Stars & Stripes Sizzles!
The Fourth Annual Stars & Stripes Festival is in the books, and although the "Unofficial" attendance figures seem to be lower than last years, the attendance at the music stages through out the weekend appeared at or above the levels of previous years, cementing the fact that the promoters of the Stars & Stripes should continue to "let the music do the talking". Enticed by Fireworks & Rockets, Friday Night's crowd created plenty of log jams through out the streets of Mt Clemens, taking in all the sights and sounds Stars & Stripes has consistently laid out each year. It was apparent that the majority of the crowd was in town not only for the fireworks glaring above the county building, but for the ones igniting on the Budweiser National Music Stage where Detroit's own The Rockets gallantly re-untied with an amazing "as if they never left" set featuring Jim McCarty & Johnny B Badanjek with newcomer Jim Edwards on vocals, literally setting the crowd on fire. John Waite performed just prior to the fireworks, rendering a slew of his solo hits as well as a number from The Babys, delighting the diverse mob of a crowd that had filled performance area. The Dirty Americans again did not disappoint, bringing us there Michigan Made brand of "Dirty" Rock & Roll, dropping a multitude of their hits that included Jet Black Holy Water, Detroit S.O.B., and a new single from their upcoming EP called Sunday Morning. The surprise of the night came from the fact that up & coming country act, Love & Theft, actually has a Detroit connection, plugging the fact that their Fiddle player was from Detroit! Dr2 even had the pleasure of catching legendary Motown Player, Melvin Davis over on the Fountain Stage, where he laid out some old smooth Motown era tunes that had everyone groovin' along!
Over at The Hayloft, they had there own special Stars & Stripes festival going on with an indoor, and an outdoor stage which featured continuous live music all night long, as well as John Barleycorns', Johnny G's, Madison's, and even the Emerald Theater had amazing shows going on that kept Dr2 hoping back and forth from stage to stage, dropping into our favorite drinking (and eating) locale, Your Mother's, where Scott and crew made sure The Dr2 Crew had everything we needed for a marathon stint that is the Stars & Stripes Festival, stop in once and you'll be hooked, great food, cheap drinks, and an awesome staff! Richy Nix & Evans Blue capped off a long Saturday, as the two combined for a 1-2 knock out punch, filling the Emerald to near capacity as no one seemed in a hurry to leave the festival, deciding to close out the night inside this historic venue.
Sunday brought out a heat wave and an impromptu honky tonk on the National Stage with local country band Redhill to Headline the Made in Detroit Country Stage, while the Muggs blew open the National stage where a couple more homegrown country acts, Annabelle Road & JoCaine performed prior to John Michael Montgomery, and Warrant who somehow managed to close out the big stage with a bang! The Emerald brought together an impressive line-up that featured Taproot, the screaming metal of Chaos Theory, the eye candy of Christina Chris, and the power pop/ alt rock of Robots in The Garden, Avarice & XitPoint. By far the most relaxing stint was the acoustic show of Justin Alexander & Friends over at Johnny G's, before Dr2 packed up the bus and tried to recoup! New this year wa the extended day which was Monday, a day that saw the heat become unbearable, the crowds much smaller, and the musical line-up a bit slim. But the biggest disappointment was saved for the end when thousands of young fans came to mill about the National Music Stage area in anticipation of Jason Derulo, who currently holds the number seven position on the Billboard Top 100, had showed his true compassion for his music by just not showing up! Wow, I guess once you write a few songs that get picked up by big name artist, you're ready to become one yourself, just in time to screw over the ones who ultimately decide that you truly are a star. Amazing, but not surprising......
We hope you all had just a good a time as Dr2 did during the 2010 Stars & Stripes Festival, the only remaining FREE festival in the Detroit area. Hopefully it will remain that way for 2011, and hopefully we'll all see this thing keep growing leaps and bounds going forward. Be sure to click on the Dr2 Photo Gallery where you'll find all the photos from the 2010 Stars & Stripes Festival, who knows, you may even see yourself! DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!
Fuel, and Vince Neil, dropping a sweat soaked gem of a set that begged the question, why Vince Neil and his hour of covers? Riding high off their recently released "Underground Kingdom" Critical Bill gave the fairly large crowd what they came for, a bevy of classic urban hip hop from their early albums, to the more rock oriented new stuff that seen them crowned as 10 Day 89X People's Choice Winners with Favorite Drug, and the lead single from the album, Beam Me Up. Bear Lake brought their indie pop sound to the rock stage before HUSH brought their "Bullet Proof" branded, Detroit tested hip hop to the rock stage, quickly filling the street with a huge crowd that heard HUSH perform tracks from their latest release "The Open Book", even bringing out Jeff Gutt of Band With No Name to rock out their newest release, Evil Minds, an awe inspiring, rhyme laden epic sample of Black Sabbath's War Pigs, bring the rabid crowd to a frenzy before closing out the night with their rap induced cover of Baba O'Riley featuring Jessica Gordon with HUSH on the vocals.