1,700 Attend Gala

Most tenth birthday parties are held in the confines of ones home, backyards, or even Chuck E Cheese’s with family & friends. But when it’s The Emerald Theatre’s Tenth Birthday, look out cus the entire Michigan Made Music community is coming out to celebrate, and it isn’t going down anywhere other than inside the Emerald Theatre itself! With an itinerary longer than the Detroit Music Awards, the Emerald was locked cocked and ready to rock by the time the night’s “house band”, the Howling Diablos took to the stage to get the party rolling with their unique Detroit blend of funky rock & roll, setting the vibe for the night that would turnout to be thee biggest Michigan Made Music Love Fest ever imagined. In one of the most unique formats Dr2 has seen, The Diablos not only “rocked” the show, but were literally “rolled” out between sets not unlike what you see during those super bowl halftime shows, allowing The Diablos to play in front of the curtain, while bands loaded in & out behind the curtain, creating a unique non-stop action packed awards-show-esque like atmosphere. Mike Scott held the duties of host for the night, stepping out on stage between all that was going on to reminisce of times and events gone by while the Emerald’s huge video screen lowered to show a video recap of some of the Emerald’s more memorable events. With the crowd swelling to monumental proportions, Black Irish stepped out onto the Emerald’s massive stage and laid down a 3 song gem of a set that solidified the health of today’s local music scene, and the prognosis was that with bands like this around town, it is alive and Rockn’. With two virtuosos manning the guitar duties, Black Irish literally rolled the 10 Year Gala crowd with their blues driven rock & roll before the event changed up a gear, offering up Kid Rock’s current Dj Paradime, who by the way, was fresh off rehearsals for the Big “Fordy Field” Show this weekend. Bringing the 1,700 Michigan Made Music Fans to their feet was none other than the hometown boys, Critical Bill, who dropped a 5 song super set that shifted the Critical crowd Full Throttle into pandemonium! From Favorite Drug to Jump, these guys deliver massive amounts of energy that just begs the question of why we don’t hear them on Wrif in regular rotation. Promising a show of undeniable memories, The Emerald Theatre delivered on their promise, bringing in the likes of Pop Evil, who literally destroyed the crowd with a set that displayed the experience they’ve gained from the big tours they’ve been on recently, as well as Ann Arbor’s own Taproot, who defintley are no strangers to the big crowds themselves. The crowning moments came from another local group, Sponge, who had to feel as if they went back in time to the Rotting Piñata days, commanding the crowd with every “step” singer Vinnie Dombrowski took on top of the now completely rabid crowd in front of him.

Hat’s off to the Emerald Theatre on 10 years of rockin the D, and owner & Critical Bill guitarist Mike Scott deserves a standing ovation for putting on what just may have been, thee biggest, if not the bestest, “Michigan Made Music Concert” that this city has ever scene! Be sure to stop on over to the Dr2 Photo Gallery where you’ll find all the hot shots from this event and remember, it’s nights like these that gives us here at Dr2 more than enough reasons to smile, flip them all the bird and say, yeah this is Detroit, the Home of Rock & Roll!!