar solo from Glynn Somma during which he broke into the national antherm, ala Jimi Hendrix!! Twice during the night Dismantle had Ronnie Mower (No Justus) join them up on stage singing backup on Ramblin' Man and playing keys as they finished out the night with an impromptu jam that featured the classic Freebird! Dismantle approached this show as if were at the Fox Theater, and from what we witnessed, they pulled it off in tremendous fashion, see for yourself inside the Dr2 Photo Gallery page and keep checking the Dr2 Video Gallery as we’ll be posting some of our video from the night soon! Look for these guys to continue playing some high profile shows in the near future as Dismantle takes over The Dawghouse on November 1^st with, get this now, The Muggs (as openers, get there early!) and Universal Temple Of Divine Power! Don’t miss this one folks as Dr2 is sure we’ll have that place filled to over-capacity clear out to Groesbeck Highway! Check out Dismantle for your self by finding them in the Dr2 Links or head on over to the Dr2 MySpace page where you’ll find them listed in our Top Friends. Remember, Detroit Rock Review is the only place to find Local Music News & Reviews!

DR2 – WEEKEND IN THE REAR VIEW

Dr2 would first like to take a moment to send out our condolences once again to the family of Tom Furtaw and the surviving members of the “Spitting Nickels” group. Our thoughts have been with you from the moment we heard the tragic news that occurred during your biggest show to date and hope you find comfort in the fact that T.P. Gunne left our great city doing exactly what he loved to do, May he rest in peace.

Well we here at DR2 have survived another rawkin’ weekend in the D, no thanks to all you Motor City crazies who tried to wear us out! Friday night we took a short drive to downtown Utica to see our friends in the band “Far From OK”, do their thing at Hatchy’s. This band may currently be a “cover” band but they have figured out a way to rearrange a lot of the tunes to make them their own by including the mixes of their own DJ. This was our first time at Hatchy’s and we were impressed with the faux-ice topped tables and hockey memorabilia as well as the potential as a great rock & roll venue that is located upstairs above the sports bar. With a good sized stage, enough room for a large crowd, great music, and cold beer, we were definitely starting the weekend out right!

Saturday started with a Junior DR2 b-day party but quickly became a dash to pack as much musical madness as possible into a single night as we split up, with part of the crew heading down to the new-and-improved Magic Stick to catch the Cute Is What We Aim For show. Yea, yea, yea, we know these guys are NOT from Detroit, But their manager is, another sign of Detroit’s far reaching musical prowess!  (Check Out the Video Here) It’s always so cool to see these support bands come through town that may have never played a show in The D, the reaction is always the same, “Wow, Detroit IS the home of Rock N Roll….you guys are amazing!”, as if we hadn’t heard that before. On a side note here, if you have not been to the Stick in a while, you may want to get down there before summer is over. In what was a total surprise to Dr2, they blew out some walls, added stairs, window, doors and, Voila! they created the new “Alley Deck” outdoor patio bar! You can now head outdoors right off the floor where you can regain consciousness while sipping on your favorite alcoholic beverage, even order a burger from the newly installed mega gill! Freaking amazing!!

After the Stick show, we headed back out of the D, reassembling the crew out at TNT’s in Clinton Twp for the Lies Unknown show. They were celebrating frontman Justin Alexander’s B-day themselves, so it fit right into our day! This band has recently come on to the local scene with an electric stage show featuring original material from their recently released self titled 14-track disc. Tonight was no exception as we arrived just in time to see the fuse lit on what was an amazing set that had the crowd a sweatin’, pumping fists, jumping around and, by all appearances, losing their minds!! Justin, Jammie, Joe, and Sarah came out firing on all cylinders with some of their best, opening with “She’s A Slut” and rockin’ through “Lady Alcohol”, “Nowhere Fast”, “Whoa Is Me” and many others until they came to a screeching halt as they ran out of time, before asking the audience if they wanted more? Chants of “one more song, one more song...” drowned out DJ Sparky as he tried to tell the band to keep on going!! What had been a crazy scene, turned to the insane (can’t say we weren’t involved!), as the crowd literally exploded when Lies pulled out all the stops with their fist-pumping, mosh-pit-inducing, Emo-rock masterpiece, “Go-Go You Know”. The band let it all hang out on this one that featured Jammie taking a ride on a fans shoulders while continuing to play with Justin getting in a little moshing of his own, jumping smack in the middle of the foray! What a show, if you haven’t caught these guys yet, get out and see a show, it will be well worth it when you realize that live original music isn’t dead, it just changed its clothes. The night was not over as, the three-piece band, Barefoot Girls took the stage and rocked through their own brand of Reggae-flavored, jam-band approach to music that is just off-kilter and different enough to be entertaining. With very Beck-like vocals and unusual lyrics, we are definitely curious as to where these guys are going to take their music. We will be keeping an eye on them, you can to by heading over to their MySpace Page, find them in on our Dr2 MySpace Page in our Top Friends.

So the weekend was officially in full swing but, nowhere near over as Sunday was our most ambitious schedule of the weekend!! We were just getting started, and from what we saw on Sunday, with all the folks who were at the same shows as us, so were all you maniacs!! Very cool! Our day began with dinner and a show at Dooley’s Bar & Grill on M-59 where the Jim Beam Summer Concert Series was hosting an acoustic jam with Paper Street Saints. It was great to see these guys once again as we have seemed to always miss their recent appearances. Kathy Vargo and Dana Forrester of the promotional group “Detroit, On The Rocks” had given us a heads up about this performance and it was an awesome start to our Sunday, especially since we were able to get a great meal at Dooley’s and then hear some incredible music from Cheyenne, Charlie and the guys. PSS is absolutely electric on any size stage, and we were not disappointed Sunday as they rocked through two sets that featured songs from all 3 of their discs. After talking to the band at the end of the show, we were also excited to learn that they are working on getting some new material out in the next year. We will keep you posted on anything we hear on this front. If you missed this show but want to catch the Paper Street Saints you are in luck, as they are playing on Sept 1^st in downtown Pontiac at the Arts, Beats, & Eats Festival. Check ‘em out there, or as always you can find them in our Top Friends! Jim Beam will be hosting another “Lazy Dayz Of Summer Party” over at Jack’s Waterfront on September 7^th featuring The Orbitsun’s & Brandon Calhoon of RockStar INXS fame, check it out over at Detroit, On The Rocks, also in out Top Friends!

Next, we were off to The Emerald Theater for Rockfest ’08. This was MAJ Entertainment’s last event as Mark Jones, head of MAJ, is moving into a new job with Windup Records as a talent scout. The lineup was definitely rockin’ as So Much For Simple opened the show with their hard edged rock and roll sound and kicked off what was promising to be a great night. Krank Nine followed and kept the party rolling in the Clem, and kicked it up a notch with their thundering set. No Justus took the stage next and, as usual, Front man Ronnie Mowrer did not disappoint. Delivering his soulful mix of songs (including our favorite “Blinded” ) with those incredible pipes of his. You can see No Justus at NYNY this weekend, August 23^rd, when DR2 presents Dismantle wsg No Justus and Sour Mash. Dangerous Pursuit grabbed the stage next with their glam-rock-inspired sound and over-the-top delivery. These young guys always show up to play hard and we still love their version of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. Following on their heels was Frequency 54. We first caught these guys at the now-defunct Club 54 and immediately were impressed with their full sound, polished delivery and, almost orchestral, approach to rock & roll. In some ways they remind us of “Queen” in that way. Sunday was no exception as Justin and the guys were able to get the Emerald crowd on their feet and bobbin along with the jams. We at DR2 recently got a hold of their new Live Acoustic 2008 disc and it is a must-have for local music fans as it features a great mix of Frequency 54’s original material from their 3 previous discs which was recorded using the “let the tape run and let’s see what we get” approach at a recent show. What they got was a great disc that perfectly captures their sound and energy, not unlike tonight’s show where they delivered an awesome set to finish off MAJ Mark’s final show.

We could not stay around long after the final set as we were committed to making one more show for the night. It was the “Revolver” show over at Mugshots featuring Ty Stone, Don “Doop” Duprie and the “Inside Outlaws”, a loose confederation of singer-songwriters that includes some of the best Detroit has to offer including, but not limited to, Brandon Calhoon, Matt Dmits, Pat V and many others where you just don’t know who will show up at these events. The format was something Manager Sam Wood and the crew brought back from Nashville and if you haven’t made it out to one of these, you have got to go, we guarantee you’ll be hooked. The show features an ever-changing lineup on stage of 3 or 4 performers doing their thing in an acoustic format. Incredibly entertaining and at the same time, awe-inspiring. The most common comment from first time fans coming out to a show is “these guys are incredible” and “so much talent”. Quality will always rise to the top as the crowds at these shows, which move to different venues around town, continues to grow. I know we at DR2 have not missed one yet. Sunday was no surprise, as the crowd was again a virtual who’s who of Detroit music where we counted members of no less than a dozen bands before we stopped counting. Just a side note here. We are always impressed with the support that members of the Detroit music scene give each other and with their approachable, easygoing nature with fans. If you love local music, go to a “Revolver” show and you will probably find yourself standing next to one of your favorites where you too could have a chance to chat em up a bit. The night was incredible for us, personally, as well, because Sam and the guys graciously invited a friend we brought to the show, Justin Alexander of Lies Unknown, to get up and take a turn. With borrowed guitar, Justin delivered an original as well as a couple of covers, even bringing his friend, Ryan of the band Maceri, up to do an original they wrote together. Very cool of the Inside Outlaws, and very representative of their approach to music. These guys are all about the music. We at DR2 think it is only a matter of time before their name is synonymous with Detroit music, they are really special. The hardest part of this night was getting in the car to go home. We were all wooped, and at least a few of us had to work the next morning! Another crazy marathon music day for the DR2 crew! Be sure to stop by the Dr2 Photo Gallery for more pic's from all of the events you heard about here! Detroit Rock Review- The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!

Everybody Jump!

What a Whirlwind of a week that saw Dr2 split in 2 for a series of concerts throughout this past week starting with a reality trip to Saint Andrews Hall for the band All Time Low (Maryland) along with Hit The Lights (Ohio), Valencia (Philly), & There For Tomorrow (Orlando). Our mission tonight was simple, check out the latest Nationally Touring “Power Punk” bands (or as we call it “Jump Music”) to see what this explosive genre had to offer while comparing the bands to what Detroit’s local scene has to offer in the same genre. And of course since the Dr2 Crew is always tagging along to see “our” bands, it’s only fair that we get them to “their” shows! What an incredible night as There For Tomorrow opened up the sold out show to 1,000 plus rabid fans packed into the NON-air-conditioned confines of Saint Andrews on a 95 degree day that turned the Hall into a virtual sauna, and we thought the Lager House was hot, this place had to be 120 degrees inside, leaving all inside wetter than an afternoon at Jobbie Nooner! From the opening chords, these crazed fans moshed, crowd surfed, and sang every word to just about every song these guys sang, and they were the first act up? When Valencia took the stage, there was no slow down, apparently the heat has no effect on the younger crowd, and they continued the onslaught of crowd surfers that rode atop the 2,000 hands stretched high in the sky till they reached the stage where a slew of security guards were waiting to help them over the wall only to release their catch back to the sea of fans. Hit The Lights brought out the mega mosh pit, slowing the surfers for a while as the front of the stage opened for some smash up fun leaving the unaware surfers to disappear into the man made sink hole! By the time the shows headliners, All Time Low hit the stage it was pure mayhem, an unbelievable site with as many “crowd surfers” on top as there seemed to be people below! Each time they reached the stage they would run to the back of the hall and get hoisted up again in an endless loop of riding the crowd back to the front. If anyone thinks music is “dead” then I would suggest a visit to one of Detroit’s many venues that host these types of concerts to experience this amazing sight, (Check Out The Video Here) it will change your mind instantly while realizing that it’s not the music that’s dead, but rather the industry types that are holding onto an outdated business model who aren’t keeping pace with today’s kids all in the name of lining their own pockets. The best part of this concert was the fact that all 4 bands were extremely talented; obviously All Time Low was THE band, but what about the support groups? How did they stack up against our own Detroit bred bands?

All we needed to do to get the answer was to load the Dr2 Crew into the Dr2 bus and head down to Comerica Park for this year’s installment of the Van’s Warped Tour and check them out head to head on the dozen or so stages they had spattered throughout the parking lot. Local Power Punk Band from Marysville, MI Every Avenue was first up, opening the day’s events on the SmartPunk.com Stage at 11:30 am to a rambunctious crowd of at least 5,000 fans. Riding high off their recent release Shh….Just Go With It on Fearless Records, Every Avenue appears poised for a breakout of their own fashioning, evidenced by all 5,000 fans singing in one collective voice during their performance of their smash up Where Were You? A quick move over to the Main Stage where some non-Detroit Bands were playing gave us a bird’s eye view of Norma Jean, a Christian Metal Band (yea that’s it!) from Atlanta who as far as we’re concerned should go back to Georgia! Immediately after was Gym Class Heroes out of Geneva, NY. These guys mix a variety of genres together creating a unique sound that you cannot mistake as theirs’, other than having 15,000 people in front of us, a pretty decent set! The Academy Is was up next on the Main Stage and played to a swelling crowd that literally exploded when they hit the stage. Pretty amazing sight as hundreds upon hundreds of crowd surfing maniacs took their chance to ride atop the crowd hoping to make it to the stage! Back to the Smart Punk stage for Medina Lake out of Ohio who also put on a great set, in fact one of the most amazing sights was when their lead singer jump atop the crowd himself, rolling to his side that seen him take a big u-turn over top of the thousands of fans outstretched hands. One of the best sets of the day came from The Audition out of Chicago, but who has numerous Detroit connections, including lead singer Danny Stevens, whom graduated a couple years ago from a Macomb Twp High School with some of our Dr2 Crew! Playing the Ernie Ball Stage to a huge crowd stuffed into the fenced off area like sardines, The Audition themselves a few thousand or more crazed fans that obliviously felt the Detroit connection themselves. Stopping in between songs, Stevens made mention of the fact that it “felt good being home again, though it feels strange being back in my old room”, before having Danny of Every Avenue join him stage for a couple of songs, sending everyone into one of the biggest mosh pits we’ve ever witnessed! Forever The Sickest Kids hit the stage next to a slightly smaller crowd that was every bit as energetic as they put on a great set, before we hit up the Hurley.Com stage for another band called We The Kings. One of the strangest moments came during another Detroit Band’s set, The Hand Me Downs, where instead of a mosh pit, the crowd ran around in a huge circle which included the wireless members of the band, never seen anything quite like that before! After taking in a number of other sets from various bands including Detroit’s own Manna & Quail, Brandenburg, & One Man’s Opinion, it was time for the kings of the Warped Tour, Chiodos. Now Chiodos should be no stranger to anyone in Michigan, as these Davison rockers have been exploding onto the scene over the past couple years, and judging by the size of the crowd, everyone who attended the Warped Tour squeezed their way into the front of the Main “Van’s 66” Stage to witness these guys who were filming the show for an upcoming DVD Release! Having seen Chiodos before we were expecting a large crowd, but we never imagined some 20,000 people showing up, leaving the remainder of the Warped Tour near empty. What a sight to behold, thousands of people singing in tandem, multiple mosh pits erupting, all the while hundreds of crowd surfers were making that frantic trip to the stage! At one point during their set, Craig Owens (vox), stopped a minute to reflect on the moment, blurting out “I love Detroit” and proceeded to ramble off what he loves about the area, driving home a point that we here at Dr2 have made a number of times that “I will, in fact we all will never leave this place” (Check Out The Video of Chiodos Here) before jump starting the next song with “let’s show them how Detroit does it”! What an awesome moment to one awesome day of great music from all over our country!

Now for that looming question, how do our Michigan bands stack against those other bands around the country? You’ll need to get to some local shows yourself around town and then maybe, just maybe you’ll see what we’ve been saying all along, Detroit Is Rock City! Detroit Rock Review- The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!

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 3^rd 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!

Photos courtesy of  2snapsup.com