X-Fest eXtremely suXcessful

The Hayloft in Mt Clemens was the place to be this past weekend where the 89X Presents The X-Fest, a three day local music love-in, brought Dr2 to its knees by Sunday night with a sensory overload of the area's best local music topped with a National Act or 3! Heading into the Clem Friday Night, you would have thought that the Stars & Stripes Fest was back in town, every parking space filled, people walking the streets, all apparently heading to the Hayloft for a Friday Night Smack Down! Sliding into the fest after a bit of a late start, the first thing that struck Dr2 eyes was the ginormous first class tent sprawled out over top of the entire Hayloft parking lot. Combined with hundreds of people milling about in and around this awesome temporary music venue, where live music was blaring from an exceptionally sized PA, complete with ravishing lights, completing the festive mood. Walking towards the entrance, Dr2 was met with a jubilant crowd hanging out in the Hayloft Garden, cold drinks in their hands; it was nice to see so many bands & fans mingling amongst all the festgoers. Inside, the mood was starkly different, bands hawking their merch, fans ogling over the shirts, and hundreds of people moving through the Hayloft's front bar making their way towards the Main Stage where The Matt Austin Band was just beginning. Dr2's jaw dropped upon the realization the man behind the kit for MAB was, none other than, Chris Castro (Radiocraft, Ugly), totally reinvigorating the Matt Austin sound. 

Smile Empty Smile Headlined Friday Night

Quite a nice surprise and yet another step forward for The Matt Austin Band.  Lithium pulled off another of their astounding sermons in front of a few hundred of their closet disciples while Hell Rides North flew in and blew us all away giving way to those Dirty Americans, who still amazes Dr2 every time see them. These guys bring the true meaning of rock & roll where ever they play, even dropping a couple new tunes from their upcoming album, closing out their set with a crowd pumping cover of Copper's Eighteen, prompting chants of "one more song...", not surprising since they've not only played some huge crowds overseas, but have opened even opened for Kid Rock himself! With the room all primed and ready to rock, the first night's headliners, Smile Empty Soul, hit the stage, not only did they shake the rafters, but actually partied the night away, opting to hang out in Da Clem one more day to see exactly how a hometown band rips up the Hayloft.

Saturday brought an early 3pm start to the outdoor stage, where Dr2 witnessed an awesome array of Michigan's best that included the hard hittin' Mound Road Engine, an all out party with Cody Stagefright (you need to see these guys), and a completely "obscenery" blow out with the outdoor headliners, Houghton Lake's very own HERD, who literally blew the poles out from beneath that tent! Inside was definitely a mob scene with a barrage of hot ass rock & roll from Facture, and Ghosts of August, both of who laid down the foundation for what was to become one of thee hottest shows the Hayloft has hosted. Recently re-focused, Band With Name, has definitely been making a name for themselves once again as Jeff Gutt (vox) has returned from LA where his Dry Cell band has taken a hiatus, and was also ASKED to audition for Velvet Revolver not once, but was called back a second time....... Lucky for us, as these guys can turn any crowd "Animal Like" with the ferocious riffs of Gary P clearing the way for Gutt's awe-inspiring vocals that are on par with any vocalist out there. Chants of BWNN filled the room when the guys launched into a new song that will be featured on their upcoming new release, Empty, showing Dr2 that BWNN may just be on the verge of something big here. StellarDrive has been elevating their game every time we see them, a true sign of dedication, and tonight they stepped it up again in what can only be described as a head shaking, earth rattling, straight up rock & roll show. What was cool about the X-Fest is that not only did it feature the areas best in local music makers, but it also included a night capping national headliner each day. But what was REALLY cool about Saturday's headliner was that it is not only a National Act, but a Mt Clemens based hometown band! Not many cities can claim having local favorites that are also homegrown National Acts like Mt Clemens can, that list in unbelievable to say the least. Look at tonight's headliners, Critical Bill, who's signed to Westbound Records, Critical Bill is not only a local favorite, but a National favorite as well, filling rooms across the country from Detroit to Iowa and from Cleveland to Portland. Touting a huge fan base in numerous US Cities, Mt Clemens will always remain home to these guys as they packed the hayloft this night with 1,000 people who came to get "Critical" with their heroes. From the opening to the close, there was no mistaking who this weekend would belong to, as Critical Bill not only ripped through our stalwart fav's, but also threw in the latest soon-to-be single, Beam Me Up, from their upcoming CD, in fact, they just shot the video a couple days prior in anticipation of a September release. What an amazing good time as X-Fest wound down its second day, hundreds milling about looking as if they were just ran over by a train, not quite ready to leave yet even with the 2am warning upon them. Well Dr2 was ready to hit the road, HERD Tour Bus in tow, even had HERD's head of security, Tito, riding shot gun as we rode off into the night, destination Dr2 Afterparty........man what a night.....ahh morning!

In what can only be described as a marathon, we awoke Sunday and headed back to the Hayloft for the final installment in the trilogy.  Groggily navigating down Gratiot, we arrived to a scene of more crowds, obviously not slowed down by the rain that was occasionally falling. All attendees were happy for the huge tent when Whiplash began tearing it up outside.  This trio of 13-year-olds keep on expanding their set and even had Joe Coppola (Angelo's Dad) sit in on drums so Angelo could roam the stage.  It kept rockin' outside, despite the weather, with Curbstone Beauty impressing us, again, with how much they have turned up the heat onstage recently.  We will definitely be keeping an eye on them.  As the day wore on the crowd inside began to grow with diehard fans claiming their spot for the lineup to come.  Maceri poured it on inside with their unique brand of pop/alt rock. Tearing through a great set.  It was up to Impossible Tuesday to carry the torch and they handled it well.  These veteran rockers showed their polish and presence, segueing nicely into The Pilz set.  Dani Katastrophe (vox) is not "Hard To Swallow" as she pours her heart soul into her music with flare and passion, delivering some of the city's best straight up, in-your-face, rock & roll that had the Hayloft floor packed tight up front, reminding us of those days back inside Cobo Arena! Outside was rocking just as hard with the headlining band Infrastar slamming it down to packed tent that was rocking just as hard the band! Just as we were hitting aural overload, our head swimming with the weekend of sheer musical mayhem, we were hit with a haymaker as Lies Unknown took the stage to an Intro from 89X's Jay "Hud" with their usual off-the-charts intensity, leaving everyone in the place on their ass, some literally, as the mosh pit was in full effect!  At this point we were truly wondering what else we could take when Dismantle stepped up on stage, teasing us with the tunes from their soon-to-be-released disc! Boy if you didn't seen the pure debauchery going down in the Hayloft Garden, you missed one wild scene when those 89X Girls challenged some local rock stars.... you need to check out these! The final blow was Framing Hanley, with their Alt rock assault that made it clear who many of the thousand or so fans where here to see, literally turning them rabid, jammin' & slammin' to every pounding beat.

By the time the dust settled and the last note was played, we had a chance to get some final thoughts from Michael Scott, owner of the Hayloft and X-Fest organizer, on what he thought about the weekend. Claiming to be as "numb" from the weekend as we felt, Scott opened up on where he sees the X-Fest going from here. "Having over 4,000 in paid attendance showed me that this fest has a life all its own", referring to the non-stop line out the door. "I see the X-Fest developing into a traveling show, a set of headliners who will remain constant, yet we'll take it on the road, hooking up with those cities local bands, hopefully recreating what we did here this weekend". Big goals, become big plans, and from what we're hearing, everyone had an awesome time as Scott tells us "I want to take this thing on the road, like not only Mt Clemens, but say Cleveland, Chicago......" Well Dr2 can attest to the fact that X-Fest was eXtremely suXcessful here in Mt Clemens, and with Michael Scott driving the bus, we can surely bet that the X-Fest will be a hit no matter what town it arrives in! Be sure to hit up the Dr2 Photo Gallery where you'll find a ton of pictures from the X-Fest and all the debauchery that went down the entire weekend! DetroitRockReview.com  DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!